Sleeping Dragon nature under constraint and vexed

This is hella vague but I'm getting it up before it gets too late/for the sake of threadlogs. I'll reply again when the other thread gets a little further along! Set immediately after here.

There hadn’t been a lot of time for Gavriel to make pleasantries with Toxochelys. His surprise had settle in early but dealing with it will come later. For now, his concern is on the grotto wolf meandering close enough to Drageda territory that a threat is to be concerned. With no particular Wocha in the council, Gavriel isn’t sure what the protocol should be. Going to Thuringwethil would be easy but there’s two other worries within their territory that might be able to handle it. 

With thundering paws, and @Toxochelys in tow, he crosses back into the territory with a beckoning call to @Dio and @Hush and, really, anyone else that might serve their lead. He slows to a stop need to a steep wall of the mountain, and circling back to see the newest wolf in Sleeping Dragon. With a thousand questions and concerns running through his mind, he’s still unable to put things together long enough that won’t distract him from their purpose.

Together, he and Gavriel covered ground quickly as they returned to the mountainous Dragon that rose up before them with imposing austerity. He reflected privately on the curiousity that Thuringwethil had only just mentioned the threat of the Grotto wolves, and that he had thought their presence where they shouldn’t be was only a matter of time. It hadn’t taken them long.
 
Without an active Wocha to lead them, Gavriel proceeded by calling every guardian, tactician, and warrior within Drageda directly to them where they stood. He stopped at a steep mountain wall that rose up far above their heads thereafter, and then turned to settle his gaze on the unproven nearly-outsider at his back. Said nearly-outsider esponded by lowering his head out of respect for the accomplished Gona in front of him and holding his tongue. Had he chosen to speak, his voice would have been stiffer than usual, in equal parts due to the circumstances at hand and the fact that it had probably been at least a year since he had last seen the warrior before him. Instead, he remained silent and patient.

Summoned from his brief respite, the mute rose from his nap and into action, heading straight towards the source of the howl: Gavriel. He slowed to a trot as the two wolves appeared in his view, one familiar, the other new.

He chuffed to the both of them, sitting back on his haunches and looking between the both of them. Why was he called?

He's just turning up his nose from caching away a small mink he'd captured when the howl rose up, noting with it a curiously particular set of summons. Dio was on his way just as he heard it, and a rolling lope made his travels swift. He slowed once he caught sight of them -- Gavriel, and someone he did not know, with Hush wrapping up his own approach just ahead of him. Over the stranger, his eyes lingered a little longer although swiftly settled onto Gavriel, expecting the details of whatever this was to follow. He wasn't going to jump to any conclusions prematurely, but something did not bode overly well.

The golden Gona greeted them with a purposeful nod and settled among them.

I don't want to assume too much but hopefully I'll have more next round.

Gavriel gives it a few minutes for anyone that's coming to show up but when it concludes with just Dio and Hush, he allows himself to relax. Adrenaline still pumps but he can feel the crash happening, panting heavy breaths coming to a stop, and he licks his lips to finally settle himself. Blood is smeared on his muzzle and perhaps speckled everywhere but the large male didn't have time to address how he looked. His only concern had been the potential threat they face. 

"This is..." he hesitates and swings his head. He had only met him once before and his tongue fumbles for the name. "Toxo...?" he tries but brushes it off to let the man speak for himself. "Dio and Hush," he then addresses respectively. 

He isn't sure how long the male has been within Sleeping Dragon but he supposes not very long with the lack of familiar expression on his comrades faces. 

"I found a grotto wolf in the ridge. One I have not seen," he explains but he doesn't have much to go on. He's only ever seen Reek and the other female, but that doesn't matter much. "He seemed confused about us. He didn't know who we were so Reek must not be telling his pack much," he adds though he doesn't understand the logic, something that will get his pack wiped out.

It wasn’t long before a slim, young coywolf answered the call, seeming to take it in stride that someone he didn’t know stood among them. It said quite a bit about his trust in Gavriel, and perhaps even underscored the closeness of the pack. Soon enough, their ranks increased by one more. He was large and golden with a very striking set of mismatched eyes that seemed to give Toxochelys pause for just a moment, and said second arrival was apparently taken as a cue to begin.
 
Gavriel had at least partially remembered his name, but it meant far more to the tawny guardian that the other hadn’t simply ripped into him on sight due to no recognition whatsoever. "Toxochelys," he confirmed with a nod, then verbally made way for the tawny Gona to continue speaking afterwards. The other two dragons were briefly introduced, but Gavriel quickly carried on to describe what had happened with the Grotto wolf. Having witnessed the event first-hand, Toxochelys chose to focus his full attention on the two wolves he knew nothing about.

A familiar name came from Gavriel's lips as he debriefed them about the situation. Reek. Drageda had many an altercation with the faceless (at least to him) wolf. He didn't know about how many packs this Reek had behind him, but it soon became clear that this was a new one. A potentially dangerous one, if the fool wolf was one of many. An annoyed growl came from Hush's throat, signifying his annoyance with the situation. Surely Reek would know by now that Drageda was not to be messed with.

His expression hardened as the information about why they were gathered began to come forward. The grotto, Reek, all of it stirred forth a foul taste, and to know they were apparently foolish enough to not mind Drageda was worrisome. It is not just their leader simply not knowing of them, their proximity, so on -- to him, it read as more willed than that based on what he had heard so far. They knew what the Dragon pack stood for, and Reek's follies were going to bite them back sooner or later.

Dio's ears angled back. Hush's growl was noted with a quick nod; he could agree. "What were they even doing on the Ridge?" he asked, passing another quick glance over the wolf he now knew as Toxochelys too. The pale Gona wanted to hear more, anything else they could share would help him better get a feel of what they were dealing with exactly.

The exchange goes over smoothly and the others welcome the newer wolf—or at the very least, accepts him—and proceeds to take the information. Hush vocalizes his frustration and Dio speaks up his own questions, trying to get the most important information. Still a whirl of emotions running through him, adrenaline on his, the blood in his mouth amplifies just thinking about it.

“I don’t know. He said he goes by Hiram now. Some… rebirth. But he seemed confused, like he really didn’t know anything about us. He’s alive, but only so they know their mistake,” he explains though he doesn’t quite understand the change as of late. He isn’t sure he even wants to. Either way, something had to be done, and he teeters on the edge of calling heda then and now to deal with it but he keeps his mouth shut for the moment.

Hush growled and the tawny Kru realized suddenly that he hadn’t heard the coywolf say one word. He tilted his head in the most minimal of degrees such that it would have only been noticeable to anyone watching him in that exact moment. Meanwhile, Dio nodded in agreement and exchanged a question for more information. Toxochelys had wondered at the answer upon finding Gavriel with Phares in his clutches, but he had been given the luxury of doing so simply because he had been second to arrive on the scene. If he had been first, he might have spilled the priest’s blood and been done with it.
 
As it turned out, they had gained more information by letting him live, and because Toxochelys had not been in control, he had stayed out of the way to extract strong reactive responses. He nodded in confirmation of Gavriel’s words with a grimly steadfast countenance. If Hiram wouldn’t comply, however, Toxochelys would quickly unleash the savagery he’d kept at bay.

He squinted with confusion: rebirth? He wasn't much for religion, but this was a confusing topic. Had he lost his memory or something?

Nevertheless, the Grotto wolves were a threat. Hush was eager to reinforce the borders closest to Grotto territory; he wouldn't try to run them out, but they needed to know that the Drageda wolves were not to be wantonly ignored.

He doesn't like any of it. The Grotto's ignorance is clear and the notion of some rebirth only muddles it further for him. Distastefully, he passes a quick glance in their general direction. "That will be their only chance," he grumbled, although hoping they may understand their mistake by that alone may be asking too much. "They don't seem to be thinking soundly there." Which may be putting it lightly. It was still no excuse for ignoring their strength. One step too far and the reborn leader may find himself facing what the Maplewood had seen, or worse.

"I'll increase patrol here, and nearby too." Dio doesn't want them sniffing around anywhere nearby. Until he knew what heda wanted done, that would be a place to start.

Since there is a Thur/Dio thread in this already, he'll be the one. They can still offer but it'll be him that decides to do it. :)

A part of him wants to storm their borders now and wipe them off the map, get rid of their problems once and for all, but no blood had been shed in harm doings. Gavriel had gotten a swipe or two in at the pathetic wolf he’d run into but he’d shown no violence in the process. It’s Dio’s voice, however, that shakes him from the urge and he keeps his gaze focused on the other warrior for a moment long after he’d spoken.

“We all should,” he suggests with a nod of his head. Keeping their closest side protected against the grotto wolves should they have a different plan is the best course of action. “Someone should tell Heda,” he adds with one glance over the rest of them before settling upon Dio once more.

Toxochelys rumbled deeply in agreement that it would be the only pass the Grotto wolves received. What had transpired with the red priest had been the equivalent of a well-fed house cat playing with a rodent who had baffled them by coming near, but the others would not be so lucky next time. Dragedakru would be vipers in the grass who would not wait to strike a second time. They had been duly warned.
 
Gavriel affirmed that they would all double their watch and suggested someone go to the Commander with the newly acquired information. That someone was to be Dio, he knew, as he followed the gaze Gavriel placed squarely on the golden Gona. Toxochelys decisively eyed the man himself and nodded. There was little left to cover, and the sooner Heda knew, the sooner the rest of the pack would be informed as well.

He didn't — couldn't — offer himself to speak to Heda. Instead, Dio was chosen, however silently. He would do his job as defender of Drageda. The Grotto was a threat, religious or otherwise. He didn't know their scent, or what any of their wolves looked like (especially this red priest they talked about), but he knew that any and all intruders needed to be dealt with. He huffed, looking around at the gathered wolves. Was there anything else?

Dio nodded his head, and since there were no other voiced concerns from the others, he would. He had needed to seek the commander soon anyway, just for somewhat more personal reasons, but this took quick precedence. "Anything else to know?" he asked, opting for the most general to let Gavriel fill in as necessary. 

If not, he'd turn a heel and be on his way soon.

this can def be my last if y'wanna wrap it

Dio is the one that takes the step to go to Heda. He has been apart of Sleeping Dragon longest and while Gavriel knew she would trust him, she'd trust it from Dio's mouth just the same. When asked about anything else, however, Gavriel just shook his head and turned toward Toxochelys. With a jerk of his head, then toward Hush, he moves back to the borders for security.