Dragoncrest Cliffs Come along with me

Backdating to September 20th for timeline sake. (-1008 hrs)

With @Buckshot in tow, Sequoia made her way back home with relative ease. She was getting better and better about retracing her steps and looking to the sun for guidance. Her newfound friend had hummed and sung the journey back, and it felt like no time at all had passed by the time they arrived at Drageda.

Once there, she immediately rang out for @Blixen, @Helix, and Daddy @Dio. She couldn't remember who was allowed to make the final say, so she figured she'd better be safe than sorry. She cast Buckshot a confident, hopeful, and relaxed smile. This would be easy peasy, right? She had picked him, after all.

the cajun had followed without a second thought. the young lady had led them back along a vast expanse of beach and ocean. though he had started to tire of the cry of gulls and the constant beating of the waves against the sandy shore, the brute could not have said that he'd tired of the company. the young tree was something of a mature little scrap, he'd realized. though, buck wasn't the best judge of character in others, and he certainly wasn't the sharpest tool in the crayon box, he'd had a great time trekking beside the youthful gal.

once they had approached well-marked borders, the cajun furrowed his brow and cast a thoughtful frown to his broad muzzle. “dis is it, den, eh?” he inquired to the girl. “it ain't bad.” surely, it could have improved with a splash of bog and some tall trees, but he had seen far worse territories that had been claimed by his kind. to each their own, he guessed.

“we jus' wait den?”

blix is still tightly strung about bat's disappearance, still holding out hope that furi will reappear into her life, still unsure about how to do this leading-thing. but it is nigh instinctive for her to respond to calls at the borders. she recognizes sequoia's voice with some curiousity, wondering what the kiddo is up to -- though she doesn't have to wonder for long. as she arrives her eyes narrow, suspiciously sweeping over the dark male beside her cousin. 

"sequoia," she asks, not taking her eyes off of the stranger, "who is this?" was she wandering outside the territory? not that blix has any concern over that beyond being tense about kids going missing. no, she's just having a flashback to the last time someone showed up with an outsider, and look at how that had gone. (sometimes she still thinks about arrille and how nice it would be to tear his throat out). furi is not here to be her conscience but she does not grow enpassioned yet. she can wait and see.

Sequoia nodded to answer both his questions with a bright, proud smile. Drageda had been her home since the day she was born, and she planned on keeping it that way. Although she enjoyed stepping outside the cliffs from time to time, she knew this would remain her home. Anywhere else just wouldn't feel right. She was excited to introduce him to the rest of the pack—especially Kiwi—and she was even more excited to put this on her record for becoming an adult. No child would bring home a recruit, would they?

This is Buckshot! she announced to Blixen in a pitch just a bit higher than she'd meant to. I recruited him! Sequoia's enthusiasm knew no bounds, but she also knew that Buckshot would probably have to speak for himself at some point, so she looked at him expectantly to make his own case.

it took almost no time at all for a reddish figure to approach them on the border with a skeptical expression. the cajun was already questioning of his place there, glancing toward the only one who had been addressed in their scenario: sequoia. for one, he was moderately flustered that he didn't seem capable enough to answer his own questions. at least, the bear felt as though he could respond to queries about his calling and where he'd come from. instead, he furrowed his brow a bit and turned toward his young companion.

sequoia responded without missing a beat, and her tone was positive and uplifting enough that even the gruff scoundrel was forced to crack a lazy grin. with pointed canines poking from beneath his dark lips, the dappled fellow turned his attention back toward the red wolf with a dumb expression and a wagging tail. “dat's jus' how it happen, she don' lie,” he confirmed with a swift nod of his skull and a bit of a dipping down. there was an assumption that this was the higher up, and most of those types wanted to have their ego padded a little bit with displays of submissive posture. buckshot dropped his head toward the earth and then lifted it back up with a swift flagging of his tail.

“whatchu need from me?”

sequoia's enthusiasm dampens the last of blixen's ire, though she is still not pleased about the whole affair. she's too little to know who to trust (though, she supposes, that this buckshot accompanied her back with seemingly no ill designs is something). part of her wants to complain drageda doesn't recruit! only, hell, that's never been true exactly, and she and helix had just spoken on the value of doing exactly that.

outloud she says, "buckshot," turning her attention to him as he speaks. her eyes have not left him except briefly when her cousin spoke -- if nothing else he looks appropriately submissive. "alright," blix says, "i have two questions -- one, what has sequoia told you about us? and drageda? and two -- what do you have to offer us?"

permission to skip rem was granted

it was hard to imagine that buck could have been capable of causing harm to anyone. he was fond of wrestling with his siblings and the other boys he'd grown up with. he enjoyed the feeling of asserting his power over another, but it was mostly out of fun. fighting gave him a good kick out of life. the cajun felt like it was a good way to express all those things he kept bottled up inside. mostly, the bearish creature didn't know how to properly let that stuff out. scrambling around in the dirt with his teeth snapping and his legs kicking seemed to be the best way that he'd discovered.

the reddish figure seemed as though she was willing to hear the coonass out on what he was capable of. as for what the youngster had told him about their home, well he felt right foolish because he didn't think that he'd asked too much. he did know that there were frogs there and she was claiming to be good at gigging them, so that sure felt like enough. trying to make a good picture of himself, buckshot straightened up and cast a daft expression at blixen, who seemed to be gazing on him with a piercing stare.

“well, ah am righ' good at scrappin' – you is lookin' at da bes' fightah in da sout',” he started, hoping that if he lead with his strengths, he could win some favors from the harsh-featured leader. “an this'n didn' say much 'bout ya'll. she's good company, doh... had tah get dat from somewheres, eh?” he inquired pleasantly, gesturing with his muzzle toward seqouia. then, the cajun fixed the red figure with a daft smile that stretched his features upward and caused his argent gaze to glimmer. that had to be a great sell, right? who could deny such a well-thought and well-phrased introduction.

as he speaks, blixen's eyes take on a decidedly more intrigued glint. she gives him another once-over, as if to ascertain his fighting abilities from his body language, the curve of his muscles under fur. he's certainly big enough, she thinks, though of course size isn't everything. a grin curves her mouth. "drageda," blix begins, voice important, "is home to the teekons strongest warriors, our gona."

more cheerfully (talking about drageda always puts her in a good mood) she continues on: "we require loyalty to drageda and to our heda. right now she's with one of our other packs, fighting a war. i'm our acting commander, blixen." normally she'd obscure nomi's absence, but she wants to impress upon buckshot their power -- and 'our heda is off helping in a war nbd' is the sort of thing she takes pride in. "if you think you can hold your own with us, i'll give you the chance to prove yourself," blix says, decisive. she still has misgivings -- arrille still a wound -- but, well, they need warriors, and buckshot at least seems like he's trying. for now, she'll accept it.

The two talked back and forth, and Sequoia sat patiently watching them do so. Her eyes would move to Buckshot when he spoke, then to Blixen as she spoke. It all sounded quite promising for her new friend, and her tail swept back and forth across the ground as she waited to see whether or not he would be allowed to stay. She couldn’t wait to show him off to Dacio, Opalia, and even Kiwi. This was, by far, her greatest achievement.

i suppose we can wrap this up since buck will be taking off with sequoia

well, shoot, this one had an awful lot to say about her home. and bless his soul, he sure did try to keep up with all the new words that were being thrown at him, but buck wasn't even good at speaking english. still, the cajun nodded his head with enthusiasm, trying to match the facial features of the red blixen without breaking into his lackadaisical smile – standard issue.

when she mentioned that if he could prove himself, she'd give him a shot, he could not help but to break all face and beam at her with pointed canines and a wildly swishing tail. “well, miss, you been real kind, an' ah sure do buhlieve dat you won't be let down, naw,” he assured her and then turned his sights back to sequoia with a proud puffing of his chest and a playful wink.