Sleeping Dragon "I love you, Crona."

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@Thuringwethil. Here we gooo

At some during her traveling with the pregnant woman, the two had separated. Left to head off on her own, Sen had trailed north, intending to leave the Wilds behind her once again. She could only assume that Serpent's Keep existed, still, and progressed with it as her destination. If not the pack she'd left behind, then she hoped to at least find Cethin, for he could put her at ease; or perhaps they'd fall into a grand argument. Either scenario worked for her, knowing what to do to get a rise out of him, and planning to use such methods against him should he attempt to turn her away. It was an odd dance that they performed when with one another, something that she had missed, really. It was something, too, that she looked forward to taking part in once again.

During her trek, however, she'd been met by a border. The scent was familiar, yet, she'd not turned away from it. Rather, the serpent slipped back into her old ways, wandering along it, but without actually crossing into the claimed lands. It was a game she'd played before, and had succeeded in getting away in time, and so her past streak made her cocky. Little attention was paid to the inner reaches of the land, her sights being set on the land beyond Teekon.

Thuringwethil is ending her patrol around the bend before she retires to her cave—something she’s made note to try and spend more nights in—and her gait has slowly to enjoy the cool, evening air. The days are often hot but she’s noticed a slight drop in the last week or so, thankful for the upcoming cooler weather. Winter isn’t that far around the corner, either, and she’s thankful the children will be old enough to handle it well. She’d only been through half a winter in the teekon and even what she’s seen has been fairly mild compared to the one she’s experienced prior.

She’s distracted a moment as a scent fills her nose that, after a moment, she recognizes with ease. It may has been some time since she’d crossed paths but she knows it’s something she won’t forget any time soon. She’s found her home abandoned not that long ago, either, and the purpose for it being this close is enough to unsettle her stomach. Heda growls low as she trots several yards until she spots the dark figure in the distance, further down where the slope meets flat ground. With the other in view, she slows her gait to an even swagger until she’s within ear shot.

“You have one chance to leave.”

It wasn't long before her presence had been discovered, but unconcerned had the woman been by the other's approach. The voice reached her ears and she turned to glance towards its owner, but made no move that might indicate a plan to leave. Not yet, anyways. To drag the encounter out was something she'd done in the past, and felt inclined to do it once again in the present. Several steps had been taken before she'd stopped, no more than a meter's worth of distance between herself and the border.

"I'm not on your land," was her defense. "I'm outside of your claim, so I have no reason to leave." The land she walked upon belonged to no one, that was true, but she knew that that didn't really matter. Yet, she also didn't care, her mind ruled by the game that she'd decided to play.

She heaved a breath, catching herself doing it again. She was dwelling. Wildfire shook her head, scolded herself and continued her stroll through the territory. She wasn't hunting, not really, though she did keep an eye out for signs of small game. The yearling was mostly trying to clear her head, which had been full of cotton since the commander's dismissal of her a few days prior. They hadn't gotten an opportunity to speak about it and Wildfire was honestly a little afraid to bring it up. There must have been a good reason Thuringwethil had sent her away—one that didn't have to do with the Heda not trusting her or wanting to keep secrets from her—but Wildfire's scumbag brain wasn't being very cooperative.

There she went again, fidgeting mentally. "Gosh da—rn it," Wildfire muttered at herself, then abruptly jerked her head when a strange scent blustered her way, accompanied by a much more familiar one. She glanced to her left and saw Thuringwethil facing a lissome black wolf near the territory's fringes. Her first instinct was to withdraw, since the commander didn't seem to have needed her in these situations, but then the red fur along her spine prickled warily when she saw her companion's body language. Suppressing her own insecurities and questions, the Bandrona moved forward to flank her leader.

She caught the tail end of the black woman's words and her amber eyes widened, then narrowed. Wildfire was no fighter, yet when it came to Thuringwethil, a different side of her tended to come out, as it did now. "Would you like us to give you a reason?" she said coldly, black tail stiffening and arching. Her heart was beating a hundred miles per hour in her chest and her limbs shook slightly, yet Wildfire moved slowly forward, eyes boring into the stranger who dared disrespect the Heda.

The woman’s words do not surprise Heda but they get a rise out of her fur. The mane around her neck bristles and she inches forward a step. While there hasn’t been much trouble from her pack when they existed, the few times she crossed paths with her had been less than pleasant. The same attitude standing before her today mimics the one she’d seen at the boulder and the marsh some months ago. Irritation shows as her fur ruffles with a flash of her teeth, temporarily distracted by Wildfire’s presence.

Her ears pivot upon her head to meet the fiery girl but she does not break contact with the other dark female. The attention Wildfire gets doesn’t last long, and she doesn’t give the seadog a chance to answer, before her legs unlock the springs and launches forward. Her chance had been up long before Wildfire had approached the scene and there is little that may have stopped her. The last cycle her legs take before she reaches Sen gives her a boost of speed, jaws opening for the woman’s sensitive flesh should she not turn hide and run.

As it slowly cools off for the day, he's well arisen, and just gearing up for his own round of patrol. As routine, and it went on as such in the beginning. Eventually scents spoke of something more, drawing in his focus, and he knew immediately where he'd go next. His muscles fresh, he sped up to a rolling lope to find out more.

It's not of the Dragon and as he draws into sight, he recognizes the dark coated female -- although it is not a noteworthy memory she spurs in him. The commander and bandrona are here already as well, and he does catch the tail end of their words, but he judges enough by sight alone. She's not welcome and they all know this. Dio loomed in closer, increasing the pressure on the situation with a purposeful stride forward and stiffening tail when he saw the heda make her lunge.

His fur rose into a bristle and now, there's no mistaking this. He passes a fleeting glance to Wildfire, uncertain if she would join the fray as well, but he prepared to provide the support -- and extra set of snapping jaws -- when necessary. The loner could still run, but as soon as the heda's jaws got a hold of her, he knew it would be satisfying. Even more so should she dare to turn her teeth upon their commander; he'd spare nothing.

Joined were they by two others, though only one of which had spoken. Sen had considered her answer, but never had any words been made to leave her mouth. Before she'd been able to say anything, the darkest of the trio had been upon her with jaws opened wide. Normally the woman was quick, but her lack of focus on the actual situation at hand had resulted in her reaction time having turned to scat. She'd been able to do little more than turn, but there'd been no distance placed between herself and the others. Rather, her head had snapped back around as teeth met her shoulder, her own lips having been pulled back to reveal her incisors.

Sen, however, was not a fighter. Not really, anyways. She'd been taught to act with words alone, vanity and the nature of her family having made the art of battle seem barbaric. Now she would pay the price for having never learned to physically defend herself.

Free to do whatever to her.

There was no time for a riposte. Thuringwethil flung herself at the belligerent she-wolf, soon after followed by Dio, who appeared as if out of nowhere. Wildfire blinked but stood back, not joining the fray but not moving away either. Every muscle tense, she watched, ready to move in to help if it was required. But she didn't think those two needed the backup of a failed warrior against a wolf who was more likely than not a lot more bark than bite.

When the wolf does not run away from her charge, her teeth sinking into the skin behind her shoulder, she clamps down and with everything she has, she forces the woman to the ground. She had the chance to turn and escape with nothing more than a few punctures from fleeing but instead she’s using her weight to knock her down. The taste of blood fills her mouth and the thrill of battle—something Drageda has been quiet of lately—erases her surroundings.

Thuringwethil doesn’t even notice Dio nearby, forgetting Wildfire had shown up a moment prior, as everything goes in to the ripping flesh. Overpowering the woman is easier than she expects when she doesn’t feel any sudden shooting of pain from her own wounds. The assessment will come later as she releases her grip only to go in for a second, more tender attack of the neck.

It escalated quickly and their commander is brutally quick to overwhelm the dark loner, who does not seem equipped to fight her off in full. Dio can hardly get close enough before she's got her teeth dug deep, pulling the other down, then readying for a strike on her throat. He feels no mercy for the female he knows only vaguely. It's surely a series of mistakes leading her to here, he doesn't even care to understand the lengths of it. All he can do is rumble encouragingly in a show of teeth that leave the loner no escape routes, even if it'll take an impressive feat to get her out of the heda's grasp,. He knows better than to interfere, or waste her time by getting in the way, so he's backup at best since its most dutiful, yet respectful; it's not his kill to steal from his commander.

Throughout her shoulder there'd arisen a searing pain, something of faint familiarity to her. Whether it'd been the same shoulder damaged before or not, she couldn't tell nor really cared to do so. Having been kicked into gear, she'd tried to twist away, but her efforts proved to be useless as she'd instead felt herself being pushed towards the ground. Sen tried to fight it, to right herself and tear herself away from the scene, but she'd been unable to do so. Her body had never been meant for battle, and neither had her mind. She'd been left without an obvious way to escape, and any attempts to seek flesh with her own teeth had surely failed.

It wasn't long after she'd been forced against the earth that her attacker's next, and final, move had been played. She'd hardly seen the flash of teeth before jaws had found themselves around her neck, essentially stealing from her any hope of leaving alive. In her final moments, she'd been able to think of no one other than her daughters, from the one that lived, to the one she'd lost, and then to the one that she'd killed. Their faces had appeared before her very eyes, and then they were gone just as she'd taken her final breath.

Just like Sao and the unnamed cretin, her life had ended, the final chapter of her story having been brought to a close.

Wildfire was afforded a front row seat to what eventually turned into an execution. It almost seemed like the she-wolf didn't try to get away, or at least her effort came far too late. With deadly prowess and expertise, Thuringwethil and Dio fell upon her, swift to deal a fatal blow. The Bandrona blinked but did not move. She couldn't understand why the stranger had come here to antagonize them in the first place, then scarcely tried to save her own neck. Perhaps this had been some sort of suicide mission?

They would never know, for she soon lay dead at their feet. Wildfire continued standing still, peering at the lifeless body rather dispassionately aside from a slight furrow in her brow. She then glanced up at her comrades to see if either of them had sustained any wounds in the short altercation. She wasn't a medic but she could still help tend to them, the commander especially. The yearling knew Thuringwethil didn't need anyone to look after her but she still considered it part of her wifely (for lack of a better term) duties.

Never is it any easier.

Teeth clutch together as they pierce through skin no more delicate than her own. She severs the tie the woman has from her life in a matter of seconds as if she were nothing more than prey. She does not fight back anymore than a deer might and as the body falls limp in her grasp, Heda's jaws release. The body falls to the ground and does not move, blood oozing from the punctures in her neck. Darkened grey eyes stare down upon the body and for several seconds she stands there in silence.

It is not her first kill.

It is, however, the first kill within Drageda and the thought alone lifts Heda's head with a sick sort of pride of christening.

"Yu gonplei ste odon," she says in a voice barely above a whisper.

Blood drips from her muzzle as she raises it, squaring her shoulders and looking to one side first at Dio, then Wildfire. She meets her mate's gaze for a long moment while reality comes back to her, uncertainty creeping up the back of her mind for how she may react to what has unfolded. When Heda breaks the gaze, she licks her lips free of the metallic taste as best as she can but knows it will take a lot more for her to cleanse.

Without another word, Heda glances down once at the kill and then begins to take her leave.

It was over fast. Thuringwethil was effective in her motions, leaving him little gaps to even need filling. The dark female fell soon enough to land lifelessly upon their grounds. He regarded it as a suitable enough conclusion for the indignant beast, and now with new adrenaline no longer coursing so fiercely, he began to settle himself to look between the Dragon's leaders after a short nod in the commander's direction. Wildfire's silence was noted too, but he would not look into it at length. Not here.

Dio stepped back to survey this settling dust, and shook out his fur before he too took his leave, however in the opposite direction of Thuringwethil.

The commander did not appear to be wounded, nor did Dio. Wildfire felt relief sweep through her, though a look of consternation passed over her face when Thuringwethil met her gaze for a long beat, only to turn away and depart. Dio did the same thing, in the opposite direction. That left Wildfire standing there over the dead and bloodied body with an um, guys? expression on her face.

She hesitated for an instant, then trailed after the Heda. If Thuringwethil wanted space, Wildfire wouldn't infringe. But if she needed help cleaning up or going over what had just happened, the Bandrona wanted to make herself available.