Dragoncrest Cliffs Rhondonite

portia would weep no more for her daughter. as devastated as she was that her eldest-- her beautiful pearl of a daughter-- dalia had left, portia knew that it was taking a toll on her children. on her husband. surely on the pack. lately she had seemed in higher spirits, off gardening more than usual(even with the approach of winter). 

today she sought out her only son, a sweet and precious gift to earth. he'd been such a light in her life, just as opalia and sequoia had been, and she was intent on making sure he knew it. her boy had grown so quickly, and even earned a trade! oh, glory be to god, her son was so wonderful. portia was blessed, truly, with her newest litter. they each gave her so much life. and she was sure that she would appreciate them more. 

dalia had left, and it was truly devastating. but portia had done the same thing to her own mother long ago. this was no different. it was just the way of life.

as portia travelled past her garden, she noted that @Dacio's scent was near, and let out a light woof to call out to him.

When he heard his mother call, he went to her at once. Keen not to keep her waiting and obedient as always, Dacio did not mind abandoning his hunt for a playmate. He was always glad for time spent with Portia, no matter the discomfort she roused in him throughout the encounter with the loner in the fields only the day before.

He figured she'd want to discuss it now that the proverbial storm had settled, so prepared himself for the awkwardness of the conversation as he loped in her direction. Dacio mustered a bright smile and slowed his pace, padding toward her with a contently swishing tail. He reached out and aimed an affectionate bump of his dark snout in the direction of his dam's cheek, greeting her with a gentle "hei."

dacio came obedient as ever, and portia pressed her nose to his shoulder as he came up to her. "hei," she purred in response to him, and the pulled back to get a good look at him. "look at my little gona," she cooed to him, though he was much too old to be cooed to, "i'm so proud of you, hun, you've done so many wonderful things for drageda." 

and then, with another gentle bump to his shoulder, portia motioned for him to follow her. "will you come with me on a walk? i need to stretch this leg," she said, holding up her crippled limb before moving forwards. and after they'd walked a bit, portia asked him, "how are you holding up?"

She gushed, beaming with pride for his new title, and Dacio felt his cheeks flush with heat beneath the platinum of his fur. With all the drama of the day prior, the last thing he expected was for Portia to want to talk about him! Grey-green eyes shifted to glance down awkwardly at his dark paws, unsure how to react to such gleaming praise, before he blinked up at his mother with a sheepish grin. "Thanks, Mom," he paused. His time as Goufa was not yet over, he knew, though there was some natural concern within him at the thought of rising into the adult ranks.

Glad when she moved onto the suggestion of a walk, he nodded gently and moved to follow at her pace. "Does it hurt?" Dacio asked of her stiffened limb, wondering if her venture beyond the territory had worsened the pain; "I'm good. Just... a little worried, about you."

portia would talk about the previous day in coming time, but unless he asked, now was not that time.

he agreed to a walk, padding beside her without any complaints. he asked about her foot, and portia shook her head. "no," she replied with a small smile, "it's just stiff-- doesn't work the way it used to." and it was true. a broken limb did not always heal properly, and it was not always the healers fault. 

and then, to her surprise, dacio mentioned he was worried about her. portia looked at her son with her ears pricked. she was quiet, for a moment, and then said-- matching his language-- "about me?" and then she shook her head, "what for, little sprout?" but she could have guessed it was about dalia, and how down she had been in the most recent weeks. and so she gave a gentle sigh, and made to fix this.

"i've had my time to grieve-- it was harder on me than i should have allowed it," she continued on, ears flicking, but her green gaze settling upon him, "i should not have let you all see me so down-- it was not fair to you, and i'm sorry i've been such a poor mother in that regard. but i have accepted dalia's leave now, i will be stronger, just as all of you have.[b]"[/b] her lips curled into a smile, and she reached to nudge his cheek.

Although Portia assured him that she was in no physical pain, Dacio's concern still remained for her emotional state. He had observed helplessly all the time she spent moping in Dalia's absence, and if she felt anything all like how he did at times, then he had much sympathy for her. He missed his big sister often, despite the heartache she'd chosen to put him through.

The piebald Fisa seemed to read his thoughts, and brought voice to the tender subject of Dalia's departure. He listened quietly to her assurance that things were improving for her, that she could move on from the loss of a daughter, and he frowned thoughtfully at her comment regarding her capability as a mother. "You haven't," he promised, blinking up at her slim features to seek the vivid peridot of her gaze as she reached for him, "I miss her, too."

portia hummed gently at his comment, nodding sadly beside him. "me too," she murmured, but there was much to be said on the topic, and portia had come to terms with much of it. "i left my own mother, you know," she told him, looking at her growing boy to see his reaction, "it was different, my home was not the same as drageda, but i left my mother when i was dalia's age as well." about the same age, actually. 

it was easy to think about it now. portia would've done it again in a heartbeat, too. she had had so much fun traveling the lands. she'd made her bed with many men, joined many packs, done many things. she'd learned a lot, and grown a lot. ultimately, it had lead her here, allowed her to plant roots. she'd settled in her ways and grown up. met a man she loved. had children. made a life for herself. 

she hoped dalia would be smarter than she was, but she hoped her daughter would find all the things she found.

While he was young enough to adapt, Dacio still struggled to understand what there could possibly be beyond the cliffs that was worth sacrificing so much for. When his mother announced that she had made similar choice at Dalia's age, he lifted his ears in surprise. "Really?" Dacio asked, having never considered the possibility that his parents had not always belonged to Drageda. He had so many questions to ask of Portia then, eager to know of her own background, but did not wish to overwhelm her with his curiosity.

So he settled with just one, in attempt to figure out what it was that drew Dalia away: "why?

portia shrugged. she didn't have a good answer, and dalia's certainly must've been different than her own. portia had left as an act of defiance. of course, to make a name for herself was on her list of reasons, but as a yearling portia wanted nothing more than to disobey her mother and go off into the world and do whatever she wanted. truthfully, she never meant to actually make a name for herself. she just happened along drageda. and here they were.

"well," portia began with a gentle sigh, deciding how she could sugarcoat her reckless youth to her malleable son, "it is the way of the wolf. to travel, to leave the nest. i never thought it'd happen with my own children, but that was naive of me." it was, but no one ever thinks they aren't good enough until someone else plays their hand.

"and, of course, i would never want you all to leave... but most yearlings do. and i could never hold it against you. once they get old enough, their feet yearn to travel and they venture out into the world to make a name for themselves, to carve their own destiny," she explained, hoping her son would make sense of all that. 

and then, after she'd rambled a considerate amount (not that dacio wasn't used to his mothers tendency to over-explain), portia got to his question-- his actual question. "i didn't like my mother very much, i thought she was mean and controlling and she wanted me to marry a man who i found repulsive," portia explained with a small smile, "because a lady is expected to do what a man tells her-- but i didn't want that for myself. so i left, to find something better for me." her smile widened, and she looked at dacio with a glimmer in her eye.

"i found drageda, and your father." 

He watched her, pastel eyes wide with wonder, as Portia went on to answer his simple question in great detail. She told of how her own mother had expected her to follow the fate she'd chosen for her, how their relationship had been a rocky one, and he felt even more grateful to have maintained closeness with his own. Dacio smiled for her, sweeping close enough to bump his sterling shoulder encouragingly to the Fisa's flank.

It made some sense to him now, or at least it seemed a little more acceptable. Still, Dalia had said that she knew what leaving meant - she would have to shed the name that once bound her to the pack, and willingly become Branwoda. "I won't ever leave," the youngster said gently, wondering if his elder sibling had ever made a similar statement. It was one that Dacio intended to keep. Keen to change the subject to a more cheerful one, he piped up with: "tell me how you and Dad met?"

he promised. portia wondered how much weight it held. she loved her son dearly, and she could only pray he meant it. but he was young, and in months or years... would he feel the same way? would the wild not beckon to him? portia didn't know-- she couldn't know. in this moment, portia could only hope her children were happy-- no matter where they were.

as he bumped her, portia gave him a gentle nose to the cheek, and then hummed gently at his question. "mmmm," she mused thoughtfully for a moment, reminiscing on the moment from a long time ago. wow, it really had been a long time ago, hadn't it?

"your father joined drageda before i did, but he was not wocha when i came, he was just a gona--" she leaned to touch his cheek again, "--like you. i was trying to identify a plant, and he came across me. he wasn't much help... if any, but he entertained the idea of helping me, like the gentlemen he is. and after that it seemed we just... clicked." the story was probably far more in depth than that, but it was a good summary of their first meeting. 

"back then," portia added, "i was skayona before i was a fisa." the rank had been given to her when there was a need for a healer, and portia had not minded stepping up since she was knowledgable on the topic.

Blissfully unaware of his mother's internal worry that his claim could shift over time, Dacio waited patiently for his desired information. His tail swayed contently between his dark hocks as he trailed along at the healer's side, gaze fixed to a speckled cheek. She told of how Dio had started serving the pack as Gona, the same title he would come to hold with ascension into the adult ranks. It was strange to think of his father as any less than the leader he'd always known him to be, but he took comfort and pride in knowing that he was following in his pawsteps.

"And then Dalia was born?" Dacio questioned, before adding: "was it hard, having three of us to take care of this year when you only had one before?" Because as far as he was aware, he had no other siblings.

ah. portia smiled wryly. she was fluent in trigedasleng, but the more thinking she was doing the easier it was just to speak in the common tongue. so she did. "dalia has a brother," she told her son gently, sadly. she had, mostly, forgotten sirio by now, but even so, the memory of her son still tended to haunt her. "his name was sirio-- he was... excommunicated from the pack. long before dalia. the boy was reckless and crude and cared nothing for this pack. he showed up to the borders once and got into a fight with... blixen, i believe," she explained, gaze flitting to her son to gauge his reaction. this was all, certainly, new information.

"he looked like you, a bit, but tan. and his eyes were the blue of your fathers. i don't think he cared for us as we did for him-- and as we do for you. it was not as hard when he left us. he did not say goodbye." 

then, quietly, portia stopped, nudging dacio on the cheek to pause with her. "this is a lot-- are you okay with all of this? i'll tell you anything you'd like to know, hun, but i don't want to overwhelm you," she asked him, green eyes searching his paler set, "i love you no matter what, dacio."

"Dalia has a brother," his mother said, and his smile faded. If Dalia had a littermate, then that meant he had another sibling. An older sibling of the previous year. A brother. Dacio remained silent as he furrowed his brow in thought, listening to what Portia had to say about her exiled yearling's dark past as a member of Drageda. "Oh," he said, noting that his dam had switched to the pack's secondary tongue, "uh. Hm. Yeah."

Okay, things became a little awkward - it was one thing to learn that you had a brother, and another to learn that he'd been disowned. And he looked like him, apparently! Pausing with his mother's encouragement, he lifted his soft eyes to find her seeking his gaze.

"Yeah," he said matter-of-factly, straightening his posture in a poor attempt at showing Portia that he could handle this news with ease - even though the surge of anxiety in his heart made him want to slink away and be alone to think everything over. "Wh... where is he now? Sirio." It was odd to speak the name of a wolf who should have been a sibling to him, but felt so distant. "Is he... when did you last see him?"

portia shook her head. "i'm not sure, hun," she replied softly, hesitating as she dug through her memories. "last i heard he was at the neighboring pack-- but they've long gone. we haven't had any trouble from him since," she told him, which was true. portia had no idea what had become of the strange boy, her strange son. she hoped nothing had happened to him, but all the same she was glad that he was out of their fur.

he caused more problems than he solved, unfortunately, and was most certainly a danger to the pack. 


the freckled fisa tried to lighten up the conversation. "but you weren't much harder to raise-- we had dalia helping, and wildfire having a litter at the same time was always helpful," she told him.

He sensed her hesitance, and guilt began to tighten his chest as he wondered if all the questioning might be pushing limits. Green eyes blinked up at his mother before he averted his gaze, staring out into the forest at nothing in particular. "Sorry," the boy murmured softly, having been so surprised to hear that he had a brother somewhere in the wilds that he hadn't considered the memory could further pain his dam. He fell silent, content to tuck the topic away for discussion at a later date.

Portia tried to clear away the tension, and Dacio's eyes sought her speckled features once more. Mention of Wildfire's litter reminded him immediately of Bat, though he chose not to speak of her and instead maintained the lightness in this conversation with a playful quip: "I bet Sequoia and Opalia will be miffed that I earned Drakru before them."