Dragoncrest Cliffs honey, the kids uploaded my brain to this roomba

She ends up putting the grouse in the cache later, finding herself unable to eat it. She also puts all her effort into avoiding @Blixen, and puts no effort into finding Rose. She pretty much avoids everybody. It’s difficult not to think the rest of the pack feels the same way about her, they see her as just an outsider—at least those specific to Drageda—and she doesn’t even have Étoille to turn to to try and cheer her up. Her only other friends are part of this pack by blood. 

The night goes by without a lot of sleep. The next morning is cold but, the ground is hard but the plant life isn’t frozen so it’s not unbearable. She’d found a cluster of trees that have long since fallen, criss-cross one another. She’s able to find a nook that makes it easy to hide from the wind. It wakes her up like a whistle overhead and she backs up between two trees coming together to form an “X.” It doesn’t block out the cold that well and she can’t get too warm. She wouldn’t admit it, but she misses sleeping in Hougeda. 

With a frustrated sigh, she picks herself up and gets moving. She doesn’t know where she’s going at first so she just moves, hoping to warm up quicker. The wind puts a heavy damper on the rest the day and her thick fur rustles this way and that every time it changes direction. She crosses a rabbit later in the day, able to quickly take it down—to her surprise, but perhaps she’s improving—and begins to carry it south. The scent of @Rose catches her attention, despite the smell of blood in her nose, and she makes an attempt to find her.

298

The flame kissed yearling wasn’t sure what she thought of this Drageda. From what she could tell it seemed like a fairly decent place, but she couldn’t help but feel a bit on edge ever since yesterday. Everyone she had come across seemed kind of tense, and Rose couldn’t tell if it was because of her or if there was something else going on she was unaware of. Whatever the reason may be, she knew she had now power to change it and ultimately decided to just leave everyone alone.

Instead she took on the task of exploring the new terrain with the specific intention of trying to find any herbs. Unfortunately for Rose she didn’t have much luck, and had ended up spending most of her day aimlessly wandering around in circles. With an exhausted sigh, the yearling plopped herself on the ground and began staring intently at the rock she had passed about five times already. She was lost and it wasn’t even noon yet.

It doesn’t take terribly long to find her, sitting down in the redwoods and she picks up her pace to close the distance. After weaving through the trees, Furi drops the rabbit at her feet and chuffs to her friend. “Whatcha doing?” she calls, taking a step forward to see what Rose had been staring at. Nothing in particular stands out, maybe the rock, but she doesn’t know why that would be in. For a second, she worries whether or not she’s okay, and she tilts her head slightly to look up at the ginger girl.

96

A voice makes her jump a bit, the fur along her nape prickling up before she turns to see who the voice’s owner is. “Ah” she lets out, tail swishing back and forth a few times while she gets up to greet her friend. “I was exploring but I got kinda lost” she admits, an embarrassed smile forming on her lips. She could have sworn she only walked in a straight line the entire time, but clearly that rock disagreed. “What about you, been up to anything?” she questions, eyes catching a glimpse of the rabbit at her paws while her stomach lets out an awkward grumble.

It doesn’t offend her that the girl is startled and takes offense. Furi lowers her head and ears and smiles, hoping to ease the brief tension into something else. She still worries about Blixen and as much as she tries to hide it, her expression is a little strained. It isn’t supposed to be like this. 

“It’s a big forest,” she begins with a lazy swish of her tail, “I got lost a lot when I first got here.” Attention is brought to the hare inadvertently with Rose’s glance and audible churn of her stomach. Her tail speeds up and her smile widens, despite the worries that pull it down. “I was just… wandering around and then I caught this. Uh, for you,” she says and lowers her head, using her nose to nudge it forward. Furi licks any the remnants from her lips and lowers her rump to the ground, curling her tail loosely around her paws.

158

Rose, who never really had to pay attention to anyone other than herself, doesn’t pick up on the subtle hints that something upset her friend. Instead she turns her full attention to the hare and smiles when it is pushed in her direction. “Thanks” she lets out, though a bit of guilt sunk in her stomach when she realized she had taken quite a bit but had never really had a chance to give back. “Let’s share” she decides after a moment, not giving any room for denial before she rips the meal in two and noses one portion towards Furi. 

Mimicking her friend’s position, Rose moves to sit before the girl, leaving the rabbit to separate the two. “I’m sorry, about all the trouble I’ve caused” she starts off with, feeling the need to get the guilt off her chest.

Furi opens her mouth to object to the offer—the kill is a gift for her friend—but Rose has already dropped down and ripped the rabbit in half. While it is not a strong animal and Rose is strong, her heart flutters in surprise to see the action. Her tail thumps heavy on the ground and she doesn’t turn it away, unable to find the words she’d once had. “Thanks,” she says softly and drops her head and pulls her half closer, nosing it to find the best portion to start with. The entire thing is barely enough to take the edge off, much less from one half, but she isn’t going to complain when she feels as good as she does for the first time in days. 

“It’s… it’s not your fault. I should have told you more or prepared you a little better,” she explains. Rose had agreed to come and Furi hadn’t told her about the tension in the pack, mostly because she’d forgotten it. She knows Wildfire is still in the caldera and Thuringwethil is gone and Blixen (and the others) are without their two pack mates. One of which she’s never met and one she’s barely around. She and Blixen had been getting along so well and had become comfortable that she couldn’t see beyond that and where a new friend was supposed to help improve things, it had completely spun things around. “One of our pack mates was missing, one of Blixen’s moms, and they found her but she’s still not home and so…” she trails off, hoping it’s obvious how one might feel in such a situation.

275

Happiness swells in Rose’s chest when her friend doesn’t refuse the piece given to her. She knew it wasn’t much and that she wasn’t the one to catch the hare in the first place, but sharing with her friend did pull some weight of guilt off her shoulders.

While stripping a piece of meat off the carcass, Rose listened closely has her friend spoke. Despite Furi claiming how it wasn’t Rose’s fault, the flame kissed yearling couldn’t help but believe that she was at least partially to blame. If she had said no on the beach and just went off on her own then none of this would have happened. Furi would still be on good terms with Blixen and Rose would be on her own like she had been for the past few months. “It’s not just your fault either Furi, everyone involved is somehow to blame.” While she believed the words that came out of her mouth, Rose had to admit that she felt most of the blame deserved to fall on her look alike’s shoulders. That was until Furi mentioned the whole mother disappearing thing, then Rose just felt like a jerk. “Oh” she let out, not really sure what to say.

Maybe nothing she says will absolve Rose of the guilt she feels but she smiles and brushes it off. She takes the sentiment and leaves it at that. She doesn’t want to make her any more uncomfortable by trying to argue with her. “Yeah,” she says softly with twisted frown. She falls silent and lowers her head, picking at the rabbit at first but she can’t resist anymore and she easily finishes it in just a few bites, bones and all. 

“I found a fallen tree in the southern part of the forest and it’s hollow. It might make a good den,” she says, attempting to change the subject. It’s not underground, like Hougeda, but until Rose has proven her place within the pack and she can sleep with everyone else, it might work. They could find some things to fill it and make it warmer. She thinks about the dead loner at the borders and what is left of him, but it is likely long enough that they wouldn’t want to use the pelt. She shakes the thought from her mind, a little creeped out by the thought, and relaxes a little. “At least until you can come into Hougeda. And um… if it gets too cold, I can stay and help… with warmth, I mean. If you want,” she stammers off with an awkward laugh, glancing down at the spot half her kill had been. 

Blixen pops into her thoughts out of no where and she sucks in a breath, fighting back the knots in her stomach.

259

Glad that the situation took a turn away from the awkward mother thing, Rose continued to munch on her portion of the hare until there was nothing left. She licked her lips free of any extra pieces that might have been left behind while her ears perked up at the mention of a possible den. “I’ll check it out” she says, liking the idea of a den far away from those cliffs she had briefly come across the yesterday. 

When Furi offers to stay with her when it gets too cold out, Rose isn’t sure what emotion she feels but she knows it isn’t one she’s felt before. “Yeah, that sounds...nice” she says, glancing down at the ground trying to figure out if nice was even the right word to use then. “Hougeda and everything else, can you tell me more about it?” she questions suddenly then, looking up to try and find her friend’s gaze. She wanted to know more about this pack, and especially about what was going to be expected of her while she was here.

Rose agrees to at least check it out and it takes a little effort not to jump right up and lead her that way now. She’s definitely going to do that, but she doesn’t have to move right now. As long as Furi can keep Blixen out of her head, it will be fine. She won’t be able to avoid the fiery girl forever but she can at least manage it for a little while, especially considering how their last conversation went. It ended with a lot for her to think about—-about herself, Blixen, Drageda, and even Rose—but she doesn’t thinks he’s ready to try and sort it out. It weighs heavy in her chest and she stifles a ragged sigh welling up.

When her new friend asks more about Hougeda, and the rest of the pack, she uses it as an excuse not to deal with any problems. Instead, she can focus on the things she does know and maybe figure out what she doesn’t and what she needs to ask. She’s learned a lot in her time here—including the language, even though it’s only a little bit—and despite Blixen throwing it in her face that she doesn’t understand, she’s confident in what she does.

Furi stands and moves forward a little, her nose bumping against Rose’s shoulder. She links a few seconds to absorb her scent but she tears away and begins to walk away. “Come on, I’ll show you the tree,” she says, turning her attention forward so she doesn’t trip over anything. “And I can tell you.” 

Pale green eyes glance back a little to make sure she is following and Furi clears her throat, not entirely sure where to start. It’s a whole new way of life, something she hadn’t been used to when she first got here. She’d been young and learning how Teaghlaigh worked and before she’d gotten a good sense of it, she’d gotten separated and lost and now… well… She bites her tongue and refocuses her gaze straight ahead. “Hougeda is like our rendezvous site. It’s a cavern behind the big lake, in the center of the territory. You can’t see the entrance though, it’s hidden and you have to sorta… um, work through some bushes and plants to get through. But it’s pretty open and the lake falls in with a small watering hole to catch it,” she explains. She doesn’t spend a lot of time in it, except at night and the last several she’s avoided it all together. 

“Once they trust you and you’ve helped out the pack, then you get a rank which is kind of… like your main job, I guess,” she decides to go with, deviating from the actual description. She’ll have her change to explore it one day and Furi hopes to be there, showing her around there too, and her eyes widen slightly, “oh!” she chirps, quickly remembering a small detail. “If you go through the back of Hougeda, it opens up to the beach. Unfortunately, it’s the only way to get there but there’s one north of the territory, and south… which is really pretty at night,” she adds with a shake of her tail, glancing to see if she’s talked too much, suddenly aware of how long she’d been explaining already. Blixen is the one to usually to the talking, or teaching, that her cheeks warm with embarrassment. 

571

While she hadn’t been expecting Furi to take her to the tree, Rose assumed it made sense since she was the one who knew it’s location. “Ok” she said, a smile stretching across her maw while she stood to follow her friend. She sped up until the two were walking side by side, feeling that it made for a more enjoyable conversation if Furi didn’t have to turn around every few seconds just to communicate. 

She kept quiet for most of the explaining, trying to take in and store any information she found important. From what she could tell, this pack was highly different from those ones she had previously been a part of. “Isn’t it dangerous? I mean what if it rains a lot and the lake starts pouring into the cave?” Would the watering hole she spoke of really be enough to contain all that water? Then there was the whole job thing which Rose was even more curious about. “Are there any healers here at the moment?” If so she’d like to learn from them, especially since they could offer her insight that she was unable to learn anywhere else.

Furi hums quietly, considering the question. She hadn’t really considered it being dangerous or not because it hasn’t happened and… the rest of the wolves stay in there. They wouldn’t stay somewhere dangerous, would that? “Um, well… it hasn’t yet and it doesn’t drain all the time but the cavern is pretty big and there’s some plants and stuff, so I guess it could absorb it?” she offers, even if it doesn’t make sense. Grass doesn’t necessarily act as a sponge but the ground is soft and… well, it’s the best she can currently come up with.

“And yeah, there’s one. Portia. She’s nice. Dio is her mate,” she says. The two wolves are completely different but she likes both of them in their own way. “They have two kids, too, close to our age,” she explains but has only ever met Dalia. The other one, Sirio? Blixen told her he was weird and she hasn’t really seen him or anything and she certainly doesn’t go out of her way to try and find him. Honestly, she doesn’t have a lot of interest in Artaax or Bobby either. They seemed to be busy with other things, though, but she can’t deny she’s much more fond of Blixen out of all the others their age.

Furi glances toward Rose every so often and after a few seconds, she trips over something on the ground. It isn’t enough to make her fall on her face but she can’t hide the fact it almost happened. Glancing forward, correcting her gaze and straightening out her form, she pays a little more attention. The fallen logs she’d slept near last night are up ahead, but they are not the hollow ones. She bumps a little into Rose so they can walk around it, instead of trying to climb over, and keeps going.

307

It hadn’t happen yet but it could happen. After thinking about it a bit more, Rose had decided that sleeping underground in a cave wasn’t the best idea. Sure it sounded nice, a big family all joined together in one place, but truth be told it seemed kind of reckless. If the sky did decide to pour down on them and the lake did flood, it didn’t seem like it’d be easy to get out of there when there was an ocean at your back and an overflowing lake rushing down on you. She let out a sigh, not comfortable enough to voice her worries aloud, at least not yet. 

At the mention of Portia and Dio, Rose thought back to the morning she joined. “Dio. He was the one at the borders who accepted me right?” The name sounded familiar and since she hadn’t met any other males from the pack, she just naturally assumed that was him. He seemed like decent guy and according to Furi, his mate was nice as well which would hopefully make thing easier for Rose when she went asking the resident healer a ton of medical questions. Speaking of the healer, “you think she’ll teach me a bit about what she knows?” she questions, moving to the side to avoid the fallen logs.

She nods when Rose clarifies who she’s talking about. “Wocha. He’s kind of like.. beta, I guess,” she explains. Blixen had gone over the ranks with her once, and what the words meant, but she doesn’t remember all of them on the spot. “But yeah… she’s really nice. She’s helped me,” she explains. And just about the rest of the pack when fleas went rampant. She shakes her head at the thought, her fur having finally grown all the way out. It alters her pattern a little, making her look a little haphazard in places but no one has really pointed it out or, thankfully, made fun of her. If Rose asks about the other ranks, she explains them as best she can from memory, missing only a few ranks that aren’t actively in service.

“I don’t think its too far from here,” she explains, once they’re a few minutes walk away. It’s become quiet but she doesn’t mind it. Her mouth is a little dry from all the talking, especially not really being used to it. She doesn’t mind sharing what she knows. It’s not too personal but a part of her wants to talk more but she leaves the air open for her to speak so she can also hear her lovely voice.

215

Her nose scrunches a bit at the mention of Dio being like a beta. So why not use the word beta instead? She asks for a bit more information on the ranks which Furi responds too, answering most of the questions she had. The ranks seemed complicated and would take a bit of memorizing to get right, but Rose is confident she can learn them in due time. 

When things fall a bit quiet Rose doesn’t say much, instead turning her attention to mentally marking things down in her head. If it turns out she likes the hollow tree, Rose would like to be able to find her way back here without getting lost along the way. A boulder and slightly crooked tree provide useful landmarks, and once she feels relatively comfortable with the area, Rose turns her attention back towards her friend. “You mentioned a bit earlier about there being two kids around our age” she starts off with, bringing up the conversation from a few minutes ago. “Is there anyone else that’s you know, similar in age that I don’t know about?” She figured it’d be good to go out and meet other members, and those similar in age sounded like a good place to start.

When Rose offers to break the silence, Furi looks over in thought. A smile tugs at the corners of her lips, hoping the girl will settle easily into Drageda. Having other wolves similar in age—she suspect Rose is the oldest of the youngest, but she’s not certain—has been one of the biggest things in making it easy for her. At first, they didn’t have a lot of interaction with them and the one she had met left on a long scouting trip, leaving her to herself a lot. The other children kept to themselves at first but she’s gotten to be around them a bit more, but it has always been Blixen to fill the empty spot she had when she got here.

“Yeah… there’s Blixen and her two brothers. Artaax and Bobby. Artaax has white fur and Bobby has black fur,” she says, forgetting he’s more two toned than anything. “And they’re cousins, uh… Dalia. And I can’t remember the other one’s name but Blixen said he’s weird,” so maybe not mess with him, she thinks but she keeps it to herself. “Oh! There!” she points out and bounces ahead a few steps, closing in on the fallen tree.

202

It appeared there were still a couple more youth than the few Rose was aware of. Blixen’s brothers, who Rose hoped weren’t as suspicious as their sister, along with Dalia and her weird brother. Well that was quite a combination but at least she knew their names now. 

A few more moments pass and soon the duo found themselves among the fallen log. Rose strolled behind Furi, taking in the scenery while closing the distance to the prospective den. It looked a decent place with a good amount of vegetation surrounding the area. Rose wonders how well it would protect against the snow while still keeping Hougeda in mind. “It looks nice, needs a bit of work but it’s nothing some hard work and a few furs can’t fix” she says with a smile, glancing over to look at Furi.

Rose takes a moment to look at the tree. It’s big, and the inside is high enough she can somewhat comfortably stand. After a few moments, Furi turns to her friend as she seems to appreciate what she’s found. Her tail wags happily behind her and she nods, though she doesn’t voice the things she considered. It seems too wrong. “Yeah. It won’t take much,” she offers, thinking about offering her previous proposition but the thought makes her feel weird and she keeps it to herself.
 
Several times she opens her mouth to say something but she can’t find the words and she gives up, clicking her teeth together. She steps closer to the fallen tree and sniffs around even if she’s already messed around and scoped it out. After a few more steps, she decides to slip inside, moving and turning around to present how roomy it is but the further back offers a little more confinement should it get really cold. Furi plops down on her rear, facing outward to see if Rose wanted to come see for herself.

181

She takes a moment to scope out the log, walking up and down it to make sure there weren’t too many cracks where air could slip through. Furi moves to the inside while Rose takes a minute to finish checking the exterior. The wood didn’t look too bad, it was covered in some moss and vines but that was nothing to worry about. 

Rose then moved towards the entrance and looked inside for a few minutes before joining her friend. It was spacious enough for one, or even two should Furi want to stay sometimes. “I like it” she says, a genuine smile stretching across her maw as she realizes she’s in her friend’s debt once again.

When Rose finally comes around the side, Furi shuffles back. She doesn’t realize how far back she is because Rose is inside now too. There isn’t any way of getting out without pushing her friend out of the way. The other end doesn’t offer an opening, trapping her inside and she feels her heart quicken. Her ears fall back against her head but she puts on a strained smile, trying to ignore the anxiety constricting her breathing. She tries for smooth, even breaths but her lungs seem so far away.
 
“I should let you get settled in,” she says and lifts a paw in an attempt to indicate she is going to leave.

113

Rose doesn’t take notice to any uncomfortableness Furi might have shown and continued to inspect the log without much thought. It’s only when the words reach her ears does Rose shift her gaze towards her friend. A paw points towards the the exit and Rose lets out an “ah” when she realizes what Furi meant by the action. Since there wasn’t quite enough room for her to turn around without bumping her friend in the face, Rose just kind of clumsy shuffled backward until she was out in the open again. 

Well that had been embarrassing. “Thanks, for everything” she let out, trying to smooth over the awkward moment that had just taken place.

She’s thankful Rose takes the hint and backs up. It’s awkward for the both of them but Furi averts her gaze until she’s out in the open. The anxiety doesn’t ease up right away but they aren’t as close to one another as they had been and she hadn’t been cornered in the tree trunk. She licks her lips nervously and searches the ground a little before she finally decides to look up and smile, wagging her tail. ”Of course,” she says with enough cheer to hide the anxiety. ”I’m happy to help.”

93

She offers a swish of her tail at her friend’s words and quickly glances back towards the log. “Well I better get started” she says, leaving room Furi to say anything before offering a farewell to the girl. There was plenty to get started on but for now she’d focus on removing some of the thicker vegetation that wasn’t so welcome. Maybe later she’d set out to try and find some furs, but she was satisfied sleeping in it tonight, even if it meant facing a bit of the cold.