Sleeping Dragon to hound nature in her wandereings

All welcome. Maybe @Hush, @Dio, or @Portia?

Feeling a little restless in the afternoon, the sun hanging low in the distance to give the world one last reminder of it's shine, Gavriel finds himself on the borders. It is a common place for him to be, with light of the grotto wolves nearby, but they've proven they've learned from their last mistake. Whether it was intended or not, he's often out here anywhere as a primary job and more times than not he'll run into Dio or Hush doing the same thing. Between the three of them, and Heda, they'e able to mark their borders well enough and keep their strength and defenses up.

They could benefit from a few more warriors but the confidence in what they have is enough to handle a threat or someone problematic. The other wolves, he's sure, would stick their necks out in a time of need just as any of them. While some of the newer wolves he may not know very well, he prefers to believe they are truthful to their word on loyalty.

He's suddenly distracted by a noise off to his left and he turns, quiet, listening for the rustling in the brush he's heard.

She understood why Gavriel was staring directly at her when she emerged from the bushes, but she couldn't help but let out a feminine giggle. "Don't tell me I scared you, Gavriel," she teases sweetly, tail swishing behind her. Her scent had been downwind, and she was so light on her feet it was likely that he hadn't heard her until she moved to the bushes. It made sense, but amused her all the same.

Today, the Skayona did not have herbs hanging from her mouth or around her neck, though she did smell strongly of basil. She'd actually taken to the borders in an attempt to stretch her legs, but at one point grew distracted by a small patch of basil. She hadn't planted it there so it was somewhat intriguing, and of course had to investigate it. She'd moved on and continued her patrol, marking the borders somewhat daintily. 

"Some evening rounds?" she asks, her posture neutral but her tail and head lower than the Gona's. Rank mattered little to the young botanist, but she respected others.

Gavriel is dipped low, fur bristling along his spine, and his teeth flash for a brief moment. He doesn’t have to wait long for whatever is hidden to emerge and the familiar form of Portia comes to view. It takes a second for him to relax, smoothing out his fur and adjusting his posture to something far more neutral. Her playful tone causes a snort as he begins to relax now that the threat he’d been faced with is gone. 

“With the Larksong wolves, I cannot be too careful,” he explains, giving himself a little shake as he looks back in the direction he’d originally been going once she guesses at what he’d been doing. He gives her a slight nod of affirmation before offering: “Care to join me?”

She nods, tail wagging a little bit. "Sure," she says, offering him a sweet smile. "You been out long, hun?" she then asks, trotting a few paces to match his place as they begin their walk. She lets him a step or two ahead of her, but is close enough to see his face and expressions. Her thoughts go to the Larksong wolves, a group she'd never met but heard about from her Heda once or twice. The freckled girl wonders for a little bit how big of a threat they really were to give Gavriel such a scare, especially since Thuringwethil had described them as ignorant bafoons-- practically, anyway. She almost asks, but decides to ease her way into the gossip rather than start out shoving her nose places they didn't immediately belong.

Even though warrior isn't Portia's trade of interest, she offers to keep him company while he checks the borders. Now that he doesn't have to worry about coyotes coming around the corner to threaten them, he can go at his own pace once more. He gives the area one last look as if to make sure there really isn't a threat and it had been the freckled woman all along before he begins his trek to continue the security patrol.

"Most of the day," he answers, sending her a sidelong glance from the corner of his eyes before focusing on where they are going. It's what he does most of the time and what he did most of the time in Seageda. They had patrols all the time to secure their borders in the face of a threat and while their threat level is not as high, with the Larksong still not far from them, they all take it seriously. "What brings you out here?"

"I've been patrolling!" Portia replied cheerfully, tail waving. "It didn't go as planned-- I found a basil patch and I hadn't planted it there," she explained without warrant. "I needed to check it out, of course, but I did try to branch out. The pack doesn't need healing every day," she added with amusement, her ears cupping forward. 

"Anything interesting?" she then asked him, green gaze falling to the man with interest. 

Gavriel chuckles softly to her explanation. Even if she didn't have the trade often associated to this kind of work, leaving her scent in some places along the border. If he were needed for anything she could use him for, whatever skills would equally be offered to her. "Is that what we went after one day?" he asks with a slight twist of his head. He'd applied the plant to a few caches and it proved to do well, but he realizes he'd forgotten the name of what she'd provided him. "And no, not really."

Gavriel was a little off, but she was glad he at least tried to think of the herb that they had collected together. "No, no, hun, those were Bay Leaves. Basil is a little different, wouldn't do you well in the caches," she corrected gently, smiling at his effort. "It's a better anti-inflammatory-- or just for common-illnesses... if you choose to remember that," she said, a playful tease as she nudged him gently. 

His comment caused her to frown for a heartbeat, disappointed in a lack of drama but still understanding that the less conflict the better. "That's good," said said, fixing her expression quickly. "No one looking to join?" she added.

Portia explains what they'd been looking for the other day and a brief difference, though by this point he's probably already switched the names in his mind. Either way, he knew what they looked like—at least the one he used to avoid bugs—and continued to use them. In the colder months, the need won't be as necessary, but he could keep them stocked just in case.

Gavriel shakes his head to her question, though he has not intercepted many wolves looking to join. There are times he hadn't been far from when the leaders had been speaking to them, remaining wary in the distance for anything to go awry, but he'd yet to be needed. "No," he confirms audibly. "These lands are different. Where we are from, we didn't often get joiners. Occasionally a recruit or transport from another pack, but typically no one we didn't really know came up often."

"Oh," Portia said quietly, thinking back to when she joined. She couldn't really remember how she'd wandered all the way over here, especially in her condition. It just sort of happened. "I suppose that's good," she commented with a shrug, "The Rendezvous site has been a little crowded lately." She smiled thoughtfully, her tail wagging behind her as she sniffed at the air. She did truthfully want to be chasing after the hint of chives that she picked up, but enjoyed this chore when it was with someone else. 

"Do you usually patrol with others?" she asked him, "Like, Dio, maybe?" Dio was the only other Gona she could think of, and he was rather good at it as well. She wondered if her two favorite men had little hang out sessions, patrolling borders and talking about man things together. The thought amused her greatly.

The differences between his two homes are endless and yet they still remain the same. A weird balance he's just been getting the hang of now that he's found his own little niche and prospect within their claim. His children are getting bigger every day and he began to see Drageda more and more like his home. Whatever differences they had will likely soon muddle over before he knows it. What was once Seageda will be Drageda and they will be one in the same before long.

"Sometimes," he says with a curious tilt of his head. Dio was the other main warrior of their pack. Hush had experience under his belt but he didn't have the brute force the two larger ones had. Goliath, whom he hasn't been much around, seems a little careless and Toxochelys had ventured off to Trigeda for some purpose he's unaware. "Saw a lot of him when we had tighter patrols on the west side," he muses, thinking it over. They really didn't spend that much time together.

"Ah," Portia said thoughtfully, her tail waving back and forth. "Territory more secure on that side now?" she asked him, still trailing beside him. She didn't know the differences-- or many of them-- between Trigeda and Seageda and Drageda. She knew that Sleeping Dragon was her home, and here she respected her Heda more than anything. She knew the culture here was different, more strict, but it made better wolves out of them all. For a moment, she distracted herself, realizing-- for the first time-- that she held a rank. She'd always held a rank, but it was always in the lower tiers, the ones where wolves simply mixed you up with the other wolves in that tier. She hunted and plant gathered but she always wandered away in pursue of something bigger and better-- outside the borders.

Apparently this was it. 

"Borders are more interesting with someone else," she added, glancing to him with a soft smile. She meant for herself, right now, but was also implying she should hang out with Dio more often. For a moment, she pondered the two falling in love, but it only made her want to laugh, and maybe a tad bit jealous.

“Yes,” he says quickly and confidently. The message seemingly has been received and there hasn’t been a grotto wolf nearby in sometime. Thankfully for not that he had children, the idea of war seems little scarier. Death isn’t something Gavriel is afraid of but leaving his children, or putting them in harms way, has been a little unnerving. With the threat a lower level these days, he’s been able to relax a little more. When she makes the next statement, his brows knit together a little as she glances in her direction. “It is,” he tells her. He’d admit, if asked, he only thought of the innocent answer but her implication left him a little confused. “Does that mean we'll see you out here more?” he says then with a wink.

Portia hummed playfully, her tail waving as she walked. "Perhaps, though I think I'll be better suited for the plants," she replied, smiling at him. The skayona gave him a gentle nudge on the shoulder, green gaze focusing forward again, scanning past the border. "Maybe if I ever inhale too much lavender," she teased playfully, eyes turning back to him again. 

Gavriel can’t really argue with their differences in skill set. He’d seen the skayona in action and he knew she knew her stuff. Little did he know that she’d be demonstrating that knowledge in front of the whole clan but there would be no doubt. A smile appears again and he looks down once he bumps her. However, when she speaks again, he can’t help the cocked turn of his head. “What?” he asks though there’s a sinking feeling that maybe he should have understood.

Gaveriel did not seem to understand, and his response sounded confused and, well, maybe even concerned. Portia gave a weak smile, shaking her head. "A joke, hun-- plant joke," she explained quickly, "I just meant if I ever get overwhelmed I'll take to the borders." Her tail waved a little, hoping she'd cleared that up. She pondered momentarily explaining lavender to the man, deciding every moment was a good moment to share plants with others. 

"Inhaling enough of anything will give you a headache-- but lavender is used for calming nerves, so you'd have a headache but be in an extra good mood."  

Portia explains the joke and Gavriel offers her a smile and slight chuckle out of curiosity, even if he still does not understand. He'd already confused herbs and felt a little embarrassed but his skill set is far off from hers. He'd used what little knowledge he got from her to help protect a cache but beyond hat, there is still else. Gavriel offers a quiet oh in response after a moment but found himself with little else to say. His tail offers a shake as he continues along the borders and a realizes he's a little uncomfortable for not understanding. Not wanting to expose it, he continues on away and tries to think of something else instead.

Even though Gavriel had fallen silent, it was hard to keep to dainty Skayona quiet. So she brought the conversation right back up, asking him about his most exciting day on the borders! The conversations continued like this for a while-- Portia would ask a question and Gavriel would answer them-- until the patchy woman grew distracted by a plant. It wasn't anything particularly amazing, she told the man, but she hadn't seen the plant on the territory just yet! With a nudge to the shoulder, Portia padded off, happy to have had some socialization today.