Moonspear pomegranate

open, but attn @Dirge

 

With Lyra off to meet their sister, Hydra licked her chops and stared openly at the horizon. It was as though she could feel the distance spanning between them as she went on her search, and though Lyra was meant to return soon her absence felt like an eternity. Never before had her sister gone from Moonspear without one or the other, but she knew her sister was capable enough to do so. 

Turning from the borders to distract herself with work,  the matriarch again went after the trail of larger prey. The cubs could join in the hunt, now, and had learned well from their parents the way of it; Hydra sought to find where it was the game had moved to the evening prior to take stock of them.

i am going to scoop this one

Fresh from the borderlands herself, the pale guardian hinged on the decision of continuing lower on the slopes, or heading elsewhere. She lingered somewhere in the middle, though drifting from the outskirts after seeing to it that all was quiet, and fresh.

But, she found herself coming up the path opposite Hydra, noticing her first by sound. Opalia slowed up, blinking, but ready to intercept their routes--wondering what business brought the queen's nose leading her on this way. The Drakru knew she would be seen, so greeted her commander.

Cameo

The mountain is great and pure. The winter air fights against his feathers as he soars overhead. Drafts of warmer currents lift his great wingspan far above the lives of the lupine residents, whom he takes no interest in. He can see them through the spots between the trees, eying them to see if it is a hunt. The density of the mountain pack and the glen below it appear brimming and full, and so he is attracted to this place of successful predators.

It is food that he seeks, but he does not think that they will have it for him today. Sharply and loudly, he speaks to them in the form of the call of his kind. His shadow casts below and startles rodents on the ground and in the trees, whose tiny heartbeats hasten as the eagle incites fear of the great darkness he will bring them.

It is a call she had heard before; the shadow of him was cast upon her as he winged away, and as Opalia came toward her the matriarch watched him go. As of recent days his seemed a presence that was becoming more regular. She wondered if after years of working toward it (albeit offhandedly), Hydra might have earned herself another head. The matriarchs gaze soon turned back to Opalia as the bird became too small to trail with her own eyes. 

Pleased to see the Drakru woman, Hydra was swift to greet her. How do you fare? she inquired, tail swaying behind her at a slow and steady cadence.

Hydra's presence was certainly commanding enough on its own, but the cry of an eagle warranted at least a lingering look. Once it winged away from easy view, she splayed her ears thoughtfully, but returned with a new focus, a hardening resolve after she took the next deep breath to answer.  Okay. A little.. she paused to search out the word. Better. she settled on there in the end. The restless feeling in her, though, sometimes struggled. Opalia did not always have the heart to shake it entirely, either, for she justified it in the end: the re-appearance of the dark wraith that Osiris had met had been a thought kept close, and she wondered if the dark commander felt it too.

She was reminded of many things, many of which were wrathful, old, and bitter. How are your trails today? she returned for the present, for now.

Good, she drawled in answer; better that than, well, not. As for the trails? Mmm. I have not run into anything concerning, she hums. But that was not the reason Hydra was pleased to see Opalia. I wanted to speak with you. In reference to your brother, she drawled. And then, slipped into the tongue Opalia had taken the time to teach Hydra. There have been distractions, she acknowledged. 

I want to kill the wretch that killed your brother and touched my son. But with the Saints near, it seemed their focus had shifted as they determined what to decide there, and Hydra sighed at the thought. The Saints want Ursus dead. I am with them wholeheartedly on that. And I wonder if I might give the Saints a boon, even if only temporarily. Provide them with more numbers for a time, to bring our common enemy down, her ears twitched as she looked to Opalia. What did she think of this? Would she be willing to join the Saints on their joint campaign? Even if they did not formally align, well... in this they surely saw eye to eye.

To hear that there was nothing concerning--that was good, a good start. Opalia offered first a nod, but it stopped short. Dacio. It was not that she disagreed at all, but listening on needed a new fresh focus. The trails, whatever she had been doing prior suddenly didn't matter. I want it too. So.. so badly, she admitted with a sigh, squeezing shut her eyes. Bold before her commander now and beneath the guise of her native tongue, she had felt the solidarity then, and the purpose it could hone. I went to where your son had encountered her last.. not so long ago, the warrior revealed, and getting another whiff of her after all these months had only stoked her burning need to see that wretch die.

But, there too was the matter of the Saints. Opalia remained unimpressed by them yet despite a sheer lack of firsthand experience, but there might be some use in it--a common enemy, as Hydra mentioned, could bring them together. She didn't like it, but, was able to consider it for what it was worth. It is possible, she agreed, speaking slow before she toed back to her own. Praimfaya noted they had set out to gather warriors back then, and they sound.. easy to spark, she said quietly with a shrewd look. It appealed to her to risk theirs instead of more of Hydra and Dirge's family. Even if Moonspear did bolster them, it might not take much. They might only need a small push from you, she thought. What all do you know of.. Ursus? She hated the very name, and wanted the most up to date notes she had. Everything Opalia knew was bits and pieces alone.

And Hydra would feed into her fire, satisfyingly so.