Dragoncrest Cliffs There is no justice, there's just us.

A little vague here 'cause I'm not sure how exactly the Portia dream thread will play out, but I wanted to get something started - hope you don't mind @Opalia.

Dacio wasn't sure how long it had been since his vision of Portia atop Drageda's cliffs, but every bout of sleep since had been dreamless. Quiet. Peaceful, perhaps, if he were brave enough to consider it. He'd crashed for several hours at a time, his first fitful slumber since the whole world started falling to shit around him, and he was thankful for every opportunity to rest after weeks of plaguing nightmares.

His mother had gifted this to him, the boy fooled himself into believing. It was exactly what he needed to remind himself how strong he'd become, to build himself into the form of the Gona he longed to be. To heal his mind and his heart, and move on as life required.

There was something that he needed to aid him on this journey, however, and he didn't want to do it alone. Picking through the familiar darkness of Hougeda, Dacio sought only his remaining litter-mate. They'd seen so little of one another since their last heart-to-heart; so much had changed. Her participation in the battle with Rusalka proved her worth to bear the Drakru name - she seemed to make bold strides forward, while he feared he'd fallen painfully behind. It was time for Dacio to realise that the future was worth believing in.

"Opalia," his soft call echoed through the cave he expected to find her resting within, and poked his nose into the darkness in attempt to catch sight of her. "Can we talk?"

After the storms passed, there had been much healing to be done for the young gona. Everything had settled like a big, heavy weight afterward, one far greater than anything she had ever fathomed before. She mended her cuts, her scrapes, and soothed her sorrows for all that she could knowing now that their mother would never walk among the living and that their enemies nestled comfortably nearby. By the day, it seemed to get easier; she just kept busy when she could, trying to keep to patrols, her continued training (without irritating her healing), and not think too in depth about the everything that had happened recently.

When her brother's voice came calling through the cave's dark, she lifted her head and peered blearily towards the sound, of his voice and pawsteps. Hei.. hei.. she returned, splitting her jaws in a big yawn. Opalia had been not quite napping, and neither entirely motivated enough to get up and going again yet after her rests, so she had been stuck in the limbo of a hazy half-asleep in-between.

Her brother could serve as a good change of pace, she thought, but wondered what was happening.. and if she ought to be worried. Had her slacking for the moment been a mistake? What's going on..? she asked back in tired tones of trigedasleng, beginning to draw up her legs to prop herself up better—at least her front half for now.

Upon hearing her murmur, voice made heavy by the haze of sleep, Dacio guiltily flicked his dark ears backward. He offered a soft whine in quiet apology and remained rooted in his place - just out of her reach should she decide to shoo him out of her sight with her viper strike. The silver Gona remained quiet as she roused, his tail lashing at his hocks with uncertainty; while Opalia was not as quick-tempered with him as she had been when they were children, she could still be fiesty. In the wake of their mother's death which had turned their world upside down, Dacio was unsure how unpredictible the loss might've made his sharp-tongued sibling.

She spoke out to him through the darkness, and the boy made a tentative step forward to better look upon her. His claw clacked against slick stone, the sound echoing through the vastness of their cavern, and he furrowed his brow to accompany the thoughtful frown that formed on his muzzle. "I'm leaving," he told her, figuring it would be best not to tip-toe around his intentions, before he quickly added: "just for a little while."

The last thing Opalia needed was to be tricked into believing he would leave their family, not after all they'd been through. Dacio had promised not only his remaining sister that his loyalty to Drageda was forever, and after Sequoia's betrayal he had no plans to go against his word. "I want you to come with me," he included after a beat. 

Her ears twitched gently to the sounds of his approach, but stood tall and eager to hear more when he spoke. At first, maybe she thought she misheard his words in her sleepy situation, although there was no mistaking that: I'm leaving. An indignant wrinkle began to form over her muzzle, momentarily emblazoned by a confused anger that tightened sickeningly at her throat--how dare..?

But, oh, he went on so Opalia listened on. In the darkness, she smoothed.. slowly, though simply moved the crease to her forehead as she processed this clarification while it came to her.

She barely grasped at the last part, with him wanting her to come. She was still churning through the first bit, maybe half recovering from her first shock. It was all worth enough to begin to push herself up with her forelegs, though she did not rise to a full stand.

There was little pause to her answer, however. I'll go.. but, she swallowed, and hurried to clear her head and catch up. She knew immediately that she did not want him to go alone to wherever this was--because what if he didn't come back? She would make sure of it despite her relative inexperience in all things beyond the immediate reach of the cliffs. Where are you going..? she asked, unsure if she was worried or not, there was a lot to sort suddenly. Why?

He watched the muscle in her jaw tighten, her mismatched eyes narrowing dangerously as she bore her gaze into his own in a silent demand for answers. Dacio swallowed the anxious lump in his throat as Opalia pieced the information together, and slackened upon recognition that his departure would only be temporary.

Her frown did not cease, however, and the sterling boy merely observed as she furrowed her blonde brow in his direction. It was then that he shuffled, made even more uncomfortable by her questions that he was poorly prepared for, and Dacio sucked in a breath as he racked his thoughts for how best to announce that their mother had invaded his dreams to ask one last favour of him. 

"Along the coast. She came to me in my dream," he blurted, tail lashing behind him as he realised his sister likely had no clue who he was talking about, and suddenly his mouth dried at the strong possibility that she'd think he'd gone mad. "Uh, Mother. She said something happened to Dalia, and... wanted me to check in."

Opalia held fast to some baseline of tension here, although it did not show as plainly as her prior irritations. She felt it in the curl of her toes, and the want to prickle that she subdued, and while he explained, at first, she could only squint at him as her head tilted--yeah, she was going to need to hear more. Who came to him in a dream...?

As more came, it pieced together some, but never all. In fact it gave her more questions, and in turn, more to worry about--chiefly, as to why her brother was taking such stock in the realm of dreams, and why their mother had seen fit to visit him, yet she couldn't find it in her to question that much right now. Already she was thankful she had agreed to go. but for oscillating, differing reasons by the instant. ..alright.. well, I hope she gave you some good ideas on how exactly to find her, she murmured, feeling torn about reuniting with Dalia at all suddenly. With Sequoia, her resolve had hardened, and that encounter wasn't destined to go well should it ever come to pass, but towards their older sister, the bitterness was not nearly so toxic or vast. I don't think Dad even knows where she ended up, the gold-furred gona said and thought of their father then too, how they would need to tell him this too, but so long as they went smart and safely, she couldn't anticipate difficulties from him. He might like to know where she was, too.

With two of them on the search, it could end sooner hopefully, and they could watch each other's back between here and there. Are you leaving soon? she asked, feeling far more awake now after all of that, and quietly, she pressed on. A part of her was trying not to feel overwhelmed by the daunting task of the wilds beyond the cliffs. Did Mom say anything else...? Did she really want to know?

No matter what else he had to share, her mind was made up and she was going. She knew nothing about what else there could be down the shoreline, but apparently it was time for her to find out--and thankfully, with Dacio beside her in this.