Dragoncrest Cliffs soothsayer

Anyone! Feel free to turn him away if they're too uncertain lmao

Ragged, unsteady steps lead him along the coastline, his breathing laboured yet he was not injured. Large, tufted ears sat perked high atop his head, ever alert and listening to each and every sound — even ones that weren't there. The churning of the waves that had accompanied him on his journey had transformed from a constant, familiar drone to an increasingly deafening roar. He needed to escape it.

A cliff caught his attention, one that reached high into the sky. At the top were trees, ones he could disappear into. So the man climbed. He reached the top surprisingly quick, though not without having his paws sliced open in consequence. He ignored the pain, instead focusing on the pack scent that marked the trees here.

Ruvik skittered around the redwoods, sniffing at the nooks and crannies to make certain that this was indeed a pack's borders. Family. His breathing quickened, eyes widening, and the skittish wolf let out a shaky howl that betrayed both his excitement, his nerves, and perhaps his instability. While he waited, he quickly dug through the roots of a nearby redwood. A gift! Surely that would please his new family!

A shaky howl rises into the air and Eske takes to it, close enough that it does not take her long to reach it’s origins. Her steps slow and ears press forth alert atop her skull as she hears the sound of scratching claws upon earth. Her perplexity is soon answered as she spots the agouti colored male digging at the roots of a nearby redwood and her hackles bristle with unease and a mixture of uncertainty. What was he doing? “Hei splita,” She calls out to the male, with blue-green eyes the color of sharpened sea glass narrowing as she assess him, her tail raising over her back in a display of dominance. “What are you doing?” Of course Eske could plainly see what he was doing but it was more of why he was doing it and what he wanted that interested Eske the most.

It wasn't long before another answered his call. He scarcely heard the approach of the woman and a bolt of surprise shot down his spine as she spoke. They were in a foreign language, her words, but he didn't even think to question what they meant. Immediately, the male spun away from the roots of the giant tree, the earth there upturned and in disarray from his searching. He took a moment to observe the stranger, a beautiful wolf who stood tall and proud, eyes the colour of the ocean boring into him.

He dropped in submission, a pathetic display sprawled onto the earth at her feet as his ratty tail disappeared beneath his legs and frantic words poured from his mouth. "I w-was searching, yes, looking f-for a gift..." he uttered to the ground, unable to meet the pack wolf's gaze. She was truly a wondrous sight; he was not worthy of her presence. "A gift t-to please!"

The agouti male spins to face her, quick on his feet, she notices. Her assessment is because he is a stranger and she is an aspiring Wanlida and the more she can train herself to analyze to use in tactics to her advantage the more capable she will become. He prostrates himself before her, sprawling upon his belly to the dirt underfoot. It is a good thing; his submission as Eske is not known for being kind to strangers. He stutters that he was searching for a gift. A gift to please? It is a bizarre ritual, she supposes. For who appears at a pack’s borders with a gift to offer them? And for what? It is strange and her lips are terse for a moment as she considers it may be a bribing tool although she was immediately amused at the thought of something trying to bribe Heda to let them into Drageda. She almost laughed. “Hmm,” The Cheka muses, the noise vibrating within the confines of her throat.

“What is you seek at our borders, stranger?” Eske asks of him. “besides the gift you meant to give, I mean.” He had called after all; and she throws a terse look at the hole he’d managed to dig before she interrupted before her gaze slid back to him, expectant.

SORRY i am late to post but portia is here <3

portia, who usually spent zero time at the borders, had escaped her socially underdeveloped pair of children (though she had heard that dalia had attended a lesson, recently) and was going as far away from hougeda as her lil' legs would let her. it was only when she heard a howl that she actually made a plan-- which was to go see who the heck was at the borders. she kind of wondered if dio would be there as well.

but alas, it was not dio who was at the borders-- but eske! which always made portia smile. she knew of the problems that eske faced in regards to kendra, and even though her grieving methods weren't really the action that portia would've taken... well, to each their own. portia wasn't really a counsellor anyway.

she noted both wolves with a curious tilt of her head, her tail lower than eske's but maintaining her own rank. as always, she never asked for it, but she kind of liked feeling like she was helpful to drageda-- drageda had given her anything. regardless, the situation at hand was kind of amusing. eske mentioned something about a gift (she caught the end of the comment) and portia was tickled at the goofy display of submission the stranger showed... at least, it looked rather goofy to her. her gaze travelled between the two, but she remained silent.