Dragoncrest Cliffs time isn't real, nothing is real, avocados are half off

It takes longer to get back than she cares for. She’s been in fights before; she’s hurt herself before. This time, she returns with defeat settled heavy in her bones. Her ankle is swollen, her shoulder is stained red with dried blood, and her chest is tender if she takes too deep a breath. Luckily, @Rose found her and despite their problems helped her out and once they breech Drageda’s borders, she excuses herself. The last thing she wants is any more attention.
 
After a while, she takes a deep breath and closes her eyes, using the nearest redwood for support. Every ounce of mental and physical energy has been zapped and the tender anger in the pit of her stomach is all that remains for her brother, and what little energy remains on the fringes is spent fizzling out to fuel those emotions.
 
Mallaidh sinks against the rough bark until she’s on the ground, realizing she doesn’t want to be alone. Before she has time to consider finding anyone else, she slips into slumber, undisturbed while the day turns into the evening, shifting into colder weather for the night.

she doesn't mind when furi falls back into her habit of going out -- it's actually almost reassuring, like things are the same as they used to be. despite this, a nagging fear pushes blixen to keep a closer eye on the border than usual. she trusts furi to come back, of course she does, but..

blix has more of an issue with abandonment than she cares to admit.

it isn't patrol that brings her to the border after nightfall, though. since bat's disappearance the commander hasn't been sleeping too well. not so severely as to warrant attention, as far as she's concerned. given everything that's happened if she wants to take some late night walks, she's entitled, by god. aimlessly she drifts toward the border through the trees, a wine-colored shape under the deep blanket of night. 

she smells furi before she sees her -- and she smells blood, chilling her. alarmed, the redhead picks up her pace, finding her friend passed out -- not unconscious, she doesn't think, but sleeping..? sleeping and bloodied, smelling of unfamiliar things. for a split second she hesitates, afraid of disturbing her -- but let's be real, when has that ever stopped blixen? urgently she presses her nose against furi's face, licking her cheek as she whispers "furi, wake up."

It takes a little effort to get her to stir. All she wants to do is sleep for days, sleep until she doesn’t feel this way anymore, maybe until she doesn’t feel anything. Just when she’d settled for being okay about her family, someone comes along and fucks it up and she wishes to shove it all away.
 
Mallaidh fights the stimulus waking her, groaning and shifting on the ground, slowly picking her head up. She blinks a few times, slowly taking Blixen into focus. “What,” she says flatly. The next few seconds she becomes aware of what’s going on around her. The sky has darkened and she blinks upward, wondering how long she’s been asleep. Everything that hurt before she went to sleep hurts even more now, stiff and difficult to move, as she slowly untangles herself. She licks her dry lips, needing water soon, but struggles to motivate her to do anything else but hold herself up.

every second furi doesn't stir drags by, making blix's heart race, until finally at last she speaks. her unenthusiam goes unnoticed -- the commander is just relieved she's awake, even as she seems to struggle to unfurl. 

feeling not even slightly apologetic for disturbing her, the redhead shoves her nose against furi's cheek and demands, "what happened to you? who did this?" after all injuries like this don't just happen on their own -- someone must have -- or she got in a fight, or something. something blix is not happy about, feeling anger settle in her belly at the thought of someone hurting her furi (oh).

Mallaidh pulls away when she’s still touched, wincing as the tree rubs against her tender shoulder, and she struggles to stand up. It takes several seconds for the full weight of realization that it is Blixen in front of her, shouting questions at her, and it takes even longer for her brain to finally come out of deep sleep.
 
“Don’t yell,” she says hoarsely, squinting with one eyes as if she were blocking out the sun (despite darkness around them), looking up at the fiery girl. She hardly has time to think when she finally processes the question, shaking her head. “It’s fine, I’m fine,” she tries to assure, but her lips work well before her brain does, “some idiot on the ridge. Rose found me.”

don't yell is all furi says at first and blixen's ears lay flat against her skull, an unhappy frown tugging her face. her injured friends reassurances are not reassuring in the least -- the mention of rose brings a flicker of something in her she doesn't want to deal with right now. now that furi is awake she pulls back a little bit, keeping her voice quieter when she says "some idiot on the ridge?" 

well some idiot on the ridge is going to get his ass kicked as far as blix is concerned. "you're hurt," she says stupidly, trying to contest her i'm fines, because it isn't fine. in fact, "tell me what the idiot looked like so i can go kick his ass," she demands, one hundred percent totally ready to pull rank if she has to in the name of getting furi to stop underplaying how badly she's hurt. someone needs to bleed for this.

Of course, Blixen doesn’t let it go. Her ears fall back against her head and she tries to shake her mind awake and get in front of the exhaustion. Slowly, she sits all the way up and even dares an attempt to stand on all fours. She doesn’t look any less tired than she had been, but her mind feels heavy while she struggles to catch up.
 
“It’s okay. It’s not worth it,” she tells her and shrugs her good shoulder. “It’s my ankle and some punctures on my shoulder.” Mallaidh turns and shows her, if Blixen wants to look for herself. Certainly, she’s had worse and she suspects at some point in her warrior career, she’ll get a lot worse. Fighting (if one would call it that) with her brother isn’t what she wants to talk about and they don’t need to be going after every wolf that has a problem with them. “I’m just really… really tired.”

there is a zero percent change that blix is gonna let this go, but she has the sense to drop it for now, a worried frown twisting her mouth. for whatever reason mallaidh is resistant to expanding on who, which makes her suspicious -- if it really were just some random stranger, why refuse to give her a description? after all, she's not the only drageda wolf to go beyond the borders. but from experience she also knows that pushing at mallaidh to elaborate will just drive her away and undo the fragile healing that's happened between them already.

"okay," blix says, doubtfully. she lowers her head to examine the injured shoulder furi presents her. it looks -- well, she's seen worse, but still. principle of the thing. "you should at least sleep in the den," she fusses, voice softer. if she can't go off and murder mallaidh's attacker the least she can do is corral her into a proper place to rest.

Post 800 for you, babe. <3

Still, Mallaidh fights against the fog but she can see Blixen resist the urge to push. It’s dark and she’s tired and nothing can be done now but seeing her retreat from the line of questioning makes her feel a little better. She even gives the girl a smile and, when she’s close enough to look at her shoulder, she leans and rubs her nose against Blixen’s and licks her cheek.  The wounds are not as severe as they could have been but she hadn’t wanted to stick around and see what else Roarke is capable of while she took it whatever he had to deal.
 
The damage of his disappearance and their mother’s death weighs heavily and he will carry the pain a lot longer than she’ll carry the aches he dealt.
 
“Maybe,” she says, stretching out her front legs. She hides a grimace with a distortion of her face, relaxing her muscles and standing. If she lays down and closes her eyes, she’s certain she’ll sleep for days, but right now she has to play a part and bide her time. “It was just embarrassing. I couldn’t land anything and… I know I’m better than that,” she asks, looking up. Tired, pale eyes seek her friends and she offers a weird mix of a smile and frown. She’s sparred with Blixen before, has tussled with the boys next door, but couldn’t take her own brother. “Right?”

her pulling back is rewarded -- even if it isn't as satisfying, mallaidh's smile melts her resistance. fine, fine, she can let things go sometimes maybe. at least for now -- there's no stopping her from stomping around about it once her [friend?] is on the mend. she's just gotta get better at playing the long game.

furi rises to her feet at least, making blix cluck her tongue with her words. "that is weird," she agrees, "i've seen you fight, you're more than capable." she doesn't say better than me (objectively it's true, but let's be real, that's one thing she won't concede). that fu-- that mallaidh could not land a hit on the stranger who assaulted her is ... troubling, if only because it paints the picture of some absurdly good fighter. nah, nah. "something else holding you back?" she asks, not really expecting an answer so much as offering an explanation as she nudges the injured gona toward the dens, her tail swishing behind her.

Blixen makes an attempt to soothe her ego and she slowly nods. It’s the best she can do with the information she has. Logically, she knows there’s something to do with fighting family and all that bullshit. Since her mother’s voice hasn’t returned, she needs somewhere to turn to and the new commander may as well. Mallaidh smiles a bit but shrugs it off.
 
“Just an off day, I guess,” she says, licking her lips. “I don’t think he’ll be back, though.” At least, she hopes. She doubts their next meeting, if there is one, will go any better.
 
As Blixen begins to nudge her, Mallaidh resists and stays still, shaking her head. “I want to stay out here. There’s a place I like to go sometimes,” she says, lifting her head and stretching out her tired muscles. Blixen can go with her if she wants but Mallaidh isn’t going to the caverns this night.

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blixen runs her tongue along her lips and nods, accepting furi's explanation. something still doesn't sit right with her but all she can do is let it go and if mallaidh wants to open up to her at some point, she'll be available. 

a shame, though, because she definitely still wants to go enact bloody vengeance.

for a moment she is irritated by her friend's refusal to follow her -- until furi speaks, making her hesitate. it's not like she has anywhere better to be, so, "what place?" blix asks, abandoning the notion of the dens. "can i see?" she adds, a little awkwardly -- not wanting to assume she's welcome to go with her anywhere anymore, even if naturally, she wants to.

She is not surprised Blixen wants to see it and Mallaidh doesn’t hesitate to nod her head, agreeing to take her with her. She hasn’t exactly been private about the location but she’s hardly told anyone about it. Rose has been there with her, she thinks (at least, probably). And Bobby had caught her there once, which had been weird, and she realizes her relationship with each of the siblings are all drastically different and unique that she can’t imagine being with all of them at the same time.
 
Just as quickly as the thought came, Mallaidh shoves it off. Blixen wants to see and she has to lead. Mallaidh gingerly takes a step forward, testing the tenderness of her ankle, but decides it’s best to not use it at all. She hobbles forward until she gets a good swing under her foot, trotting along as best she can on three limbs. It takes her a few seconds to get her bearings but she makes the adjustments easily, locating the path in the dark with occasional illumination from the sky high up, broken through tall branches.
 
The clearing is in the open, a break in the sky above them with the fallen giants. They’re crisscrossed over one another, creating a little burrow between them. Signs of digging at the base of one, trying to break into the trunk, are left over from her attempts at forcing it but she’s made comfort of what she’s given. “I don’t know how long they’ve been knocked over, they were here when I first joined,” she muses, moving along the side until her entrance is apparent. Mallaidh lowers and wiggles, despite the pain, until she’s between the trees. She points with her nose, inviting the girl inside.

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quiet for once, blix follows easily, her eyes trained on furi as she leads. if she were to try and find this place again on her own she probably couldn't, too enraptured by how her friend looks in the moonlight, too distracted by that troubling limp even if she knows it will likely heal on its own. it's only when mallaidh begins to speak that the commander finally notices where they are, her gaze breaking to look around them. "i've never seen this," she admits, following her invitation inside the makeshift den space. it's different from the caverns, not less comfortable, just different, and she spends a few minutes shifting until she finds a nice way to curl up, pressed close to her friend but still able to watch her, as much of her as she can make out in the dark. "how often do you come out here?" blix asks, curious if this is where furi and rose shacked up after her and blix's first falling out -- wondering why she doesn't feel the same pang of jealousy she usually does when thinking about them together.

Buried out in the middle of the redwoods, she is not surprised Blixen has not seen it. The territory is huge and the trees all look the same, more or less, and without proper landmarks, she’d admit sometimes she gets lost out here. It’s often easy enough to find her way to something—walking long enough in one direction will lead her further in or out but she’s confident enough it doesn’t have as often as it used to.

“I think maybe they fell during a storm,” she explains. They’re fresh enough to only be a year or so old and it’s likely it could have been before both of them were born (but let’s be real, Cruz can’t remember).

Mallaidh considers the next question, looking down at her feet once she’s settled, legs crossed over one another while she gives her back ankle a chance to relax. “I don’t know,” she shrugs. “If I can’t sleep, or something.”

mallaidh's explanation makes sense and blix accepts it without much thought. she tilts her head a little, scooting closer (stealing as much closeness as she can, really, under the guise of being in close quarters to begin with). "how often is that?" the commander asks softly, with a hint of concern -- though it's probably none of her business, furi's sleeping habits. 
the adrenaline of finding her bruised and bloody has worn down, leaving blix feeling a little tender, a little vulnerable. there's a flicker of anger of course but it's easier to compartmentalize -- mallaidh's injuries are bad but not life threatening, and she wants to respect her wishes. it's been... "a while since we were close like this, huh," she mumbles, not realizing the thought comes out aloud 'til the end. coloring under her fur she ducks her head, hoping furi won't catch her silly sentimental thoughts -- no need to ruin whatever awkward, fragile thing has settled between them.

Blixen asks what she probably thinks is a harmless question but Mallaidh doesn’t want to answer. She doesn’t have a specific answer, anyway and she’d have to think about how often she ended up here. Right now, she can at least admit just sometimes so she shrugs it off as no big deal. It doesn’t happen enough to cause any issues but she does worry and she has compromised the spot she likes to spend alone. Blixen brings that up, too, and Mallaidh smiles a bit, though her eyes are heavy and tired. “Yeah,” is all she says, quiet and soft, as she lowers her head to her paws and tiredly looks up at her.

srry angel<3 wrap up?

her question lingers in the air unanswered. an impatient flicker in blixen nearly prompts her to repeat it, but after all this time she has learned at least a little, and anyway, her embarrassment overrides her need to be bossy, tucking her head against her own arm shyly. a hundred things pass through her mind, each inadequant, each in danger of upsetting the peace that has descended upon them. so blixen, for once, holds her tongue, offering furi a slow smile instead, her eyes glittering under the darkness of the sky. as long as her friend will let her, she'll stay like this, pressed close, close enough their fur can twist together and merge them into one as they should be.