Dragoncrest Cliffs echo astral

Certain jealous tendencies in her were, truthfully, more than a bit riled up that her brother had of course earned his official recognition already—therefore, the Drakru title was officially his to wear proudly with the rest, like the commander. That, maybe more than anything, kind of prickled at her and made her feel sour about not having it yet for herself too.

She was close, she knew it and could almost taste it. When she was working hard towards it every day, trying to get stronger and sharper on her own little watches—it had to add up soon. Her training and mentoring was just a little different than his. But so long as she didn't just lay down and give up for good (not planned), she had to have confidence that she would be Opalia Drakru soon enough too.

In the meantime, she didn't really want to see either of her littermates right now thanks to that certain sort of unease. The pale goufa staked out a spot way east (leaning onto northeast at this point, really) on their borderlands directly pointing at Nova Peak despite the pitiful drizzling weather. She paid the mountain little mind for now though, and went about investigating the scents out this way to determine what was fresh, what wasn't, and where she was supposed to fit into the greater piece here. She had to stay vigilant.

It was unclear why Sequoia had not bonded with her litter mates. Both were perfectly pleasant wolves, but the piebald girl had a stick up her butt when it came to interacting with either of them. To her, they had always seemed childish, and that feeling only grew when she became buddy-buddy with @Kiwi, who seemed to understand her and click with her in a way that neither Opalia or Dacio ever had. Not only that, but there were tons of adults that Sequoia tended to relate to much better than her own siblings, whom she mostly ignored. Sure, she wrestled with them when they came home at night and ate with them when Momma or Daddy brought home food, but they didn’t hang out like she did with her more mature friends.

Perhaps, when Sequoia was older and wiser, she might look back on this time and wonder why she had arbitrarily decided that her litter mates were uncool and not worth being friends with. For now, though, she typically stayed out of their way, and they seemed to stay out of her way. That was not to say that she did not care for them, though. They, like every other member of Drageda, were family. And family was supposed to care about each other. It had been Sequoia who had (awkwardly) comforted Dacio when Dalia had left them, after all. She still wasn’t sure how Opalia felt about it, but she hadn’t taken the initiative to ask.

The piebald girl had not been seeking her sister out, but when she picked up the green smell and nothing else interesting was going on, Sequoia decided to track her down. The weather was crappy, but that didn’t hinder her. Maybe she could tell Opalia what a toot she was or pester her in some other amusing way. The rain made it more difficult to track her down, that was for sure, but Sequoia was determined, and eventually she spotted her sister’s creamy coat up ahead.

What’s a toot like you doing out here? she teased, using the shortened word she had learned from Wraen.

She picked along quietly, minding her own, but not going anywhere too quickly yet--all her efforts at trying to stay busy remarking what the older guardians had already done. Even if she dallied along between areas of interest, she didn't have anywhere else to be more than right here now anyway besides tucked away sleeping or whatever (boring!!) to avoid the drizzles, so, she was keeping at it well enough until the redwoods gave way to sight of Sequoia tooling on up to her.

The pale girl felt her face scrunch instantly with the realization, and reluctantly pivoted to face her best. Great.

And, her frown probably got a little uglier when she listened on. Ugh.

She wasn't forgetting how her piebald sister had turned her nose up to the other day with Mallaidh, so she didn't feel particularly generous--especially not after being called a... toot? Unsure of how offended she ought to be, she narrowed her eyes. Psh, it wouldn't interest you anyway, she answered, keen to keep her at distance if Sequoia was going to be too good for the likes of her and Dacio anyway. What do you want? she asked pointedly.

Despite the pride he felt in officially earning his name, Dacio did not flaunt it among his sisters. While there had always been a sense of rivalry between the trio and they rarely got along, he did care for them. Most of the time they maintained some sort of balance in which they merely acknowledged one another in passing, but Dalia's unexpected departure had roused a desire to be closer to them. Family was important, and Dacio's anxiety often forced the quiet worry in his mind that theirs might splinter further if he didn't tread carefully.

He found the girls by accident, having been trailing a small rodent through the trees. His potential snack was disregarded at the sound of Opalia's sharpened tone, and the sterling youth lifted his charcoal-tipped crown to observe his litter-mates with a curious stare.

His immediate thought was to move away unseen, but he figured it was likely that one or both of them would've noticed his presence, and he didn't want to be rude. If they lifted their eyes to look upon him, Dacio would simply offer a gentle wave of his tail in greeting.

Wouldn’t interest her? Well, that just made Sequoia even more interested. In fact, she was going to prove to Opalia just how wrong she was! When she opened her mouth to speak, however, she spotted Dacio out of the corner of her eye and squinted at him. It seemed all three of the Portia and Dio children had somehow managed to gather unplanned, and Sequoia wasn’t quite sure how to take that information. She too felt the instinct to flee and find some more comfortable and familiar situation to be in, but she stood her ground. The drizzle wasn’t making things particularly pleasant or welcoming, either, but Sequoia refused to leave. She wasn’t going to let her inferior siblings (or the weather) push her out of the way.

Not interested?! she huffed, I’m allowed to be interested. Tell me what you’re doin’! The piebald girl was not going to take no for an answer. She redirected her attention to Dacio and called out to him. Dacio! Come over here! Opalia is about to tell us what she’s doin’ up here! Her two-toned eyes then met Opalia’s gaze with a gleam in them. With peer pressure, Seq was certain that her sister would spill the beans.

Opalia glanced up when her sister didn't instantly retort, and followed her sights to find Dacio on the scene as well. So it seemed they all converged here and now, and even so, she felt this getting worse way faster than she needed thanks to Sequoia's pressing of the matter. Every word only sharpened her edge more, easily grating right down to her nerves.

The golden goufa's frown hardened. I never said you weren't allowed to, she snipped back first, just to be clear. And no. You can't just demand I tell ya anyway! Opalia rolled her eyes and fought back the urge to look to her brother again--very curious what his stance was going to be here, or if he'd just not engage. It wasn't even anything interesting! It had been peaceful, routine.. and as far as she knew, Sequoia wasn't usually that interested in the patrol-type stuff. She never had been before, not much while Opalia was around.. so excuuuse her for guessing that was still the case. Why do you care all of a sudden? she asked, squaring up her paws and standing as tall as she could (even if it still left her the shortest sibling, only slightly)--she wasn't going to tolerate too much.

It was Sequoia who noticed him first, her gaze followed swiftly by Opalia's. The young Drakru lifted his muzzle slightly, blackened tail swishing gently between his equally dark hocks, as a corner of his mouth tugged upward in the hint of a shy smile. It was always awkward being around the girls: one preferred the company of Drageda's other youths, whereas one seemed more content on her own. Dacio, still a little unsure of himself, wasn't entirely sure where he stood in the pecking order of his littermates.

Seq beckoned him toward them, and he pricked his tall ears forward in surprise. She... wanted him to join them? At once he made toward the duo, then paused with for a moment of discomfort as it occurred to him that his speckled sibling might only be seeking his support against Opalia. Dacio blinked, twitching his nose as a raindrop collected on his muzzle, before curiosity pushed him forward.

He made sure to maintain distance, and his pastel eyes drifted between his sisters as they continued to argue. "What'd I miss?" Dacio chimed innocently.

Trying to wrap up some old threads!

I sure can! Sequoia retorted, snorting in response. And I just did! Why did Opalia have to be so stinking difficult? Sequoia was just asking what she was doing, and now she was being all defensive and turning her words back on her. I was just trying to take an interest in my sister, Sequoia added, rolling her eyes so hard they might fall out her ears. This would definitely be the last time she ever tried to have a conversation with her stupid, stuck up sister. (Funny how Sequoia is failing to miss the irony here...)

Instead of helping her case, Dacio waltzed up like it was no big deal. Quite frankly, Sequoia couldn't handle either of them right now. Her opinion that they were stupid children who hadn't matured at the same rate she had was further solidified.

Just—whatever, you two. I'm gonna go find Kiwi, who actually likes it when I take an interest in what she's doing. And with much ado, Sequoia marched off, gnashing her teeth at the world at large. @Kiwi would definitely be hearing about this, and Sequoia couldn't wait to unload her feelings on her bestie (and have them validated).

Her frown stayed, made awfully easy by listening to her sister retort smugly at all. Well ya never have before! It's weird, all of a sudden, all demands... she growled back, lower, and less hotly than before while instead prickling up her nape even more over all this frustration. She was finding herself more unimpressed by the second that they continued to diverge over every last detail, it seemed—so much so that Dacio's official arrival got much more than a glance, he was presenting such a neutral force in that moment.

Instead of bringing him up to speed, Opalia was more incensed by the mention of Kiwi being flung at her. Her eyes narrowed, she pinned back her ears and tried to fight back the click of teeth she wanted, irritated. Instead, she lashed her tail and growled again. Whatever, enjoy being all up Kiwi's butt then! she crowed back when Sequoia was already well on her way out of there. Although it was still reasonable to say the other girl still heard, Opalia huffed: My patrols don't need ya anyway.. and grumbled something indecipherable and petty after that.

With that over with, she started to turn away from this and set her sights to Dacio. Everything about her body language was conveying her overwhelming feeling of ugh towards what had just happened, and she was not happy with the feeling. She tried to smooth it out, and only found another sigh before she gathered her motivation to move on again and get back into the mindset befitting a proper patrol. Maybe if she was lucky, she could vent some annoyances that way. Anyway. Gotta finish my round.. she grumped aloud for his sake, and pivoted away to stalk off in the almost-opposite direction as Sequoia, off towards the borders she had not yet nosed over.