Redtail Rise All the way up

@Gavriel is with her in the background. LOCUSTS! :)

@Reek, this is yours if you still want it.

The rise was an oasis, its charred slopes holding no appeal for the ravenous locusts. Wildfire and Gavriel climbed to the top, where she slumped down in exhaustion. Maybe she could actually catch some sleep up here, away from the ocean of insects. Before she succumbed, however, she couldn't help but scan the view from this raised vantage point. The scene that met her eyes scared her so badly that Wildfire felt a little bit like crying. The swarm was definitely receding, revealing absolute devastation.

After a while, she couldn't look at it anymore. She squeezed her eyes shut and let her chin drift to her outstretched forelegs. The weariness of the past several days caught up to her easily and it wasn't long before she was snoring softly under her cohort's watch.

There were good days and there were bad. Reek struggled with both the highs and the lows equally -- both the fits of nervous mania and the deep trenches of depression. This nagging lull that had taken hold, however, refused to release its grip over Reek's increasingly fragile psyche. The depression was unrelenting, no matter how much his friends and peers tried to pull him from its wake. The task was nearly impossible, he felt, because once again, he had lost everything he had. The swarm had taken all the plant life of the grotto: Reek's empire lie in destitute ruin. What was once an oasis of green against a rugged, rocky backdrop was now nothing more than a lifeless dustbowl.

He feared for the longevity of his pack. Their survival was tantamount -- but oddly, today, Reek's pack did not weigh heavy on his mind. Instead, his thoughts drifted to Tavi. She must have gotten caught in the swarm as well. The tribulation she had to have faced must have been trying, especially heavy with Reek's litter. If she had remained within the grotto, among her own wolves, Reek could have done his best to shelter her -- to keep her safe (as had always been his intention), but now, he could not. It was all the more reason to find her in Reek's mind.

Setting out from his cave, Reek left his wolves to remain in his shelter. He left the territory alone and trudged through the lingering cloud of locusts as fallen carcasses cracked beneath his paws. Traveling east, Reek would gather his bearing on the peak of the Rise and howl for Tavi once more in the hopes that she would somehow hear his desperate plea. It was a naive hope that she would ever return, but Reek still held it close to his hear.

Though his limp had become less pronounced, his ascent of the Rise was slow.  As he returned to his old, charred homeland, the cloud of bugs dissipated and no longer did he walk on a crunchy carpet. Without the buzzing of wings, Reek was able to finally gather his senses. He took in a deep breath and caught nothing in particular (since the scent of Sleeping Dragon would have dissipated from both Wildfire and Gavriel by now). When he reached the peak, Reek noticed a glint of familiar red against the charred black terrain. He inched forward, "Wildfire?" he asked, unsure. His eyes, however, quickly settled on the form of Gavriel near by. Having seen him with Thuringwethil when she came to the grotto, he was undeniably a dragon.

The blood of Reek's children was on their their hands. Thuringwethil's victory howl had made Reek's blood run cold as soon as he had heard. It broke him -- driving him to suicide.

Strong emotion welled inside Reek's gut. His lips pulled back in a nasty snarl and his hackles lifted.

The last few days had been a whirlwind and now they were just focused on getting home. The hunger in his stomach rolled and he remains on the lookout for small game, though Wildfire is the better for it than he, but he never sets himself off guard. Wildfire takes the time to rest, and he looks back, unsure of where @Rebekka had gone off to since they met a few days ago. He’d given her the general direction, but somewhere in the travel he’d lost the odd-marked girl. Even if she were apart of Drageda through their former home, his primary focus is the fiery girl and getting her home safely.

He tries to focus on something else instead of her caving to the ground, but eventually he settles himself down nearby. His head doesn’t lower, looking out over what he can see, and eventually a rustling catches his attention. Gavriel focuses on it, though eventually he disregards it as something of in the background.

Up until, however, he hears his companion’s name.

Gavriel snaps to attention and looks at the dark colored wolf as he stiffens, setting himself up. The guard doesn’t waste time getting to his feet and putting himself between Wildfire and the Grotto wolf. Unaware of just how close they are to the grotto, he might have suggested a different place of rest, but the actions have been put into motion. His own lips lift and flash his teeth, fur bristling around his shoulder. Gavriel dips his head then, using his body to block the view of Wildfire. Reek using the girl’s name doesn’t go unnoticed, but in this moment he doesn’t care what relation the two have.

Wildfire was so beat that she didn't so much as stir when the distant voice called her by name. She only roused when she heard Gavriel growl and rush to his feet nearby, tension already thickening the air. Blinking sleep from her eyes, the she-wolf peered uncomprehendingly at the dark, haggard form across the way and rolled a bit drunkenly to her feet. The instant recognition registered—and she realized that Reek was acting aggressively—her face darkened. She didn't echo her companion's growl, though it was a close thing.

For a moment, she couldn't imagine why he would react this way to her presence, although it dawned on her that his ire seemed directed at Gavriel more than herself. Then Wildfire remembered the commander's taunting call to the grotto's Alpha. Her jaw clenched as she eyeballed him now, thinking of the despicable thing he had done to Saena and their children. Even the softhearted ambassador could not bring herself to feel sorry for the ugly beast in front of her.

"Leave us be," she said softly but firmly to Reek. She wasn't sure what she would have done if she were alone—the situation might have played out entirely differently if not for Gavriel—but her pack mate's presence certainly bolstered her. The odds were in their favor. Wildfire wasn't looking for a fight, though, not at all. This wasn't the time, nor the place. None of them could afford to waste their strength on petty arguments, not with the swarm leeching the life from the very earth beneath their feet.

While it had been obvious that Gavriel and Wildfire were traveling together due to their position together on the mountain, when the dragon wolf moved in front of Wildfire in an act of protection, the relationship between them finally clicked in Reek's head. Wildfire was one of them -- one of Thuringwethil's savage gang. For a moment, Reek was disgusted. She had been such a sweet, innocent child: delivering messages between him and Pantaleimon despite the tension between himself and the wolves of the caldera. Something must have changed, he figured, for her to turn on her very own sister by joining up with the dragons.

His pups were dead -- her nieces and nephews -- and she had done nothing to stop it.

Reek took a step forward, but soon froze in place. Behind the burning emotions brewing in Reek's heart, he knew he wouldn't fare well in a fight, but he could not bring himself to turn and leave as she requested. Instead, he spoke in a voice that cracked with emotional strain. "No," he said, hoarse and broken. "You let them die... you killed my family." While the act may not have been done by her own teeth, the fact that she didn't stop it was enough for Reek. 

The hot sting of tears filled Reek's eyes, but he did not falter. His tearful gaze fell hard on both wolves of Drageda. Now was no time to show weakness, not when the memory and honor of his thought-to-be-dead children on the line.

It is Wildfire that speaks up first, telling him to leave, and Gavriel’s head lowers only a fraction more as he braces himself for impact—whether invoked by Reek or himself, it didn’t matter—and keeps his teeth flashed in warning. A warning that might not stay the same if the scrawny male made the wrong decision. Gavriel watches him stand there, things clicking in to place. Recognition settles into his features but it doesn’t make him turn and go as commanded for him companion. 

Gavriel picks one foot up and places it forward, inching closer in a prowl. He’s already weakened by the healing wounds and Gavriel, only hindered by a little hunger, felt comfortable with most of his strength.

The accusations, however, surprise him enough to stop the advance. The rest of his features remain the same, hardened and threatening, but he tries to recollect what he knows about the war in the Phoenix land. They had disappeared before they arrived, and bloodshed had not been met—what Reek speaks of, while Gavriel questions, isn’t enough to deter him of his purpose. His sympathy, even as he has his own litter potentially on the way, isn’t enough. Later, he’d question it, but for now the threat of the grotto wolf is enough to ignore and his duty remains. 

“You heard her,” he finally says then, growling louder, teeth parted just enough to show his intent as he resumes the advance, slow and steady. "Go back to your grotto."

Reek stood his ground, refusing to acquiesce. Wildfire's eyes narrowed at his retort of, "No." When he elaborated, she stared at him uncomprehendingly. "What're you—" she began to say, then it clicked in her head. She remembered Thuringwethil announcing their victory over the abandoned maple wood. Whether Reek had overheard the howl or obtained the information some other way, he must have interpreted it to mean that the dragons had slaughtered the phoenixes.

Had it been someone else, Wildfire might have corrected the misapprehension. Instead, her jaw clenched. "How can you call them that? 'Family'? When you abandoned them the way you did?" she asked slowly, keeping her voice quiet and measured. It was an honest question, though there were certainly threads of disdain in her tone. "If anyone wronged Saena and the pups, it was you," she concluded in an uncharacteristically icy voice, neither confirming nor denying their deaths at the hands of Drageda.

Gavriel told Reek to go back to his grotto and she bobbed her snout infinitesimally as if to concur. The tension was thick, yet no one had made a move to attack. If Reek retreated, then so would they. Everyone could go back to their respective homes. What had (or hadn't) happened in the past didn't even matter, now with the scale of the problem they were currently facing.

Both wolves now had made it clear Reek's presence in Redtail Rise -- his former home -- was not welcome to him. Though the aggressive display of Gavriel's teeth caused a nervous flutter to stir within Reek, he held fast. His feet remained firmly planted in the ashes of his old claim. He moved not even a hairs breadth; his gaze, locked firmly on Wildfire as he waited for the answers he so desperately needed.

Instead, all Reek recieved was an attack on his own character. His eyes narrowed. Nowadays, it seemed everyone knew of Reek's mistake -- the dynamic had quickly shifted to Reek vs. the world. His eyes narrowed. "I never abandoned them," he shouted in frustration. "I made a mistake and I was kicked out because of it— but I would never leave them. That's why I settled in the grotto; so if something went wrong with the pregnancy, I could be there. If Saena needed me, I could be there. If the maplewood needed to be protected, I could fucking be there." Though he had never been called, he had failed in the last instance. He could not protect the maplewood, and now they were surely slaughtered because of Reek's blunder. "Not that it fucking matters anymore."

He had wronged both Saena and his unborn children, but he had not gone so far as to kill them or run them from their home. It was apples to oranges, thought Reek, but in his anger he was unable to articulate such an argument. "Do you not fucking think this is hard on me too?" His shouting became muddled with the sound of sobbing. A tear streamed down his face. Without Tavi around to ease the pain, the memory of Reek's broken mateship returned in full force. "I broke the heart of the woman I love and I have to live with that every fucking day. I deserve to be punished. But, the pack you destroyed—" Reek shook his head and painfully bit his lip, "they were innocent, Wildfire."

When Wildfire speaks, expecting to correct him—that his children had not died by the teeth of the dragon—and is surprised when she doesn’t. Yet, at least, but it give the dark male a chance to speak up and shoot nothing but anger and nonsense. It only fuels the fire burning low in his chest, hungry and waiting for some kindling to finally take over. It’s a matter of time before his rambling gives him an easy target. Gavriel’s ears glue to the back of his head, lips curling tighter—if it were possible—to show his weapons.

“Yet you were willing to fight them, weeks ago,” he comments offhand. Gavriel had been standing behind Heda while they spoke, but it did not mean he hadn’t listened. He’d just minded his own business, a metaphorical fly in the metaphorical room. “That doesn’t sound like protecting them to me, unless...” The guard falls short on his words, brown eyes narrowing as it clicks into place.

The rest of what he’s said means little to him, and his snarl-turn-sneer widens the new information he’s sure he’s unraveled. “You’re one stupid son of a bitch,” is all the warning Reek gets as the large male charges forward.

Still Reek refused to retreat. Wildfire squinted as he threw himself quite the pity party. Her ears slid further and further backward as he spouted excuses, all while sniveling. Perhaps if she had actually been guilty of his accusations, his sobbing may have affected her, prompted pity or remorse. Since Wildfire knew Saena and her pups were out of harm's way, she just felt vaguely repulsed by the scene in front of her.

Before she could respond, Gavriel cut in, poking holes in Reek's sob story. Wildfire didn't follow, though she didn't doubt there was a reason for her comrade's remarks. She wasn't expecting him to suddenly lunge at Reek, clearly having had enough of his pathetic excuses. The red she-wolf froze momentarily, surprised by the sudden movement, then stepped up behind Gavriel to back him up if it became necessary.

The proposed coalition, Reek felt, was a necessary tool. One he could exploit to protect the maplewood -- and himself -- from Sleeping Dragon's aggression from the inside. It could have worked and tensions could have been de-escalated... if it weren't for Esaro's naivety. Breaking agreements, crossing borders, and making a fool of himself had become a trend. His childish and naive worldview had doomed the maplewood and Sleeping Dragon to the inevitibility of war. The utility behind the coalition was lost and the deal ultimately fell apart.

All these things, Reek kept secret -- as he felt he worked best unhindered and alone. Once again, it had backfired in his face with Tavi's angry departure. But now, during this unfettered outpouring of frantic emotion, Reek let secrets slip. Discovering Reek's true intention regarding the coalition, Gavriel charged forward for a fight.

Knowing Reek was not in the condition to stave off not one, but two wolves, he had only one option: run. Forced to flee like a coward from his old home, anger burned in Reek's gut. He would have his vindication -- but it wouldn't be now.

Reek's pity party does little to deter him and when it's obvious he isn't going to try and defend himself, either physically or verbally, Gavriel is given all the answers he needs. Confirmed in action, he speeds up when the dark male pivots back and takes off in the other direction. He doesn't know the terrain well so he follows behind his tracks, pursuing him quickly until he's sure one good lunge would bring him down. 

However, the large brute doesn't quite get close enough and there's frustration in his growls when he eventually slows to a stop. The other wolf manages to disappear and it's enough, for the moment, for Gavriel to let him go. His own strength isn't at his peak but he doesn't doubt he couldn't have done a fair amount of damage. The other had already been wounded and he is only short a few days of food and a little travel weary but his wits and health are well enough. 

When Gavriel is certain Reek isn't headed back for them, and instead gone from view, he trots back toward Wildfire with a heavy chested pant.

Where words had failed to convince Reek to retreat, actions seemed to speak much louder. Wildfire planted her feet, watching as the homely wolf turned and fled, tailed by the agitated Gavriel. Soon, Reek's dark silhouette disappeared into the distance and her companion swiveled to climb back up the rise to join her. She shot him a grateful look as he caught his breath, then shook her head lightly as if to herself.

"Unbelievable," she muttered quietly, leaving it at that. She paused, then said, "How about we head home?" Wildfire was practically dead on her feet at this point, yet she figured it was best to just slog the last few miles back to Drageda rather than try to catch any more winks here. She shot Gavriel a weary smile, knowing those words were probably music to his ears, then turned to begin the descent down the slope's charred southeastern face.

Freel free to conclude + archive! :)