The Tangle Explode your hours and you'll see how time will transform.

He saw them lingering, but did not go to them. Instead Dacio regarded the duo with an unimpressed cant of a raven lobe, before he turned away in the opposite direction.

This was to be it, then. First Verx and Aure would take their leave, step willingly into the life of natrona. While Dacio initially hoped that their departure would prompt the remaining wolves of Drageda to to come together and figure out a plan to be rid of Rusalka for good, he felt doubt sink in his belly like stone. Who else would brand themself a traitor?

Heda had promised to always be there for him, he recalled bitterly, yet she'd doomed them all by giving herself to the sea. Perhaps she'd foreseen their unfortunate fate, and sacrificed herself on her own terms to spare herself the guilt of seeing it through. Surely she'd have cared enough to warn them though, if this were to be the case.

He didn't know. Not knowing weighed on him, frustrated him, drove him into the maze of the neighbouring Tangle. Drageda was all Dacio had ever known, ever wanted to know, was what had kept him rooted for all those months of trying to find himself again. He stole away for a time, eager to be alone with his thoughts for just a little while before returning to the possibility of finding nothing but ruin.

ooc; i've wanted to rp with you for awhile now, hope you don't mind meee

turning one's back on something they knew was never easy. it always took a difficult choice amongst people who thought they knew better. he knew from experience, though he supposed it could be applied everywhere and to everyone. he kept his thoughts to himself, for he knew not the troubles of the Teekons and how their fragile peace lasted. he didn't even know what was going on. evergreen eyes would focus on the blue-gray being ahead of him.

Baelfire thought the other young man looked a bit solemn. understandable, for thoughts weighed down on his mind as well. he chose not to approach out of respecting the other's space and apparent need for alone-time. he did, however, give a soft chuff of welcome. to let the other boy know he was here. what they chose to do with that knowledge was up to them. as a foreigner, the man knew little of the Teekons. he rather hoped to have come across someone who could clue him in. but he wasn't going to impose his beliefs and opinions on someone else.

Another's soft wuff broke the comfort of Dacio's silence, and he lifted his head to peer through the dense foliage in search of the creature who sought to communicate with him. His eyes found an unfamiliar figure and, stepping forward to get a better look, settled his stare on a young male of crimson fur. 

His charcoal tail flicked at his hocks, gaze scrutinizing for a few quiet moments as he inhaled deep to test the air for his scent. That of Rusalka did not cling to the stranger's pelt, which allowed the sterling Gona to slacken somewhat.

"Hei," was his response, though he made no move to close the distance between them.

Baelfire would blink at the other's own hail. he knew enough to assume that it was a form of 'hello' the other spoke but in an entirely different language. he wasn't one to assume but judging by the fact the other did not charge blindly at him for his own greeting, the man assumed it was friendly enough. who was he to judge if someone was gruff? he was always gruff himself. "vendui" he'd reply in his own tongue, keeping a respectful distance still. "do you live around here?" the salty tang of the other's coat was enough to tell him he did not. but he supposed it was just polite to ask.

He was curious, but not enough to venture forth. It seemed the other young male felt similarly, choosing to maintain a comfortable distance between them. Dacio appreciated it. He was hardly in the mood to have some stranger poke their nose into his business.

From the crimson yearling's lips spilled what he assumed to be a greeting in his own tongue, and Dacio's interest spiked. Aure had shared with him a language he'd never had the patience to understand, though he'd once found some comfort in the smoothness with which she spoke it.

But she was natrona now, and a muscle in his jaw tightened as he recalled the last time she'd saw her alongside the other traitors as they prepared to take their leave. "Yes," he answered, casting his bitter thoughts of former comrades aside as he gestured over a peppered shoulder with a cant of his raven-tipped crown. "With Drageda, on the cliffs to the North." A whisker twitched. For how long? "And you?"

Drageda. a foreign name with foreign concepts. Baelfire would blink as the young man gestured, following his gaze. so, the coast then. he hadn't been there yet. "Lost Creek Hollow" he'd reply to the question, dipping his head now in the direction where he had come. the name was clear enough. a creek. a hollow. pretty damn simple. "I am Baelfire" he'd add in, choosing to broker some sort of deeper communication. he wasn't aiming for friendship but he didn't want to be awkward. his head would slightly tilt. "what language do you speak?"

Lost Creek Hollow was unfamiliar to him, for the only nearby pack he was aware of was Rusalka - who'd positioned themselves directly beside Drageda's claim. He found himself wondering how close this male's home might be and how long they'd been around, though it did not concern him the way the group on the sound did. The hollow's wolves hadn't bothered Dacio's companions before, and his newest acquaintance seemed approachable enough.

"I'm Dacio," the ashen youth returned, and pricked a velvet lobe at the question regarding his mother tongue. "We call it Trigedasleng," he answered, "spoken only among our wolves and those of our sister packs."

When the time came to part ways, Dacio found he was almost loathe to do so. Baelfire had provided something of a temporary escape from his troubles, and the dread of returning to the cliffs to face them settled in his belly like stone. But he was a dutiful boy, and he turned away from his newest acquaintance with a polite dip of his head in farewell, and made to return to Drageda to witness its downward spiral.