Dawnlark Plains Fossil

@Dagfinn <3 vague about the babies, tagging @hiram @Tapat and @Astik for visibility.

"hell yes!" sounded the warm, rough voice of the former grand vicar. "fucking free!" she yipped into the sky, bounding through the snowy plains with glee. it was childish, but jhala was not above immaturity. she was no longer bound to a religion she disagreed with, and no longer bound to wolves she despised. she had everything she could ask for and nothing to tie her down. she'd broken free from her mate for just a little while, eventually stopping in the plains and just standing. she stood and let out a long sigh, a good sigh, one that relieved even more weight from her shoulders. no more religion, no more raas, no more hiram, no more anything. just reek and the wind in her fur. this was what she wanted. this was what she needed.

The smoke had terrified him. When he'd spied it from the mountains, it was as though a hole had been punched through his chest - Lotte was down there, had lived where those flames burned - but she'd escaped. He knew it because he himself was still alive, and there could be no Dagfinn without Lotte. Worry still ate at him, especially when he visited the shores and found no trace of his sister's scent upon the weatherbeaten land. But she was alive, and he knew that their paths would cross again.

But this knowledge did not ease the new loneliness that'd crept up in his heart. Duskvale had disbanded almost as soon as it had begun, and now he was alone. He'd followed Tryphon's scent, for a time, but had lost the trail when he went to check on Lotte. Now he searched for it again, even knowing that the other male would, in all probablility, be long gone by now.

Instead, the joyful shouts of a stranger attracted his attention. Hope shook through the dark youth's body - his tail, most noteably - and he bounded toward the sound with a happy bark of his own, bowing in invitation as soon as the other came into sight.

a stranger came into view, bounding happily towards her. for the first time in a while she was not on edge about a stranger, instead she happily accepted his invitation to play. play. she hadn't played with anyone in a while, save for her and reek's adult game of hide the bone, maybe. this was more innocent, more fun, and she had missed it so much. she bowed right back, her tail and rump waving happily as she eyed the dark stranger. she bounced from side to side before letting out a loud bark, telling him to come at her! she turned and bounded off, assuming he was right behind her.

Success! The shewolf responded with a bow of her own before dashing off, and Dag was hot on her heels, snapping at air with extra-loud clacks of his jaws - just to let her know he was there. She was curiously milk-scented, and Dag thought fleetingly of Saena, and then even more briefly of Amber before pushing all that away. It did not good to dwell on heartache, and besides, this woman, tall and robust as she was, reminded the young male more of his sister than anyone - and anyone who was even a little like Lotte was a friend in his book.

"I bet I'm faster!" Dag panted, running harder and drawing even with the other wolf. He could run like this for hours, the way he was feeling right then. The woman's good mood was catching, and he needed that, right now.

it was true, too. jhala-- though strong and ruthless-- was rather large and slow. what skills she had as a fighter, she lacked in agility and speed-- though it had never hindered her before. it didn't matter now, either, as the dark boy was no threat to her. she saw a big of astik in him, all big and happy and playful, handsome in his own way as well. sure enough, though she ran with all her might, she could hear his pawsteps crunching closer in the snow. "bet you can't take me down!" she called in return, tongue lolling. bet he couldn't! all that fat and muscle was rather hard to shove to the ground, though it was surely possible.

Dag wasted no time once she'd issued her challenge and leapt toward the other with a mighty roar - a bark, not a growl. His tail windmilled behind him, showing his true feelings about the situation and he sought the thickly-furred back of her neck with a gaping jaw, intent on showing off his fighting skills. This shewolf was older and more scarred than he was, but confidence was the folly of youth, and that was kind of his thing.

Still, Dagfinn had trained with the best of him, and was not without bulk or skill of his own. He relied more on bulk, in this instance, sparring more for the pleasure of being near to another wolf than for anything else.

jhala ducked when she heard the bark, but while she was running it came off a bit clumsier than usual. the grotto had kept her healthy, even in the winter season, and so her some of her pregnancy fat was still weighing her down-- at least she told herself it was pregnancy fat. so his teeth met the back of her neck, tightly, though she did not feel the angry force than wolves had when they were truly fighting, so she remained playful. her amber eyes glowed warmly, hermouth open in a friendly smile and tongue lol, and her tail waving furiously.

the boy was heavier than she'd anticipated, she'd been so used to having her own youth's around she forgot what a yearling actually weighed. she gave another lighthearted yip before bending her head, twisting it so she could nip at his ankles. ain't want those bad boys bitten, maybe it'd force him off her neck, give her another chance to strike.

Dag gnawed messily at the woman's scruff, careful not to let her feel his teeth. Mostly, he was just trying to slober on her as much as possible, because that's what he would've done if this were Lotte and not a perfect stranger, and he wanted desperately for her to be Lotte - just for a moment. So he slobbered, making no real effort to keep hold of her, especially when her teeth grazed his ankle.

The dark youth whipped himself to the side, so that their shoulders were pressed together, and then leaned all his weight against the other, a string of guffaws huffing past his lips as he tried to knock over his new friend.

he gave way! but moved to lean against her right after. she didn't fall due to his force, but more of a happy conclusion of their little game. she rolled to the ground, (him assumedly after her) and laughed loudly, joyfully, her tongue lolling. "fine fine! i give! you're too fat," she huffed teasingly, turning to look at him as she dead-cockroached on the ground, legs up in the air. "i'm jhala," she then said, expectant of a response.

The shewolf spilled them both onto the ground, and Dag let his head fall against her side, jaws gaping and snapping half heartedly at her windmilling limbs.

"It's called blubber," he protested, still trying to catch a paw in his mouth, "and it's an important part of readying oneself for winter." [/b][/b]Dag didn't actually have all that much fat on him. Laerke would've scolded him, probably, but the bear was used to harsher winters, and not the more mild changes in season that occured in these parts. Still, he could've used a bit more for the cold days to come.

The woman introduced herself as Jhala, and Dag hopped up to offer his own name - "Dag!" and a bright smile. She was not Lotte, but she seemed like good company all the same. "What are we celebrating, Jhala?" he asked, recalling that she'd been whooping in joy when he'd come upon her.

"i left!" she cheered in response, tail wagging and causing her rump to wiggle against the snowy ground, "well, we left! i did, and my husband followed, and my baby boys!" he didn't even understand how thrilled she was, and she almost went to explain the whole situation... but she wasn't sure it would do any justice, but then again, maybe he really did need to know. "we used to lead this pack... and this woman came in and threw it to hell! she brought in these strangers and, i dunno, Dag, it was fuckin' rough. but i stayed for reek-- my mate. until today! today we both agreed that that was the worst fucking place on earth, it was just tryin' to kill us, and my kiddos... and we left! we're free!" she yipped happily, hoping he too would see how great this was for her and her family-- even if he didn't fully understand.

His tail wagged along with hers as she spoke of her good fortune... at least until it started to sound like it wasn't good at all. Dag wondered if he would be able to see the good that Jhala saw, if he was in her situation. Sometimes his sorrows got the better of him - but they were nothing like Jhala's sorrows.

You are very brave, he wanted to say. I'm sorry you went through that.

But he did not, because she didn't need him to. "I will come with you," he said instead, inspired by the woman's joie de virve. Like Saena, this was a woman he could follow, one that he admired already. He only hoped Reek was as good a wolf, but how could he not be, if this woman had stayed for him?

"May I come with you?" he asked, correcting himself.

what! for real! had she heard him right? her ears perked straight up, and she rolled onto her belly to better see him-- though it did force his head off her stomach. "uhm," she said with a quirked eyebrow, "hell yes??" her tail wagged happily, thumping loudly against the ground. her eyes shone bright amber, thrilled for what had just happened. "we don't know where we're goin', but you're totally fucking allowed to come. i bet reek would be thrilled! and i can introduce you to our kids-- we've got astik and tapat-- and you can meet reek too..." she trailed off, still stoked out of her mind. maybe he didn't care to meet her family! but she didn't care, she was too happy, this was too good of a day.

His tail, which had stilled momentarily while he waited for an answer, picked up double-time when Jhala expressed her pleasure in the matter. He could meet her kids, her husband, she said, and Dag couldn't wait. "Let's go!" he declared, leaping up and setting off at a trot that looked more like a prance on his long-legged figure. He didn't care; he was happy!

He wasn't sure which way they were going, so Dag charged in circles around Jhala, sticking close but unable to be still long enough to follow at a more sedate pace. This was so exciting and how could he not run and jump around?

wrapping this up!

thrilled, jhala's gaze followed the kid's as he bounced around her. she gave him a light growl and a playful shove on the shoulder before tearing off through the snow, yipping loudly. she led him back to reek and introduced the two, and then astik, and finally tapat (with astik beside him). and just like that, dag joined into their family as the cool uncle, and jhala deemed him worthy of a friend and loyal follower.