Sleeping Dragon The Blood-Raven she wolf

The silhouette of a wolf sat on the firm ground, her amber eyes grazing her surroundings. She had a sharp set of ears that detected the sounds of small mammals moving among the undergrowth. Her sleek scarlet and black coat shined in the light of the setting sun. She almost glowed a bit, looking like a brilliant flame. Her scent of wildflowers and herbs filled the air around her, hinting others that there was a strange wolf around. Eslani (Ess-lon-ee) had never been fond of this, she felt as though her scent of sage was like a beacon along with the scarlet in her pelt. Her long muscled legs shuffled the  light layer of snow and grass beneath her. She knew she was in another pack's territory, but something about their scent drew her in,called to her. She let out a faint bark,her voice sounded ghostly and glassy. Her long white ears flicked, searching for any movement. A small grin sat upon her deadly maw. She was pretty excited to meet these wolves, whoever they were. Her mind flashed back to an image of her mother and she shivered. hopefully there would be no such wolves here. She stretched out her long neck and laid it on her paws, letting her long legs expand to their full length. They would be here soon, she knew.

Hello! Don't mind Hush, he's just doing his job!

He had been frequenting the borders more often as of late. Partially because he decided to be a guardian of his pack's borders, but mostly because of the northern threat. Hush's paws had crossed this invisible line many a time, and his scent was strong, remarked time and time again. He had developed a schedule, a rhythm that had consumed his life now - and he was strangely content with it.

He was completing his evening patrol when he smelled the intruder. The hybrid stiffened, his hackles raised as he smelled the foreign, packless scent. Without a moment's hesitation, Hush threw back his head and let out his signature yodel-howl to alert the pack to the intruder's presence, barely hearing the bark the female made before following the scent, his head down as he tore through the grass towards her - there she was: black, white, red, intruding. With a low growl, Hush barreled towards her, fangs bared as he charged, intent on bowling her over and getting her in a vulnerable position. He wouldn't just yet, but he was ready to kill if necessary.

Since the wolves at the bolder had been found, Thuringwethil gathered her wolves and tightened their security in the last few days before they took back off across the valley.  If she’d been able, she would have taken them that day to run them out but they’d offered a solution of leaving and so she’d wait and give them time. Whatever they needed to do to get out of the territory didn’t matter to her but she wanted them gone in the next few days when she takes the expedition out.

However, her attention from a patrol is pulled when she hears the strained cry of one of her own. Hush’s urgent howl sent a shiver down her spine and thunderous paws immediately hit the ground. The dark leader is there before she realizes it, seeing a blur of brown rush toward a figure on the ground. No mistaking the wolf is in her territory, farther than any lone wolf should dare to tread, and she briefly thinks of Cirrus. 

Another captive isn’t an option.

Thuringwethil shifts though her feet don’t slow down. She circles on the opposite side of the dark wolf in an attempt to cut her off should she see Hush’s attack before he slams into her. A low growl rumbles deep in her chest. Dark eyes watch, keeping her distance until she’s needed, and she can’t help but wonder if some wolves wake up with the feeling of death over their head.

It was hush's yowl — what Gyda assumed to be a howl — that had captured the shield-maiden's attention away from the cache she'd been working to fill. She was quick to bury the rabbit she'd caught, more concerned about why Hush's voice had risen into the air then the presentation of a dirt mound that held their food. Her pace was quick as she arrived to the scene, though she was not the first to arrive to Hush's summons. When Gyda arrived she noted Thuringwethil; but more prominently Hush who was rushing at the female intruding upon their lands. Her lip curled back from her teeth, her tail rising over her spine as her hackles bristled with annoyance at the insolence. It was like Stavanger Bay all over again. None had dared to trespass in Odinn's Cove, though there was a sturdy line of Berserkers willing and itching to kill any wolf that crossed their piss line. Thuringwethil had seen to take a trespasser captive, while previous Gyda had chased the first off leaving him a nasty reminder on his leg to remember her by. 

This time, she could not claim that this female would be so lucky. She desired to rush forth, to join Hush but the Viking Queen held back, set to pace to and fro, her icy caribbean gaze as frozen as the glacier to the west. Already Hush was upon her and Gyda wanted to see what the silent man would do; if he could impress her. “Either you move a respectful distance from our borders and submit to us or he will kill you.” Gyda commanded to the trespasser. And in reality, she had no chance of surviving between the three of them: two of them well trained in combat and death — as for Hush Gyda did not know but was more than willing to find out. Gyda had no intentions of commanding Hush to her side: she would let him mangle and if it came to it, kill. She only hoped, for the sake of interrogating and sating her own curiosity, that the female would not be so arrogant. For a brief moment Gyda spared a glance to Heda before her attention returned coldly to the intruding female.

Eslani flashed to her feet right before the wolf bowled into her, knocking her off of her paws. She gasped, he had taken her by surprise. She remained there as he stood over her and turned her nose away from his snarling maw. "I mean no harm!" she cried out, her deep voice becoming a higher pitch. Her muscular body ripples, she wanted to fight back,but couldn't.
The girl watched as the other two wolves approached her, their intentions clear. She kept her tail low and whined bit, trying her best to take on a submissive posture despite the wolf already standing over her. She would not regularly act like this towards others, but her instincts led her to do so. These wolves seemed like good fighters, good pack-mates. "I wish not to trouble you," she said respectfully."But I have come to join your lands. I have left my pack because of a murderous alpha and am lost without other wolves..." She was surprised at how easy it had been to speak with these wolves, the truth flowing out like a river. She felt a weight lifted off of her shoulders, finally there was someone to speak with. "I...I understand if you cannot take me, I will just have to move on, but  it would be an honor to join you." She  laid her ears back in submission. It was hard, seeing as she was the beta of her last pack and had been soon-to-be alpha female of it. Her amber eyes glinted as she found those of the she-wolf who had spoken. It was unlike her to be so open, but her life depended on it right now. She was strong and sleek, but there was no way she could take on three healthy pack wolves at one time.
(Sorry! She didn't sidestep him according to my last post! She was bowled over and can barely speak.)

Hush, seeing his two Queens join him in the fray, brought his muzzle closer to her neck, ignoring her submissive stance. He snorted in disbelief at her claim. She wanted to join their pack and yet she ignores their borders with such disrespect? He waited for the order to kill or move back from either Thurin or Gyda, but until then, he stood over the tall female, his small stature matching hers in their deceptiveness. Hush, while he was no mere brute, was a warrior - a guardian - of his pack, willing to do anything to protect them from harm or from the foolishness of other wolves. He didn't want to kill her, but he wouldn't argue against orders. He had no voice to do so.

Thuringwethil doesn’t notice Gyda’s approach at first as Hush barrels into the loner, taking her to the ground and standing over her. Her own feet dance a few feet closer to help cut her off if he needs it but she hits the ground anyway. Gyda’s words cause her ears to twitch but never does she take her sights off the trespasser, suddenly stammering over her words and exposing her throat to the warrior standing above her.

“If you wished not to cause me trouble, you wouldn’t have made yourself comfortable inside my home,” the young leader growls, lifting her lips as she focuses on Gyda instead of the threatening shadow. Thuringwethil takes a few steps to cut off her line of sight and tightens the arch of her tail, flicking her gaze to Hush as he stands ready for her command. Gyda gave her an order that, if disobeyed, will lead to death and she’s only managed to complete half.

Heda gives Hush a subtle nod for the order, looking down upon the dark female. If she doesn’t scramble back out of her territory in the upcoming seconds, she might not leave with her life.

Gyda did not feel sympathy towards those who could not even obey the simplest of laws set by their species since the very first of their kind ...whatever foreign and archaic creatures they had came from. Their borders were clearly marked, they were well established in upon their slumbering dragon and therefore there was no excuse she was willing to accept; even if the argument that sense of smell was gone (because a wolf without a sense of smell was utterly useless to them). It was bold in a way that almost made Gyda want to laugh when the dark coated trespasser forced to submission beneath Hush's display of dominance and power over her managed the audacity to ask to join, seeking to explain that she did not mean to trouble them. Heda spoke then, and when she finished speaking Gyda's attention shifted to Hush, touching upon the earthen colored male where her icy gaze lingered for a moment longer, infused with pride at his ability to hold his own and keep the trespasser in the dirt.

Her gaze then shifted back down to their trespasser, whom had submitted but had subsequently ignored the other half of Gyda's demand, a fact that did not go unnoticed by the viking queen. She could threaten her again but Gyda doubted it would do any good. “Why should we even consider it? You have only shown that you cannot respect claimed territories and that you cannot follow simple commands; we have no use or tolerance for wolves like that.” Gyda pointed out, ghosting forward a step. Still, she hung back but some of the distance between Hush, the trespasser and herself was closed. “Hm?” At this point, though, Gyda was simply humoring; as it stood she had no current intentions of letting this woman into the ranks of Sleeping Dragon.

l Runnn! l

  The she wolf watched closely the behavior of the alphas. Foolish she had been, disregarding their borders. She took a deep breath and looked up at the wolf above her and back to the other. "Then let me be gone." She said in a polite tone, not wanting to upset her more, for she knew death would come from that. She slipped from underneath the tiny male easily and ran like the wind, her sleek body allowing her to do so effortlessly. She sprinted faster than ever before, her scarlet fur whisking, desperately trying to get out of this terrible place. She could've taken on those wolves if there was only one of them, but unfortunately that was not the case. She kicked up dust as her claws dug into the ground, flinging brown pellets at any wolf pursuing her. She kept running, not knowing how far she was from the territory or how long she had been running. She sliced her paw pad at one point, sending a terrible pain through her foot. Eslani let out yelp of pain, she knew it would need to be tended to. She got back up despite the terrible pain and limped away as fast as she could, still barely below the speed of a good runner.

With the dismissal leaving his queens' lips, Hush threw himself into attack mode. She was fast, he would have to give her that, but Hush had the advantage of already standing. Hush lunged, eager to tear into her hind leg and rip out a good sized chunk of the limb, crippling her. Whether it landed or not, Hush fell back, his pale eyes fixated on her as she became smaller and smaller in his view. He looked back towards his Queens, silently asking if he should continue the chase. She was incapacitated now and would be easy picking for the lean hybrid. All he needed was the order.

I hope you two don't mind I archive this but if you want to add a reply, we can bring it back out. <3

The stranger doesn’t have much of a response other than a request to leave and, before they could really respond, she manages to squirm out from beneath her warrior and flee. Thuringwethil, out of reflex, leaps forward a few feet as if she were going to chase her but she holds herself back. Hush manages to do something similar. Heda watches the figure get smaller, stumbling suddenly in a valley with a faint yelp reaching her ears. 

“Do not waste your energy,” she commands, turning her head first away from the scene, and then her eyes, to look upon Hush. She nods her appreciation and then glances back for the first time at Gyda. She would have enjoyed the stranger’s throat between her jaws, crushing until blood filled her mouth, but she’s nothing but a waste of time at this point. The next time she gets close to Drageda would be her last. 

When she glances back to Hush, she points her nose onward. “Watch this border for a while,” she tells him. They’d strengthen in, mark it more to prevent further confusion though there had been no mistaking where their territory begins. Leaving them behind, she begins to pick up her own patrol in the opposite direction.