Sleeping Dragon Sugar

Wildfire had definitely been moody lately, more fiery and wrathful than ever before in her life. She knew it was because of the hormonal changes taking place within her. What she did not expect was to wake on this sunny but freezing late November day and feel as if there was nothing more she wanted to do than run around and chase her tail. She felt strangely spunky, which didn't exactly bode well for the mending cuts and scrapes on her body, particularly the one on her thigh.

But it felt better ever since Portia's treatment with the oak leaves and she wasn't about to waste such high spirits. Wildfire stepped out of the den she shared with her mate and tipped her head up toward the cold sunshine with a smile. She then broke into a trot, wincing only slightly when the flesh of her thigh pulled a little painfully with the movement of her muscles. She whipped her head around to check that nothing was bleeding before facing forward again and speeding up to a sprint.

With Chessur now in Drageda and Wintam Dina having been a success, the man had been in a pleasant mood, a rather rare sighting for those that knew him well. But even with the pack thriving there was still much to be done and it didn't seem like winter had any intention of making things easy for the wolves. Being the workaholic that he is, Tanja had no complaints about a good old challenge and was in fact looking forward to the colder months and the pressure they brought with them.

But the man had decided to take the day easy and instead of pushing himself to get his patrolling done, had instead set off for a relaxing stroll while the sun still clung to the sky. What he wasn't expecting however were any interruptions but at the sound of pounding footsteps the man instantly stopped his walk and began to look for the source of his distraction.

She made a wide circle around the territory, then began wending toward its lower outskirts. She knew Sleeping Dragon like the back of her hand by now and tended to avoid anyplace where evergreens grew. So Wildfire wasn't expecting any pine cones near here (the meeting grounds to the south) and didn't realize she was about to step on one until, well, it was too late.

The harsh scales bit into the underside of her right forepaw and she stopped with a loud hiss. She yanked the foot off the ground and began to soothe away the hurt with swipes of her tongue. When she drew back to inspect the wound, she was glad to see the skin hadn't broken. She was hurt enough already, she didn't need to add an allergic reaction on top of everything else. With that said, the yearling began carefully wiping her paw on the grass to hopefully remove any histamines clinging to the leathery flesh.

As she was doing this, she noticed someone approaching. Wildfire paused to regard him, calling out a low but amiable, "Hello," before guessing aloud, "Tanja, right?" They had crossed paths a time or two simply by sharing a home, yet they'd never personally acquainted. "We haven't been properly introduced," she continued once she knew it wasn't a case of mistaken identity. Her lips drew into a smile. "I'm Wildfire."

Sorry for the wait, school has been killing me!!

Perhaps it had only been part of his imagination and no one had actually been there, but Tanja could have swore he heard footsteps. Just as he was about to give up on his search for the mysterious distraction a familiar voice called out to him. He immediately turned to catch the gaze of the bandrona while wondering how he hadn't caught her scent. Sure Tanja had never had a particularly good sense of smell, but was it become so bad that he couldn't pick any scents up at all?!

Shaking off his worry, he gave a nod to confirm the leader's suspicion of his name and quickly followed with "yes I know who you are" when she introduced herself. Her smile was not returned but instead met with the usual stoic glare that fell upon Tanja's face. He didn't like the little shrimpy bandrona but he assumed it would look bad if he didn't try to engage in some type of conversation with her. "Ugh, so any idea where that bear might have run off to?" he asked, not taking into consideration that she might still be traumatized over the whole incident. After all, attacks like that aren't easy to get over, Tanja knew from experience.

No worries. Sorry if this post sucks, I'm sick and sort of out of it, lol...

His gruff response and lack of a smile would have normally given her some pause, though she was in such a fine mood that she felt impervious to any sort of negativity. Even his question about the attack didn't make her falter, though she fell into a momentary and thoughtful silence as she pondered how exactly to answer the question. There was no bear, of course, and Wildfire couldn't begin to guess where Saena might have gone.

Finally she shrugged and offered a sheepish, "No, sorry." She paused and licked her lips. "It's probably a good idea to be careful around the maple woods, though," Wildfire added before a stinging sensation in her foot drew her attention back to it. Despite her efforts, the flesh was swollen and irritated. She bit back a sigh and began to lick it again.

Between curls of her tongue, she wondered conversationally, "What're you getting into today, Tanja?"

Your post was lovely <3

Unfortunately for Tanja, he didn't receive any answer that might have helped in finding the beast that had attacked the bandrona. However the fiery leader appered suspiciously ok with not getting revenge on her attacker and Tanja wondered why. If he was in her position he'd be doing everything possible to try and bring justice to the beast that had almost caught him his life. But he supposed everyone had their way of dealing with traumatic ordeals and he assumed that Wildfire's way of handling it was in fact to not deal with it at all. 

"Hmm ok" he gruffly muttered out and looked off ahead, fully intending to be on his way. However her question caused him to stay in place and Tanja couldn't help the awkward expression that involuntarily climbed it's way into his face. He wasn't good at talking to strangers and it didn't help that the wolf he was conversing with now happened to be a leader he didn't particularly like. "The normal stuff, patrolling, hunting maybe if I'm lucky I'll get a spar in" he answered with a casual shrug of his shoulders.

:3

Sparring didn't appeal to her—especially not in her current state—and Wildfire had no great love for patrolling, either. But when Tanja mentioned hunting, her expression perked. She glanced at her foot, deciding it was more of a hindrance than anything else, and set it gingerly on the ground and tested her weight on it. Yes, it was more uncomfortable than painful and she could live with it.

"If you're hunting, do you mind if I join you? I specialize in small game," the Bandrona said with a smile and wave of her black tail, still largely oblivious to Tanja's indifference to her.

Tanja was oblivious to the fact that the Bandrona's paw could be inured, but even if he had known he would have only thought her foolish for going out when already littered with wounds. Yup she was as dumb as a rock, or at least that's what Tanja thought of her. It was in that moment that the man wondered what Heda saw in the little shrimp, after all she seemed more of a burden than a blessing. 

Her question caught him a bit off guard and Tanja gave himself a mental beating for bringing up the topic of hunting. Small game had always proven a challenge with his large frame, but he supposed he could learn a thing or too from the fiery coated leader. "Sure" was his throaty response before tilting his muzzle upward so that he could catch some scents in the passing gust of wind.

Sorry for the wait! Do you mind if we fade this? I'd love to have another soon! :D

Tanja didn't seem particularly enthusiastic, yet he agreed to hunt together. "Great!" Wildfire said brightly, definitely more chipper than usual. "I'm kind of in the mood for something a little fatter than a rabbit," she said next, thinking out loud. "I know where we can find some really tasty muskrats. Does that sound good to you?" She waited for a response (barely), then began bounding off in the direction of the river, continuing to ignore her slight aches and pains.

Tanja let the Bandrona take the lead during their hunt and followed after her as she started off towards where their meal waited. "Yea" he responded gruffly to her question before trotting after her. He wasn't in the mood to hang around her any longer than necessary, but since a meal was involved he wouldn't complain. Once they arrived and a muskrat was locked securely between his jaws, Tanja bid his farewell before turning to resume his relaxing day.