Sleeping Dragon This coffee isn't enough

Hush was on one of Sleeping Dragon's many cliffs, staring down into the valley below him as the sun set, blazing the ice and snow in a blinding show of lights. He was resting, his body stretched lazily, paws hanging off the edge. He chuffed, watching his breath in the air before it melted away into the atmosphere. He didn't know what to do with himself. While he was eager to join Sleeping Dragon, he felt restless now, yet he felt incapable to do anything. He was a jack of all trades, he couldn't simply stick to two! Now, he didn't have to, but he felt as if he was compelled to for some strange reason. It would make his pack much more well rounded and capable if he, as well as the others, were talented in two fields. That was his reasoning, he had no idea if the others thought this way. Of course, he wouldn't know, since he hadn't talked to - can't talk to, any of them. Hush sighed once more, raising himself to his feet, stretched and throwing open his maw in a yawn. He could at least go for a walk.

Hope you don't mind me and Gyda! c:

The Dragon had easily become Gyda's home despite her hesitations about claiming it; borne of the fact that never before had she lived so close to a mountain, and her clear and unyielding attachment to Stavanger Bay and the man whose remains (she assumed were still) buried there. He was with Odin now, feasting and fighting in Valhalla where he belonged but her heart still ached for him. She missed him, and Gyda feared that his death had torn a wound in her heart that would never heal. Ragnar could not be replaced to her for he'd been more than her hero, and while he had started out as a father figure to her when the truth had came about things had changed. She saw him in a different light then she had before, though this blasphemy was her little secret. She'd never told anyone, not Nerian, and especially never her mother (though in this respect it could be said she truly was her mother's daughter). 

She yearned to visit the Bay again, to check up on Ragnar's grave, maybe in spring she would bring some flowers to it. As Odin did she assumed he kept watch upon them, his legacies. It had been some time since he had visited her in her dreams and she simply assumed that he was contented; that he no longer felt the need to guide her from his place in valhalla. Gyda wasn't sure what had prompted her to attempt to scale the Dragon today, other than she wanted to enjoy the view. She hadn't before, her inhibitions about heights and the fact that if she climbed high one misstep would have her tumbling down to her death kept her grounded for the most part; or if not grounded then at the very least not too far from the ground.

She was surprised, however, to glimpse up to see a shock of earthen colored fur stretched out on an outcropping overhead. She froze for a moment, briefly panicked by the quick glimpse that she'd stumbled across a mountain lion though her fears were quickly (and perhaps a bit embarrasingly) assuaged. “Oh Hush,” The shield-maiden exclaimed, letting out a breathy laugh. “You scared me, I didn't recognize you up there for a second.” She admitted to him, sheepishly.

Hush's mantle ruffled sufficiently, the silent male prepared himself to hop off the ledge and begin his descent. But a startled voice from below him broke him away and he turned towards the young Queen, Gyda, below. A smile began to grace his features as he realized that he had frightened his Warrior Queen, and a soft choking laugh ensued. He wondered what about him made him so spooky, but the question would go unasked.

The russet coywolfdog dropped from the rocky outcrop to his Queen below (thankfully cushioned by a layer of snow). He shook his pelt, careful not to spray her with the white precipitation, then dropped into a submissive stance, sneaking forward to lick her chin vigorously in greeting.

Gyda gave a soft scoff when Hush let out a sound that the shield-maiden assumed was a laugh: it was a choking sort of sound. She puffed up with playful indignation, tail giving a lash behind her as she fixed him in a narrowed stare. “How dare you laugh at your queen,” She tried to act enraged but as she was fighting laughter herself she felt confident that she had utterly failed in her attempt to sound as she would have would she have actually been insulted. However, she was not and thus had ruined her own ruse quite effectively. She took a step back to allow him room to hop down from the outcropping he'd previously been situated on, and acknowledged his show of submission and the resulting, surprisingly vigorous licks to her chin in greeting. “Hello Hush,” She offered in a soft murmur, placing a platonic lick to his cheek in return of greeting. 

Gyda drew back then, a few steps, placing a small bit of distance between them so that they could communicate ...or, rather, she could talk and he could communicate the best that he could. She had to remind herself for a moment that he was all but mute and that most of her questions would go unanswered just as the great mysteries of the world; unless she asked him simple “yes” or “no” questions in which a simple nod or shake of his head might effectively suffice. “Did you know that at a quick glance your back on that outcropping of rock looks like a cougar?” Because she felt like she had to explain why she'd been startled. After all, it took a lot to scare Gyda Loðbrók, or so she believed. It wasn't as if she was jumpy by nature.

I am so sorry for the wait on this :o!

It's ok!

Hush's laugh tapered off into a quiet smirk, and he stood, waiting, as Gyda backed up to situate them both in a more comfortable position for their one-sided conversation. He relaxed, his greeting having been returned by his Queen, placing his haunches down into the snow, as she began to speak.

Her question, if he had the power to speak, would have made him speechless with amusement. A cougar of all things? And he had scared the Queen by looking like that? A laugh threatened to build once more and he funneled some of the mirth outwards into another burst of choking-laughs before cutting off once more. Do I really? He tilted his head and asked silently, amusement twinkling in his eyes.

Whether she was improving upon her one sided conversation skills or his strange laughing — that still sounded to her as if he were choking on a bone — gave him away she couldn't be sure. Regardless, she read the unspoken question in the tilt of his head and in his eyes which danced with his amusement. No doubt at Gyda's expense. “You do — only at a quick, second long glimpse and look away,” And though the viking queen's accented voice had been nothing short of jovial, amused at her own expense, she was quick to sober up. “It is a frightening thing Hush,” The shield-maiden spoke in a muted tone, everything about her shifting into her serious mode (if that was such a thing). “We need to be careful. A cougar has attacked Heda,” Gyda made the assumption that every one knew, and then realized that if Hush had not known that prior perhaps Thuringwethil had only wanted a certain few to know. Regardless, it wasn't like Hush was going to tell anyone. “I do not know where she was attacked but I fear it is closer than I would like.” Worry etched into the lovely plains of the shield-maiden's face as she worried her cheek for a moment, her ears slicking back to rest at half mast atop her skull as she recounted the ordeal and Thuringwethil's wounds in her mind.

As soon as his mirth had dissappaited, shock quickly rose to take its place. Hush had not heard about this attack. When did it happen! Why did no one tell him?

Well, he knew the answer to that question — people are not fond of having one-sided conversations. Why would anyone want to tell him anything other than his Queens? But regardless, Hush was shocked and angry. He instantly wanted to go find Thurin and check on her, then sweep the borders for any signs of a cougar. His face mirrored Gyda's as worry consumed his brain. Thurin would not wander too far from Sleeping Dragon, and with spring coming soon, all sorts of creatures would become active as they birthed new life. They needed to prepare — Hush needed to prepare.

Gyda watched, with some small amount of guilt, as Hush's mirth vanished, shock rising to dominate his facial features as her words, no doubt, sunk in and took hold. “It is alright. She will live,” Gyda made to soothe quickly. “Lucani is a good healer, she knows what she's doing and assures me that Thuringwethil will not perish from her wounds.” Silently, Gyda couldn't help but think that Lucani better have been right, not out of mistrust for the elder woman but simply because Gyda cared a great deal for Heda — more than she dared to admit to herself let alone anyone else — and thus her worry was equally as great.

“I do not think it will come into our home, and I know you are vigilant with your patrols so keep an eye out and watch for any potential signs or scents that it is near,” The truth was: Gyda was not sure what to expect of the beast. She was not even sure where the attack had happened. She had no experience in dealing with the large felines and she realized that it was a problem; and while she was hardly scared of death she knew that she did not particularly wish to put herself in one's path just so she could study their patterns. She brave, not reckless.

Hush hadn't met this Lucani personally, but he made of note of going to see her. Knowing a healer was important after all. He would also, in his own way, give her thanks for saving Thurin's life, but she most likely had enough thanks from the Queens. Either way, Lucani was someone he wanted to seek out personally.

He chuffed, nodding his head in confirmation. He already had a mind to revamp his patrols and now he had cause to do so. Hush then tilted his head, a silent question entering his eyes. What else did she need from him?

Hush offered her a soft chuff and a nod of confirmation at her orders. “I too will be more alert on my patrols,” She spoke so that her companion knew that she did not ask something of him that she, herself, was not entirely willing to do. If that was one thing she had learned from Ragnar growing up: it was that you never asked your wolves to do something that you could not, or would not do. This was a rule of thumb that Gyda chose to adhere to. “If you are not busy or had other plans, would you like to accompany me on a patrol?” Gyda inquired of him, watching for either his confirmation or decline. He could decline if he did not wish to join her, or if he had a previous engagement that needed his attention. Either way the viking queen would not be offended if he declined — she was more than capable of running a patrol by herself, though she could not claim that she wouldn't enjoy his company as quiet as it was; and sometimes two noses and sets of eyes were better than just one.

Hush, at the thought of accompaning his Queen on a patrol instantly leapt to his feet, his tail wagging. Of course he'd come! He was doing nothing after all and was planning on doing something useful with his time. It was lucky for him that he was offered to do something rather than having to force himself to do it. It made things all the easier. Besides, he hadn't spent that much time with Gyda since they met in the woods all those weeks ago. It would be nice to catch up with her (though he had no questions nor comments to add), or to simply be in her presence. Hush cocked his head, his eyes bright as he quietly told her: Lead on!

Hush's enthusiasm was evident when he leapt to his paws. A soft laugh vibrated within Gyda's throat as he gestured for her to lead the way, her tail giving an errant flick behind her. She was grateful for his enthusiasm, and offered the Delta a soft smile as she made to stride past him, taking the lead to the borders though she gestured him lose with a sweep of her elegant muzzle. Their patrol was left to relative silence, broken only when she thought of something to ask him or when he let out a noise to alert her to a prey scent or unfamiliar scent too close to their borders; and when their patrol was finished the two parted ways, with Gyda heading back to the heart of the Dragon, where she might continue her search for a place suitable enough to give birth wanting to be extra prepared for that time if it ever came for her.