Dragoncrest Cliffs make like a tree and shelter a bunch of birds

Since her return from her little outing, she finally decided to seek out @Portia. The ocean water helped as a temporary band-aid but by the next morning, it had started all over again. She knew she couldn’t keep dunking herself in cold ocean water until the end of days. She’d made @Blixen go with her since she had been itching too (though not as badly) and also because she didn’t want to go alone. Discovering she had fleas had been a shock to the girl. Little bugs lived in her fur. Every time she thinks about it, her nose wrinkles up and she has to shake out her fur several times to feel better. Hopefully with the treatment the healer offers, they’ll all be gone sooner rather than later. Her toes and two hot spots near her rear don’t burn as much, aren’t a flaming red, and no longer oozing. No one else had gotten as bad as she has to her knowledge and she wonder if she simply had been too weak to handle the simple scratching.

It is over now and the sooner she heals from her self-induced wounds, the better. It is easier to keep herself busy and she takes to the borders diligently. The time between scratches have widened but every now and then she has to stop and she gently scratches or bites or chews until it’s tolerable. The cold sea air soothes the open sores as she reaches the southern border, feeling stronger gusts of wind by the time she reaches where she can hear the water. A chill runs up her spine. While the missing patches of fur help the cool air soothe her raw skin, it disrupts the warmth for the rest of her. Furi continues to weave through the tall redwoods until the ground declines where the cliffs begin.

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Upon his disheartened return from Morningside, Étoille had too gone to seek the medic. He does not know the tiny woman but whatever she did cured his lingering itch - the fleas, as it were. 

... he hopes he did not accidentally deliver a plague of fleas to Morningside's doorstep. God knows they do not need another reason for hostility from the odd grey-toned alpha.

It is unusual for him to feel so affected by news, good or bad. The titan had not realised how dear Mirabelle had grown to him - he feels a bit sheepish. They had not known each other long... it is a bit like Liana, who had similarly been a passing spectre in Étoille's life. He knows he cannot mope, but his heart is slightly heavy as he moves throughout Drageda, until he catches wind of choupinou nearby.

She is heading towards the cliffs; he follows. He has not seen her since they played with the fox - her appearance surprises him when he catches up to her, enough to make his eyes widen slightly. "Bonjour," the Rauna murmurs, not wishing to startle her, "are you alright?"

Ever since Blixen’s return to Drageda, she finds herself a lot more active than she’d been. Étoille is never too far, should she need him, and Blixen occupies a lot of her time. Even her most recent journey outside of Drageda has been enough of an eye opener. Now that her… condition is being treated, she tries to think about only good things. When her friend’s scent enters her nose, she doesn’t change her end goal. She does, however, slow her pace so by the time she hears his voice, she can stop and turn to face him easily. Her tail wags quickly behind her and she itches closer, almost afraid to get too close lest he should catch whatever fleas remained.
 
Furi tilts her head a little when he asks if she is all right. “I have been… um,” she pauses, squirming a little now that it is in the forefront of her mind. “Itchy.”

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Itchy seems to be an understatement. Étoille studies the raw patch of flesh near her tail for a moment. "I as well," he finally says, letting his gaze slowly move back to her face. "Fleas," the man adds as explanation. It is, he supposes, embarrassing, but there is nothing to be done for it now. And perhaps choupinou has been struggling with similar strife. 

Étoille takes a seat facing her, glancing out over the cliffs. "How have you been otherwise?" he asks, recalling their last conversation, that Furi has been struggling to feel at home. He hopes she has been able to settle somewhat - he hopes she is happy here.

In a way, it makes her feel better that he has been itching too and that he knows what it is. Maybe he saw Portia, too. She’d learned about them from the woman they are contagious and she wonders if she’d given them to him. She hadn’t seen him much since they’d shared the fox and she can’t remember if she’d been itchy then. She knows she hadn’t been bald in places and her skin hadn’t been on fire but it didn’t necessarily start out that way. Furi licks her lips as she tries to hide her anxieties, knowing she’d hate it if her friends felt the discomfort because of her.
 
“I’ve been okay,” she says, or guesses, because the fleas really haven’t made her feel that well. “I explored a little outside of the pack?” she says tentatively, almost worried he might scold her for leaving alone. Eske hadn’t said anything, nor anyway else, but perhaps they hadn’t really noticed her missing for a night or two. “I ran into the girl I played with!” she remembers suddenly, a smile beaming from her face. “She found a pack too… south of here but I… I don’t remember the name of it.”

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He tilts his head as she explains her happenings. He hadn't noticed her absence, but he is not the sort to keep tabs on anyone, anyway. "Sounds interesting," Étoille says. He listens to the rest of her story, face contemplative. A pack south of here? "There is a claim settling in the forest beyond the ridge," he recalls, "perhaps she is with them?" It cannot have been too far south, assuming Furi did not stay far. He supposes she could also be one of those claiming the Plateau but it does not seem worth bringing up if choupinou cannot recall anyway. He smiles at her - a brief but warm thing, and says, "she is your friend," in his usual not-a-question-but-asking way.

Étoille seems to know the pack she’s talking about, even if she doesn’t remember the name. Her brows bury between her eyes as she tries to remember the beginning of their conversation, however short it may have been, but she hadn’t really thought through all the details she needed. Furi sighs, humming to herself when she gives up and the brute tells her that she’s her friend. “Yes,” she says with a smile. “I like’er a lot,” she adds, this time a little. “What’s the name of it?” she asks, wondering if it might clear up her memory to hear something familiar. Maybe he could go with her sometime, help her make her way there without too much struggle.

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The titan smiles briefly, pleased as ever to hear that choupinou is socializing. Not that he himself is a particularly extroverted creature, but she's young and she seems to fare better with attention from others. If there is a hidden meaning to Furi's like'er a lot, it neatly whizzes between Étoille's ears. "There is one settling in the forest nearby - Ravensblood," he answers, and pauses. "There is another further down.. I do not know the name," the Rauna adds, thinking of Ty, "but they are on the Plateau." He does not know if either have made an official claim yet - but if this friend hails from south of here those seem the more likely options.

He explains what he knows about the pack to the south but he uses a word—name?—she doesn’t recall. That hadn’t been what Witchbaby told her, she knows that much. She’s confident enough she would have remembered Ravensblood but the one further south may be it. Furi hums a little, glancing away in thought before she shifts and shakes her head. “She didn’t say Ravensblood,” she says but perhaps there’s something else she doesn’t know. “Would you… be willing to go with me sometime? To find it?” she adds. She’s only traveled a little by herself since being with Drageda and prior to this she paid little attention to her surroundings. This isn’t a place she wants to be lost from and she wants to ensure she knows where she’ going and how she’s going to get back and Étoille is clearly the best scout she knows.

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His guess was incorrect, which left Ty's pack on the Plateau, unless some other, third pack has sprung up suddenly. He finds that doubtful - already there are so many in close quarters, he hopes another would not be foolhardly enough to try and stake a claim. 

Choupinou asks if he would be willing to accompany her down the coast. This friend must mean a lot to her. He thinks briefly of Maribelle and then doesn't. "Of course," he murmurs, gently tapping her on the nose with his own, "any time you'd like." (Little does he know he will be pulled soon from Drageda's borders for a different sort of mission, but that is neither here-nor-there.) 

Étoille agrees to accompany her and she begins to feel excited, almost blurting out that she wants to go right now. It’s a silly notion that she doesn’t entertain for long but a smile has formed on her features and she’s glad she’ll have company next time. Furi doubt she’ll be able to travel too far with winter around the corner but perhaps she can get one more run in with her friend before it gets too cold.
 
She glances away a few seconds later and turns, bumping into his shoulder and encouraging him to move along with her. “I’m hungry,” she tells him, her only instruction to move with her and find something to eat.

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