she is restless today. the scouting party came back and her mother did not - a bitter pill to swallow. her legs itch. blix wants to - do something, spar or train or hunt, but nomi is busy and she can't find another willing participant. but she has to do something, so she decides today will be a patrol day, as most of her days are when she's not training. it is maybe getting a little obsessive, her constant patrolling, but, well, she's a teenager. at least it's something productive - much better than sitting around and thinking about the ever-realer possibility that her mother has either died or left them intentionally and ah - ah, nope, not that, just patrolling.

when she found out that her mother had not returned with eske's group, blix hadn't bothered to learn much else, and so while she knows vaguely of the other child, she's still a little surprised by her approach. though the ginger has grown surrounded by other children her age, they're all her siblings in one way or another - and she loves them dearly, but the dark figure approaching her is novel.

"hei," she calls, intrigued but wary, because novel means something new, a potential threat to drageda. unlike atajar and her companions, this girl is completely outside of drageda's way of life, and that gives her pause. but she trusts eske's sensibilities and her nomi's decisions enough to stamp down that lingering doubt for now and offer a small smile. "you came back with eske, yeah?"

 it doesn't occur to blix that the girl as an outsider might feel awkward. she cannot conceive of a home outside of drageda - she knows there is a wider world and perhaps one day she'll be motivated to explore it but in truth the ginger girl is a homebody. she's not sure what to make of the girl's anxiety but she doesn't think too hard about it. "cool. i'm blix," she says, oblivious, "welcome to drageda. where are you from?" unlike with atajar, she poses the question with a hint of suspicion, but clearly lacking malice. it is a little weird - wanlida goes to find her mother and instead comes back with a complete stranger, and then the stranger is allowed to stay. maybe she's a little more doubtful than she'd admitted to herself. well, no need to tell the girl that, so long as she proves herself reliable.

 the girl's answer makes sense at least. if she's been lost without help or home, then she needs someone to look out for her. "i can't imagine that," blix says, thinking of how important drageda is to her. would she be able to find her way back home if the unthinkable happened? (yes, she thinks determinedly, absolutely. just like mother should be able to). "do you.. want to remember?" she asks hesitantly. the question is more urgent than it seems: furi is new and lost but blix demands loyalty to drageda if she is going to occupy their home, and it is hard for her to recall softness when more important members of their rank are gone off somewhere. to that affect her darkened amber eyes are oddly fierce, at-odds with the fairly gentle questioning. sorry, furi, you caught her at a weird adolescence.

 she squints slightly, unsure of what to make of furi's answer. it's not a yes or a no and it offers no insight into the girl's loyalty, except the word 'leave' makes her dubious. "i dunno," blix says eventually, looking toward the ocean. "if you chose drageda you don't have to." she doesn't know anything about furi's family life, but the girl doesn't seem to be chomping at the bit to get back to them - still, it is a choice, and she stresses that in her words. of course it is easy for blix to feel this way, being drageda's flesh and blood. she'd never be asked to choose between family and drageda, because drageda is family. but, well, the girl doesn't have the luxury of that much self awareness. after a moment, she at least has the grace to feel a little bad for pressuring the new girl so hard, and adds awkwardly, "my mother's the one eske was looking for. she disappeared a little while ago."

blix softens a little bit when furi apologises. not because she likes "i'm sorry" - what can she do with it? - but because it feels.. better to explain than to take it out on her. it's not really her fault, after all. she sighs and sits down. "it's hard," the ginger child admits. "i don't know why she'd just leave - no, she wouldn't leave, so it has to be foul play." or she did leave, something ugly in her whispers. she ignores it. "so it's just a little.. they were supposed to come back with her, you know?"

the girl sighs again, shrugging miserably at the dark-furred outsider. "sorry, it's not - you're welcome to stay as long as you want." furi probably doesn't need blix to tell her that, but: blix doesn't think about that. her approval matters dangit. and for now, furi can have it. for now.

"no, en's ku," she says, slipping back into her people's tongue absently. blix feels maybe a little guilty. it's not really her intention to make furi feel bad for being here, she just - someone has to understand, right? awkwardly she tries to smile at the girl. "i mean, it's not something you gotta be sorry about. it's good you're here now," blix says, and means it this time. "sorry for unloading all of that on you." she doesn't say because it's irrelevant to you because in her mind it isn't so long as furi is here in drageda, but nonetheless. "um. you can ... unload on me if you want? fair's fair."

 the silence stretches on a moment uncomfortably, and the ginger resists the urge to squirm. it's a bed of her own making - she wouldn't really blame furi for not wanting to talk to her anymore, but then furi talks and -

"a dead body..?" she repeats, eyes going wide. for a moment she panicks, thinking it must have been her mother. but she knows they didn't find her and even if by some weird circumstance furi had seen her mother's dead body and lied about it to the adults she probably would've mentioned it by now. probably? still. she doesn't know about arlo's death, having tuned out pretty much everything after 'mother is still gone.' a sinking feeling takes over her now. "was it someone you knew?" blix asks instead, selfishly hoping the answer is yes, that her people are okay.

 "oh,", blix says, and then, "oh, arlo," an exhalation of mourning. she'd not known arlo well - unlike her brothers, she'd not spent time with him really, but - he had always been there in her life, a solid presence. and now he was gone. and now she could never get to know him. 

she steels her shoulders. arlo's death puts her mother's disappearance in a new light - her other deepest fear. but she can't bring herself to think about it now, so instead she refocuses on furi, eyes suddenly intense. "hey, do you wanna play a game or something?" the girl asks -- an abrupt change of pace and a fairly obvious attempt to distract herself from something - but, maybe furi needs a distraction too, she hopes.

furi agrees hesitantly, which is better than a no at least, but blix realises she hasn't thought this far ahead. "good question," she says sheepishly. but this is a chance to get past her initial awkwardness, so she takes a minute to collect herself and then darts forward, gently tapping the dark-furred girl with one bright red paw. "tag!" the ginger chirps, then darts away, hopeful furi will follow suit.

 blix has stopped considering herself a child since her mother's disappearance - since entering kru - but the slap of her paws and the somewhat anxious-helpless giggling that escapes her as she flees furi's chasing form make her feel like she's playing at youth instead of being the age she really is. it takes a few moments for that to fade completely - for her to come back to herself and remember the simple joy in playing a game with another, and eventually her nervous laughter turns into something more genuine. she can't quite let go of everything but for the moment, things will be okay - just her, furi, and a nice game of tag.