Dragoncrest Cliffs so to impress her lady, the queen

@Rose

they worked under the guise of nightfall, stealing like banished ghouls across the countryside. the tangle had been their biggest obstacles- they silently pushed their way through. ingram constantly scouted ahead, fretfully returning to nurse the girl along. he had waited until the siren queen had quit the grotto to visit rose - cowered there in the shadows, he told her of his plan -- and then, once the coast was clear, the two set out like hellions across the wintry landscape.

***

ingram bumped rose's shoulder with alarm as they pulled closer to the borders. he was positively terrified and his heart beat in his stomach as they climbed the towering heights. he knew in his heart what he was doing was right - it still horrified him to think of rose huddled in that dark cave, half-starved and tormented by her captor. it wasn't natural - it wasn't what wylla would have done either. hell, wylla would have chased her or outright killed her; she wouldn't have taken her prisoner and starved her for weeks on end. besides, being the stupidly optimistic boy ingram was, he hoped he'd see furi again -- maybe he would be able to show the drageda wolves they weren't evil asshole neighbors (except for caiaphas, and maybe a little bit arrille).  

he didn't think about what would happen to him. he was too concerned with keeping rose on her feet. the going was rough and unforgiving and they stopped often. at last they seemed to reach a place rose recognized, for she called out for him to stop -- the borders. breathless but given restless energy by his apprehension, ingram circled about her before letting loose a howl that shook the night of its silence and informed the wolves within of their arrival.

For a long while Rose thought she was going to die, since the incident on the beach to be exact. Her captors were ruthless in their torture tactics, starvation being the kindest of all their punishments. What hit her hardest was the isolation and lack of sunlight, especially when the only contact she had came in the form of abuse in a dark, damp cave that served as her personal hell. Time wasn’t a factor in there and the amount of days that had gone by remained unknown to the russet girl who, in all honesty, didn’t really care anymore. Each moment was the same as the next, constantly waiting in fear for more of her suffering to come, at least that’s how it was until the inky boy came to set her free. 

At first she refused his plan, fear of what punishment she would face outweighed the rationality in her mind. But after some coaxing, the girl rose on unsteady legs and proceeded to follow the boy into whatever idea he had in mind, which hopefully wouldn’t lead to either of their deaths. It was only when they were far across Grimnismal’s borders did she fully collapsed, both exhaustion and relief flooding her in an instant. The overwhelming moment lasted no long than a second before she was being pushed forward, the desperation to reach Drageda’s border being enough to draw out the last bit of strength she had stored away.

She called out to him when she recognized a familiar area, voice strained and filled with emotion as she looked out into what she had taken so easily for granted. Her eyes flickered to the ground as he let out a howl that brought forth an anxiousness she had never felt before. It was still winter. There was still snow on the ground. She couldn’t have been gone for that long right? A week, two at most. But some unknown feeling swirled around in her gut that told her it had been longer than that, told her that it had been too long. Her gaze remained focused on the frozen ground while she shivered in the dark, the nervousness she felt growing with each passing second. It would be fine.

Everything would be fine now.

Since her return, she’s felt a little lighter. She can breathe, at least. Her mother’s death weighs heavily on her mind and she waits patiently for her sister’s return—and she hopes for her brother too—but she can at least channel some of what she feels into something else. By the end of the day, she’s reluctantly agreed to spending it with Blixen, finding comfort in the warmth they share. When she finds herself thinking about Ingram, she knows this isn’t enough and she’ll eventually have to tell Blixen.

Sleep doesn’t come easy to her so when the howl is made, her ear twitches and she jumps, though she’s afraid she’s going to wake the fiery girl. The voice isn’t necessarily familiar to her but she knows it and she sucks in a breath. It has to be her brother, though it surprises her she does not hear Eirlys’ voice with it. She is thankful, though, for she does not want the rest of Drageda to encounter Untying herself from the embrace, she carefully begins to slip away in hopes she avoided the inevitable. As she comes into the clearing from hougeda, she hits the ground running and weaves through the trees until she finds the source.

It is not her brother and sister that have come—she realizes how foolish it had been to think—but Ingram. Panic swells inside her and she does her best to keep it from overflowing, however, the closer she gets she sees another wolf, red in color illuminated pale from the moonlight and lack of upkeep. “Rose…” she manages to let out, shock and surprise, feeling a growl rumble low in her throat. Her eyes set hard on Ingram. Pain pricks behind her eyes, uncertain what exactly is going on and it is only that keeping her in place. The girl is so thin and she swallows thickly, kicking herself for not looking for her friend sooner, harder.

as furi slips away, the redhead stirs, groggy. for a moment she doesn't move, content to let furi do whatever she needs to do, and then the sound that'd awoken her processes: a call at the borders. that rouses her -- yeah, furi can probably handle it, but she's protective of the borders (and furi) -- so she gets up and slips out after the other gona. 

she doesn't exactly try to catch up to her, still feeling sleepy and unconcerned until she's close enough to see who's at the borders. ingram. she's already snarling before she realises he's not alone, before furi's choked out rose processes. the twist in her lip flattens briefly as she looks over the missing girl. rose looks bad. her snarl returns with a vengeance as she rounds on ingram. "what are you doing here?" she demands, "and what happened -- did you do this to her?" furi was right to have been worried. she feels a surge of guilt for not looking for her missing friend, another for letting someone else get hurt while she was away -- and channels it into righteous anger at the dark-furred boy who's already pissed her off by having the audacity to show up at their borders after protecting a traitor.

Cameo unless he’s acknowledged

Hvitserk was not the first to arrive, the distance between him and the source of the howl great. He’d taken advantage of his ability to venture into the depths of the territory, where he explored with a hint of interest; it was nothing like Sleeping Dragon, but… it was home, to a certain extent. He abandoned his exploration to seek out the source of the call, however, a search that ended with him staring around at a mass of bodies. He did not know any of their names—had he been told them before, he’d not remembered—and so he hung back, observing the collection of youths and waiting to see if he might be needed (even though he did not truly care to interact with them).

This is also a cameo for the time being.

It takes a lot of effort to untangle from @Wildfire—whom naturally opposes her getting up—and shakes out her fur when she’s free. The howl doesn’t go unnoticed but it certainly sets a precedent. Who the the hell comes to their borders and disrupts them? It isn’t likely everyone is sleeping with their extra border patrols (as nightfall is no different) but she moves away.

There are more scents than she expects to be there congregating in the same place and she moves on silent feet until she sees a figure standing back in the redwoods, tucked away from sight. She observes Hvitserk for a moment, remaining hidden in the cloak of the trees and blends in to the background. She makes a single, low chuff only for the kru’s ears to be aware of her presence but she does not step up any closer other than to see who has approached the stranger.

Thuringwethil heard Blixen’s voice and her ears cup forward, looking through to try and see what’s going on to cause her daughter to question the strangers.

in the silent chill of the night, ingram was keenly aware of his heart pounding loud in his ears long after the last trickle of his howl had faded. he looked to rose worriedly, not wanting to be here -- and not wanting to leave. surely they would come soon to help bring her the rest of the way, and he could go home, right?

his ears flattened as furi appeared - at first she was scarcely more than a shadow in the overcast darkness and her appearance startled him. as she came closer he recognized who she was, and a mix of relief and freshly forged fear stirred his blood. he knew how it looked; him with a half-dead packmate -- he was about to say something in his defense (having seen the silent accusation in furi's gaze) when the crashing steps of another reached him.

the firebrand -- she wasted no time rounding upon him, her teeth cast a dull sheen by the moon's glow and her gaze practically hateful. ingram withered for a second before her snarl was met with a compelled grow. she said something about him being to blame and he felt umbrage seize him. "what?!" he hissed between clenched teeth, shouldering alongside rose as he looked between the two of them heatedly: "n-no! i wouldn't be here if i did!" he felt his fur prickle in rightful indignity.

The silence that surrounded the pair was interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching, their steady beat echoing louder in the girl’s head as the approaching wolf quickly closed the distance. Rose didn’t dare lift her head when the footsteps fell silent, a nervous lick of her lips being the only sign that she acknowledged someone else had even joined them. She already knew who it was before the gona’s voice reached her ears, but when the quiet whisper of her name cracked open the tension that hung in the air, Rose let her ears press hard against her skull while she lifted her gaze to briefly catch the sight of her friend.

A part of her had wanted it to be Furi and a part of her wanted it to be anyone else. The gona had only ever seen Rose in her usual calm and collected state, never had she witnessed her so broken before and the idea of Furi seeing that brokenness terrified the fiery girl. The last time she had felt so weak and vulnerable she had been abandoned and even though that incident had happened so long ago, the scars of her childhood cut deep and the tiniest fear of rejection crept along the edges of the yearling’s mind. 

She sucked in a shaky breath just as Blixen made her presence known, a presence Rose could have gone without if she was being honest. It’s not that she wasn’t happy to see her fiery look-alike, it’s just that past experience with Blixen at the borders had been, well, a bit dramatic and Rose didn’t exactly have the energy or patience to put up a fight in this situation. So when the heated gona threw her questions at the inky boy, Rose kept silent on the matter. She nodded in agreement when he denied being the one to hurt her, but still no words fell from her lips. 

Instead she turned to let her gaze fall to the snowy floor, a poor attempt to hide the raging emotions that threatened to break out. Whatever internal war she was fighting wasn’t going her way and she was inevitably going to lose this battle, sooner rather than later.

Blixen is not far behind her, showing up within milliseconds of her own arrival, and quickly overshadowing her presence. Furi doesn’t care. There’s questions she has for both of them and briefly she meets Ingram’s gaze, expecting something, but Blixen barrels through with questions directed at the dark boy. If they hadn’t met a few days prior, perhaps she would have reacted differently—worse—but she moves closer to the pair.
 
With a turn of her head, she searches for Blixen. Ingram took a risk, after their last group encounter, to come to them with Rose. While he may not be the one that did this to her friend, he has to know who did.
 
Satisfied with the answer he’s given, her main focus becomes Rose. If no one else shows up, they can handle this on their own. They can get the answers they need and determine what to do with it, and then quickly getting Ingram out of here (unaware it is far too late) to keep some viable connection secure.
 
Cautiously, Furi moves closer to the pair. Her ears fall lax against her head and her tail droops low, swaying behind her haunches, and she relaxes her expression. If she catches Ingram’s eyes, she softens her indication, and when close enough she rushes to the girl’s opposite side. “Come on,” she murmurs, her nose touching the girl’s cheek and she tries to search for the bright blue eyes she hasn’t realized she’s missed until she needs to see them. She then moves to inspect the rest of her and a lump forms in her throat, making it difficult to breathe around. “Can you walk?” she asks, turning a little to give her support on the other side but she doesn’t try to move her from Ingran in case she isn’t able to move away.

she bristles, fully prepared to call ingram on his lies -- of course he's responsible, he's a shitty boy and he sucks -- but rose nods. rose nods and blixen finally sees what terrible condition she's in and the wind is knocked out of her. "augh," she says, her snarl fading into an unhappy grimace, still puffed up, "fine -- fine, but -- then what happened, huh?" 

the question is lobbed towards ingram, not rose, who doesn't look to be in any state to answer questions. furi seems to have a handle on the... comforting (it makes her stomach twist in an unpleasant way, as selfish as she knows that is right now), so blix keeps her attention on the one she can actually take her frustration out on. begrudingly she has to admit he's taking a risk bringing rose back to them, even if she still doesn't trust him. now she just wants some answers.

i thiiink its my post? sorry! i didn't realize i should skip two posters my bad

ingram was lucky rose had the wherewithal to collaborate his story, otherwise, he might have found himself fed to the wolves -- quite literally. the truth of the matter was ingram really hadn't thought too far ahead, so when blixen questioned him he was still quite flustered. he stepped back lightly as furi canted her shoulder to rose -- and should rose need it, he didn't mind offering a shoulder until her weight was transferred.

poor girl, he thought -- though when he looked up blixen's gaze was fixed upon him. still accusatory. still mistrustful.

he didn't say he blamed her, though from his perspective, they had attacked his friend first. he swallowed and his ears pulled back to his skull. "she was on our beach, and one of ours took her. i wasn't there." he looked away, shame still burning him that he hadn't been present that day. it was terrifying standing before all of them, but he knew it was right to return rose. he also knew that despite the unfortunate circumstance, it had been right to defend their home against an intruder. he thought of wylla and a little trickle of bravery was instilled in him, though he was a far cry from a fierce leader as he spoke: "she shouldn't have been there. she's lucky she wasn't killed.

understand i am facing what she has and worse when i come back, for doing this. if i even come back at all. even though you attacked my friend, and then me, and my brother. i hope you can show the same goodwill  i have, and leave my family alone." ingram leveled each of them a stare, his heart still hammering despite the conviction he had wielded in his words.

Posting to move this along!

Furi is quick to take Rose on to herself and from her cover she only listens, avoiding being seen through the trees. The stranger denies his participation but Blixen isn’t satisfied, accepting the words and demanding more that he seems to freely give. It is enough, for the moment, to decide against her original plan and so she lowers her nose to bump @Hvitserk forward with her and steps through the remaining trees into the clearing and coming out opposite side of the children with her fur bristled out.

“Your family should have thought about that before settling so close,” she says, curling her lip a little. Not only had they plucked Arrille out from the borders—not necessarily a big loss, given how little he’d been part of them—but had taken Rose. For the moment, she gives the girl the benefit of the doubt that there’s a better explanation but it is not here for her to interrogate. Her focus does not move from the Sound-wolf and she eases a step closer, moving carefully so that her joints remain prepared for launch. “They attacked a traitor that will pay for his crimes. The smart thing to do would bring him to me,” she says, tongue curled, flicking idly as she imagines what his blood will taste like. “Then, maybe, we’ll leave your family alone.”

There is a sudden burst of relief when Furi moves closer and it takes only a moment for Rose to decide she prefers the shoulder of her friend than that of a stranger. She’s grateful to her inky savior and offers him an appreciative tap to the shoulder before completely departing from his side. It’s unfortunate that he has to face the backlash of bringing her to the cliffs but there isn’t enough strength or care within the russet girl to try and ease the tension drifting in the air. And his answers, while having truth within them, didn’t do him any favors in her eyes. 

It is only when Heda arrives does she shoot the Grimnismal boy a desperate glance, eyes pleading for him to leave before he finds himself in the same situation she had just escaped from. He was greatly outnumbered and as terrible as she felt about it, Rose wouldn’t defend him should things take a nastier turn. She would already have a ton of explaining to do, she wasn’t about to push her luck by testing the patience of the visibly furious gona’s.

@Rose: hope you don’t mind I pp’d them out of the thread so they can move on. Tag for visibility. If not okay, just let me know!

She is thankful that Blixen takes over the situation and tries to get answers. If she wasn’t so focused on Rose and getting her to safety, she might be more attentive to the situation So far, it is just the four of them, and hopefully Blixen doesn’t push her boundaries without getting answers. She looks back to Ingram as he tried to explain but she’s torn between the situation. Blixen doesn’t know she and Ingram met outside their packs (twice), nor do they know she considers him a friend (something she is worried may be at risk now).

Furi helps lead her away from the group just as she hears Heda’s booming voice. Looking up, she sees her and the mute wolf from the borders next to her. Her ears fall back against her head and she looks away, listening as the dark woman addresses the boy. She swallows, glances at her friend, and hesitates briefly to try and listen to his words. While she doesn’t want to leave him alone, she needs to focus on Rose. ”Let’s find @Portia,” she encourages, helping lead her awkwardly out of the group and makes a low call for the healer when they are far enough away.

her admittedly threadbare patience is close to snapping -- were it not for nomi's sudden interception, the gona would have lost her temper. instead she lets out a short snort, taking a step closer to nomi's side. "your brother started it -- you should have just let us take the traitor rather than blindly sticking up for him without knowing what he'd done." (even though blixen would likely have done the same for any member of drageda. beside the point.)

nomi's command to bring arrille to them quirks her mouth into a smirk, confidence boosted between their "victory" against the grimnismal boys before and nomi's strong presence. nobody messes with drageda and gets away with it. furi and rose's depature goes unnoticed for now -- she's in the moment in her job.

o shit ingram u ded

ingram watched as rose and furi limped off -- he hoped she was okay, and the concern was still visible on his features as a new shadow approached. all conviction and bravery bled from his features as he witnessed the goliath before them -- clearly she was the one in charge and he swallowed mutely as she spoke.

he wanted to hotly defend himself and his family -- he wanted to counter with the fact that he was born in ankyra sound, and his family had more of a right to it than anyone -- but his will to fight had left when rose had been shuttled off. he dumbly turned his attention to blixen as she spoke, and his tongue worked laboriously against the roof of his mouth as a scowl darkened his features.

"no." he said in response to the leader's words. he would not betray arrille like that -- arrille was his packmate, his friend -- he would never turn over a friend. especially not to them. "and we were just doing what was right, defending our packmates from wolves who were attacking him." ingram knew he was about to get himself into a corner if he didn't shut his mouth -- perhaps his mother really did come out in him sometimes. "because that's what we do - what's right." okay - it was mostly only him that did what was right - everyone else in grimnismal seemed to do whatever they damn well pleased.

he took a step back, now worried his life might be in jeopardy. "i'm leaving now." he announced, in a voice that was far more firm than he felt -- and should they allow him to turn, he would do so slowly though he fought every single instinct inside of him that commanded him to fucking run, you idiot.

Thuringwethil glares at Blixen as she attempts to toss blame back and forth with the boy, but is quick to return her attention to their neighbor. He does not even consider the demand to hand Arrille over but Thuringwethil offers nothing to indicate she’s surprise. She watches as he attempts to defend their actions, claiming they’re on the right side, and she can’t help but wonder if he is as naïve as he sounds.

Deciding it is his time to leave, she does not make a move to try and keep him here any longer other than a hard look that dared him to move. She is so, so tired of one string after another of bad things. Their neighbors needed to be dealt with, sooner or later. “Tell your leader we know what she did with Blackfeather,” she says, slowly blinking, licking her lips, as if she were letting a kill suffer a little too long, “and we’ll come for her too.” But she does not give him much time to respond, launching forward the very next second, but does not aim to kill. To mark, to tear, to warn, and snapping jaws do their work to hit what she can.

blixen could easily trade barbs all day with him (even more annoying than his douchey brother, who was clearly riling stuff up on purpose, this guy who thinks he's somehow morally superior like what the hell), but nomi does not give her the chance. her lips pull back to expose her teeth, backing nomi up as she makes the warning -- the threat -- feeling a surge of power she hasn't before. this is her turf ingram's on, the foolish boy. 

plus, nomi just sounds real damn cool. when nomi launches blixen is right by her side, snapping without intent to actually bite so much as intimidate, keep him from trying to evade nomi's punishment, a low growl hot on her breath.

he had kept a wary ear cast behind him as he turned, certain that given everyone's proclivity to biting his behind that teeth were sure to follow. the stalwart female's words caused a flummoxed expression to appear on his countenance, which was quickly chased by fear as he heard the crunch of gravel underfoot and the rapid advancement of paws.

ingram scooted as fast as his tushus could go, but it was not quick enough to evade the powerful lunge of the older wolf. her teeth sank cleanly into his rump and he yelped, hounded in turn by blixen's snapping teeth.

what was with all the drageda women touching his buttocks?! sure, he packed a good derrierre -- but he was starting to resent how frequently it was the object of attention when it came to drageda females. with a hell of a lot of panicked breathing he ran fast as his fat legs could carry him, and broke only into an exhausted dogtrot as grimnismal's borders came into view.

One bite is enough. It’ll send the message. She doesn’t stop running after him but she doesn’t put as much effort behind it, with Blixen and Hvitserk behind her. Eventually she slows to a stop, licks the smeared blood on her teeth, and turns back to the duo. Her sides heave with excitement and adrenaline surges through her still but she retreats back anyway, sending both of them on a patrol in the area and she heads back after Furi and Rose to offer anymore assistance, and perhaps find out more if she can.