Sleeping Dragon Jasper

have a naturalist at work! @Lucia

After a long day of herb gathering-- the usual-- Portia laid out gracefully in the shady area a few yards from the mouth of her den. Her black nose was dirtied slightly by the dusty brown earth that she laid in, sorting what appeared to be rocks around her paws. They were similar to the ones she'd given the Goufa's when they were introduced to the pack, but these had come from an entirely different cave. The purple treasures were flipped over on the ground, being studied intensely by a pair of august green eyes. 

She wasn't the socially awkward type, wanting to meet as many others as she could as soon as she could. Lucia picked up on a scent of a fellow packmate, following it to the source where another she-wolf lay. She stepped closer, clearing her throat to catch the girl's attention.

"Hi, I'm Lucia. I just joined," she smiled, giving a quick introduction. She could not help but notice an array of rocks at the other girl's feet, her curiousity evident as she stooped down to investigate. She looked only with her eyes, respecting the possible fact that sniffing around and getting into someone's business was not always welcome. They were beautiful, and she couldn't help but wonder where she had found rocks with such a striking appearance.

Though she hears the subtle noise to catch her attention, Portia does not look up-- even when the woman speaks her name. Instead she clears her own throat and flips a stone over with a gentle flick of her paw. "Amethyst," she says finally, looking up from where she sat. "A gorgeous gemstone-- found in caves, usually," she adds, her green eyes glinting. 

"I am Portia," she says, leaving out her secondary name out of pure forgetfulness. "Skayona," the freckled beauty adds with a well-painted smile. "A pleasure."

She didn't take the girl's lack of eye contact to heart -- perhaps she was just preoccupied with something else, and she could understand that. Amethyst. It was an unusual word, but she was guessing it was the name of the purple rocks. The freckled she-wolf looked up, and Lucia met her emerald green eyes with the amber gaze of her own.

"Nice to meet you as well," she said, half speaking and half studying the girl before her. Portia was unlike what she had ever seen --  beautiful, but different. Like the gemstones, or whatever they were called. "These...gemstones, can you tell me why you have them? Are you merely a collector, or do they serve some sort of purpose?" she queried, tilting her head ever so slightly.

"Both," the woman responds cheerily, nosing a stone towards her. "For you, if you'd like it hun," she says swiftly, tail swiping across the dusty ground. "Gemstones are a medicine for the eye," she tells the other. "Quite beautiful, soothing at most, but certainly just fun to collect. There are some wolves who believe that certain stones have certain healing powers, thought I've never come across anything like that," she says with a raise of an eyebrow and a dainty scoff. 

"Quite a hassle to collect, though," she adds, studying the others face. She was white, but lacked the freckly markings or patches that Portia had-- which was an advantage in the winter seasons, but lacked practicality and a flair of uniqueness... not that the other had any sort of say when it came to that.

"Why, thank you," she smiled, accepting the freckled girl's gift. She was glad to be getting off to a good start -- not like she doubted her new pack's kindness, but she was a bit intimidated by the whole thought. Fortunately, Portia was generous enough to give her one of her beautiful stones.

She listened as the girl explained a bit more about the stones, even more interested when healing was mentioned. However, it seemed as if that was merely a belief among some. "I suppose they couldn't heal physically...but mentally, their appearance does seem to soothe the soul," she muttered, reaching down to nose the stone towards herself. "In a way, I could see how these would make one feel better. Mental healing and physical healing seem to go hand-in-hand," she explained, merely thinking aloud.

"But I doubt that touching a gemstone would solve all your ailments, however pretty it may be," she grinned, studying the oddly marked female a bit more. Her facial markings were intriguing, as was the rest of her.

Her smile softened slightly as the woman spoke, soaking in her thoughts and ideas. She loved hearing the opinions of others almost as much as she loved giving her own take on the situation-- which she loved doing a lot. "The soul," she murmurs after Lucia has finished talking, her tail tapping against the ground a handful of times. "Perhaps meditation would be a friend to the stones, then," she offers, giving her beloved Amethyst another thoughtful look.

"Where do you come from, sugar?" she asks, turning the topic away from her rocks. Although Portia could and would talk about the natural world all day long, she'd try not to. With a glint in her striking green eyes, she focuses in on the woman opposite of her.

She wouldn't describe the female before her as odd, but the way she spoke certainly caught her attention. Perhaps meditation would be a friend to the stones, then. It wasn't strange, but in a way much different than how she talked. Much more eloquent and wise. "Haha yeah, I guess meditation would be a friend to the stones" Ok, it sounded way less cool when she said it. Lucia exhaled, shaking her head.

Fortunately, Portia spoke again, this time asking about her past life. "I came from a pack called Myrrka Forest, and then I traveled as a loner for a while," she stated simply, wondering if any further questions would be asked. If so, she had a trimmed version of her backstory ready to share, and if not, she didn't mind keeping quiet.

"Are you a scout, then?" she asks, tail waving. Perhaps not everyone who wandered enjoyed their wandering-- but Portia certainly did, so she asked. "I lived in a somewhat small pack in a lil' place called Broken Valley. Left when I was almost a year, and adventured until I wound up here," she says, somewhat unprovoked. No one asked, but it's not like she really cared. To share information was to share information-- why bother waiting for someone to bring it up? "The world truly is beautiful-- never made sense to me to stay in one place for too long."

Lucia let a soft laugh escape her lips at the notion of her being a scout. "No, I was more of a runaway," she admitted easily. It wasn't exactly a touchy topic but she didn't want to give Portia the rundown if she didn't have to. It was more of a mouthful than a burden, though certain aspects of her past were still worth upsetting her. "It seems like our stories are similar, or at least the part you mentioned isn't too far off from my own experiences," she said. "I too lived in a pack, and I, well, kinda left it after things happened," she shared, not specifying exactly what those things were. 

She listened as Portia explained her attraction to travel. She couldn't help but agree, nodding as the freckled woman spoke. "I was mostly traveling to get away from my pack and find a new one," she paused, "I never really stopped to look at the world around me." Come to think of it, most of the places she had visited were beautiful, but she never had the chance to explore them. "Thankfully, Sleeping Dragon is a beautiful place, and I can explore as much as I want."

How fascinating! A backstory! Portia scrunches up her nose in a playfully, feminine way, letting out an exasperated sigh. "So skimpy on the details, hun!" she teases, but is genuinely curious what 'things' drove the pale woman away. "I merely left from boredom-- I needed some freedom in my fur!" she exclaims with a light huff of breath at the end. With a flick of her tail she calms her excitement and focuses back into scouting. 

"Oh sugar-- Drageda is so beautiful. Make sure you leave with a man when you explore, no reason to run off and get yourself lost or injured," she adds. Truthfully, the woman could leave with a gal-pal if she wanted, but Portia was quite set on the men of the pack escorting her outside the territory.

Lucia smiled bashfully, noticing that she wasn't very descriptive in her explanation. She didn't know whether or not Portia wanted the whole thing, but it appeared as if she didn't mind hearing it at all. As the freckled girl continued to talk, she attempted to find a good starting point for her backstory -- seeing that Portia didn't mind the details made that a bit easier. However, the she-wolf did say something that caught her attention.

"Oh, you are totally right, this place is beautiful," she said, nodding her head in agreement. "But if I'm guessing what you are hinting at, I'll make sure to leave with a woman. As for men, been there, tried that, wasn't a fan" she laughed with a small shrug, thinking about her lack of enthusiam with her male mates in her former pack. She didn't know if Portia was uncomfortable by the thought of her wanting a "gal-pal" but she wasn't too hung up over the matter.

Portia was little bothered by anything, and being a woman who swung whatever way her mood pointed her, she didn't think twice about the comment. A smile appears on her face, and Portia compliments it with a sweet laugh, shaking her head. "Oh, hun, women are not much better," she says, eyes glinting. "Been there done that." Her tail waves with amusement(mostly at herself). "Just make sure you leave with someone-- it'd be a shame to see something happen to you," she advices, somewhat more serious, but in no way stern.

Lucia smiled, shaking her head at Portia's next statement. "To each their own, I suppose," she grinned, tail waving in a friendly manner. "Women are more like...never been there, wanna do that," she added with a twinkle in her eye. Portia seemed to her like an "anything goes" type of soul, regarding her statement, Been there, done that addressing women. She was thankful that she wasn't immediately shot down due to her preference, seeing that her former pack had not at all allowed anything of the sort. That was definitely part of why she left, but not the whole thing.

"If I do go out and explore, maybe I'll ask you to come along," she joked, a smile on her lips. In reality, Portia seemed to have a lot of knowledge on herbs and nature. Being an aspiring healer, well, she was into that kind of stuff too. Not to mention that she would have to learn many different types of herbs, and she knew probably around three off the top of her head. "I can fend for my own, but I won't take your advice for granted," she said, thankfulness for Portia's advice and care evident in her tone.

"To each their own," Portia agreed, tail wagging. The Skayona would always find a thrill in the thought of a good fling-- though she had mellowed considerably since she'd arrived in Drageda. Now, that was not to say she didn't long for another's touch, but she did her best to contain her impulses in front of her pack mates... you can't just fuck your roommates whenever you want-- there are rules for that kind of thing.

With a quick glance away, the woman noded thoughtfully. "I will gladly accompany you," she said with a smile, her gaze returning to the pale girl, green eyes glinting in the sun. "I believe you sweetheart, it's just a thing Thuringwethil always says," she added, a bit of a playfulness in her voice. "I didn't pin you as the vulnerable type."

Her eyes lit up as Portia agreed to come along with her when the time came. "You will?" she sputtered, obviously excited. "I mean, thank you for wanting to come with me," she said, seemingly trying to seem a little more composed. Lucia suddenly wanted to go out on an herb hunting trip as soon as possible, but she wouldn't rush herself.

"I guess Thuringwethil's looking out for us," Lucia said, meeting Portia's pale green gaze. She picked up on Portia's playful tone and grinned, trying to think of a witty response. "Though I guess I can be quite unpredictable sometimes," she said with a wink. Internally, she scolded herself for sounding like an idiot. Her attempts to look cool were put behind her as Portia spoke again, sending her into a small predicament about what she was going to say back this time.

Lucia cleared her throat, opening her mouth to respond. "Well, I'm quite flattered," the girl said with warm laugh. She was glad that she had gotten to know Portia well enough for them to go on a trip. The other she-wolf was quite nice and with that, had an extensive knowledge of herbs. Also, she was nice to look at too, but Lucia wouldn't dare say that aloud.

"Good," Portia replied, her voice almost purring. "Well, hun, I should probably get to work," she said, a polite way to say 'okay, bye,' and Portia surely didn't mean it in a bad way. She was just ready to relax. So when the creamy woman left, Portia laid back down and began a nice, much-needed, nap. 

thanks so much for the thread! let me know if you ever want another <3