Dragoncrest Cliffs it's all fun and games until the number of eyes change

Back dated to the morning after the Arrille/Seri thread.

When she separates from @Blixen and Seri, Furi isn’t sure where to go. Her heart racing in her chest, pounding loudly in her ears to the point she can’t hear herself think. At first, she thinks to find Étoille but it takes a large effort to remember he isn’t even here. What can he do anyway? Witchbaby would. God, that would be easy, wouldn’t it? Leaving Drageda and running to find Witchbaby. She seems to be the only one that understands that might even be readily available. She could even stay there and forget Drageda because her spot on the cliffside is no longer hers by the time Heda finds her.

Before she realizes it, night has fallen. The sun is long gone and she’s done nothing but pace the northern borders. Any hint of someone else and she back tracks out of there, avoiding anything that remotely comes near. The seabirds caw occasionally every few hours.

By the time the sun is rising, Furi is no calmer than before. She’s only standing in Drageda because Thuringwethil—or anyone else for that matter—hasn’t found her yet.

Leave. Leave.

Furi’s steps slow to a stop as she hears the crash of waves ahead, beating against the cliffs. She does not notice the garden with a light blanket of snow, disregarding the purposefully placed plants. Her vision is tired and blurry and she ignores the hungry churn of her stomach. With heavy eyes, she sways back and her rump drops to the ground as anxiety-driven exhaustion settles in. It takes every last bit of effort to keep sitting upright.

she leaves seri to settle in, the adrenaline rush of the border incident fading into a serious determination. if furi's still mad at her, well -- well. blixen is stubborn and sort of stupid and she will yap and yap until her friend gives in and talks to her at least. 

thankfully it's not too hard to find the other girl even with the snow, and the ginger tracks her to the edge of the cliff, stepping over the plants much more carefully although her pace is urgent. "furi," she starts, and then falls silent, suddenly too nervous to demand her friend's attention. she doesn't quite notice the sway of furi's body or the anxious expression she wears - yet - but she doesn't know what she'll do if she tries to push her away again.

She doesn’t notice the scent right away, her mind miles away in the middle of the ocean. All she can hear in the moment is one crash after another, one more waft if sea air clogging her nose. She desperately wants to close her eyes but she doesn’t and she isn’t sure why. She only knows she can’t.

When the other girl comes up to one side of her, she jumps and her heart leaps right of out her throat. A lump forms and she looks up at the fiery girl, blinking a few times to bring her in to focus. It is both comfort and dread to see her and she offers a weak smile in return. ”I’m sorry,” she says with a softer voice than usual. ”I didn’t mean... I just thought—“ it’s all lost somewhere in the swirl of incoherence in her mind. Furi takes a long inhale, her front paws clinging to the ground, and she gradually forces herself to stand on weary legs. ”I thought they’d help him like they helped me.”

it's better than furi being cold, but blix's heart pangs all the same. "i get it," she says, her own voice softer than usual too, as if unconsciously matching the other girl's tone. she - does get it, really. furi's a gentle wolf - much kinder than blixen to be honest. she gets it, even if she doesn't always agree with it. "it was.. different with you, 'cause eske brought you back, and eske's been here forever." she doesn't realise she's essentially saying the same old thing: furi's an outsider. she doesn't mean it that way but. damn if it's hard to get around.

the gona sighs and sits, rolling her shoulders in an awkward shrug. "i'm sorry for blowin' up at you about rose before," she says, then adds sheepishly, "i like rose a lot, actually, i was just... jealous of her, i guess." still is, but that's neither here nor there. "and i dont dislike arrille or anything, but it was dumb of him to not try and make himself useful." and to throw furi under the bus (though blix doesn't know he's also undermined her lie, woof).

Blixen says she gets it but Furi isn’t sure she does. She’d gotten upset about Rose that it drove a wedge between them. Somewhere in the back of her mind she always knew there was something different between them. It doesn’t matter how hard she tries, she’ll be an outsider. She can work as hard as she can and they won’t see her any different than before. There will be things she can and can’t do based on this and she turns her gaze to the ground, focusing on something insignificant.

The apology doesn’t surprise her, but when she mentions she likes Rose too does. She blinks a few times and glances up but it doesn’t stay and it’s on the ground again.

”Why is it different? Why were you jealous?” she asks first, even if she knows the answer. Sort of. Eske is part of Drageda in the same way Blixen is, in a way Furi will never ascend to. ”Will I just always be an outsider?” she adds, though her voice cracks and she cringes. ”If they don’t kick me out, I mean,” she offers as an after thought. She hasn’t told anyone else directly about them, but surely they aren’t happy with what she’s done based on all of this. Her heart sits heavy, awkward, and she lets her rear hit the ground again, too tired to keep standing.

the ginger fidgets under furi's questions, still not totally sure she knows the answer. or - she knows the answer but she feels to embarrassed to admit it aloud, especially since she's the one who enabled the situation in the first place. she was scared rose would replace her and it's her fault now that it's happened. stupid self-fufilling prophecies. 

"no one's gonna kick you out," blixen says, surprised and a little horrified. "i wouldn't let them, and i can handle nomi." nomi will be unhappy, she knows, but furi doesn't deserve to be punished for trying to be nice. and she's right, eske did set a precedent for her. "and - if i pulled the same move i'd be in trouble too, so it's not just -- eske's someone nomi really trusts, she's wanlida."

blixen sucks in a deep breath. "and i was jealous 'cause - i don't know, i got scared you were replacing me and i panicked? but i don't blame you, rose is really pretty and smart and nice and i'm, y'know, kinda bad at... communicating and stuff." her ears flatten back, embarrassed and a little ashamed but it's the truth and it's out there now, so. ball's in your court, furi.

No one’s gonna kick you out.
 
Part of her doesn’t believe her words but the part of her that doesn’t have the energy to fight back causes her to deflate and she lowers her head a little. “I just keep messing up,” she says, though she scoots closer. Blixen is right, at least. Eske has been a long standing member to hold such a rank and has accepted wolves before, with power she doesn’t suspect she’ll ever acquire.
 
“I couldn’t replace you,” she says once Blixen opens up to why. After the meeting with Arrille and Blixen taking some of the blame, there’s no denying it. “You’re my best friend.” All the one sided conversations, the strife of helping Blixen get over her absent mother, all of it pales in comparison. When it really matters, she’s there. If she hadn’t been at the borders with her, who is to say what would have happened?

furi finally moves closer and blix lets go of a breath she didn't know she was holding. "you aren't," she starts to protest (she's the one messing up) -- but then her friend speaks again. i couldn't replace you, and blix puffs up slightly, beaming --

you're my best friend, furi finishes, and a little of a shine comes off that smile. but it's quick and blix moves closer to bury her nose against furi's neck for a moment. "mine too," she says, pulling away. and it's true, and this means they're done fighting, so why does she still feel so weird about the whole thing? 

"you're not messing up," she adds after a moment, trying to put the weird feelings aside for now. "you're just - nice. you care about people - that's a good thing, usually." sheepishly the gona smiles and shrugs: drageda's not soft-hearted the way furi is, usually. but she's learning to not see it as a bad thing, just a different thing.

Sorry not sorry

It was a toss-up between the commander and her daughter. It might have been easier to decide if Heda spoke the common tongue more often, but then again, the commander's actions spoke far louder than her words, at least to the bird's dark eyes.

The red daughter, however, clearly spoke what was on her heart. To her shaded friend, at least.

The bird listened intently from a few yards away, pecking at a pine cone so as to seem busy to the pair. It did not often visit the ground around wolves, but the pair seemed intent on their conversation. Besides, it was easiest to listen from this position, and the bird had already gained much valuable insight from the pair. Perhaps the red daughter was not what it was searching for, but she had certainly helped the bird's cause.

Suddenly, the dark bird erupted into motion, taking to the air as if startled by some distant sound. But instead of winging away from the predators, it banked sharply toward them and grabbed a clump of red fur from the daughter's flank. Prize held carefully in a dark beak, the bird fled the scene of its crime.

Furi leans into Blixen as she buries her face into her thick fur. She turns her head and presses against her, eyes close. There is a warmth she can’t explain, a feeling she hasn’t encountered in a very long time. When Blixen pulls away, Furi is reluctant and she leans forward a little bit before there’s more space between them for her to make awkward. Her ears fall back against her head and she tilts back, keeping her eyes on the fiery girl’s face. 

As Blixen assures her she’s not messing up, calling her nice, Furi doesn’t know how to respond. The tone doesn’t give away anything in particular and she knows her friend doesn’t mean it any other way, but it still doesn’t quite settle right. Before she has the chance to come up with anything, a black bird flies up out of nowhere toward the purr, closer to Blixen than her, and flies away with all its might. Furi shuffles back and out of the way, more startled than anything in her now growing delirious state. 

She turns to Blixen with wide eyes and puffed out fur. Did you see that?

time feels slow as they part, as they share a moment of intimacy they haven't in a long time. well - a long time by the impatient ginger's standards. she watches her friend, expression soft, trying to think of how to put into words something important she can't quite figure out, but the moment is interrupted by a sudden flash of feather and whshhh of air. startled, blixen jumps, but not before the blasted bird grabs a beakful of her fur - and before she can react the foul thing is gone and she's left with a stinging haunch and a tiny bald spot.

"augh!" she wails, bursting out laughing, "kripapeka!" the serious air that had settled on them, blocking out their surroundings, is shattered as the ginger laughs her way to the ground, wheezing. "why - why is it always me - who gets attacked -?" she asks, still laughing a little bit, recalling the evil crab that had assaulted her on the beach not so long ago.

At first, she doesn’t know what to expect, but it is most certainly not laughter. As Blixen erupts into the giggles, Furi stares at her for a moment. Unable to put two and two together yet, she nervously gives her a few chuckles before she realizes what she’s talking about. Her awkward laughter turns into something a little more heartfelt and she smiles, wagging her tail. Maybe it’s the lack of sleep, or maybe it’s truly funny, but either way Furi feels a little loopy all of a sudden.
 
“Probably because you deserve it,” she says playfully—nervously—before she carefully steps forward to examine the spot.

"do not," she says, mock-offended, holding still to allow furi to look at it (really, you can barely tell, the subtlest of bald spots). after a moment, she sighs and says, "no, you're right, i do." the ginger looks at her friend apologetically, ears flicked back. "i'm lucky you put up with me," she mumbles, and averts her eyes, suddenly nervous -- though why she can't say.

Blixen objects (at first) and Furi wrinkles her nose, glancing to the side as she gets closer. When she looks back, she can’t really find the spot anymore and she twists her lips into a scowl before putting a little space between them. A sinking feeling develops in her chest when Blixen does admit to it and she tries to smile but it’s strained. She doesn’t know why it’s so hard to accept it, not realizing just how deep it hurt her in the beginning and why she’s lingering on it now. 

“You are,” she says and tries to smile again, this time a little more genuine. The urge to bump her nose against Blixen’s cheek causes her own face to feel flush. Her tail gently sweeps behind her, feeling too awkward to say or do anything else.

when furi's nose brushes against her cheek a small whine escapes her, unbidden, and she colors and looks at her feet. "sheesh," the ginger says, embarrassed, "okay. are we friends again?" she thinks they're - better, if not back to normal completely (if they can ever get back to normal now that blixen has an idea of how deeply she hurt furi) but she's also... not very good at reading others, especially furi. so she wants to hear it from her directly. she wants her best friend back.

Furi frowns a little when Blixen asks if they are friends again and she slowly leans back, sitting down again. “We were never not friends,” she tells the other with a slight twist of her lips. A smile beginning, maybe, or the rest of her frown, but she shakes her head. She doesn’t want to swell on it, or make it anymore weird than it is. “I’m really tired,” she says, offering a weak attempt at changing the conversation and directing the focus to something else.

she doesn't know what to make of furi's expression despite the comfort that her words should give - but she doesn't have time to respond before furi changes the subject anyway. now that she mentions it, she does look tired, blixen thinks. "okay," she says, to everything furi's said, and nudges her gently with her snout. "you should take a nap," she adds - and hopes maybe she can get furi to come back to the dang den at least.