Sleeping Dragon forget stardust; you are iron

i assumed that eske's noticed/knows about seff's presence & her siblings distanced behavior, etc (feel free to poke me if she wouldn't & i'll gladly change it).

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After her morning patrol she had doubled back towards the towering dragon, canting a glimpse towards the towering volcano with sea colored gaze for a moment before she pushed forth heading towards the den that had once been shared by her family. Eske suspected that it had belonged to Gyda first, and then gradually they and Gavriel had made their way into it. She slid inside it, noting that with her parents absence their scents had begun to fade from it. A deer pelt had remained and she eyed it now, considering stealing it for her own den. She had moved out of the den a while ago, feeling too claustrophobic and striving to be truly independent. Now, this once claustrophobic den felt as it was: empty. Devoid of the wolves that had once made it home. Despite her notable disagreements with Gyda she found herself missing her parents. Their mission had been important, Eske understood, and she did not begrudge them their path in life. Not in the same way that she hated Thyri for abandoning them.

Thyri had become a coward to Eske's eyes: always the black sheep and now the betrayer. The coward who had turned her back upon her flesh and blood. Whether Heda ever welcomed her champagne sister back or not was her own decision but Eske knew that she would never again think of Thyri as family, would never forgive her. Eske nuzzled her face against the fur drinking in the scents that brought with them fond, if not blurry memories. She could not reach out and grasp one in particular and they were a half-formed but there was a distinct feeling of fondness. She grasped the fur in her jaws and exited the den, struggling for a moment to find a way to carry (drag was more like it) without stepping on it and unintentionally pulling it from her grasp.

She'd even noticed Hvitserk and Freyja's distanced behavior which was most strange for the precious golden child. Eske assumed that she was too busy getting cozy with that stranger — the boy whom Eske did not feel had any right to be here. If it were up to her (which, ha, thankfully it was not) he would have never been welcomed. He was an outsider. She turned her thoughts away from her gradually splitting family as she squinted against the morning sun that greeted her with an onslaught of light from the darkness of the den, taking a moment to allow her eyes to adjust before she continued on with the intent of dragging the fur to her den. What her siblings did wasn't her concern: she knew where her loyalties lie.

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The few days since her return came and went scarcely noticed. She does not stray far from the middle of the territory but she doesn’t interact much with the rest of them unless she needs to. Something wrong sits at the base of her neck, gripping her in a way that she can’t turn and snap at the assailant, and she struggles to find something to distract her for a little while. In an attempt to clear her mind so she can make room for the future, she moves through Hougeda with no particular destination in mind.

When she comes across Eske, with a deerskin in tow, she tilts her head and slows to a stop. Thuringwethil chuffs softly for attention, adjusting her course to angle toward the warrior child. She hasn’t seen any of the children since she’s been back and Thyri’s absence, more than usual, hasn’t gone unnoticed, nor had Freyja’s. Her own feelings remained tucked away as she draws up close to the goufa, knowing the last week or so hasn’t been easy. With the departure of her parents, not an easy decision, she is sure to feel some of the weight of it.

“Hei,” she finally calls with a wave of her arched tail. “Gafen sis?”

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Eske thought that she had handled Gyda and Gavriel's departure well. Their cause was just and served in Heda and Drageda's best interest and she was proud of them. Her goodbyes had not been tearful — Eske wasn't that kind of girl, but she felt their absence nevertheless. Eske was not sure how to process her sorrow and the sting of what she believed to be Thyri's betrayal. Whether her assumption in regards to her once sister was true or not mattered little to Eske. It was what she chose to make of her absence and failure to reappear and Eske had proven time and time again that she was a stubborn beast to her very core. Her siblings weren't her concern anymore. They were capable of making their own decisions ...and their own mistakes. She only hoped that they knew what they were doing and that once they chose their path that they might not be able to take it back. At least, not as far as she was concerned. Eske did not forgive and forget — it wasn't who she was.

The sound of footfalls proceeded Thuringwethil by a bit but when her Heda's familiar form emerged Eske dropped her keepsake and lowered her posture to one of submission, her tail wagging happily against her hocks as she moved towards Heda with the intent of offering her commander a series of submissive licks under her chin. She placed the distance between them once more, moving to hover over the deer pelt once more, glimpsing away from Heda to look at it as the commander greeted her and inquired as to if she needed help. The pelt wasn't heavy per say. Simply awkward and Eske had no efficient way to move it besides dragging it.

“hei Heda,” Eske returned the greeting as her gaze flickered back to her dark, stalwart commander. “beja.” Eske accepted with a sage nod of her head and a soft gesture of her muzzle to the pelt. Sometimes, she figured, it didn't hurt to ask for some help. Little did she know that her efforts were all in vain, but in the moment she sought to line her den with the last reminder she had of her parents.

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Eske drops what she’s doing to adjust her position and greet her. Her nose lifts a little and her ears drop against her skull as she accepts the display before a low rumble purred in her chest. Eske, like the others, have grown into something Thuringwethil is proud of, and she knows her parents are proud of, and she resembles everything Seageda once stood for, that Drageda is becoming to stand for. If she were born on the coast farther north, there’d be no mistaking her loyalty.

With the deer skin on the ground, Thuringwethil takes a step forward and picks up one end only to fold it over so it meets the other side. Hoping to make it a little less awkward, she steps back and picks up the opposite end pointing toward the goufa and waited for her cue and where they will go from here.

short post is short. :0

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Eske heard the low rumble of a purr in Heda’s chest and her tail wagged in jubilation behind her. Submission had never felt like it suited Eske, but not because the warrior princess fashioned herself some destined leader. She was no diplomat, all steel and cutting glass. She saw diplomat’s like Freyja as polished stone: smooth and round with no sharp or cutting edges in sight. Though Eske supposed she could have felt smug that Freyja was seemingly absent more preoccupied with that stupid outsider than she was her future as leader of Drageda but all the agouti amazon felt was …disappointment at the consideration that perhaps the golden child wasn’t really so golden, after all. Only after Thuringwethil folded it some — why hadn’t she thought of that?! — and the Heda took her position across the fur from her did Eske bow her head and draw in the corner of the uneven fur that she’d been dragging it by previously and started, slowly, on the path to her den.

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Even through the deer skin, a smile appears on her face when Eske’s expression changes. She is still young, with plenty to figure out, and if she can help along the way, she will. Drageda has only survived by working together and being there one for another, as Seageda had, as Trigeda does, and they will be no different. They are still learning with one another and perhaps in generations to come, they will know one another lack the back of their paws. Her tail swishes a few times behind her and she lets the girl lead the way to the den, helping her carry it until they stop and she can release it to the ground once more.

"If you want to talk about it, you can," she offers the girl, the smell of the deerskin really settling into her nerves. The decision had been quick but the two warriors did not object, knowing the purpose to be for the good of Drageda. Thuringwethil won't push for anything else and instead lowers her head to nudge to skin closer to the den as if nothing happened, should she not want to talk at all.

i didn't expect eske to blurt out all her pent up concerns/feelings, lol >_>

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When the pair finally reaches the warrior princess’ den they both release the fur and it falls to the dirt before the yawning mouth of the Goufa’s den. “Chof,” Eske told her Heda with a gratuitous dip of her head. She had appreciated Thuringwethil’s help and though ‘thanks’ didn’t feel like quite enough it was all Eske had to offer her. Eske’s ears perked and then slicked back to rest at half mast atop her skull, her tail flicking errantly against her hocks as Heda offered to listen should Eske want to talk about it. It being the departure of her parents. For a moment, Eske fidgeted unsure. Of what she was meant to say, of what she wanted to say. Had she caused the Commander to feel guilt? She looked down at the deer skin and realized how it might have looked: she was taking all that was left of Gavriel and Gyda to her own den. A keepsake. She did miss them and that was the truth. For all her sharp edges, aggression and strength she was still just a girl.

“I miss them, Heda, but I do not begrudge them their path in life. I am proud of them for it and I understand their importance to Drageda,” Eske began, licking her lips in the hopes of hiding her nerves. She’d never had a problem speaking her mind but the magnitude of who she was speaking too — something she had not grasped when she was younger — was a heavy weight. She admired her Heda and Eske was careful not to make Thuringwethil think she was weak. To the real crux of her feelings she blurted out “It is my siblings that concern me. I assume that Thyri turned her back upon us, and Hvitserk isn’t around much anymore either. What if he, too, turns his back on us? And Freyja? It seems that splita—” Eske spat the word with distaste. “—is all she has time for. He shouldn’t even be here. He does not belong. What if…what if he steals Freyja away from us? Turns her against us?” She’d seen her sister once since their parents departure and not since then. Eske was worried for her siblings, worried of what would become of their family, if they even were one anymore.

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There is a moment Thuringwethil isn’t sure Eske will open up and a frown laces her lips. Even if her time with Eske has been limited since her birth and most often with Freyja, as she seeks a spot at the top with Drageda, the youngest dragon of all has always had a soft spot. In some ways, the girl reminds her of Gyda—especially when they were younger—and she knows the goufa will make them all proud. There are big things lined up for her too, even if they don’t know what they are just yet.

When the words spill from her mouth, Thuringwethil slowly nods her head once in encouragement. Always she tries to present herself as open should anyone need a helping hand and she is thankful Eske feels comfortable to express her feelings.

“Your parents are very important to Drageda and it is not a decision we made lightly,” she says though she isn’t exactly sure how much she knows. “They will gain support from Trigeda and make their own home between us. Once they have settled when winter ends, they will not be that far,” she adds. The travel will not be as far as Trigeda and a visit won’t be an impossible feat. They will succeed, just as the rest of them.

It is the talk of her siblings that give her a little more concern. The stranger they have with them, something she had not decided, hadn’t settled well with her. Wildfire had sprung it on her and as much as she wanted to turn the boy away, she found it difficult to say no. The anxiety of all the other dragons remain with her as much as it does with Eske. As involved as their parents were with the children, as much as the rest of them were involved, surprises her that they had managed to fail Thyri. Still, she knows she doesn’t have an answer good enough to excuse any of the problems the girl has.

“It is a test of their loyalty, Eske. If they betray us, they are not of Drageda. We do not have room for the weak,” she explains, though perhaps harsher than she’d meant. Freyja had been promising but her distraction as of late has been a concern and if something as simple as a boy is enough to turn her away, then the girl simply isn’t fit to lead her own branch one day. Thuringwethil will snatch the crown from the girl just as quickly as she’d given it to her.

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Even with Heda’s words Eske knew that she would not visit her parents unless it was on a mission. It was not far but it was too far from Drageda and Eske had no intentions of leaving her clan. Not when her intentions were born purely of selfishness. She did not harbor a wanderlust. Occasionally, her curiosity would drive her to the territories beyond Drageda but she does not wander outside of the Wilds. For her worries Heda has no answers and though Eske expected as much she could not claim that she didn’t feel a little bit better getting her grievances off her chest. They’d been eating at her and though the relief did not lift the burden of her concerns from her shoulders it relieved some of the weight nevertheless: to be able to freely express her concerns even if they did not align with the Commander’s own. Even if her concerns questioned Heda’s own decision. She thought letting the outsider stay with them was a mistake and though she adored Heda Eske had no qualms about letting her thoughts be known. On her opinions Eske strove to be entirely transparent with them, only stopping to think of the potential consequences of her honestly later, after it is too little, too late.

“They…disappoint me.” Eske spoke honestly, brashly, letting out her thoughts like a heavy breath she’d hadn’t been aware she’d been holding. No doubt, her siblings didn’t care whether she approved or disapproved of their actions or whether they disappointed her or lived up to what she had painted them as. She had admired them each in her own way as the youngest and runt of the litter. In some ways, they were supposed to be better than her but the stark realization that they are not is like a slap to her face and her admiration for each of her siblings festered painfully like an infected wound. “If it is true, if they betray us I will never welcome them back, even if you do Heda.” Just so that it was very clear on where she stood on her opinions of betrayers: blood and flesh or not. In truth, her opinion mattered little. It was Heda's that drew the final line but still Eske was unafraid to make her stance known on matters even if it made little difference.

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Thuringwethil frowns but she nods in understanding. There have been a lot of disappointments over the months; from their own wolves to the strangers she allows to stay. Through the entire process, though, she’s managed to find a few wolves that have remain true and strong and have taken place among them. Those that have betrayed them, however, had their one chance and she has no interest in seeing them again.

“There is no coming back from betraying us,” she explains. There have been special cases, such as Hush returning, but he had the locust on in his benefit, but the others would not be welcome on her doorstep. They were words Eske needs to hear, that her faith may not sway from that of Drageda. Her loyalty and honor is what helps keep them together and just knowing she has a good band once more will keep them going, despite those that turn their backs on them.

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There was a brief moment where Eske wondered if she was being too hard on her siblings, if her disappointment and the sharp pain of what she believed to be their betrayal was …wrong. It didn’t last long. Eske was resolute on her beliefs and her loyalty to Heda was the strongest tie that she had. She admired her Commander but beyond that she wondered how they could think themselves dragons when they did not seem all that interested in Drageda? Or when their interest waned with frivolous distractions? She’d never been particularly close with her siblings and that was largely of her own design but to know that she faced the real possibility of losing them left her hurt and angry. “Good.” Eske said simply, firmly when the Commander mentioned that if they betrayed they would not be welcomed back. Maybe Eske had the makings of a heartless shrew, or maybe she would be as merciless as her grandfather before her: regardless there was no room in her heart or her life for those who cast their loyalties so easily aside.

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Eske seems solid about the answer, almost thankful, and Thuringwethil nods her head once. The girl had been left by her siblings and she frowns. She felt the isolation throughout her years but Eske knows her siblings and had grown up with them. Now, they don’t seem to have a car in the world about their castaway. She does not bring it up but she does make sure she doesn’t need anything anymore before she leaves her to her work with the pelt.