down? whose spirits are down? certainly not blix, who has thrown herself with renewed vigor into her training in the past few days. so what if the only girl she's ever loved and will probably ever love broke her heart into a thousand bitty pieces, and so what if that means she's also out of a best friend -- well, hell, her only friend, really, no offense seri and others who occasionally occupy her peripherary -- she's fiiiine. she did the angry thing and the sad thing and of course she still feels all the angry and sad (she doesn't really have the ability to compartmentalize). but here's the good thing about angry and sad: it can be redirected.

blixen springs to answer nomi's call like a bolt, pleased as punch to have a job, even if it's just dumb hunting (which is artaax and bobby's thing, less hers). she wants to ask why nomi called for her instead of one of them, but she already knows the answer and she does not want to talk about it, so she doesn't speak, focused on helping nomi bring down the deer. there are things for her to focus on. there are things to look forward to. so what if she'll be alone forever -- she has her family and that's worth more.

they're near enough to grimnismal - to all the coastal packs - for blix to be on high alert. even if she's decided that ingram is... not okay, but not a threat, the rest of them are. 

and honestly? she could use the release.

like nomi she catches the faint scent of something, and looks up sharply, feeling the guard hairs along her nape begin to prickle. she sees the woman as nomi does -- what the hell is she doing? something about her boldness is unsettling, and in response blix bares her teeth warningly, echoing nomi's growl.

she doesn't want to guard the kill, she wants to fight -- but she also wants to prove that she's good enough to be cheka and that means keeping herself in check. huffing slightly the gona moves nearer the deer carcass as nomi steps away, her posture erect and defensive, eyes narrowed. whatever the strange woman thought she was up to, she has another thing coming.

as she watches, she itches, every muscle underneath red-furred flesh begging to join, to release any of this pent up energy she carries. but there's no place for her in this fight. so she paces and watches, her normal awe at nomi's fighting prowess tempered by her own frustration.

finally it draws to a close, the strange woman barely escaping with her life. blixen barks, a sharp sound following nomi's call, and takes a moment to inspect nomi's wounds. they aren't terrible, and she feels a belated surge of pride -- that nomi, heda, is powerful, an unstoppable force. even if she should have let blixen fight with her. hmph.

but something about that fight... there was a surety, an aggression that didn't speak to her just being some stranger. curiously blix tilts her head. "did you know her?" she asks, glancing in the direction the woman departed and back to nomi's expression.

although on some level blixen is aware that drageda has existed without her, it's still strange to realise she's witnessed a replaying of a bit of history she's missed. the thing about history is that you think about it as if it's all been put to rest, not as if parts of it are still up and running, living their own lives. it's weird.

her eyes snap back to nomi at the word, even as she follows nomi's gestured instructions. "natrona?" she echoes, and then, "chit don em du?" so many more questions buzz but blix starts with that, expression intense and curious as she waits for an answer.