Moonspear and all the people in a dream wait for the machine

yay, congrats! :D

Charon realised how very little he knew about Drogon, the wolf who had come from Blackfeather Woods. He'd been just a pup when he had come and was still very much just a pup in the eyes of the Alpha now, but it seemed a little too coincidental to Charon that he kept being around when important things happened. When a wolf from his old pack would come and try to seize his daughter so that he could gain favours with the girl and her father. When Vela named Drogon a warrior Charon scoffed, for he thought the boy to be nothing more than just a boy. In her eyes perhaps he was some sort of idol because their ages were similar and he fancied himself to be a strong tough rogue of some sorts, but she was better off practising with her older sisters or her parents or any of the adults of the Spear if she wanted to be good.

Truthfully Charon hoped that Drogon would simply leave at the 'thank you', but he stayed, as if he somehow thought he was wanted here. "And see where that got you," Charon said, his voices strained, as he finished nosing over Vela to make sure that she was alright. His voice softened as he continued: "You should be careful. You won't become a good warrior by pretending to be one. You will become a great warrior by training and fighting alongside me and mama and your sisters, by growing up strong, by training your muscles — not by simply picking up wolves you want to be like and pretending you are already there." A tough lesson, perhaps, but one that she needed to learn. Charon snuggled the side of Vela's face as he said softly: "I don't want to lose you, sweetie." The world had taught him how fragile the youth were and he would not stand to lose another one of his children, especially not to their own stupidity.

As for this Iliksis wolf: "What does he look like? We will alert the pack to kill him if they find him anywhere near the mountain." Or otherwise, should there be enough force. Or maybe Redhawk and Drageda would take care of their problem before it was necessary.

Vela didn't realize that her father didn't see Drogon in the same light as that she did him. The daughter slowly felt quiet when her father told her not to pretend that she was a warrior. The girl looked instantly hurt. Her father was her biggest idol and to hear him talk like that to her that she should be careful and be training hurt her. She had been training!! This was also going to be a training. She was not pretending. She would never pretend to be something. Her blue eyes looked hurt.

"I was training. I am, Daddy. I trained with Jarilo and Mommy and with Hydra and Jarilo. I also trained with Drogon. This was also going to be a training. I promised Drogon not to go close to the borders and I didn't. We would have a training today and I was early," she explained. "Then that Ilik-guy showed up." She didn't want her father to think bad of her. She had been doing all these trainings so he would be proud of her. But now she felt like he was chastising her. Her ears flopped back. She hadn't done that at all. It was not how things went down. She hadn't deliberately sought this male out. He approached her and she just told him to go away.

Vela was disappointed. Mostly in herself as her father didn't see how hard she worked to make him happy with her. She couldn't hide it on her freckled face. She was upset.

drogon does a poor job of masking his surprise and disapproval as charon is exceptionally harsh to vela with his words. vela had been training and while drogon wasn't a master warrior he puffed up, indignant, while charon wrote him off and acted like he wasn't a worthy mentor to his daughter. that prickled at drogon's pride like sharp pin needles. it was obvious that charon doesn't approve of him, and drogon lets out a near inaudible scoff. he's been nothing but loyal to moonspear: he's patrolled their borders, filled their caches, recruited those that would be useful to them and gave them all the information he could on their enemies. this was why he generally avoided the leadership aside from hydra: he could feel the rise of protest in his throat, the urge to butt in and remind charon that he's not been idle nor has he been dead weight.

and vela ...she was visibly upset. that fact alone angered him more than charon's subtle jabs at him and implication that he wasn't worthy to teach her ( and probably be with her ). "with all due respect, sir," drogon breaks his silence, unable to stand that look in vela's eyes and the building ire that it was her own father — whom she idolized more than anyone — who was causing it. blue-black fur close to the nape of his blueish-silver 'mane' ruffling ever-so-slightly as a chilly breeze presses against him. he uses the breeze to hide the physical evidence of his annoyance. "vela just wants to impress you. i told her i would patrol with her and teach her because she's eager to learn and wanted to surprise you with her skills." drogon understood charon was afraid of losing her like he lost galaxy but drogon also thought charon was being unnecessarily rude to his youngest daughter. especially because vela just wanted charon to be proud of her — even a blind man could see that. it was annoying to the ansbjørn how much she idolized her father but he endured it because ...it made vela who she was and drogon liked her for all of her imperfections and things that annoyed him.

drogon itches to go to her, to press his muzzle to her cheek and assure her that she was brave and was doing well in her lessons but as he doubted charon would appreciate that drogon holds off. he would tell her when he could steal her away for a private moment. "he's mostly gray with yellow eyes. coywolf, if i had to guess. his features are too sharp to be pure wolf." drogon recalls from their first meeting. there was no time to observe or process much during this encounter but as drogon'd had the unfortunate ( or perhaps fortunate in this case ) pleasure of meeting him previously, very briefly, he was able to provide the alpha with a basic description of vela's assailant.

It was heart-breaking to see Vela's face fall when he told her that she should be more careful, but Charon knew that he needed to. He didn't think Drogon was a bad teacher necessarily, for training with peers would make her strong too, but he was still a child all the same and couldn't protect her like her family could. He would not risk to lose her that way. Charon's face softened visibly when Vela said that she had wanted to go training. "Alright, sweetie, just..." He glanced to the side as Drogon cut in to his pause to confirm Vela's story, a thing unnecessary in Charon's eyes but he nodded to accept the words; Drogon had chased off the assailant after all, so he swallowed his pride for the moment. Truthfully he just wished Drogon would leave so that he could speak with Vela in private but the same rescue kept him from telling him to sod off. He didn't deserve that.

"That's good to hear." Then, looking to Vela again, "Just... Be careful. It's often better to call for others than take on an enemy on your own. Even your daddy calls for the help of the rest of the pack when someone bad's at the borders." He winked at Vela as he mentioned this, saying it as if it was a secret thing. He hoped that Vela's face would light up a little with this because it was hard seeing her so upset. Yet to him, she was still his little girl and this was only a confirmation of her fragility. Especially after losing Galaxy Charon was worried more easily about his children, where he'd let his first batch more freely roam and bump their toes and make their own lessons.

"Do you want to go find mama? I'm sure she'll want to hear about how brave you were," suggested Charon to Vela, hoping to further build her mood up a bit again. He glanced at Drogon and said, sounding a little calmer now that the adrenaline in his veins was dying down a little, "Thank you again. I'll make sure to inform the rest of the pack of this wolf." Charon got up then and nuzzled Vela's cheek to urge her to get up and follow so they could find the rest of the family.

By the time Hydra and her sisters showed, much had come to pass. With Moonspear being as large as it was, the Beta and her sisters marked diligently the other part of their territory, and even participated in dispatching two coyotes. They were unaware that a coywolf was the more present danger; the call that had come arrived, unbeknownst to the trio, after the incident occurred. 

And so they arrived in a full sprint, determination in their eyes. Their pace slowed considerably when they noted no others there but their family, and as @Alya and @Lyra surveyed Vela, Drogon, and their father, Hydra moved past them all to sniff the marred earth. The scent was undeniable; Hydra licked her chops and her muzzle wrinkled as she swung to face the group. It seemed that things had settled here, but Hydra was far from content herself. She noted that her father was far from it, as well. She looked to Drogon, a proud glint in her eye—no doubt he had taken care of things, though she did wish he had called sooner so she could have partaken. 

She had not caught the tail-end of his speech. Hydra shook out her ruff and invited Drogon to her side. Let's see where his trail might lead, she invited. He was Vaati's wolf, but just like Titmouse this would not stop her from seeking a proper justice for her sister should they find him. Nodding to her father, Hydra and her sisters moved out—it was up to Drogon if he would join them or not.

Vela was surprised that Drogon defended her. She was grateful for his words. Her father seemed to be more supportive of her training now. She offered Drogon a grateful smile. Vela did blush a bit, not that anyone would see, because now it wasn't such a secret that she was working on her mercenary for her father. But perhaps it was good that he knew about it. Vela nodded when her daddy winked. "I will, Daddy," she spoke, still feeling a bit small. Though, she knew that she probably would forgive him.

Vela glanced at Drogon when her father suggested to tell her mother what happened. She didn't really want to leave Drogon here. But then again, he would be able to help search for her attacker. As her sister pointed out moments later. "Alright. I will tell Mama. Then you all can look for this Iliksis," she spoke. "Thank you, drogon," she spoke once more.