Redtail Rise yumi na teik won sonraun au?

@Wildfire. Forward dated a few days!

The wounds on her shoulders are nothing but scabs at this point, having taken the time to rest by keeping an eye on their captive and spending little time at the borders. Being forced to limit herself begin to drive something in the pit of her stomach that, the first day she’s able to get away, she takes the opportunity to further explore the northern portion of the territories surrounding her claim. Thuringwethil doesn’t let the threat of a cougar get in the way, further pushing herself up the ridge with something to prove. 

A faint limp settles in and there’s a wave of pain in the front of her skull that dulls when she stops walking. Thuringwethil closes her eyes, nose pointing up the incline with a deep breath. Holding it, she opens her eyes and moves a few more feet until she’s on even ground, a ledge overlooking a short drop. The sun is low in the sky, giving in to the night within a matter of hours, and for the moment to rests. The taut feeling in her head begins to fade as she clears her mind but her shoulder throbs where scabs have been tested. She sits back on her rump, easing the pressure from her leg.

After traveling so tirelessly from her home to the coastline and then deeper inland again, the days of ceaseless movement finally caught up to Wildfire. She fell into a more leisurely pace as she continued to explore the westernmost regions of the sprawling northern taiga. Several days passed in which she barely traveled more than half a dozen miles in any given direction, sometimes doubling back on her route to more deeply investigate a territory previously bypassed. That was what brought her to the foot of the charred Redtail Rise, squinting up the scarred slopes and breathing in the barely detectable scent of old ash.

There was another smell on the chilly February air too: a wolf. Wildfire could not see anyone from where she stood, yet it was a fresh, nearby scent. Slowly, the youthful outrider began to ascend the stony hillock, keeping eyes, ears and nose peeled for any sign of the stranger whose smell lingered in her curious nose. Her black tail flicked, held out stiffly behind her to keep her balance as the particularly accident-prone yearling navigated ever upward.

When Thuringwethil catches a glimpse of another climbing in the direction she’d just come from, she cants her head forward for a better look. Her scent does not waiver into her direction even as she takes a long breath anyway for a taste. It isn’t until she’s within shouting distance that she can get a whiff of a scent she knew would be unfamiliar. Grey eyes narrow and she shifts back onto all fours while stiffening her posture. 

She makes an attempt to ease herself back out of it but old habits die hard. The reign she has with Sleeping Dragon is a tiny in her paws compared to Seageda, where her command crossed over territories farther than her claim. “Going somewhere?” she quips, quirking a brow playfully and takes a step away from the ledge to intercept the stranger. Her scent is overwhelming then and she picks apart what details she needs and tosses away the rest.

Wildfire stumbled, her gaze falling momentarily to her feet as she caught herself. When her eyes flicked upward again, she caught sight of a shadow along the ridge line. She stopped, eyeballing the wolf from a safe distance. Black fur, gray eyes, stiff posture. When she spoke, though, her voice was light and there was an impish arch to her brow. Wildfire's lips pressed together briefly before she opened her mouth to reply.

She said, simply, "Up." The other she-wolf had taken a step toward her, so the sprightly Wildfire did the same, closing the distance. "Just having a look around," she added as they came closer. "Looks like there was a fire here. Probably happened during that storm last summer." Little did she know she was standing on Reek and Saena's former claim. Now it was uninhabitable, so at least she knew she wasn't somehow trespassing on this stranger's territory.

"I'm Wildfire," she offered after a pause, ears folding back slightly and black tail idly waving to and fro.

The wolf’s reply gives Thuringwethil a smirk but she doesn’t let it linger when she speaks about the storm. The longevity of her memory leaves questions in the leader’s mind she bites back, looking up the incline. The damage to the ridge by fire leaves little question for cause but the thought of a storm causing such a thing makes her wonder what other impact it had on surrounding territories.

“An impressive storm,” she says idly, bringing her gaze back to the fiery girl as she introduces herself. Thuringwethil offers a slight nod of her head of appreciation before her own introduction: “Thuringwethil.”

She shifts her body to position up the incline, where she’d been going until she had been forced to stop to ease her leg. It still aches, reminding her too much pressure would reopen wounds nearly healed, but she doesn’t allow the weakness to slow her down in front of the—albeit smaller—stranger. Without her guards Seageda offered her, something Drageda had yet to present, she’d still be wary of others even if there nearly half her size.

“What else do you know about it?” she asks. With the final fringes of winter upon them, spring around the corner, she can’t help but wonder if the storm would repeat itself in the anger of heat the seasons bring.

Wildfire bobbed her head at the stranger's remark. "Impressive" was actually a bit of an understatement. She introduced herself, an exotic name with lots of syllables. Then she inquired for more details about the storm. The yearling drew in a breath, then let it out in a soundless whoosh. She didn't have much of a frame of reference, though even Wildfire knew the storm had been of epic proportions.

"A tornado ripped a path through the wilderness. It did a lot of damage, including destroying a few territories. And then there were the fires, started by lightning," she answered. She hadn't seen the strikes with her own eyes but the evidence told the story, as corroborated by knowledgeable naturalists such as Charon. "It was massive enough—the destruction so vast—that at least one or two packs uprooted because of it," Wildfire shared the rest of what she knew.

"Were you around for it?" she posed a question of her own. "Are you part of one of the packs around here?" she added, even though it was probably built into the query just prior. Wolves (and packs) came and went so often, though, that it wasn't really a foregone conclusion.

Wildfire explains the storm and Thuringwethil finds a frown touching her features. Weather has always been a force they've been unable to fight and she worries about the safety of her home, more than she does. Seageda faced their share but they'd been resilient. Anything that forced them out had always been temporary, a safe haven among the other clans, but in the span of her leadership they'd faced it once. They had been able to return but they had plenty of debris to clean up. If they'd faced a fire, they might not have been able to return.

"Is it common in this area? To have such destructive storms?" She expects this to be enough to answer the first question, but just in case: "no. I have been here about half a season, I suppose. I have a claim on Sleeping Dragon, east of here."

She didn't know of a territory by that name, though Wildfire immediately liked it. It was cozy with an underlying fierceness. She might have asked more about the woman's pack but today's focus was exploration over ambassadorship, more about the lands than the wolves that lived upon them. Of course, that didn't stop all inquiries whatsoever, especially since the aspiring ranger was curious about the pack's exact location.

"How far?" she asked lightly, glancing off in that direction before turning to face Thuringwethil more directly again. Wildfire shook her head. "I've only experienced the seasons once," she said, "but from what I gather, that storm was completely unprecedented." Yet, should something like that happen again, its effects would vary by landmark, prompting her to ask, "What sort of territory is Sleeping Dragon?"

*posts while standing in freezing cold ocean water*

The fact the storm doesn't appear to be a common occurrence gives Thuringwethil a little bit more relief but it remains in the back of her mind like most potential disasters. Seageda, in all its generations, had yet to face something that wipes them out completely (if we don't count Thuringwethil dissolving the territory) and remains standing today. A little work would often have to be done but it brought them together to better their community.

"It's a mountain, almost all traveling daylight. I will probably spend the evening here before I return," she tells the younger girl. Gyda knew Sleeping Dragon well enough she felt comfortable leaving but any trip longer than the one she's making would have to further be discussed. She longs to see the sea again. "What about you? How far did you travel?"

If Sleeping Dragon was anything like the caldera, then the wolves there could seek safety in underground caves in the event of another storm. She didn't mention this out loud, sidetracked instead by Thuringwethil's mention of travel times, then her subsequent inquiry. Before answering, Wildfire looked around herself, trying to discern the exact directions and mileage of her trek so far.

"My home, Moonspear, is several days' travel from here." She blinked her amber eyes at the Sunspire Mountains. "It's nearly due southwest, I'm pretty sure." She turned back to face the other she-wolf. "I'm a scout. This is actually just one stop on a larger expedition. I know it's not really the best time of year for it but I guess I was getting restless. Besides, the weather's been pretty cooperative."

Thuringwethil had mentioned staying in the area overnight. "This might seem forward," Wildfire spoke slowly, "but maybe we could bunk together for the night? I could use a break before I continue. Think I'm going to keep going further inland, maybe south and east," the young ranger thought aloud before clearing her throat and adding, "Anyway, I understand if you don't want to," and gave a casual shrug as she smiled.

Thuringwethil often stays near her territory, or surrounding areas, and once in a while will she travel out of her way. The few expeditions of travel she managed in Seageda had been with purpose, reaching the far corners of the lands to draw together the wolves she wanted as her own. Coming all the way to Redtail Rise had been spur of the moment, too cooped up after the cougar attack; she isn’t going to let a cat slow down her business in the Teekon. 

Wildfire, however, had much more of a wanderer’s spirit than she knows she has. Being far away from Drageda, for longer than necessary, never settled well. Even with Gyda at the helm, they were missing the thing that keeps them together.  

The dark leader takes a moment to consider the offer and there’s a part of her that wants to say no and go about her business. If Wildfire were to stay on the ridge, Thuringwethil might go elsewhere, but she quickly finds herself slowly nodding her head. The younger girl might not be of her own, but they didn’t mean they could benefit from one another. “Are you hungry?” she decides to ask as a little bit of a smile works its way on her lips.

Thuringwethil took a moment to consider the offer, then nodded. Wildfire's black tail twitched, then stilled when the she-wolf asked if she was hungry. Wildfire shook her head no. She was too exhausted to have much of an appetite at the moment, plus she didn't want her new acquaintance to expend the energy on her, if that's what she was offering.

"Just tired. I've come a long way and I have even further to go," she said with a weary smile. Traveling was exhausting but such an incredible experience; she wouldn't have it any other way. "Do you know of any good places to sleep?" She looked dubiously at the charred wreckage of the rise. If they slept here, they would probably smell like fire and ash when they woke up. Well, that was fitting for her, at least.

The girl dismisses the option to find something to eat and she feels a pull in protest when she nods her head, deciding against hunting if her newest companion wasn’t interested. Instead, she asks about a place to sleep for the night already and Thuringwethil considers the parts of the territory she has seen when she calls an overhang no too far from where she’d stopped prior to meeting Wildfire.

“This way,” she offers and pivots back a step and continuing up the incline until she finds a spot tucked away beneath the overhang. The cool chill of the wind whips by without impacting the groove big enough for the both of them. She considers how to spend the rest of the evening as she lets her newest friend make herself comfortable, slate eyes watching her carefully move into her own spot first.

The young leader does the same, shifting her large form down until she’s settled and blocking off the escape of the ledge. She doesn’t attempt to sleep right away, glancing occasionally to the girl made of fire while she takes the first watch.

Apparently, she did. Wildfire fell into step behind Thuringwethil as the black woman turned and led further up the ridge line, leading the way toward a small overhang. Wildfire ducked inside, giving the ground a cursory sniff before circling and settling down on the left side, a quiet sigh escaping her. The wind nipped past with a faint whistle and an even fainter scent of ash, yet this little spot was fairly well protected from the elements.

"Thanks, Thur... er," Wildfire said, suddenly blanking on the latter half of the other wolf's name. "Sorry," she said with an apologetic smile. "I don't think my brain's firing on all cylinders," she explained even as a huge yawn forced her jaws apart. She hadn't even realized how tired she was until the past five minutes and suddenly she felt incredibly weary, all the way down to her bones.

Giving her impromptu bunk mate another grateful look, Wildfire let her head sink onto her outstretched legs. Maybe it wasn't wise to trust a stranger looming over her, yet she had never had any reason not to trust other wolves, even those outside the pack, and she respected fellow travelers even more than most. Thus she slipped easily into sleep, not even thinking about how Thuringwethil could dispatch her in her sleep, much less giving such an idea any credence.

And when she woke—well-rested and decidedly unharmed—the following dawn, she would bow her head respectfully to her new companion, making a mental note to seek Thuringwethil out again someday, before being on her way.