Qeya River under the dome

for @Thuringwethil and @Seff!

there was so much she wanted to ask seff, so much she wished to say. and terich! how happy he would be to know that his son had returned. but their journey back across the mountains was mostly silent, save for the nights, during which vuk whispered into seff's ears how much she had missed him, how lost she had felt within, how devoid her heart was in his absence.

in the light of early afternoon the pair paused in the shade cast by trees over a river. vuk kept watch, encouraging seff to drink, for she had scented the nearby wolfpack that bordered the larksong lands. she'd had enough of strangers for a long while.

He drank reverently, for travel and thought had tempted his thirst. The days seemed to go by in a haze- he spoke very little if the dark wood, and naught of their religion or of the injuries he slowly recovered from. He had expected to feel complete again when he found Vuk; and he did, but there was a piece of him now that belonged in the dark wood. He had committed the long list of herbs and poisons to memory, upholding his promise never to forget, and had faded into silence in the past few days. He spoke with his mother with warmth and joy, though times alone had his thoughts drifting back to a place long gone, now.

He lifted his muzzle, a few stray drops splashing into the river below, and for a moment caught his ripping reflection. He neared six months of age, and he had filled out appropriately.  Perhaps soon he would rival his mother in height.  Strangly, memories of his mother were few and far between, yet treasured, it was the figure of reek much of his memories returned too.

He dipped his muzzle in the river again, drinking deeply, yet his youthful blue optics did not pause in their flirting glances over the landscape.

fun fact, they filmed under the dome where i am!

There is a lot yet for Freyja to learn but Thuringwethil isn't necessarily in any rush. The girl is eager and willing to learn, which shows her promise of the future, but none of it can make her age any faster. She still has several months of youth to enjoy before it's over. She knew in the back of her mind that Drageda doesn't have all the resources they need to shape Freyja as they wish but they've persevered through the times anyway. With purpose today, Thuringwethil intends to lead Freyja to the river and tell her of the beginning of Drageda history, which she doesn't have to go back for, but prominent nonetheless.

With @Freyja in tow, they reach the river within no time and begin the trek down the shore. She briefly explains where she met Reek and began to tell the girl about the agreement, but she's distracted suddenly by a scent unfamiliar. Nothing she notes out of the ordinary but the closer they get, ears erect and head held high, she comes upon and salt and peppered woman and a young boy drinking from the river.

With no trace of the grotto scent upon them, Thuringwethil eases some of the tension. A mother and her child is a delicate situation to approach and she lowers her gaze once to warn Freyja to keep back a step or two. Heda then directs her attention as she closes the rest of the distance, but remains peaceful with enough space comfortably between them. A quiet chuff is brought to attention as she lets her grey eyes survey both of the wolves in heir travel weary state.

Each day promised Freyja another chance to learn and today was no exception. She followed the Heda dutifully from the safety of Sleeping Dragon and into the unknown. When they had arrived to the gentle shore Thuringwethil began to speak of Drageda’s history. Freyja listened carefully, taking mental notes of everything that she could, and followed along.

But, just as the story was getting going, something had distracted the dark leader. Pausing as Thuringwethil did, Freyja caught sight of the mother and son quickly. Tensing as her Heda did. She did not know much about the scents of the surrounding packs, so any new scents made the grey-scaled child uneasy.

Doing as she was beckoned to, Freyja backed up a few paces but kept her eyes on the two strangers before them, holding herself high as she observed from her comfortable distance.

it was not long before they were approached; vuk lifted her lips in a warning snarl, placing herself between her prodigal son and the great fierce beasts who drew near. one was tall, imposing, darkly elegant, and the other was a pale beauty who dazzled the patchwork girl. yet she took hold of herself once more; she stiffened her forelegs and lifted her tail over her hips. vuk was not at all a dominant beast, but she would protect seff at any cost to herself.

nares flaring, her hackles raised, she was silent, keeping her eyes trained upon the pair, chuffing sharply for seff to join her and remain out of the strangers' reach.

He saw them in their approach,  and swiftly pulled his muzzle from the water and watched them, eyes alert and ears perked in attentiveness. No words were exchanged, but Vuk was quick to become defensive and caused worry to settle over the already wary boy. One, a woman, dark furred and reminding him in some ways of the assassin's of the woods. Another,  pale furred and rather pretty, and a girl. Shorter than him, petite made smaller by the juxtaposition presented by the dark woman. 

He moved, making to stand beside his mother yet his posture was not that defensive, simply alert and tensed. Softly, unsure if he should be asking, yet pleasantly surprised at his steady voice, he asked in the lilting tone of a boy; "who are you?"

While Thuringwethil has her own limited experiences with family and children, and none of her own, she is still wary of the mother’s reaction. She expects her to remain protective but there is a tiredness in her features that reeks of desperation and the boy leaves her with more questions. Their scent is empty of anywhere in particular and so Thuringwethil keeps her distance when she is warned. She dips her nose a little to make sure Freyja remains in place before she spins her attention back.

“Heda Thuringwethil,” she says, unsure of who to give the answer to. “Commander of Sleeping Dragon.” She stiffens a little then though her feature is no less dominant than if they were at her border, for land that the mountain touches, in some way, still belongs to her. She’s effectively taken care of them since winter and giving her wolves the space they need. “This is Freyja,” she adds though she is a little unsure of which title to give the girl as she wears many and instead omits it entirely.

Doing as she was commanded, Freyja watched on silently, her attention shifted from mother to child. She tensed in that moment, noting the stance change in all of the wolves around her, but remained quiet as she allowed the others to speak. In this time Freyja took the time to examine the pair before her and she quickly saw a resemblance between the mother and her beloved Portia. Though this wolf was much more rugged than the caregiver, she still remained as pretty as could be. Freyja presumed that the younger wolf was related to her somehow, given her protective stance, and her gaze lingered on him as he spoke.

He was handsome for sure and she found herself distracted as he spoke. There was an odd feeling she felt from within-- her heart drummed at an uncharacteristically high rate, and she attempted to rid herself of the feeling with a stiff shake of her pelt.

Once Thuringweithl spoke, Freyja broke her attention from Seff and towards the dark leader, only to turn back when she was introduced. She nodded in that moment and her gaze turned from mutual to expectant as she waited for the other’s reply.

seff spoke, and vuk felt herself relax, to know he was close. to the others vuk turned and smiled gently, though tension still beseiged every facet of her being. "i am vuk. t-this is m-my son, s-seff." the pale woman did not wish to tell them the name of her pack, for whatever reason beyond her own fear, and fell silent after her introduction, still unsure of why thuringwethil and freyja had come to regard her so.

she glanced to seff then; his demeanour she sought to reflect in her own, though she was poised to protect her son if necessary.

They introduced themselves, and Seff found his eyes wandering again to the girl. Freyja. His gaze lingered on her a few moments longer than it ought to have, and a small smile flitted to his maw a moment as he took her in in greeter detail than before, wondering idly what exactly about her made her so interesting to him.

his mothers words tore his gaze from Freyja quite suddenly as he glanced back to her. She made their introductions in her stuttering tone, and said no more. However, Seffs interest was aroused by the pack the two belonged too, and glancing at the dark woman, asks "Is Sleeping Dragon near here, Heda?" The boy used the title she had introduced herself with, deciding it more respectful than to simply use her name.

When the woman speaks, Thuringwethil puts her full attention on her. Her discomfort became obvious and she isn’t sure if she needs to take a step back and give them room or continue as she’s being. The river is distance enough away and they are on the other side, but neither of them bares a scent that she can put a threat to and neither followed up with a title or home to their names. Seff speaks then, a question, and his curiosity holds Thuringwethil’s attention for a moment longer but she doesn’t move in any direction to indicate any intentions.

“It is,” she tells the boy. In fact, it stands behind them. The dragon sitting in Thuringwethil and Freyja’s backdrop but she does not explain this. Their own intentions have not been made clear. “Are you passing through?”

For some reason, Freyja found her eyes being drawn to the boy. Perhaps it was the fact that he was doing the most coherent speaking of the pair opposite to him or the fact that he was so strikingly handsome. She remained silent, knowing that this was not her time to speak. She would only speak as commanded by Heda. For now, she merely remained a presence at Thuringwethil’s side.

seff — he spoke and vuk was again grateful for him, how eloquent he was. she thanked whatever fates that he had not inherited her stutter, and nodded at the great dark woman. "y-yes. w-we w-will be g-gone s-soon." so focused upon the heda vuk was that she did not notice the glances the younger girl and her son were exchanging. vuk was not the sort to address such things, even if she had seen them. "w-we are f-from l-larksong."

He fell silent then, allowing his mother to speak, once more glancing at the girl before diverting his attention completely; back to his mother and Heda. She explained their journey, and feeling this no threat, relaxed slightly, listening but falling silent, for no longer were the two strangers in their mystery; they had some knowledge of them, and they seemed alright, he deduced.

The woman seems to stumble across her words frequently and Thuringwethil remains quiet as she gets through them. It is when she announces where they are from—to her surprise—that requires effort not to cross the river. Her fur bristles around her neck and down the length of her spine. Their scent had not been indication of the grotto pack and they didn’t seem to be phased by their name, which only leaves her with more questions. Thuringwethil takes a step closer with a low growl rumbling in her chest.

“You follow a fool,” she tells them. Her voice no longer holds the lightness it had before as she retains the growing vibration within. Ignorance had not saved Esaro or the Maplewood but nor had he learned from it. Vuk and her son are victims for something they did not ask for, that they were not informed for, and Thuringwethil wonders just how many lives the bastard puts at risk before he changes his ways? Something has to be done to end this vicious cycle of sacrificing his followers. “Why do you follow a man that so carelessly puts the lives of his wolves at risk?”

The mention of the other’s pack seemed to have brought unease to the Heda. At the leader’s sudden shift in demeanor. Turning towards the raven-haired individual, Freyja’s ears perked as she listened to the commander's words. When the leader grew silent, Freyja said nothing and turned to the others, her eyes regarding them and she wondered just how they would respond.

vuk did not expect the ire with which her words were received, and her hackles were set to bristling again. she did not know this woman, nor the reek of which she spoke — had vuk more clarity and ability, she might have set the fierce wolfess straight with an explanation of what the cardinal had been toward her and her son, but as it was, the anxieties that lurked just beneath the surface of the scarred wolfess surged to the fore, and she leveled hard eyes at the strange pair.

"seff," she urged with a growl of caution, encouraging her son to heed her and turn away, but vuk would not yet turn her back upon the dark heda and her pale charge. she watched them for a long moment, brimming with words but unable to speak them.

Confusion furrowed his brows, why was news of their destination so I'll received? And what, exactly, sort of quarrel did the Heda have with Reek? But his mother's curt word had him know that this encounter was at end, and as his eyes found the dark woman and the curiously intuiting girl once more, he linger a moment, then was gone, following his mother with a single backward glance at the pair.