Emberwood i was born with a knife in one hand and a wound in the other

@Menta

Each time she leaves the pack territory, she knows the risk, but while she can she will get out and explore the reaches her legacy will touch. While Gyda still remains her queen, and can do the bare minimum in her absence, Thuringwethil will use it to her advantage. Gavriel has returned home, giving her a better chance at doing what needs to be done. He can guard Gyda and the children and leave the other warriors to the borders while she's gone.

It's turning into the evening when she reaches Emberwood with the large cache to her right. The farther eat she'd gone before this had been the wetlands to the southeast but the terrain had been unpleasant enough, like any brackish marsh, that leads her around to avoid it.

Thuringwethil begins her trek into the forest with no direction in particular, but the scent of a rabbit catches her attention. It sits up ahead but one careful step forward sends him on his way, dashing off into the darkness. Her lips press into a contemplative twist, moving on to further explore new grounds.

pardon the language, will happily change if requested

There was a peace in these woods, one that Menta enjoyed after having to deal with that nuisance of a lone wolf. She had never really seeked out confrontation - brattiness with siblings aside - but her pride refused to fully let go of any perceived personal slights, and he certainly had fit the bill for that. This was the perfect stroll, albeit roundabout way back home, to shake her head of such things.

The stillness of her mind had just been achieved when it was distorted again, thoughts rushing and muscles on guard when Menta recognized a figure up ahead. Recognized, but did not actually know - Heda, it had been called in her presence, and it was the only name or title the Italian could ascribe to it. The only definition of the word that Menta could come up with was "one who most assuredly does not want you fucking around near her property lines," but they were quite far from where they had previously run into each other - and thus, Menta was sure, her property lines.

Still, she was cautiously unsure of how the dark female would react when her own presence was noticed. Menta smelled differently now, of Ryūjin rather than the vulnerable stench of loneliness that she had worn before, but she wasn't sure just exactly what scent Heda had spoken of so disdainfully before. It was hard to imagine Asterr had trifled with a different pack's affairs or caused offense before Menta joined, but one just never knew.

And so she slowed her already leisurely pace, nonchalant speed turning quite deliberate. The other wolf could decide how she wanted to react - if she wanted to acknowledge her presence at all - while Menta kept on the same direction towards home.

A scent on the wind catches her attention. At first, she doesn’t recognize it, mixed with something else, but there’s something that sets off a bell in the back of her mind. The shady forest doesn’t offer much light but eventually she catches a glimpse of golden sun beached fur through rays of sunlight from the trees. Her head tilts and a few seconds later, recognition sets in. Her nose moves slightly in acknowledgment when they meet one another’s gaze.

Thuringwethil chuffs softly as she slows to a stop. There isn’t much she knows about the other wolf but she’d been smart enough to back away and retreat when told. Now, plenty far away from her claim, she’s able to have a chance—if there’s no hard feelings, of course. She gives her a width birth, should the other want to continue on her way, but she remains patiently nearby.

There was a physical murmur of acknowledgement that Menta's careful eyes quickly spotted, and a small noise given when the other slowed to a stop. So she had recognized her as well, but made no threatening movement. The cream wolf was pleased with this - she had gotten her fill of confrontation to last her a while - and stopped her own walk, still giving the dark wolf plenty of space and glance respectfully away from her face.

Hello, Heda, she opened cautiously. It had seemed a respectful and appropriate enough title from the other wolf's usage, and it was all Menta had to go off on. Perhaps this land was far away enough from claimed lands for both of them to feel more comfortable in an actual conversation, and it was promising that the dark wolf had come to a polite stop.

If the other wolf chose to move on, Thuringwethil wouldn't blame her, but she hesitates and directs her attention upon the young leader. One ear twitches curiously but her posture does not soften in the stranger's presence but instead elated when her title is used. The only thing the woman may have to know her by but that is all she needs to know, at least for now.

"Hello," she says with a slight nod of her head. "I didn't get your name." There hadn't been time for pleasantries the first time she'd come across the wolf but there had been something she didn't notice before. "You are with Asterr," she observes a moment later when her scent registers. She'd met the yearly briefly in the grove, but it had been short lived and a little awkward. But the woman hadn't given her a reason not to trust her for the time being. "How is she?"

So Heda was her name and not a title, Menta assumed incorrectly from the other's acknowledgement and fixed it to the face of this dark wolf - a face she still watched respectfully and only out of the sides of her golden eyes. Menta Spezia, she informed her quietly. The name that usually filled her with pride was simply a bland name around here, one of many languages she had encountered.

Heda spoke of Asterr now, and it caused the cream's ears to perk up in both delight and recognition. So she knew Asterr - a first for Menta, who was used to informing wolves both of the existence of Ryūjin and the leadership there. She is well, Menta told her with pride, glad that she could be associated with the other dark wolf. The lone wolf that Heda had met before was gradually settling her mindset back into the context of a pack and was growing in both comfort and pride of her choice.

What is the pack that you and Lagertha belong to? she asked now, caution giving way to curiosity. It seemed innocuous enough, and the inquiry about Asterr filled her with confidence to pose her own question. 

Thuringwethil commits the name to memory, and her association with the dark woman she met months ago. An interesting woman that had too much of an interest in her own home but the young leader had brushed it off and now, with Menta before her, she considers visiting the lands Asterr claims for herself. A thought for another time, pulled back to the conversation by the diluted sunbeam.

“That is good to hear,” she says with a soft hum. “Send her my regards when you see her again.”

She’s asked about her home, which isn’t terribly invasive, and so Thuringwethil has little qualms about sharing such information. There is plenty she’s willing to give away, to the right wolf, and her companion doesn’t give her any sour feelings—and it helps she’s shacked up with someone she knows—and so she nods her head once.

“Sleeping Dragon. We settled in the winter. I relocated from farther north on the sea but the mountain has suited us well,” she answers after a moment of consideration. She’d gotten used to most wolves in the Wilds not knowing her by name, or title, where her legacy had lived with Heda’s over generation and continued to prosper even if they weren’t in their homeland.

Menta was pleased to take on what she felt was her own personal mission, delivering this message to her dark dragoness of an alpha - as unimportant as it may be, she was forever striving to feel of use to her pack. And so it earned Heda a wide smile and a nod, the cream wolf's nonverbal promise that such a thing would be done. Doubtless Menta cared more about the follow through than the dark wolf before her.

Sleeping Dragon. So that was the title to the scents that she had smelled on the two female wolves, yet another title Menta had not heard of. She liked it - the dragon who slept, drago che dorme. It gave the sense that while the power slumbered, it could be awoken at any time - it made more sense to her than the Japanese Ryūjin did, although she had yet to discover that this name also translated into a reference about dragons.

 Last winter, she murmured, realizing now that she was not entirely sure when her own pack had been established. You were there at its conception? Menta asked, curious as ever with her prying and desire to learn about the history of all the packs in the land and hopeful that Heda would elaborate. 

The information Menta seeks about Sleeping Dragon, thus far, remains harmless and as long as it remains on a similar path, she is fine. If it meant others knew about Drageda, even feared them, she will be all right. However, she's certain the girl doesn't know the depths of her wolves and where they've come from, how they came to be here, and so she nods once more to the question as she debates how to answer.

"I am its conception," she explains. Gyda had a hand in their claim, and still remains a leader (for the moment) but her own seeds and roots had been placed to rebirth Heda's wolves. "I disbanded my clan on the sea and traveled south and we've regrouped here in these Wilds. We are Drageda and we are more known wide spread in the northern areas, a few weeks travel of here. Sleeping Dragon is mine," she adds then, knowing deep down who the volcano truly belongs to.

The Italian was taken a little by surprise - stupidly, probably, considering all that Heda had hinted at - by the response. So she was the one responsible for the pack, the one who was able to relocate it and make it thrive. Menta licked her lips absentmindedly, trying to register and memorize all of this new information. Her muscles were a little stiff, and she delicately sat down now where she had previously stood in uncertainty of Heda's willingness to talk.

Why did you have to disband? - the question pressed heavily on Menta's tongue, but even the usually socially obtuse wolf knew that she was walking on wary grounds still. There was no obligation to share information, and the cream had been chastised many times before for sticking her nose where it did not belong. Relocation usually was not for pleasant reasons, although she felt it was safe to assume that the pack was doing well enough now. 

Drageda does not translate with her beyond the root of "dragon," either in both English or Italian, but she understands it to refer back to the pack. Congratulations on your success, Menta spoke earnestly, knowing both that it undoubtedly took a great deal of effort and that there is no harm in flattering the female. Her own thoughts had never put her in a position of leadership but she recognizes the overwhelming sense of responsibility and perhaps even attached anxieties. 

Hope you don't mind me wrapping this up! Another soon? <3

Thuringwethil offers a stiff nod upon the congratulations. It is something she had been meant to do all along and would do until the day she dies, by whatever hands manage it, and she only has to get by doing her best. Her wolves are trusting in her decisions and keeping them safe is not a luxury she can afford to lose. Menta had not given her negative feelings having been so close to her borders but she’d worn a scent she did not recognize, and had Asterr’s been on her, she might have been a little easier.

“I should go,” she says then, knowing she shouldn’t be away from the mountain too long with Gyda indisposed. “Let Asterr know she is welcome to visit. You, too,” Thuringwethil adds with a brief smile before she turns to go.

The cream was surprised by the dark wolf's welcoming invitation - to invite Asterr if she was already a friend, yes, but it was extended to the Italian as well. Was it authentic? Last time she had been in neutral territory and even that had been threatening enough, but perhaps Asterr's scent carried more weight than she realized. Golden eyes very briefly flicked over Heda's face but the leader wore no hint of sarcasm or mirth, only stiff formality accompanied by a small smile.

Of course, Menta then replied, memorizing this part of message to give to her leader as well while Heda turned to leave. It was time she made the rest of her journey home and rested up herself, and undoubtedly Heda felt the need to have her own home tended to.