Blackbeak Bluff a heart is a knife in disguise

I'd like for a Nerd to show up if possible? :) Tag for visibility: @Whip @Indie @Kalika @Coelacanth @Gabe @Hemithea.

Thuringwethil wanted to make the expedition with @Tirgatao before Wildfire and Portia are too far along and she can’t send the bandrona in her current state to do her job. With her companion in tow, she’d given word to @Dio before she left to take care of the claim and @Wildfire a quick kiss on the cheek before she departed. It has been sometime since she’d gotten to stretch her legs but since being on the coast, she felt no real desire to leave. It has been a magnet over the last few months, even when in Sleeping Dragon, that has soothed her soul since she’d relocated her home.

It is the afternoon by the time the reach the bluff, careful as they near the ledge so neither of them fall but her curiosity has gotten to her. She can see the island in the distance, far off that appears so small to her. Wildfire had told her about the wolves that had wanted to stake claim there and that they are of little threat. A meeting is likely to happen in the future, should there be some communication to set it up, but for now she does not quite pursue it. With other things on their mind, she begins to move along the ledge a safe enough distance away.

Sorrow had become a gaurantee. It was as though no matter what she did, Kalika was trapped in an inescapable cycle of melancholy emotion, though she'd become much less aware of the toll it truly took. She sauntered along the coast humming her song under her breath — this had become a bit of a routine for the young harlot — when she scented another. Looking around, she hesitated to continue but followed the path to another, walking in the opposite direction as she. Hello, she barked as she drew in closer.

Tirgatao followed at a comfortable distance from Heda, not wanting to crowd the Commander but not quite wanting her out of sight either. She had a duty, and though it was not of her usual fare, she swore to uphold it all the same. Still, she couldn't quite reign in her curiousity and often ranged a few dozen yards off to investigate various sights and scents of interest. Even now, though they weren't too far from Drageda proper, Tirgatao had already expanded her internal map and was busy playing out ideas in her mind when an unfamiliar voice cut through the quiet. 

Her hackles flared high and she whipped her head around from the deer tracks to zero in on the slight, willowy form of the grayscale stranger who approached Heda. Tirgatao moved to intercept the conversation, and emerged from the desner thicket of woods somewhere inbetween the two. She cupped her ears towards Kalika and her eyes flickered over the other, searching for any indication that she posed a threat. She, thankfully, found nothing but was not instantly comforted by the thought. Tirgatao did not reply, since the greeting was not lobbed at her, but she did not respectfully before taking up a place somewhere behind Thuringwethil.

Gabe was looking to find Kalika, his closest friend, his beautiful and mysterious woman. He tried to be at her side as much as possible, when he wasn't lazing about or patrolling the borders, and earlier today he'd caught some small game for the cache and decided he deserved a break. Thus he'd gotten up off of his rump and headed towards the coast where Kalika likely would be. It wasn't long before he caught onto her scent trail, and after following it for a short while, he could hear her sweet siren song drifting on the breeze.

He caught up to her quickly, running to stand by her side to greet her. At first he thought they were alone, and he was about to give her a quick nuzzle, but before he could his eyes came to rest on two other females not far off. The boy glanced at Kalika, then back at the other two, allowing his pack mate to make the first move.

With another pack down the coast, and a new one starting nearby, Thuringwethil isn't surprised to run into another wolf. One is headed in her direction, materializing in the distance and growing bigger with each passing second. Soon enough, their distances hone in on each other and the stranger makes the first word. Tirgatao catches up close enough in the meantime and Heda flicks an ear back in her direction and she stiffens her posture. She opens her mouth to speak but clicks her teeth back together when another approaches a moment later. 


"Hello," she finally greets the two. She shifts her weight to the side to give Tirgatao a little more space in the conversation. Their coats smell of others she can't identify and the male seems to have an attached me to her that makes the bond familiar. Their presence upon the shores give their encounter purpose and she adjusts how she conducts herself.  "I am commander Thuringwethil of Drageda, and this is Tirgatao, one of our advisors," she introduces, opening the floor up to the others.

Kalika looked at the two older women and how the first stiffened her posture. Though she wasn't a leader as Akantha was, she adjusted herself accordingly in response. Another scent soon clouded her nose as Gabe approached from the side, and she gave him a short growl to remind him to stay silent; issues of diplomacy were those better handled by women. I am Kalika of Nereides, an ambassador of the ranks. I believe we have met another of your pack; Wildfire, correct? A kind smile fell onto her maw, creating a smooth atmosphere where she stood, though her heart raced a mile a minute until her eyes landed on the familiar Tiragatao, to whom she nodded a greeting.

handwaving because timelines got a bit wonky, haha.

Tirgatao took her place among the gathered when bade by Heda, and stood calmly by as she began introductions. She nodded when her name was mentioned, but otherwise stayed silent. Her gaze drifted from the she-wolf, Kalika, to the male (who just arrived), and back again. She recalled their meeting on the beach a few days prior and felt a bit comforted by the fact. Kalika was a grounded individual, and she hoped the same sense would be lent to this meeting. The presence of the male threw an interesting twist into the mix. She was curious how this dynamic would play out as the conversation went on.

But when Wildfire's name was dropped she blinked, keeping her head steady, but shifting her eyes towards Heda before deciding to respond. "You both had something in common, then." She replied. "Ambassadors are the facilitators of good tidings between groups." A pause, and then, "It is good to see you again, Kalika."

Feel free to skip Gabe here, he'll just be watching for a bit.

Gabe was slightly surprised by Kalika's warning. No hello or anything? He would just have to get used to this if he wanted to stay here. They could be friendly in private, he supposed. So his ears flattening slightly in submission, he stepped back a little, allowing the woman to take the floor. The other two spoke of their own pack, which did interest Gabe a little but not enough to make him disobey Kalika and ask question. So he hung back, simply waiting to see how this happened. Maybe afterwards him and his siren could go elsewhere and talk.

The woman speaks up and introduces herself and where she comes from, as well as her importance within the developing pack. Wildfire has told her a little of the wolves she met in the sound a while back and their plans to meet are around the corner. She knows she’d put the meeting on the back burner as things in Drageda comes first but they are beginning to smooth over. Tirgatao speaks to the ambassador and Thuringwethil casts her glance before she moves to the male that seems to take a step back. He doesn’t introduce himself or say anything but instead has a look of hurt across his face that Thuringwethil doesn’t have an explanation for.

“Yes, Wildfire is our ambassador,” she confirms with a nod. “We have plans to meet with your leader,” she adds though beyond that she doesn’t have much information. “But since we are here, will you take a message to her?”

Kalika was pleased to find Gabe's submission in the moment, though a part of her held guilt for her rude actions. Still, there were more important things at hand, so the blanched femme decided to focus more on the leader's words than her toy's emotions. Of course. The words were spoken with a nod of her head, as if signaling for Thuringwethil to begin speaking. I will have the message delivered before the day's end.

As she ruminated silently while Thuringwethil and the sea-wolf spoke, she realized she liked Kalika. The Nereid seemed an honest sort, and it gave Tirgatao hope that this truce between them could bloom into something extraordinary. She wasn't normally fond of such an idea, having been burned before on false promises, but how much harm could a small band of religious women and their men do against Drageda? The thought wasn't born out of arrogance, but out of logic. Both could benefit from one another. There were bounties of the sea, and wealths of the forest, that could be traded. The possibilities were endless.

Her attention drifted to the other, Gabe, and she lent him an encouraging smile. He nor Kalika had introduced him, but he seemed a friendly, if shy, chap and Tirgatao didn't want him to feel like the odd man out in this situation. She kept mum, however, allowing Heda and Kalika to continue their conversation without interuption but listening intently all the while.

Gabe was glad to see how smoothly the meeting went, for he wasn't sure how friendly his new pack was, but it seemed they weren't too bad. They spoke of carrying messages and other things that didn't really concern the boy anyway, so he remained content to watch. When the white furred woman gave him a slight smile, Gabe returned the gesture with a smile and do of his head. It took every bit of his will not to introduce himself and start talking to her, but he knew his place so he hung back.

The woman is eager to send a message to her leader and Thuringwethil nods when she announces its execution. “I would like to meet with her and her wolves in the sound south of Drageda. In seven days at the evening high tide,” she offers. Seafaring wolves, if true enough, will know. It wouldn’t surprise her if all her and her followers knew. Thuringwethil had easily regrown accustomed to the ocean and her ways since their new claim has taken place. She nods once and turns to Tirgatao with a gentle point of her nose. If the message is accepted, Thuringwethil will be on her way.

Very well, Kalika said with a nod of her head, If you will excuse us, my packmate and I will be sure to find our Matriach immediately. Having bid Tiragatao and Thuringwethil an implicit goodbye, Kalika gave a short and stern bark to Gabe, beckoning him to follow her. She turned once more for a final nod of goodbye and began heading for the sand bar to cross back to the island.

Thanks for the thread, guys! PPing Tir and Thur out with permission.

Tirgatao waited as Heda gave Kalika her message, and nodded politely to the pair as they departed in search of the Matriarch. When they were out of earshot, she smiled. "They seem friendly. Young, too." She remarked with a curious tilt of her broad head. "I'm looking forward to seeing how this all plays out." Though she held her opinions about their age to herself, she couldn't help but wonder just what sort of wolf their Matriarch was and if she was just as young as the ambassador and her shadow. 

But, with the message delivered to the right hands, the Drageda pair had little business left on the Shore so they, too, continued on their way with Heda guiding them.