Dragoncrest Cliffs inside the lines

By the time the rest of them left, leaving he and his brother to take care of what is left behind, Arlo can’t help the feeling of helplessness. He’d earned his way to the front lines back in Trigeda only to get stuck in the backseat in Drageda. Even the newer wolves got to go before him. Melchior is quick to reassure him that this is equally as important. He wrinkles his nose but brushes it off, turning to leave his brother by the forest to find one of the mothers left behind he is to keep safe.
 
He doesn’t suspect any danger will come but that doesn’t mean he takes it any less seriously. It doesn’t feel like that long ago, he’d been young and lost—and now he just feels old and lost.
 
“@Portia?” he calls out into the cavern once he’s inside, turning his head to search for the peppered black and white woman. “@Wildfire?”

Wildfire would have insisted on accompanying her mate—she was the Bandrona, after all, not to mention the one with an existing if tenuous connection with the matriarch—but she was too far along in her pregnancy now. She wasn't willing to take the risk, nor travel that far. No, she would stay behind in the safety of the territory with Portia and a few guardians. She would probably sleep the day away, to be honest. As her sides had ballooned, her ability to stay awake had decreased proportionately. Wildfire was becoming something of a professional napper.

"Gonna get it while I still can," she muttered to herself as she circled thrice and prepared to make herself comfortable. She would have preferred to sleep in the tree but she had obeyed the commander's wishes that she stay close to the others during her absence. A great sigh gusted out of her as she settled on the floor and shifted to one side to take the pressure off her bulging belly. Her cheek came to rest on the cool ground right as someone called her name.

"What," she replied, too tired to raise her head or even use inflection.

portia's only response to wildfire's comment about sleep was a light, 'heh.' she knew it soon would be all too true, and she'd be awake almost constantly. the soon-to-be mother moved closer to her friend, though was too fat and uncomfortable to curl up right beside her. she instead laid on her side with her head twisted so her chin could rest on the ground. her ears swiveled at the sound of arlo's voice, wifi's 'what' bringing a slight smile to her face. "yeah hun?" she invited in. they weren't really interrupting anything.

Arlo’s first greeting causes him to turn to the resting woman, watching the unsteady rise and fall of her chest before she turns to Portia that greets him a little friendlier than the former. His tail waves in her direction as he takes a few steps closer, unsure if he really should have come down to see them. “I just wanted to see if you guys needed anything.” Melchior is more content of staying above ground while he needs to keep his feet moving to feel productive.

As soon as Arlo offered his services, Wildfire felt a twinge of guilt for her lackluster greeting. With a slight grunt, she propped herself upright on her elbows and looked to the would-be guardian with a small, weary smile. "The only thing I need is a long nap." She glanced over at Portia to see if her sister wife needed anything, then glanced at Arlo again. He seemed a little restless. Maybe she should come up with something he could do to keep him busy?

"Actually," she piped up a moment later, "I could use a drink of water." She paused, then pointed her nose toward a dark corner of the cave. "There's a broken coconut shell I found on the beach a few days ago stashed over there. If you don't mind," Wildfire finished, chestnut eyes returning to his face.

truthfully, portia wasn't all that tired or thirsty. she was more restless than anything, and arlo couldn't really fix that. she knew that once these pups were born there would be little time for sleep or privacy, but she couldn't help her own roots. she was a wanderer, and even if she stayed inside the territory she liked to be moving. she was too fat to walk comfortably for long distances, so she ended up just laying around with wifi all day. she didn't mind the company, but still. than her green gaze fell to the coconut, studying it's furry exterior for a brief moment before looking back to arlo. "i'm fine hun, thank you," she replied with a wave of her tail, shifting herself from her pancake position to something more upright. maybe he'd come back and have something interesting to tell her.

Arlo frowns when Wildfire speaks and he shrinks back a little. He hadn’t meant to intrude and he had, disturbing the women he’s meant to keep safe while the others are gone. He can’t help but turn his head to the fiery woman as she makes her request and he casts a glance toward the shell. For a moment longer than necessary, he stares at it, listening as Portia declines any need, before he finally—and reluctantly—moves off to the side. He doesn’t say anything as he picks it up and turns, disappearing out of the cavern.

A few playful insults come his way when he runs into Melchior again on the outside but he does his best to ignore him, feel the coconut, and return.

More of it than he anticipates spills out and his nose wrinkles when it splashes up into his nostrils. The job isn’t an easy one but he still returns the shell to Wildfire, even if it’s only half full. Apologetically, Arlo frowns and backs up several steps to give them their space once more.

Her eyes fluttered closed as she waited. Wildfire dozed, though she snapped awake when she heard Arlo reenter the cavern. He set the half-full dish in front of her and she craned her neck to lap greedily at the water. She quickly consumed it all and then licked the moisture from her lips with a satisfied sigh.

"Thank you, Arlo," she said warmly. She might have felt bad for making him wait on her but she was hell'a pregnant and she still figured he was happy to be given something to do. With that said, the Bandrona didn't need much else at the moment aside from some shuteye.

Scooting to lean against Portia, the Bandrona flopped like a deflating beach ball. It was hard to get comfortable with her overgrown midsection and the little puppies twirling about in there. But she managed, somehow, and there was a small smile on her lips as she closed her eyes again.

arlo seemed less than thrilled to do a chore for them, but didn't argue. when he returned, she felt maybe the polite thing to do would be converse with him-- even though wildfire seemed to want to sleep. when the other mother leaned against her and closed her eyes again, the fisa looked up to arlo. "do you know what this meeting is about, hun?" she asked, honestly blanking if they had been told or not. she'd done so much sleeping and eating and absolutely nothing herb or medicine related the past few weeks that everything sort of blended together. she knew someone told her this morning, but she couldn't even remember where everyone else even was.

Arlo watches Wildfire clean the coconut of water and he holds his breath, expecting her to want more, but she doesn’t add anything on to her appreciation. She settles back down and Arlo’s gaze turns away when Portia talks to him. With a glance back to the bandrona, instead of speaking where he stands, he closes the distance between the healer and himself. “There is a pack that wants to settle nearby,” he says. “I don’t know exactly where, but close enough to warrant this meeting.” Seageda—and Trigeda—hold on to their personal space when their hunting grounds expand far enough, when their populous is far greater than what Drageda has known. If their lands cross over with the pack, he does not expect the meeting to go well, but he does not voice the concern where he does not have all the information. It isn’t something he can control, either, until he hears them home or their summoning.

her ears perk, eyes squinting. "it's not a group of ladies, now is it?" she asks him, tail flicking, "i warned someone not to settle too close, she said she was part of a group of women." she remembers-- not fondly-- an encounter she had with a woman named chip, and how she'd been so rude about her plants. regardless, around january she'd met a woman who said she was part of a pack that was going to settle near the ocean. not waiting for an answer, she sputtered on. "they were named something strange-- something like tangerine's... no that's not right."  her eyebrows furrowed, and she stared at the ground with a blatantly obvious thinking face before shaking her head. she didn't know, it wasn't important she remembered every detail. she then looked to arlo expectantly.

His eyes narrow when Portia begins to speak but all of this is news to him. His brows burrow once more and he shifts, trying to recollect whether or not Akantha had spoken the name of her and her wolves. And she had mentioned her sisters, which at the time meant little but now, perhaps it is something more. His ears twitch on his head and he hums to himself, trying to think of a name she may have mentioned but nothing comes up to offer any help. How much have these wolves pestered Drageda already if both Wildfire and Portia has had interactions with them, and later Thuringwethil and Tirgatao? Are they the same woman, or are there more than he’d originally thought?

“Their leader came to our borders a few weeks ago about the meeting,” he tells her. He hadn’t greeted her too friendly but she hadn’t been harmful and the questions (and answers) were vague enough. “Heda will not accept them too close if it inhibits us and our hunting grounds,” he says, confident in their leader. The forest on the cliff side and nearby is often plentiful and too many wolves nearby can ruin their surroundings for food.

portia frowned. "hmpf, well, whoever they are, i warned them-- or, well, chip. i warned chip. she was a nasty woman, i didn't like her so much," the fisa shared freely. regardless, she too had confidence in the commander, and didn't worry much for her children's sake. she didn't think the pack was too close, they seemed pretty south from what she could tell.... but either way it was probably worrisome to the heda.

"i'm sure we'll put them in their place," she said with a smile, tail tapping against the earth.

Portia doesn’t seem as perturbed by the information as he does but he doesn’t think she has the same experience with battle and war as he does. It’s familiar to him, to those from further north. They’d go to war with what they had if it meant protecting their own, protecting their land, and this is no different. “Hey will call if there is trouble,” he tells her though she nor Wildfire have anything to worry about. One of them will go aid and the other stay behind, though they are secured enough in the cavern if they both had to go. He dips his head a moment later before he takes a step back. “I’ll let you get some rest,” he tells her after a beat and then turns to leave and accompany his brother on the outside.

the most challenging part of portia's life had been the earthquake. she'd hurt her leg, but otherwise escaped unscathed. she'd never seen true devastation, and therefore was ignorant to the whole situation. she was happy as a clam, and the whole idea of war went through one ear and out the other. she remained unbothered.

wifi had already passed out, so portia nodded when arlo said he'd leave her to rest. she wasn't very tired, but could use some rest, she figured anyway. the fisa shifted slightly, doing her best not to disturb her friend, before resting her head on her paws and closing her eyes.