Barrow Fields i hunt my wild god

High expectations have come through traveling from Sangeda to Drageda. They had a mission. They’d get to Drageda, convince Heda to return, and, well, they’d return. Ajatar finding the strange man outside the pack’s old home had been an interruption and, now, finding the commander is not doing well. Helix is left feeling antsy and uncertain, sitting in one spot without being able to do anything. If Heda cannot travel in her condition for some time, they are further delayed the justice they have long since deserved.
 
The warrior caught word of one of the children missing—of Heda and her mate—and their search for her. She’s yet to see the commander and does not force herself before it is too soon. Word has been passed, she’d been assured, and until she has the chance to present an audience, she has to find something to do.
 
She wakes @Lava early the morning after their arrival, checking in on @Ajatar and @Denali before leaving the brute in care of the heir. Neither of them seems up to the task to depart after such a long journey but her restless legs have settled in far too soon. Helix takes the southern route out of Drageda, opposite the way they came in, and uses the chance to get to know her surroundings and to clear her head. It’s been years since she’s been under the rule of Heda and not living and working in a separate branch.
 
Salt in the air pulls memories she’s long since suppressed, inhaling a heavy breath before releasing it and turning to search for her son.

Despite being quite handsome, capable, and a doting packmate to boot, Lava didn't currently operate with a mind of his own. He was very much content to just turn his brain off and follow his mother wherever her trail took them and no matter how much the task dismayed him -- it was easiest this way. And besides his inclination for blindly following others, the dusky wolf was just a naturally giving soul. He would die lending his last breath to someone or something he loved, and he would do it without question.

Still, Lava was slow to follow Helix this morning, dragging himself first at a dog-tired pace. He paused to quench his thirst and relieve himself, not necessarily in that order, and then he caught up with his piceous predecessor with his vitality returned. "Ma," he whined, loping up to her side so that he might duck his head affectionately beneath her chin. "What's wrong?" he asked in earnest, as boyish and clueless as ever -- except now with the voice of a young man.

He knew things weren't going as planned but, as opposed to his mother, he found comfort rather than helplessness in the knowledge that there was nothing they could do about their situation. Where Lava saw opportunity to rest and relax, Helix became insatiable. Even in her age, she needed fierce stimulation, or at least an outlet for her domineering drive. At times it was difficult for even her young son  to match her. He stood back to look at her imploringly and smile, his tail wagging slowly against his hocks.

Lava catches up to her and bumps under her chin. She remains stiff against the action and pulls away an inch, but not before gently bumping his cheek with her nose. Since the passing of her mate, there’s very little of her family left. For the first time in weeks, she’s struggling to keep it together. Searching for the Drageda child is only a distraction and she’s doing a piss poor job as it is.
 
When she hears his voice, she offers a soft hmm? and turns to face him, slowing to a stop.
 
What’s wrong?
 
Helix clears her throat and looks away, capturing their new surroundings with a flicker of bright eyes. How is she to answer such a question honestly? Nothing is going the way it should have gone and she is a fool for thinking this would be easy. Of course Heda would come back them. It is her duty to her wolves to serve them equally and her distance does not allow her to do that properly. It was supposed to be simple.
 
“Ai nou get in,” she states plainly, shaking her nose to keep walking. They have to at least pretend they’re looking for the goufa. “Dison laik en foto.”

He has not paid much attention to the arrival of the Trigeda wolves, attention occupied by Ephraim, Mirabelle, and heda's illness. He is not a healer nor is he close enough to warrant visiting and so he busies himself with refreshing their cache and entertaining the children. 

Kiwi's absence, of course, weighs heavily on him (although, as we know, Étoille is the type to go "oh well" -- he's passive to a fault at times). For the sake of appeasing the group he takes up searching alongside the rest of the pack, hopeful for the child's return -- but also well aware of the fact that he has in his time taken on two children that must have had families they vanished from as well. So it goes.

His search brings him across two of the new wolves' paths. The moment he interrupts looks intimate even as the younger man moves to walk away; awkwardly he hesitates, knowing it's already too late for him to backpeddle. Ah, well. "Bonjour," the titan calls softly, addressing the woman who's remained in earshot.

Lava doesn’t offer any comforting words—he’s a quiet boy—but instead he presses closer and she noses him off, pointing with her muzzle to search. It is their purpose. In reality, she’s aware of the possibility that children disappear but their security on them before they are old enough is tight enough to not worry about it. This time, with Drageda compromised, it is not a surprise one slipped out from under the radar. Her parents are both occupied with other things and the pack is recovering from the hindrance of their former leader’s power.
 
As her boy moves on, an ear swivels back at the sound of another. Slowly, she turns upon his voice, and she stares at him. He hadn’t been in the audience but he’s a large brute and speaks a word she does not know. “Chit?”

She reacts to him in trig -- one of these days he should bother himself to pick up more than sha. He blinks, shifting his weight from paw to paw with a touch of sheepishness, and clears his throat to try again. "Apologies," he rumbles, "I do not speak your native tongue. My name is Étoille -- I am steltrona of Drageda." Normally he does not add the title but he suspects she will be suspicious if he does not clarify.

She may be suspicious anyway. Ah, well. He takes a tentative step forward, gesturing vaguely to the land. "You are looking for Kiwi," he confirms in his not-a-question but-a-question sort of way, his expression somber. "I can accompany you, if you'd like."

The brute speaks in the common tongue to announce he does not know their language beyond the obvious necessity of their ranks. Steltrona. She raises a brow and looks at him and finds it easy to believe. His  scars tell a curious story that she does not ask about and by default of higher rank, she bows her head slightly.
 
“Yes,” she response, though says nothing else. He offers to come along and she glances off for her son, nowhere to be seen, and then beckons him to follow after. “I am Helix.”

He could make an effort, perhaps, to pick up more of their language. He is already bilingual, after all. But something about the harsh sounding syllables do not fit correctly in his mouth (it is kind that no one has called to attention the distinctly french bent of his trig), and heda has not asked it of him and so. He does not worry. Helix, she introduces herself. He nods, easily falling into step with her as he looks for the missing petit.

"You come from the other branches," he guesses, a mild flicker of curiosity in his voice. "Do you know Ajatar?" It is a stab in the dark -- he has not seen Ajatar's return yet, though he would like to see the austere woman again. They had been something like friends, Étoille thinks (and she is, as we know, exactly his type.)

He steps in line with her and is quiet only a moment. One ear flicks and she looks at him every so often but does not know what to make of him. The scars indicate battle and she is curious but it is for another time.
 
The mention of Ajatar catches her off guard and she briefly has forgotten she’d been here for a few months, during the war—perhaps where he’d gotten the scars—and eventually she nods. “I am and yes, I do know her. She came with me to deliver the news to Heda about the troubles but she will not be staying, I do not think.” she explains but does not add on or offer where she is, exactly, for she does not read any other interest in the statement from the stoic titan.

They speak a little logner before settling into a comfortable silence--something that surprises her with an outsider--before they both retreat back to the pack to find Ajatar.