Dragoncrest Cliffs the heart and the hurricane

Arlo had gotten back just before the big storm had hit, in more or less in one piece, but now that the weather had begun to die down, he was thankful to be home. The ground is mostly water-logged, the lake is high over the natural bank. In the process of searching for the damage left behind, sure the others have taken the survey as well. After spending time in the redwood forest, legs soaked up to his joints, he notes two ruined caches, flooded by salty rainwater and destroying what had once been stored there.
 
His nose pokes through the wet ground, pulling out the spoiled meat one by one to properly dispose of it, as he tracks in his mind where to work on refilling it. He can call for his brother to hunt with him to the north, but in the meantime he works to clear the rotten meat away so no others accidentally eat something that’ll make them sick.

Drageda has weathered the storm as to which Eske finds herself immensely grateful. After spending months cooped up in the winter and two weeks (give or take) cooped up again while fearsome winds howled and waves beat against the cliffs and rocked until Eske was sure the cavern would collapse in on itself or floor — or worse yet both — she spends as much time outside soaking up the sunlight and admiring the sky as if she feared she’d never see it again. She does not like being locked in what quickly becomes a prison to her and always had been on the claustrophobic side. The Cheka wraps up her patrol to survey the damage of places she has not yet gotten to glimpse at. Though she suspects Drageda did not get the very worst of the storm it has taken a beating nevertheless. The ground is sopping wet and she easily sinks into the saturated ground, mud up to her mid-legs in some areas. She makes a mental note to let Portia and Wildfire know to have their children avoid playing in and around these areas lest they get sucked into the mud and drown. She has witnessed (by sound anyway) the death of one child she does not wish to see another.

Her time cooped up was good for her, though, and during the stretch of days she was finally able to finish her grieving for Kendra. It still hurt and Eske still missed her but Kendra is gone and Eske lives. All she can do is try to make Kendra proud. Her desire for the Wanlida rank has returned and though she tends dutifully to Heda as her Cheka, she focuses her free attention on her next goal. Sea blue-green gaze lifts as something pale moves in her peripheral vision and her head turns, hoping it is not Xan, only to feel relief as she recognizes Arlo. “Arlo,” The warrior princess greets him as she approaches, altering her course so their paths cross. It appears, she notes, as if he is sorting through what is left of their caches. “Want some help?” Though it is clear by her smile that he doesn’t truly have a choice. “How bad is the damage from where you’ve been recently?” The Cheka inquires of him.

Distracted in his duty, he does not note Eske’s approach until she speaks. His fur bristles and he jerks to attention, smoothing his coat rather quickly when he realizes his present company. “Cheka,” he greets with a swift move of his tail. He is not better she holds such a rank but the nag that he is older and more experienced lingers in the back of his mind. Uncertain where it has all come from, he sets aside the newfound feeling to focus on the task at hand. She has offered her help and he is in no position to say no, unable to set everything aside to fix the problem.
 
“This is the third ruined cache,” he explains with a shrug of his shoulder. “I’ve cleared the first two from the spoils and was able to get rid of this one.” He clears his throat and steps around to the other side for a better grasp. They’d eventually have to hunt and refill but the waterlogged forest floor does not benefit them and until they find dryer ground to renew their supply, he’s content to free the tainted meat. The last thing they need is one of the goufas to eat the wrong thing and wind up ill.

Eske’s lips are terse as Arlo gives his damage report, noting that this is the third ruined cache that he has come across. She cannot claim that is necessarily surprises her but still she had been holding out hope that they would have had a better outcome. To the best of Eske’s knowledge there are only two more food caches that he has yet to check and she does not hold out too much hope that they would be spared. They would need to be checked to know for sure, of course. “The storm probably just hit the coast, right? Perhaps we could gather a hunting party or two and head further inland, maybe we’ll be lucky and find a herd.” A big ungulate would make something of a difference especially as it would be easy to split into several caches. It is just a suggestion, though, and for while at one time Eske had aimed for the hunter trade that had never came to pass as her focus turned upon earning her tactician speciality and eventually the masteries of the mercenary trade. “Shall we check the last two caches? Perhaps they will have been spared the worst.” She retains some hope but does not exactly hold her breath for it either.

Table top roll!

A hunt would be good for them to fill their bellies and replenish their home. A boost for morale, even, with the weight of the storm barely behind them. It had taken a lot out of them to remain but they kept close and didn’t let go of their claim. He swiftly nods his head, deeming it a good idea.
 
“I need to cover this one first,” he tells her as he goes back to what he’d been doing prior to Eske approaching. He finishes packing the dirt down over the rotten meat and marks it heavily when he’s finished. “The two further north may not have been hit as hard but I don’t have much hope,” he muses as they begin their way north, searching for the remaining two. He points with his nose they can break off, sending her to the right as he turns left. With his nose low to the ground, and several minutes of searching, he finds one of the remaining cache. To his surprise, the meat stored inside seems to be fine. The ground is wet and it likely needs relocating—or eating now, at least—and he leans down and shakes the two things inside loose.
 
Arlo picks up his head after he grabs what’s inside and trots back the way he’d came until he locates Eske once more.

“Well that’s cheerful,” Eske teases him lightly as they begin to walk in the direction of the last two caches left. Despite her teasing: she understands. The first two caches are all but ruined and they cannot go on false hope that the other two will be any different. They have to prepare for all situation but especially the worse if it comes to pass. She veers off to the right to check the caches stored there, heaping up ground once solid now loose and heavy with the unrelenting rains that had badgered it. It would be some time before they could walk the earth of Drageda without coming across mud or softened earth, she thinks. Despite that the heavy rains had been harsh nothing appears to be ruined or rotted. “Arlo, this one appears to be good.” The Cheka calls out to him as she hears him approach and roots through it with her muzzle. It was not an overly big cache but the meat is worth saving nonetheless. “Should we try to find a dryer place to bury these? Or take them back to be eaten?” Since he was the one to first check them it was his call, Eske feels.

Arlo, this one appears to be good.

Relief floods him just from hearing the words, even before he gets to his own cache. To his surprise, this one is also in condition. In fact, the best one out of all of them. There’s no excessive wet water and he assumes it’s higher ground than the rest of them. Looking back over his shoulder, he notes they access this one first, something he’ll report back to Thuringwethil when he gets the chance. He leaves a marker to the right of it for indication before he turns back and searches for Eske and her find.

When he arrives, he notes that it is in the clear but not for long. Their timing had been good to rescue what is left behind from the storm. “The other cache is fine, so I left it… we should take this one back and clear it so it doesn’t spoil,” he explains with a wave of his tail, diving in a beat later to begin picking up what he can to return to Hougeda.