Sleeping Dragon Long Island

Life had definitely taken a more positive turn lately and it was a nice change of pace. When she wasn't busy hunting (and sometimes even when she was), she daydreamed a lot, these waking fantasies prominently featuring Thuringwethil, of course, as well as puppies. Meeting Gyda's offspring had definitely awoken the yearling's maternal instincts. She had always wanted a family and couldn't help but hope that, somehow, someday, that was still in the cards for her.

This morning, she took a leisurely stroll around Sleeping Dragon, a thought tickling in the back of her mind. The famine had brought her scouting ventures to a screeching halt not long after her abortive attempt to visit the caldera. There were plenty of reasons to stick close to home still, yet meeting the Dróttning's young served to remind her that she had yet to meet her own little brothers. And she had no idea how the Redhawks had fared during the famine. She bit her lip wonderingly.

Much as she hated the idea of being away from the Heda (and those cursedly endearing puppies), Wildfire decided she would ask Thuringwethil if she could take another trip to the south, perhaps once Gavriel returned from... wherever. As a matter of fact, she altered her course slightly to head toward the commander's den to float the idea past her.

She's headed toward Thur but I'd love for somebody (anybody) to waylay her! Maybe one of the newer folks? :)

The skeletal little figure had found it rather difficult to soothe the burn that had followed losing his tail. Applying herbs had been something of a trick as well, but somehow he had managed well enough that the stinging had subsided and the fur was beginning to grow over the disgusting little nubbin that had been left behind in place of what had been a grand tassel. Glu had not even thought that his change in appearance would raise question from those in the pack, and for the most part… he had been correct.
 
Picking his way around with very little rhyme or reason, the sharp citrine gaze locked on a distantly familiar figure just at his front. Perking his large ears forward, the coywolf drew a half-smirk to the corner of his lips and he knocked his mind in an attempt to recall how he knew the fire-furred female. There was something about her that was all too familiar…
 
When it struck him, the cadaverous halfling adopted an expression of shock on his slender features. Shock because she had swallowed a fish whole before his very eyes and had drunkenly wandered into somewhere unknown. To see her again and in such fine health was a marvel. “You seem well…” he ventured with a curious glint in his gaze. His head was held submissively and yet his eyes trailed the figure of the woman.

The wind shifted, bringing to her nose a scent that caused her to slow, turning even as the source himelf materialized nearby. Wildfire came to a stop, peering at the wolf and trying to decide if she knew him. She was pretty sure she'd never met any bobtails within the ranks. But something about his face was strikingly familiar. She yearling squinted, then realized she had met this guy. She couldn't recall his name but she was absolutely certain he'd had a tail when they'd met.

"Uh," was her knee-jerk response to his remark. "Can't say the same about you—your tail, anyway," Wildfire said, wincing softly at how tactless that sounded. "What happened?" she wondered, sniffing the air. It was a fresh wound, if scent was any indication. Perhaps instead of hailing to the commander's den, Wildfire should be escorting her pack mate to the nearest medicine cabinet.

It seemed as though the woman was just as odd as the last time he had happened across her, though she managed to be a titch more verbal in this setting. She had drawn her attention directly to the grizzled stump at his rear, and the coywolf did not turn to look at it himself. The man could feel that it was gone, and so he did not need to be bothered by the sight of it again. There was an inquiry as to what had happened with it, and the skeletal man thought back to the day it had been taken. Certainly, he could not share with this girl that he had attempted to steal another wolf and drag her back to the dragon’s terrain. So, with a small smile, the boy reverted to the only other instigation that had occurred on that same day.
 
“A bear,” he said simply, though his thin lips were still curled in a small smile. “It was my own fault, really. I thought I could draw it away from the woman it was after… it took a little more than my time.” As if the situation were found to be humorous, the cadaverous man chuckled softly and shook his head. “You’ve been better since the prey has returned, I trust?” Glu then changed the subject back to the woman.

She grimaced sympathetically when he mentioned the culprit: a bear. Wildfire didn't understand how her godmother could make light of fighting with such beasts. She remembered the damage one had done to Magpie recently and briefly wondered if there was an infestation or something. Was that a thing: bear infestations? Wildfire shooed away that dumb thought, then squinted her amber eyes as she wondered who Gluskap had saved at the cost of his most communicative appendage.

"What woman?" she asked, pausing a beat before answering his own question, "Oh, yeah. I really owe you a fish, don't I?" she said, trying to laugh but mostly grimacing at herself. "It's, ah, Gluskap, right?" Wildfire added, showing that she hadn't been totally out of her mind that day.

The fight with the bear had been a tricky feat for two wolves to manage, and though he had only managed to find himself bruised and battered from that little spar, it would have seemed more appropriate that he lose a limb to such a large and violent creature. As the fiery girl inquired who the woman had been, Glu found himself lapsing on the pallid creature’s name. “A girl I’d never met before. I doubt I’ll see her again. She was just in a bit of trouble,” he answered vaguely, though frustrated with himself for his lack of memory on the subject. It was then that Wildfire managed to outdo him in that very field by recalling that he had fed her a fish, and even managed his name without too much trouble.
 
“Yes, the fish,” he echoed with lifted brows. He had popped in to check on the woman off and on during the famine in hopes of finding her swallowing other odd objects without chewing them, but she had been a busy wolf and he could not blame her for being difficult to find. “Unfortunately, I never managed to get your name.”

The woman's identity was inconsequential and the conversation segued toward fish and introductions. Wildfire's face was still stuck in a bit of a grimace, which deepened again when Gluskap revealed he didn't know her name. She felt bad for him and embarrassed for herself. She knew she had her work cut out for her when it came to proving she wasn't some crazy lady when it came to this particular pack mate.

"It's Wildfire but you're welcome to call me Wifi," she replied, coaxing the muscles in her face to loosen a little. "Are you free right now? I'm a small game hunter by trade, so I'd love to make it up to you." Thuringwethil could wait 'til later. Wildfire had a reputation to repair here.

The fiery female had no need to feel embarrassed for herself. Glu was not a man who often judged others based on the bizarre nature of their first impressions; he looked back on them rather fondly. It took the monotony of meeting strangers and added a twist to the formal event. While the coywolf had been quite concerned for her wellbeing at the time, she seemed to have recovered nicely and was no longer in need of his medical attention. It did nothing to draw his attention away from her, though. In spite of the fact that she had been used as something of a science experiment, Gluska seemed as though he was intent on holding their conversation. She went to so far as to offer her name, this time around.
 
“Wifi,” he echoed with a snicker, though it was merely out of the fact that he enjoyed the moniker. “You can call me Glu, then,” the coywolf then offered his own nickname-of-sorts in response to her. Once they’d moved past the introduction phase, the skeletal male was offered a chance to have his fish replaced by the hunter. His brows lifted in surprise and his dark lips parted a ways to show the tips of his canines that peeked from underneath. “Well, with an offer like that… I’d say I’m free as could be,” the trickster answered with a quick bob of his narrow skull.

She smiled and clicked her tongue at his response, then asked, "All right, Glu, what'll it be?" Even as she spoke, the Trapper motioned for him to come with her as she began to move through the territory. "I know I owe you a fish but I'm happy to catch small game of any kind. What's your favorite?" Of course, the menu depended a lot on the availability of ingredients, so to speak, but Wildfire was happy to make an effort to hunt down her pack mate's preferred cuisine. It was the least she could do after acting so oddly.

Once the target was acquired mentally if nothing else, Wildfire glanced at him and said conversationally, "So, tell me about yourself. Where'd you come from? How long have you been here?"

I hope it's okay that I faded a bit in my post. <33 I'm pulling Glu for a while since I've got little Thyri in the pack.

 

The fiery woman went on to inquire what his preference for catch would be. Flickering yellow eyes sought her face for a moment before he pulled them away and thought about the subject. Due to the famine, there had been little choice as far as prey had gone. Glu had returned to the wilds at a very inconvenient time, not only for himself but for the other wolves of the land. Having a preference was pleasing for the slender man, and so he thought he decision over with a careful precision, as if he were picking the last meal he’d ever eat. “I am fond of hare,” he told her, finding the request to be a reasonable one at best, and one that they could both partake in… if she should wish.
 
Trekking along beside her, the coywolf was asked about his life and where he had come from. As was typical, the trickster did not offer very much as far as details, but he did mention his sister on the coast and how it had been quite some time since he had visited her. The two continued their search for food, and Gluskap found himself enjoying the company of the fiery Wifi far more than their first encounter.