Dawnlark Plains Many things will change.

Maybe @Warbone but open?!

Following her sharp words to Reek, Tavi had abandoned him to his wallowing in the darkness of their cave. She had wandered through the Larksong with no real purpose aside from putting space between herself and her partner — but the more space she put between them, the more bold she felt. The safer she felt. It wasn't until she had passed through the last cluster of trees along the western edge that Tavi realized she had slipped across the border entirely, and left it behind. Her feet ached, her hips and joints becoming more sensitive as she ballooned with Reek's children inside of her; yet she ignored the discomfort of movement and continued to walk, aimless and alone. It was time for her to resume the life she wanted, and not the one that was forced upon her by circumstance.

As she wandered, the night crept up to meet her. As the darkness settled she found herself upon a foreign ridge — it looked as if it had been destroyed by some unholy force, with hardly any new growth to speak of. She did not know this to be the Rise where Saena and Reek had first formed their strongest bonds, and she likely wouldn't have cared if she did know. But the area would serve as a resting place, at least for a night. She found a cluster of black-barked trees (some of which weren't standing in one piece) and hunkered down among them for the night.

When morning came, she was glad, but tired. Sleep had not been so easily acquired. Her thoughts were a mess, jumbled together and falling in on one another, endless and looping. She rose with hunger in her belly and climbed down the ridge, halting once she hit the moraine — and was prompted by its familiarity to look east, to where she thought the Phoenix wolves stood waiting. Eventually she turned west, and headed towards the marsh without even considering that this could be the wrong decision. All that was on Tavi's mind now was, escape escape escape.

Vague due to this thread (timeline)

The threat of war had not stopped him from scouting — it was needed more than ever now. With one enemy to the south and one potential enemy to the east, Hush had taken it upon himself to quickly check on their westerly neighbors just in case something was up. He was cautious not to get too close, but close enough to their territory to see if they were exiting their Grotto in mass droves. The hybrid, satisfied that no large group of wolves were heading towards the Dragon, found an interesting scent in the plains. A mother, of all things. Why a pregnant woman, no matter her pack, was venturing so far from her pack was beyond him, but it worried him too. Children were too precious to be of risk. That urge to protect the innocent the one that got him in so many other predicaments drove him to follow the woman, to catch up with her, to protect her. To be her knight in shining armor, if only for a little while.

He did not have to run in order to catch up with the woman, with her weight bearing her down she was easy to track. She was right by the marsh when he finally saw her, and the hybrid woofed softly to gain her attention, his eyes full of worry. He knew of more packs by the sea, but did not know of the newest one that established itself right by the marsh. He was worried for her, for her children, without even meeting her. Without even seeing her even. She needed protection, no matter who she followed.

Adventuring had once been her most prized ability. To be able to escape to new vistas, meet new beings, experience new things — and then she found the maplewood. Her time as a Phoenix had been memorable and Tavi had learned a lot; she hadn't understood loss until she had been removed from its ranks, though. She hadn't understood Ukko until this very moment either. The thought of her faraway friend made her hear seize - and then she thought of Reek. Of how he must feel, being left behind. She worried for him despite telling herself not to be. Although Tavi put a day or two of wandering between herself and the Larksong, she couldn't remove her mind from that place. Her heart lingered there - pieces of it anyway - and the more she distanced herself, the more frightened she became.

What sort of life could she provide for these children?

The land gave way to wetness, to marsh, and she had to focus on her route more than the pain of her departure, lest she become moored in the muck. The more Tavi wandered the wetter she got, until her round sides were partly submerged. Even the heat of the sun was not enough to ease the chill — and then, with a shift of the wind, things became immeasurably worse. The familiar scent of sulfur lit upon the airway and she, raising her head with a sudden interest despite her growing exhaustion, recognized it. A dragon was the last thing she needed right now. Her heart began to thud in her chest, and Tavi sought the firmness of roots as she scrambled for solidity beneath her. She managed to squeeze her top half upon an exposed patch of damp stone beside an old tree, but by the time she hoisted herself chest-high upon it, the stranger was nearer.

It huffed at her, and she turned sporadically to meet it — her eyes like saucers and her teeth baring a hasty, frantic grin. Stay back she wanted to shout; but all that came from her was a whistling growl.

Warbone plucked himself from the marshland's backdrop, his movement the only thing to distinguish him from the drab mire. His expression was unreadable— either by choice, or maybe he did not know how to feel— and his body was held in equal anonymity. Though he felt as if his there were larger things at play here than mere coincidence, the copper titan was inclined to ignore such empathetic concepts. So instead of thinking of a grander scheme, or of what all of this might mean: a Dragon, a Marauder, and an expectant Lark all here at once, he chose to observe everything at a steady distance.

The coywolf he recognized, and respected. Octavia he knew. Even in their bare encounters, he had learned more of her than he had of most, and hers was not a countenance he would easily forget. Her scars were lightly healed, and because he could not scent infection, his eye instead was drawn to the obvious tautness of her midsection. Fleeting, he glanced at her face, concern cracking the stone of his grey face; but he could not bring himself to approach her. The wolf reclined on his haunches, instead, settling several feet to the left of the runaway's perch (in nonthreatening quietness) to a position that overstated him as familiar warden. He caused the three of them to form a sort of obtuse triangle, and his head canted in interest towards the Dragon, who he watched with slow-blinking neutrality.

He wasn't surprised by the female's defensiveness as she scrambled atop the rock. Her growl only sent him into a partially submissive position, his ears flattening on his head and his head lowering. He whined and looked pleadingly at her, "I only wanted to help", his body posture said. He kept out of the intracies of politics between Drageda and the other packs, only doing as he was asked to. This was something beyond inter-pack relations. These were unborn innocents, after all.

The large muscular wolf that exited from the marsh surprised him, however. While he was ignorant of the Marauders' presence, he knew this wolf. He was a former member of Drageda, after all. He wondered where he had gone, if he was even affiliated with Heda anymore. His scent said otherwise. Hush looked at the wolf then back to the pregnant female. A murmuring whine exited his lips as he straightened his posture slightly, still submissive and nonthreatening. What would he do now, he thought, that another wolf is here?

She worried the rock face with her blunted claws, unable to scramble her hindquarters up and on to it. Eventually Tavi's hold with her chest gave way too, and she went sliding back down in to the swampland with a (somewhat comical) plop. Her fur was dripping, soaked through to the skin of her underside and up all four legs, by the time the commotion ended. Her teeth remained bared but her growling did dwindle, eventually ceasing when the stranger took on a submissive posture. She was still mightily concerned and confused by all of this. The fact that a dragon was here put her in danger in her mind; whether they were trying to help her or not was of no consequence.

Tavi hoisted herself to her feet again, sloshing a bit, swaying a little, and her stiff body tried to maneuver away from the small creature. If she wasn't so heavily pregnant she would have tried to rip it's face off — what a fine gift that would be for her newborns, a little dragon of their own. Tavi was centered upon the silent dragon, so she did not notice the approach of Arkham — but her body absently moved towards him regardless, as if pulled by a force. She would not notice him until a certain misstep against a root made her nearly face-plant in front of him, and her hasty turn to right herself finally broke the stare she held upon Hush. As her eyes raised from the moor she saw Arkham's feet, then his chest, then his face, and momentarily forgot all about the dragon at her back.

Ark -- she all but chirped, but then remembered the little monster that lurked behind her, and semi-circled with her body so that her green eyes could level upon him. Aside from the bristling of the dry patches of her back, she was a sordid sight indeed. Tavi loosed another low rumble, warning the dragon away despite having no means to truly force him. She knew having this warrior behind her was of greater use, that she could trust Arkham to some degree, unlike anything the Sleeping Dragon produced.

Since it doesn't seem Hush is rejoining, I hope it's okay I fade this?

Octavia was belated to realize his presence, but once she did, her initial plan to dispatch herself from this vicinity seemed to ebb, and she faced the Dragon with a bolstered mood. Warbone was highly amused, but the silent opposer seemed anything but antagonistic towards the pair of them. After a long moment where noting seemed to happen, the brawny wolf made a noise to draw Octavia's attention, and he motioned for her to join him away from there. Only after they had gone a ways and fell utterly alone did he offer to take her to his Keep; she tentatively agreed, if only because it was the smart thing to do.