Sleeping Dragon ch-ch-ch-changes

@Magpie

The mountain had not changed much since the arrival and dispersal of the bugs. Not to Seregryn's limited knowledge, anyways. She was so enthralled by the lingering creatures - as well as the dead ones - that she didn't really investigate the territory upon her return. She didn't even wash the scattered remains of the insects off of her body; instead, she wore their grimey innards like badges of honor, parading about with immense glee. Seregryn took turns chasing any lingering bugs, or she busied herself with finding the dead ones and chowing down on them, letting her belly fill up with their mucus-like meat; she was scampering from one end of the territory to the other, and was in such a rush with her enthusiasm that she didn't really pay attention to where she was going, and thus when she rounded a bend in the ridge, she smacked right in to a dark figure, and crumpled to the ground with a snort.

SRY FOR FORGETTING ABOUT THIS I AM A JERK I AM SO SORRY PLZ FORGIVE

Magpie hadn't yet dared to taste the bugs, though she knew insects could be a valuable source of food... if one was desperate. As far as she knew, there was plenty of much tastier meat available in the Wilds, and so her concern was more about the infestation itself and the damage it had done to Drageda. She didn't yet know that it had spanned much farther than their mountain, nor the consequences it would have for them all: and so, for now, she treated it like a mere curiosity.

She was making her way through the mountain, surveying the territory with more calm now that a few days had passed, when something— someone— roughly collided with her. "What the fuck," she queried in a surprised bellow, spinning to look upon her assailant.

Its ok!!

They were connected for an instant, and then Seregryn was down on her ass. The stranger she encountered looked a lot like herself, and for a briefly addled second, Sere thought she as having an out-of-body experience. Maybe it was all the bug juices, but she couldn't shake the unnerving sensation that fell across her in that moment. When the stranger spoke, she realized it was just another dark-coated wolf; a woman, in fact.

They spoke with the tongue of warriors, like the red girl (Wildfire) had; the fos goufa did not bother to reply. If this was another outsider that Thuringwethil had allowed entry, that was fine - but she was not interested. Without even a half-assed apology uttered between herself and this obstacle, Seregryn got to her paws, licked her muzzle to remove some dust and an errant bug leg from it, and turned to leave the girl's presence behind.

Her surprised inquiry went unanswered, and the dark creature that had clumsily run into her had crumpled onto the ground at her feet. "Hey, are you al—" she began, noting the way the other looked at her (as if she had grown a second and third head), but the stranger was up and moving before Magpie could complete the question. Fucking rude. The Corvidae was not unaware that she was an outsider here, and not unaware of the tension her rapid ascension to fleimkepa had caused within the ranks.

She was not a usually aggressive woman, but there was a heaviness of thought that weighed upon her body. It was enough that Thuringwethil trusted her. Magpie knew this, and yet still loathed the way the others seemed to think she was not suited for the job. Her lips peeled back, hackles and tail raising up. She licked her teeth as she followed the other, body tense; only Gyda and Thuringwethil ranked above her, and she would demand respect.

Whether this dark woman was fit for the job or not, that wasn't her issue. Seregryn wouldn't have liked knowing that this stranger was fleimkepa, but she wasn't going to resist it as much as she resisted Gyda being a fellow heda. In fact, Seregryn had no opinion about this girl save for the fact that they were clearly not a part of the grounder army; they were an outsider. It irked her more that Thuringwethil continued to bring strangers upon the mountain, strangers who did not know their ways or their language. Seregryn, therefore, only displayed her arrogance and irritation to this girl, because of what she was, not who. The girl didn't even know who Magpie was. She had no knowledge of how important the dark-pelted woman was to Thuringwethil or to the pack, becaue to Seregryn, she was the most important next to the heda.

This woman did not take kindly to the brush-off, and she came at Seregryn with teeth and posture. This may turn out to be the worst moment of bad translation yet. Seregryn turned sharply when she heard steps in tandem with her own, the fur of her nape bristling in waves of copper and black. She was met with the sight of teeth and a raised tail, and at first the girl was surprised by this. Surprise swiftly transformed her ego; Seregryn rivaled the posture of the dark woman by raising her own tail and arching her own head, her tongue flicking across her exposed top teeth as she too lifted a lip. She did not grimace in the same way as the outsider though, only flashed her teeth and then hid them once more. Her eyes bore in to Magpie's own, scarlet and sharp, and gradually became an agitated squint.