Sleeping Dragon i was as pure as a river but now i think i'm possessed

She's at the base of SD facing Kildeer Rest. I don't know how to tag accounts with spaces so I'm gonna tag @Macbeth, sorry.

The distance in which Gyda has to travel is unknown to Thuringwethil and an estimate on her return had not been given. It hasn’t been so long for the young leader to be concerned but she wonders anyway. Things cannot solidify in place without her but she is eager, anxiously waiting her return. She checks the borders in which she’d be returning first, checking for any burst of scent, before traveling along the base of the mountain and leaving markers every so often. 

There are faint hints of Lucani and Snacha and she’s yet to stumble across Eli’s for the day but it will come. He’d been faithful in his decision, remaining on the outskirts. At least until Thuringwethil knows what to do with him. She pauses at the mouth of the geyser, looking out across the snow in which Eli had shown up. Half of her expects a mob to come marching through the trees in the wild expanse of her back yard.

Smoke felt like if he walked any further his paws might fall off. It seemed like an age before he had allowed himself to rest and all of the rocky terrain in this region was hard on his pads. Sighing he looked over the lands and only saw more rocks. Then suddenly on the horizon was a whoosh of water and steam. Geysers, he'd stepped right into a Geyser field. Even in the winter weather it was still quite warm here, comfortably so even, it was a nice feeling in the middle of winter. He took a step forward to move on but felt unusually heavy and though something were weighing him down. Looking over his shoulder he gasped. His beautifully silken coat was logged with steam and moisture and looked mangled and straggly, the odd rogue drop running off him onto the floor. He tried to lick it all clean and back to normal but was unable to. 

It was only when he stopped obsessing over the condition of his coat that he noticed the wolf nearby. Maybe she knew where he could rest, somewhere dry one hopes. "Excuse me, excuse me, miss? I'm looking for shelter in unclaimed lands I don't suppose you know where I can find it do you?" As he spoke fur slipped down over his eyes making him look like a plush after an angry child has ripped away the eyes and drooled all over his head. He sighed to himself again, losing the will to live.

When Thuringwethil sees the figure approaching, she tenses. Her fur bristles on the back of her neck and she stares, watching him approach until his features define and she sees his lost in space. She isn’t hidden from the elements as if it were the evening, but a sore thumb against the background of snow. He hasn’t perked up yet to see her form but she remains still and eventually he jerks to attention and diverts his gait toward her direction.

She narrows her eyes, a growl sitting in the back of her throat as he speaks. Her tail stiffens above her spine and she gives the other a minute before she answers. If he hadn’t been able to discover the borders of her home, she knows they’re not ready. It is an effort but she bites back the growl: “You won’t find unclaimed land here.”

Everything about the females body language was hostile, causing Smoke to take a small step backwards. He put his tail between his legs and flattened his ears to show he meant no harm toward her. "I apologise, I didn't mean to scare you, I'm Smoke, if that helps at all?" He smiled back at her and shook the last of his fur away from his silver eyes and attempted to removed the excess water from his fur, but all it seems to do was just resettle in different places, more evenly spread now. He took the opportunity to look around the snow splattered lands. "I'm sorry if you live here, it's just I smelt no pack scent here and assumed it was ok for me to pass through. If you do live here it's very...erm unique." He quickly recovered, not wanting to be rude. "I bet it's beautiful in summer, I imagine lots of green? Where I used to live was green and lush." There was that pang in his heart when he thought of the fields he came from, where he was once a proud leader, where he was a lover. Until his mate died.

The woman feels a little better when the wolf dips and lowers his tail, introducing himself a beat later. She scans his face and the rest of his wet, sopping fur. Perhaps the water from the geyser clogged his nose but she shakes the thought away. “This mountain is my home,” she informs without giving him her name. “Our borders are marked.”

The geyser is damp before it leads to her home, making this section a little harder to keep secure without a presence. She’d find Eli later to spend more time on this front. If Smoke is any indication, there’d be more to come from this side. Weakness in her boundaries can’t be tolerated. 

“This is Sleeping Dragon.”

She seemed to relax around the silver male which meant to some degree he could relax a bit more too. She told him this was her home and that the borders were marked, which he had not noticed until now, maybe he was lax from all the travelling he had done or maybe the air with a little too humid for him either way it was an honest mistake. Almost as if he plucked the thought straight from the females mind, he start to think to himself these borders were going to be hard to patrol with the humid atmosphere, the steam and the noise masking paw prints crossing the borders, not to mention one well-aimed blow to the head into these rocks could kill a wolf in a moment. Maybe they needed help?

He was himself of course a seasoned defender, back home his trade was warrior and he patrol the borders as a career not a pastime and he had the scars to prove it, he even almost died once trying to protect his lands and the once large hole in his neck that was fur-less and bared his largest scar was proof of that. "I've got to say and I mean no disrespect here, but these lands are pretty easy to stumble into and if that's the case it makes them much easier to sneak into or invade." He took a seat in front of her in an attempt to show her he was serious. "Maybe I can help, I have experience with border patrol and I'm an ex-alpha. If you can offer me refuge from all my weary travels then I can offer you my experience, strength, wisdom and life, if necessary." Flicking his tail from side to side he patiently awaited her answer.

The wolf speaks up and Thuringwethil tries to keep her calm. Sleeping Dragon is nothing more than a mewling infant and her partner is not around to help. Lucani and Snacha are only capable of so much and Eli's use doesn't present much more than a hazard to her so she brushes him off. The suggestions offered cause her head to turn slightly in consideration, absorbing what she's discovered now. She doesn't need the wolf's skills in border patrol and his former days of an alpha shine through to something problematic. In the genesis of her new home, she can't afford conflict or butting heads with someone that thinks they know better than she.

"We are a new pack," she begins, hoping it's enough to explain the lack of scent in the immediate area. It doesn't make up for the wetness around the geyser. She'll just move her borders a little further ahead to something more tangible for her scent to be detected. "Your life is necessary," she tells him. The others had given theirs. Eli had been willing to let her end his life the other day and it had been the only reason he'd stayed and he barely got more than the scraps of the pack. "I will give you refuge under conditions. You'll need to earn your place. You can stay on the borders, for now, until my companion returns from her trip," she pauses and takes a breath, focusing on his smokey features. "There's a wolf named Eli with the same conditions. Find him and keep the borders secure."

The females body language didn't look promising, he could tell she was having problems either trusting him or tolerating him, at the moment he wasn't sure which. When she explains they were a new pack Smoke feigned a look of surprise so as not to look too cocky, but it was what he had suspected from when he arrived on these lands and was somewhat glad too, that meant there was still nothing wrong with his sense of smell, which was never good for a wolf. He also offered her his life and she did not hesitate in taking it. This surprised him, most wolves were grateful for the offer yet chose not to exercise it unless in dire need. At least this one was straight to the point, it was off putting and comforting to Smoke all at the same time.

Finally she offered him a place to stay provided he earn his keep here. He was hoping for a better place to stay other than the borders, but he would take what he was able to get. He tipped his head at the female and confirmed all he had been told. "Thank you Miss, I shall stick to the borders and locate this Eli of whom you speak. No wolf shall pass on my watch of that I assure you."

Most of her life had been speaking in her own tongue and she’d never had a problem before now. It isn’t too much trouble because she understands what he’s saying, the male had a way of speaking that made it had interesting to follow. He’d gotten his point across and he understood her orders. He’d get to know Eli and keep the borders marked and safe. He’d be able to prove himself once he’d gotten his authority under control.

“I’m Thuringwethil. Welcome,” she finally introduces with a slight nod of her head. She doesn’t stay long as she pivots away and begins her trot to continue the border inspection. Perhaps she’d run into Eli and inform him of his new companion but she doesn’t go out of her way to find him.

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