The Tangle the intro to purple rain is the closest i’ll come to having a boner

back dated a few days before the invasion

Mallaidh knee about the other branches of Drageda (probably the only reason she was able to come back when Heda was at another) but she never really expected one so close. Blixen has been a leader for a while and if she really thought about it, she wouldn’t be so surprised. She doesn’t really know where that puts her in the grand scheme of things, especially since Blixen has chosen the tangle as their spot. If something were to ever happen and she had to leave again (god, she hopes not), she’ll lose the place for good.

As she moves through a familiar, easy path, she makes note of all the nooks and crannies and the best way to travel. She’s certain she’ll have to help the others adjust, assuming they don’t outright hate it, but they have plenty to work with. Most of the trouble areas are on the surface and skilled footwork will easily get you from one side to the next.

The rushing water of the river remains to her right and eventually she maneuvers toward it, quenching her thirst quickly before moving on.

Despite having lived beside the tangle for some time now the territory itself remained relatively uncharted to the russet kru. It offered little to the eyes of a naturalist/healer so Rose had spent her days elsewhere rather than meandering through a territory that had no use to her. But with the news of Blixen starting her own branch mixed with Rose's own curiosity, the redhead eventually found herself back in the shrubbery weaving between trees anand rocks alike. 

It took little for her to lose herself in the labyrinth and she eventually gave up on trying to navigate her way back to the cliffside. She assumed eventually someone would come along and eventually someone did. "Hey!" she called out, relief flooding her tone as she worked her way towards the familiar form of her friend.

Mallaidh swings her head to the left, sloshing water from her chin, and her heart skips a beat. The flash of red causes her cheeks to burn and her tail to sway but the fine tune focus kicks in and it is not whom she initially thought. Still, the feelings don’t necessarily go away and she turns to face her as she struggles to make it out into the clearing.

“Hey,” she calls back, moving to close the distance. “It gets kinda tricky, doesn’t it? It gets easier,” she adds with a smile. She doesn’t know all who Blixen wants to bring along but she can’t imagine moving further away from Rose, especially when they’ve finally (somewhat) repaired their relationship.

She manages to finally slip free of the shrubbery before shaking off any lingering twigs or leaves that may have clung to her pelt during the whole ordeal. "And I thought walking the cliffside was a challenge" she jokes aloud with a half laugh while sitting to catch her breath, eyes darting around to take in the scenery.

"So this is where Blixen plans to settle huh?" It's more of a thought for her head but Rose figured it'd be a good conversation starter, especially since her friend would almost certainly be among those moving here.

Mallaidh snorts at the joke, staying a step closer to her friend. Gingerly, she puts her teeth on a twig that hadn’t quite come out from the shake and drops it but she does not put space back between them. She hasn’t seen much of Rose lately but she blames herself more than anything, with everything going on.

“Yeah,” she says and smiles a bit. Has Blixen said something to Rose? Would she be okay if she came, too? The topic of their friend isn’t a sore spot anymore, especially when she and the future leader aren’t… a couple. Has that changed now? God, she has so many questions. “I really like it here,” she adds, then a shy afterthought, “I can show you my favorite places.”

She presses her nose to Rose’s cheek, then urges her to follow. “But, um… I’d really like it if you came with us? If you want, I mean,” she says and her face burns hot, “but it’s not like we wouldn’t see each other all the time anyway if you didn’t. The cliffs are like, right there.”

A smile and quiet "thanks" slip from her lips as the final twig is plucked from her fur and dropped to the ground. She quickly brushes over some of the ruffled patches while listening to the words of her friend, russet ears giving a twitch here and there at the mention of liking the place.

It wasn't exactly a serene or invitational territory but, perhaps after having seen some of these favorite spots that were mentioned, the place wouldn't be half as bad as it looks. "Lead the way" she responds after the slight touch and moves to stand beside the gona, intrested and anxious to see what lies ahead.

The last bit of the conversation caught Rose off guard, not because she hadn't been expecting to be asked, but because she hadn't really thought about the idea until just a few moments ago. There was nothing keeping her tied to Drageda and in a similar fashion, nothing keeping her from leaving...well until now anyway. "I'd love too" came her answer after a short pause, deciding then and there that she would be joining Blixen's crew whether formally invited by the Fleimkepa or not.

Mallaidh leads them along the river. She doesn’t know where she’s going first but it’s the best and easiest way to travel from one side of the territory to the next. Plus, whatever she shows Rose has to be good, especially if she wants her to stay when they migrate out here. She expects some kind of push back but when she agrees to it, her attention snaps to her friend in surprise.

“Oh, okay,” she says, then smiles, “good.”

She falls quiet afterward, focusing ahead. She’d really anticipated a whole spiel to convince her friend or some pretty pleases with sugar on top and now she… doesn’t really know what to say. Does it even matter what she shows her? It doesn’t matter because the clearing opens up after a moment and the twisty, cypress tree stands alone in the middle of the clearing, barricaded by other larger twisted trees. Escape between any of them would be difficult save for the bend in the river where no tree blocks the way.

Rose had expected something more in response to her answer, not just a lackluster 'oh, okay' that sounded far too disinterested than normal in her ears. Perhaps it wasn't all that important that she decided to join them? Or maybe she was just freaking herself out and overthinking everything like usual? 

Still, she wanted to know what was going on inside her friend's head but held her tongue and waited until they appeared to reach their first destination before voicing her thoughts. "Did you expect a different answer?" she questioned with a tilt of her head, brow furrowing as she looked on with uncertainty.

She doesn’t mind the quiet journey but it does bring Rose’s question by surprise. Mallaidh had gotten comfortable with the idea that it was as simple as that that she hadn’t realized what really came out of her mouth.

“Um, I don’t know. No, I just thought you might…” she starts and sighs in exasperation. “I don’t know, I really don’t, just pretend I’m not weird.” She doesn’t really know how to get out of this one and if she throws her weirdness and anxieties out in front she can sort through it later. “I’m glad you’ll come with us,” she adds a bit sheepishly, hoping all is well and they can move past it, but fully prepared for it to backfire. In an act of good faith, she steps out and looks up through the cracks of the branches as they crisscross above them like a canopy.

After a while, Mallaidh shows her a few other places before they ultimately return to the cliffs to talk to Blixen.