Sleeping Dragon daybreak

Somewhere in the middle of his morning rounds just as dawn just began to paint the sky in light and hue, he finds himself a touch more introspective than usual as his nose prowls over the many scents lining the claim. He does not allow it to hinder his progress any, and he goes about solidifying his presence among them more with perhaps an ever sharper sense of his place on the Dragon.

He generously marks a slab of stone, and weaves a path to the nearest creek for a drink. Once satisfied, he finds trace of a trail -- @Lorne, and it is one he decides he is curious enough to pursue. He knows she is prevalent on the paths he too travels, but, they had not crossed directly in some time. Their earliest meeting may have been a little iffy yet he still considers her company decent enough to actually track down for more, although he finds he is not going far out of his way to do so.

Dio mostly continues on patrol, but he is keeping thought of her someplace close in case he does catch sight of red furs along the way.

She had not seen hide not hair of Dio in quite awhile which was surprising as they often both patrolled the borders. His scent was prominent as her own on the borders, both falling shortly behind their Alphas and Hush.

His scent was stronger now as it blew towards her, her own ears flicking back as she heard his light tread. Their first meeting had not been pleasurable, he seemed too...cocky she supposed was the correct word for him. Nevertheless, she would not react on it now as he was higher in the hierarchy than she. She had found him attractive as she did the other two newer male members, but no man was ever truly interesting to her unless he could defeat her in combat. 

She followed the sound, pulling up beside him from the rear as her legs worked overtime to keep up with his longer ones. She made no sound, amber eyes on the path ahead of her as one ear swiveled towards him so she may hear if he spoke.

He progresses on at an even pace, one not overly charged with any certain duty at hand and like this, he pauses now and again to refresh scents. Soon, though, he flicks an ear and casts half a glance alongside himself. He is no longer alone.

Dio croons a soft rumble of a greeting, for he is satisfied, but he doesn't break his stride. In fact, he lets silence reign for a while longer because it is somewhat familiar between them. He knows they are company capable of working together, even if it may be a touch more begrudging on her behalf but she is still one of his first Dragon acquaintances. Eventually, he breaks the quiet, though. "Long time no see," he chuffs and peers at her over his shoulder openly now. A lot was happening here all of the time and he was curious how she was in the midst of it.

She nodded, eyes shifting over to glance at the tawny male by her side. She had not spoken a word to him since their first meeting, even if it had been a rocky one. It wasn't out of spite or ill feelings but it was just her way. She had nothing of importance to say to him, and idle chat was not her forte. 

She waited, knowing he would not have invited the conversation upon himself if he did not have more to say. She assumed that he did and awaited patiently to hear it as she hurried to keep up with his longer strides.

He's drifting his glances between her and the landscapes, for she nodded, but otherwise upheld the quiet which he does let linger longer than he may normally. It's familiar and he likes it that way when it's situations such as these since she certainly does not seem to object to him nor his company on the patrol. It's surprisingly smooth to him.

"I'm a little surprised we don't run into each other more, considering how much I know you patrol too," he smirks and flicked an ear. What went unsaid was that maybe it was best that way -- she'd likely agree with that since too much of him was sure to get on her nerves. There was a chance that because they were not often overlapping, their effectiveness spread throughout the day in the best interest of the pack's boundaries. "But I guess it has been busy here.. All well on your watch lately?" he quips, eyeing her purposefully. He's done well in settling into the Dragon lifestyle even with there always being something going on and some sort of tension brewing from some direction. Dio has grown comfortable in his little niche among it all.

She turned to face him as he talked, amber eyes locked on him for once. Lorne disagreed with his thoughts, she didn't find him that annoying. She had met worse males in her lifetime, in fact she counted Dio as a friend. Perhaps she was wrong but it wasn't as if she could know that.

"Yes,"she spoke for once, wondering if she might lose her voice if she didn't speak more. It had been strong and clear upon leaving her parent's pack but by this time it was a low pitched rasp. Perhaps she was going to go mute if she kept on with her silence. Then she would really be Hush's doppelganger.

Her affirmation is simple. Just one syllable. He notes the rasp of the tone, one he doesn't think was quite so noticeable before (or he overlooked it) and arcs a curious brow. For half a second, he wonders if she's just been spending a lot of time in Hush's company. Or maybe with none. Almost, he thinks to ask.. but it doesn't seem to fit with the flow here.

So he accepts that nods. "Good," he decides with a swish of his tail. "Pretty typical, on my end. After the last moronic trespasser I chased out with Heda and Lucani, it's been quiet." he huffs a bit as he remembers that female who seemed to not have a brain between ears to miss their borderland. But then again, she was smart to sprint the hell out of there when she had. Dio would have killed her otherwise but he could imagine her not being long for this world if she made a habit out of it.

Anyway, in comparison to her, he seems talkative.

Lorne listened, chuckling softly at his comment. She had nothing else to say so she remained quiet. It wasn't any fault of Dio's. The amber female had found few good friends to speak with, Belle and Golaith being gone. Storm was the person she had closest spoken with her entire time here, finding his company favorable in comparison to others.

She keeps things quiet on her end, but he knows she's listening and not seeming too bothered by him. He takes this as a good sign, and while he turns his attention towards freshening a spot of a marking, he doesn't say anything else either for a good little while. But, it is a silence he spends contemplative for more reasons than only the scents at play here.

After rejoining her immediate side, he decides he has to go on. "How did you come to join the dragon?" he asks suddenly, leaving his tone light and inquistive. He has wondered if she has been here from the very beginning of the smoldering mountain's claim. Always, to him, she has appeared as if she knows her way around. He'd realized that before, and now remains only further proof and it has him curious -- if she'd indulge him with an answer, of course.

Lorne glanced at him hesitantly, amber eyes piercing him for once. She was cautious in nature, more so than others sometimes. She found no malice in his questioning though only mild curiosity.

Her russet head swung back around to trace the path once more, no emotion lacing her words for she didn't want him to see any weakness in her. "My siblings were gone and my parents dying of old age. Thus I left to find a new place. The rest is history."

She kept up the guard even in light of his question, but none of this came as a surprise. Beneath the pointed look she gave him, he did want to smirk at her, but he refrains this time since he wonders if it may be a sore spot for her to detail her past like this.

Her glimpse into the history was brief, but all the keywords gave him enough to work with. And, none of it seemed extraordinary. "Were you a guardian before?" he asks, curious if her attentiveness to the borderlands had first been born there. "I grew up in a forest pack as an orphan, left there, wandered, then was embraced by a new family where I helped lead at the Rise. When it and all I loved burned, I wandered again until here." he explains frankly and simply even if she hadn't asked. It seemed reasonable payment for her own answers, although he does not know if it matters any to her whether her tells her this or not.

In light of his words, her ears flattened ever so slightly. "I'm sorry,"she murmured gruffly to him, a strange sense that she needed to comfort him as she offered the words awkwardly.

"We did not have these trades you all seem to have, I was warrior put simply. I did patrol, yes, but it wasn't my main occupation." 

"Do not be," he chuffs in return to her apologies with a halfhearted shruged. "Well, unless you are saying you are sorry I've survived all that to now land here," he smirks with humor heavy on his tongue. Still, joking aside, she'd not been involved and he sought no condolences, the wounds were old and his placement here signalled his moving forward. While it still ached with the scarred skin pulled tight on his neck in reminder of it all, a tiny piece of him was proud to have moved past it and arisen anew -- differently, more introspective, but certainly alive.

"I see," he then replies thoughtfully. "I guess I can say the same. Being second to the alpha meant fighting and patrol came with the territory. Not by titling as some wolf of the trade specifically," he explains on and decides it does make sense. He had been a guardian of the Rise, but it was because he once was that and so much more. "What was your main occupation? Or did that come as just warrior?" he asks back, wondering if it went any deeper than just warrior. He knows not to expect too many details if it was the case.

Lorne smirked back at him in response to his humor. "Oh, my dear Dio you know I would never wish such a thing as that,"she joked back sardonically, though in truth she liked Dio as a wolf.

"Just warrior,"she answered with a grin of mirth still on her face, speaking more than she had since meeting Storm.

if you'd like, we can fade this out and have another one when i'm less mega scarce? (i'm gonna be even more slow all week ldkjflaks)

He snickers back, secretly pleased to have roused some semblance of humor back from her finally. But, he nods as well. She wouldn't, of course. He wasn't as awful as he could be, surely..

"Well, it suits you." he replies after she answers, and knows he will be wise to remember that. He has been far more focused on the tactics of defense lately but knows that perhaps exercising some offense in a friendly spar would not hurt. He's certainly rusty in that way, he suspects. But, the mood isn't upon him for now. Instead, he pauses to freshen another marking and scratch his paws against the earth nearby before traveling on alongside her.

"Still quiet.." he reports have a longer span of quiet between them. The Dragon's claim is upheld unmistakably.

sure

[indentLorne nodded her thanks, marking some weakend areas by rubbing against them. Her eyes scanned the forest for any signs of life, returning to her silent tendencies as she patrolled alongside Dio.