Sleeping Dragon i will do as devils do: fall

In light of the last few days, Thuringwethil struggled to keep her head from spinning. Things are changing out of her grasp and she doesn't know how to find any familiar ground. They would get together soon, they didn't have to worry so much about the grotto, but their own strength has been prominent. Dio would be making an ascension, Freyja earning her Drageda rank at an age younger than most, and she and Wildfire had a future laid out when hers had always seemed so bleak.

But why does she feel so heavy?

She tries to shrug it off but there's an itch she can't quite scratch. Her shoulder still goes without three marks from before she'd came to Drageda, wishing to do those in private. With the changes and molds to her claim, she doesn't feel guilty for that wish. The last shred of Seageda, permanently marred upon her flesh, to end the legacy she'd managed to destroy.

She began her search that morning, for @Lucia or @Portia. Lucani had never been able to answer the question about what they may use and Gluskap had gone to Trigeda before she thought to ask, and so she now puts a little faith in the two women that have spoken and proven their skills to test their knowledge.

She isn't up to much, only sorting herbs like she did every day. Keeping inventory wasn't a chore, but it wasn't fun either, seeing that she could be quite the slob. She decided to give it a rest for the time being, leaving a half-sorted, half disastrous assortment of herbs in her wake. Lucia strolled along, hoping to encounter someone to strike up a conversation. 

She smelled Thuringwethil's scent -- or rather, her Heda's scent. She had to condition herself to the pack's strange new language whether she found it easy or not. Seeing no harm in doing so, she set her pace to a brisk trot towards the she-wolf.

She slowed to a stop as her Heda came into view, her tail wagging in a friendly manner and her head dipped in greeting. She waited for a moment, contemplating on whether or not she should introduce herself or wait for Thuringwethil to speak first. Thinking it was the safer route, she waited patiently for the commander to speak, giving her a head-dip in greeting.

She doesn’t have to search too long to find half of whom she’s looking for. Lucia’s scent becomes stronger and she turns, once, to find the pale woman. She searches her over to determine she isn’t doing much in that moment so she doesn’t feel guilty for distracting her. She doesn’t need another weight on her shoulders, no matter how small.

“Hey,” she says once she’s close enough, peering behind her for any signs of Portia—just in case. “I was looking for you. And Portia. Have you seen her?” she asks. Not that she expects both women to be hanging around but their interests are similar so perhaps they’d crossed paths recently and Thuringwethil can knock two birds out with one stone.

"Hey," she exchanged in a friendly manner, face alight with a smile. She looked back as she saw Thuringwethil gaze beyond her, wondering if anyone else happened to be in the area. Unfortunately, it wasn't so. She turned back as the commander spoke again, ears pushed forward in attentiveness.

"Portia? I saw her not too long ago, though I'm not sure where she is now," she replied, thoughts drifting back towards her encounter with the freckled woman. She had given her a beautiful stone, almost as if it marked a subtle initiation into the pack. Lucia hadn't seen the woman since then, though, so she did not have anything to say to her Heda. 

"Maybe we can send a call out for her?" the pale woman suggested. It made sense, seeing that she had no idea where the freckled woman was at the time.

Lucia is able to give her an answer but it is not the one she wants. If she saw her not too long ago, then perhaps the freckled woman isn't too far. Thuringwethil needs at least one of them but when it comes to Drageda matters and the request, she would prefer the other. Sure that Lucia can give her the question she needs, the honor would fall upon the Drageda wolf instead. At least until the other has earned her place within their ranks.

The suggestion is brought forward but, not wanting to bring too much attention, she had not called initially. The dark woman inhales a breath before she releases a call, short and to the point that would hopefully bring @Portia to their attention. When the call is over, she waits, but in the meantime she doesn't waste the time she has.

"I am looking for an herb that will aid in scarring," she says, feeling a little out of place asking for such a thing. She'd asked Lucani that had never given her a direct answer and she'd never gotten around to adding the scars to her shoulder from Seageda. Now, so far in the past, she isn't sure she'll follow the typical protocol but for the most recent mark, she knows she needs to. "In my former claim, the healers there had an herb that turned into a salve that would make sure a scar is left for a ritual and unfortunately it is time for it to begin."

yip! sorry! i'm here!

Her little legs forced her to move slower than she'd really wanted to, but she did her best to hurry herself to Thuringwethil. She arrived panting, smelling strongly of chives. Her freckled crowd tips gently in a respectful greeting and she gives a quick nudge to Lucia, waiting for a signal to relax from her Heda before sitting down-- if she would get one. Endurance was not her strong suite, and now she was quite visibly out of breathe. She arrived just as her Heda finished speaking, and through a few staggered breathes said. "It's not a herb... so much," she said, tail waving. "But I know how to do it." 

Lucia had a few herbs in mind for what Thuringwethil described. Yarrow, comfrey and even lavender helped with healing and creating scar tissue, but she wasn't sure if that's exactly what the commander had in mind. She greeted Portia as the freckled woman arrived, wondering if she had any ideas.

When Portia dismissed the idea of using herbs, Lucia was puzzled. It seemed as if the woman knew what she was doing, though, so Lucia decided to stay silent and wait for an explanation instead of interrupting.

Thuringwethil didn't have to wait for long that Portia shows up before she's able to finish her sentence. Her dark head turns to the freckled woman as she explains she knows, and can do, what's being asked. Her gaze sweeps around to Lucia who had not been given a chance to answer for her to counter but as long as either one of them knows what she needs, she's satisfied. And, should they ever again be without someone with this type of knowledge, it would be good for her to know in the long run.

"We honor the dead her, marking our skin with each life," she explains, the muscles below her ears tensing but she resists the urge to lay them down. "Recently, an outsider life has been taken and I need someone to perform the marking," she says, turning back to Portia. The woman is of Drageda now and the one given the reign to do so. "What is it that use, and how does it work?"

Portia nodded as Thuringwethil explained why she needed this done. She stared for a few moments, not understanding why anyone would want to ruin their skin with scars... but she did not argue. "It's not a fun process," she began with a shrug, glancing once towards Lucia. "There are herbs to heal wounds so they don't leave scars, but there aren't any that force a scar to remain. If you want your wounds to scar neatly, you must apply ash and dirt to an open wound, and then apply a salve of any herb that would stop infection over it. When it scabs, pull it off and repeat." 

She pursed her lips, tail flicking. "It takes a little while, but you're guaranteed a scar," she added, ears perking, "I can prepare it for you if you'd like, hun."

Portia gives her the information (and confidence) she needs to perform the ritual in front of her wolves. The four marks yet to tarnish her skin could be performed at the same time but to no benefit but the two remaining Seageda members and the kills were not in Drageda. Perhaps she can bring Gavriel and herself together to do it, as if to seal off their home, but the thought is thrown away quickly with something else taking to her mind. 

“Heda is always marked in front of her wolves, but the others may choose to mark in private, with their loved ones. It is a way to relieve the burden of our actions,” she explains, wondering if her mate might be willing to do it, finding the intimacy enough to suffice the former commanders that urge her to do the task. “It is a short ceremony and if you’re comfortable, I would like you to do it, but I would like you to prepare me some for something else, if you don’t mind.”

Portia listens carefully as Thuringwethil explains some of her culture, soaking it in. She is not a pure-blooded Drageda wolf, but she hopes one day that strangers would not think twice about her place in Sleeping Dragon. For now, she did her best to learn the language and the ceremonies they take part in now, but later she would learn everything else. 

So she nods, not willing to disappoint her Heda and knowing that this was something important to Drageda's culture, she would learn it and do it. "Of course," she responds, her head dipping gently. "When would you like it prepared, hun?" she then asks.

Portia agrees to the do the ritual and Thuringwethil nods her head. As far as the rest of the request, she seems just as eager, and she hums quietly to herself in consideration. In a few days, she will gather what she needs for the personal moment but there is not a terrible rush. “In a few days, to my cave,” she instructs with a nod. She then turns to Lucia gives her a similar gesture before she decides to go. “Thank you.” She says before taking a step back and going back about her business.