Dragoncrest Cliffs if you see something say nothing and drink to forget

The next several nights, @Rose has taken up to sleeping in the northern portion of the territory with her. She isn’t there all the time, but when night falls, they curl up close to one another and sleep fitfully through the night. Furi still remains secluded from the rest of the pack though she keeps the northern border secure. At this point, it is no surprise where she is, but she’s thankful she’s left alone.
 
Guilt isn’t something she’s always been good at sorting and now that she has too much on her plate she isn’t sure what to do about it. Spending all her time with Rose after her break up with @Blixen doesn’t seem right, knowing they don’t get along and the jealousy the fiery girl has for her lookalike. When Furi is with her, though, she feels at ease and wants nothing more than to feel peace in her own home. Additionally, she hasn’t seen @Artaax since their tryst outside the borders but when he comes up, she spends a good portion of the time arguing with herself that she can’t be pregnant.
 
Seclusion has given her no chance to seek out answers and ignoring her problems easily wins her in favor.
 
This morning, Rose is still sleeping, but Furi gets up like she always does and heads for the northern most border, where the cliffs meet the water, and begins her new morning routine.

she's been doing her best to just not think about furi, as if it's that easy -- as if the other gona's scent isn't all over the territory, as if she can just turn it all off and focus on her work the way she wants to. at least it has been pretty easy to avoid seeing her now that they've stopped patrolling together.

it hurts, though.

blixen is doing her best to not think about furi, and so it doesn't occur to her to avoid the northern border, where she usually doesn't patrol. she feels extra restless today, up early but needing to do something else, something more. (she's being so, so patient with proving that she's willing to earn cheka, but as the days bleed together, impatience is setting in.) it doesn't occur to her until she realises she's on a course directly for the other girl, freezing mid-step as she locks eyes with furi's face.

She’s lost in thought somewhere along the borders, somewhere between anxiety and stress, and doesn’t notice the approach of the fiery gona. It takes several more seconds of her talking in the same direction to realize she is headed for Blixen. When she looks up and catches her gaze, Furi halts to a stop and stares ahead. Her mouth goes dry and she licks her lips, glancing around to see if they’re alone.

After a long, silent moment, Furi offers a quiet hey toward the other girl but gives her the freedom to choose what she wants to do.

furi doesn't go running, which blix takes as ... a good sign? she recalls her conversation with ingram suddenly, and the hurt rises in her again. what did she expect? furi probably doesn't hate her, even if that'd be easier. furi just doesn't ... love her. which is way, way worse.

"hei," the redhead mumbles back, uncharacteristically quiet, "sorry, didn't realise you'd be here." at length she manages to tear her gaze away from the other's face, looking instead out over the cliffs. there's things she wants to say -- dozens -- all squirming for hold in her mouth, but collapsing into confused jumbles she can't spit out.

Furi looks down at her feet when Blixen speaks, staring at nothing in particular. Every since their falling out, and Furi’s desire for her friend, she’s been left to figure it out in her own. The other has never really been good at understanding her, but that didn’t matter as long as Blixen was happy and had someone to talk to. If Furi has kept her mouth shut that day on the beach, they wouldn’t be at odds... but they wouldn’t be any better, either. Even without their relationship budding, wanting her friend, she is still left lonely. 

”I’m sorry,” she says softly and glances in another direction, ”I’ll go.” Slowly, Furi begins to turn and make her leave.

It was the first time she'd stepped away from the den for more than a quick potty break. It was nice to catch a break, though Wildfire's mind was still back with her pups. She knew they were in good hands, with Thuringwethil currently keeping watch. And she would have to head back soon enough to feed them again, so the Feisripa forced herself to savor this brief time alone.

Stretching her legs actually felt so good that Wildfire got sort of carried away as she meandered about the pack lands. Seemingly out of nowhere, she found herself close to the northern borders. And she wasn't alone. She blinked back to a focus as she slowed and stopped, peering between the two young women before stepping closer to Blixen and shooting Furi a look.

funnily enough she almost misses the fighting, because at least then she knew furi felt something toward her. still, when her ex starts to leave, she takes a step forward, stammering "w-wait, you don't have to--"

and then out of nowhere mother appears. isn't she supposed to be with the babies? what is she doing here?! blixen looks at  her, startled, and sees the look she's giving furi. "what are you doing?" the redhead hisses at her mother, too thrown off by the situation to think to temper her voice. "you're gonna make it worse!" not that she doesn't love her mother or appreciate her unconditional support but -- really, mom!!!!!

She pauses when Blixen tells her to wait, ears becoming half mast out of curiosity and she turns back to... two of them. Wildfire is stepping up to Blixen and then looks to her. If looks could kill, Furi would have dropped like a fly. Instead, her ears back back against her head and her tail sweeps up. She attempts to make her large form smaller, less threatening.

Blixen’s probably told her the horrible things they’ve gone through, clearly, and both are here to yell at her. Torn between wanting to leave immediately, and the obvious inclination she should probably wait it out, leaves her anxious. Her heart rate rises and she can feel the blood coursing her veins at rapid speed. She tries to keep her breathing slow and even so doesn’t wear herself out. If she can find Rose, everything will be better. She understands. She can help.

Licking her lips, she shuffles back and offers an apologetic frown toward Blixen before she darts off into the redwoods.

Before Wildfire could ask what was going on, Blixen hissed like an angry cat. The Feisripa began to turn toward her slowly, though Furi's sudden departure drew her attention. Her eyes followed as the Gona fled the scene. Wildfire squinted after her, then fully turned to face her daughter.

"I'm just out for a walk," she answered evenly, disliking the accusation but understanding that her daughter was in the midst of an emotionally-charged situation. "I didn't mean to intrude." She wanted to ask, Are you okay? But Blixen clearly wasn't. Instead, Wildfire asked, "Can I help?"

one of the side effects of wildfire's kidnapping: she managed to miss blixen's angry, sullen, snappy phase. unfortunately, even if the gona's more-or-less learned to better manage her emotions, in situations like these, that goes right out the window.

furi pauses but doesn't stay, fleeing into the redwoods. fuck! "she said --" blixen starts suddenly, voice sharp and eyes wide as she turns on her mother, "you made her realise she wasn't -- she wasn't ready." she'd had no idea what that meant, still doesn't know what that means, but right now she doesn't think she needs to. "just -- just stay out of it, mom!" blixen snaps, before launching herself after the silver-and-black gona, shouting "furi! don't go--"

It happened so quickly, there was no time to react. Blixen shouted blame at her, then launched after her (ex-girl)friend. Wildfire whirled to stare after them, her mouth ajar. She was tempted to chase after them, though of course that seemed like a capitally bad idea, given her daughter's unfair accusation.

A storm began to brew on her brow. Furi had broken her daughter's heart and blamed Wildfire for it? Wildfire wanted to hunt Furi down and slap her across the face for her cowardice and gall. Her stomach lurched when she realized that, even now, Blixen was chasing after the craven Gona, as if she wanted her back. She probably did.

Feeling highly put out now, Wildfire steeled her jaw and began making her way back to the den. She would have to tell Thuringwethil about this. Maybe the commander could help her decide what to do about any of it, if anything.