Sleeping Dragon burning the letters that might have redeemed you

@Hush: A little short but I wanted to get something up for us. :3

Thuringwethil considers hunting down the wolf Gyda brought home, putting him under her own scrutinization, she gives him a day or so to get rest. A tired wolf, even if she’d taken in a few exhausted stragglers, wouldn’t make it too far. Gyda had seen promise in him but something caused her to question it and she couldn’t put a finger on why and shoves it away for another time.

When she returns from her own short trip at nightfall, she moves along the borders until she’s able to catch the wolf’s scent. She’d noticed the familiarity from Gyda’s fur and it didn’t belong to the others so pinning him down would be easy. Where it crossed with another, she’d find the direction and move and she doesn’t give up until she finds him.

Finally arriving in the embrace of his new pack's bosom, Hush promptly went to sleep. The journey from coast to the northern taiga was exhausting. He was a traveler, a wanderer by heart, but he had pushed himself to find the new pack as soon as possible. Hush curled up into a tiny russet ball, his nose tucked underneath his brush of a tail, hidden from the wind by a one of the ridges of this Dragon's hide.

At the sound of movement nearby - Hush raised his head, his ears cocked. Someone was nearby, a wolf, maybe? Whatever it was, Hush waited for a moment, wondering if the creature was heading his way.

She’s able to lock on to his scent, making one final turn as she comes across a smaller wolf, barely more than a ball of fluff on the ground, Thuringwethil lifts a brow. He hadn’t gotten up in her approach and she feels the fur on the back of her neck bristle. It takes a little more effort to ease herself, giving the wolf a chance. He’d just gotten in from a long trek with Gyda—he deserves a rest.

“You came with Gyda?” she asks for confirmation, feeling a sudden gust of wind blow through her dark fur. Her companion hadn’t given her much information about the silent wolf she brought back and Thuringwethil’s eager to learn for herself what had been the spark. Able bodied, could provide, the easy things can be crossed off the list otherwise he wouldn’t be here before her.

At the sight of the black furred woman, Hush scrambled to his feet, his head bowed. He figured, from this woman's regal features and posture, that she was the second Queen. He had no reason to assume otherwise. He was used to being subservient to others - he had been raised this way.

Hush nodded, wondering if Gyda had told this woman about his muteness. He honestly hoped she did or that his new Queen was intelligent enough to figure it out. It would smooth relations between them a lot faster than if he had to go through the tedious motions of displaying his inability to speak.

Sorry for the delay!

He’s on his feet in a matter of seconds and Thuringwethil’s tension eases a few degrees. She’s given a quick answer, as well, and she’s able to allow herself to relax even more. Gyda wouldn’t have brought the wolf if he’d been a threat and in return, heda nods her own head. Grey eyes search his figure, unable to see the span of his neck for scars that might have been explanation preventing his speech. 

Questions linger on the tip of her tongue but all with answers already obvious or answered by Gyda earlier. She wants to ask them again, a compulsion to put the wolf through her own inspection since he doesn’t look like much. Thuringwethil stops herself, exhaling a long breath she’d been unaware of, and looks past the smaller canine.

“Do you have a name?” she asks, turning her attention back to him. It’s one thing Gyda had been unable to produce, whether or not she’d asked. She doesn’t expect much of an answer, or a way for him to tell her. She’s not the guessing game type. “Or I can give you one,” she offers. The wolf that can’t speak isn’t exactly how she’d like to refer to the canine.

When he belonged to his birth pack, everyone knew him by name. It was easy for him to go on with his daily life without having to worry about introducing himself. But when he prepared himself to leave, he realized how important others knowing his name would be. He had some semblance of making noise, which he used to his advantage, unlike his poor sister, who never uttered a noise other than a soft squeak from birth. It took him a while to manage it, but he somehow got himself to make a noise that - almost - sounded like his name. And he made that noise now, however, garbled and muffled it was: "Hush." He repeated it a few times to make sure she heard. It wasn't easy to catch, especially not the first time.

It takes a few seconds but the wolf manages a mangled sound, over and over, and Thuringwethil listens closely. The common language of wolves is not her native tongue and while she does not struggle most the time, it takes several tries on the other’s behalf for her to finally hear the word. “Hush?” she questions, ears twitching forward on her head. It seems to be a fitting name; perhaps instead of a later injury, a birth defect not big enough to warrant his death. They could get along just fine without speech.

“Thuringwethil,” she introduces, though sure Gyda informed the new recruit of his new heda. The tail above her spine offers a slight twitch in an official greeting and her nose extends far enough to offer her chin for him to greet.

Satisfied that his name had been deciphered through his mangled tones, Hush nodded enthusiastically, glad that he didn't have to play the name game like his sister had to. The coywolfdog, seeing the woman's body language change to invite a greeting, crawled over to her, his head lowered. He licked her chin gently in greeting, his tail wagging softly in the breeze. The second Queen had accepted him. Hush felt a rush of euphoria run over him as he pulled away, his body still fixed its submissive stance as he waited for any further instructions from her.

The wolf takes up the spot beneath her chin, gives her an easy lick, and returns to his spot in front of her. Thuringwethil nods her head, satisfied with the display. It reminds her more of home, in ways Eli and Snacha held themselves, but they know her and her power. She does not expect Hush to understand but that doesn’t mean he won’t, one day. In the wake of their new claim, the loyalty of her wolves will be tested.

“Welcome,” she tells him with a twitch of her own tail, still stiff in the arch above her spine. “I’m sure you will get to meet the others in due time,” she says, “I will bring everyone together soon.” As much as she would spread matters to the other wolves, rather finding them directly or a howl, they needed to see together all at once. They’d get used to each others faces and scents. 

Thuringwethil turns her head slightly, jerking in the direction she’d wish to move and the other to follow.

This wolf, he noticed, was not like Gyda. Thurin was much more...not dignified, but reserved. She demanded dominance, sure, but so did Gyda. They were both warriors, but Gyda looked like she would lead a battle, while Thurin planned it. It was an interesting dynamic and similarity between them that Hush liked so far, but this was merely the beginning. He did not know them very well. Nor, did he know the others. This life, the life of a pack wolf, as an equal, was very new to him. He hoped that Sleeping Dragon would be the place where he could learn this new life.

Without hesitation, Hush began following his Queen, wondering where she would gather this new pack of his, and what these characters would be like. He had heard some of their voices before, but voices were not faces, were not scents. He needed to meet them if he were to ever work with them.

The smaller wolf falls in stride next to her and she casts a quick glance to her side to watch the briefest of moments. Her attention returns ahead of her as she follows a trail with she’s been making herself comfortable with. She’d worked quickly to memorize the layout of the territory, remembering easily where the best spots are and where they’d come together. A lethal ledge south east of the mountain--that after a few changes in direction—Thuringwethil brings Hush.

From where she stands, she can see the closest portion of the river Reek calls the Qeya. A tree to her left is barely hanging by the roots over the ledge that strong push might send barreling over. The stony ground beneath her feet give her a little security in where she stands that it’s not going to fall out from beneath her. After a moment of looking across the valley, she turns to her companion. “This is where we will meet,” she tells him, looking back for his reaction. It won’t be hard to find in the future, when either of them call the wolves together. 

“And that river, we do not hunt below it.”

Sorry for the wait!

Hush followed his Queen dutifully as they walked through the territory. For such a young pack, his Queen already strode confidently though the treacherous land as if she had been born and raised here. There were more than enough heartstopping moments as they climbed over ledges that he was sure that with one misstep a wolf could fall and die. After time after time that Hush felt he might fall over, breaking at best a rib and at worst...dying...his Queen stopped, her paws even looking unsteady on the ground. With a look, to the land below and then one at him, she informs him that this is the pack's meeting ground. Hush nodded understandingly, allowing her to continue. She gestured to the river below, telling him something that sounded very familiar. No hunting below the river. He remembered the Phoenix wolf, then wondered if the agreement was backed with the threat of war, or if it was just a simply act of understanding. It was a question he could not ask, but he nodded regardless.

You can reply once more if you'd like or just archive it. :3

She’d gotten her message across, the main points for the new initiation. The rest of Hush’s dedication would show in his time and work here. He’d learn, hopefully, the ways of their culture. For now, she’s satisfied with the choice her companion has made and she nods her head a little, dismissing him to go about his business while she remains. Thuringwethil looks back out across the expanse her view offers, absorbing her new claim to feel like home.