Dragoncrest Cliffs i wanted to be your anchor

We are home! This is not a mandatory thread but definitely encouraged! If you decide not to participate, your character is free to know the outcome of the scouting mission. @Dio @Eske @Ajatar @Portia @Blixen @Artaax @Étoille @Tirgatao @Furi @Cecil @Sirio @Bobby

When they reach the ocean the air changes around them. They are no happier than they were the day moment before but they knew the final stretch is upon them. Drageda isn’t far anymore and has now become an attainable goal as they finally decline the other side of the mountain that is their journey.

They rest only as needed, hunt when they need, but for the most part they make the rest of the journey with as little delay as they can muster.

They reach the forest on their side of the sound and relief floods into Thuringwethil. She knows this way well, has put her own path in the ground, and just on the other side is their home. The pinpoint of cliffs in the distance seem to shrink away and weariness sinks into her bones. She’s far more aware just how tired she is and she’s certain she’ll sleep for days when she crosses the finish land and is finally home. She is still not complete, and will not be until they return her beloved to her, but for now they know she is safe and they will take care of her and soon, soon, she will be home.

No one says a word but their feet move faster, carrying them the last leg of land to where she can smell the borders and the scents they’d left behind. It is different, if only absent of themselves, but it will change again. By the time she crosses the threshold into the holy land, she closes her eyes and takes a few more careful steps before she comes to a halt. She turns and looks softly upon her little group of her ragged family, including Étoille as new as he is, and finally rests upon her children where she closes the distance and stands close to. A few words of thanks and appreciation and love is exchanged before she gives them the freedom to go, if they chose, or allowed the rest of Drageda to welcome them home.

Her nose lifts into the air and she howls their return. It is not a howl of misery, but there is still sadness attached to what good news she can communicate through song. And once she has come to a close, she nudges the kids forward and moves into the heart of the territory with others in tow.

feel free to skip blix/ette, i'll pop in if i'm needed otherwise

the journey home had been, for blixen, as tense as the journey to. heading to the caldera she had carried with her some measure of hope if nothing else that they would find their answer; there is no joy in having found it, though. she still doesn't know if mother has woken up or not.

she's still angry.

but - the smell of sea-salt in the air soothes her somewhat, as does the familiar feeling of the land under her feet as they near the borders. she misses mother and hux - hell, she misses eljay - but she missed home almost -- no, most of all (and maybe that makes her feel a little guilty, but she's too tired to think on it deeply). 

nomi gives her permission to leave and she shakes her head slightly, returning the affections with a gentle bump of her snout against nomi's dark side as she follows the leader. it is, the girl thinks, part of her duty to stay and stand by nomi as she delivers their news - and her amber eyes scan any approaching figures somewhat anxiously, wondering if furi has stayed - and if she'll come to greet her them.

samesies!

Artaax wasn't certain how he would feel upon arriving at Drageda. While he had been guiled with homesickness the entire time he'd been away, it was disappointing to be returning without Wildfire. The knowledge that she was alive and safe was some comfort, and unlike his sister, he had accepted that their actions had been for the best. Still, it was painful to leave her behind, and he felt nervous for the rest of Drageda would respond to the news of the decision heda had made.

In spite of it all, Artaax breathed in nothing but relief upon crossing into the borders of his home. His guilt and shame over his behavior at the Caldera's borders had been eased during the journey, and now that he walked upon familiar land again, he felt lighter than ever as though some great burden had been lifted. He looked at nomi and smiled as she announced their arrival, his heartbeat quickening as he imagined Bobby somewhere within the territory now racing to welcome them.

His gaze turned to Blixen as the call ended and he wasn't surprised to see her looking less than pleased. Artaax frowned softly, but not in a disapproving way. He knew she wasn't happy about leaving Wildfire behind, but they were home now, and soon mom would be back as well. Wordlessly, he reached for her and nipped lightly at the fur along her shoulderblade, offering a wry smile as though saying cheer up, we're home!

She does not recognize the howl by sound but she understands the meaning. They’re back! Her eyes widen and she spins around once, frantic to see her friend again. The wolves that departed have little attachment to her but she’d missed @Étoillee the most. She’d already confessed the feeling to @Eske, whom she quickly abandons in border patrol, and feels a surge of excitement that she hadn’t felt in a long time. Furi glances over her shoulder to see if her guardian is coming but she does not wait on her, instead rushing to find the wolves moving into the territory.

The girl slows to a stop, lingering near the rear as the only wolf to arrive. She swallows, searching from one wolf to the next until she sees him, quickly rushing to greet him.

 He does not plan on remaining long by the borders, thinking mainly of rest. The decision to leave Wildfire behind does not weigh heavily on the titan - she had been too unwell to move, and he still does not know her. Though he is glad for his pack that they have found her, it is not of particular consequence to him.

 However, he sees Furi's form nearing, and pauses mid step. He is tired, but not so tired that he would forgo greeting the girl, who he rather missed on his journey. A rare smile warms his expression. "Bonjour, choupinou," Étoille greets, brushing the top of her head with his nose affectionately. He glances to Heda and then back at the girl, voice a low rumble as he asks, "have you been well?"

Tirgatao feels a weight immediately release from her shoulders when her Commander's howl rises from the distance. It isn't a mournful sound—her ears twitch as she lifts her head from her paws where she had been resting near Hougeda. The song lacks a part altogether. Being the devoted creature that she was, Tirgatao quickly found her feet and took off at a decent clip to where the howl was last heard.

It doesn't take her long to spot movement betwixt the trees and, as she approaches, more of the group comes into focus. For a moment she mistakes Blixen for Wildfire, but a secondary glance reveals the truth—Wildfire is still not with them. Her copper eyes rove over each individual, probing their body language for answers to the primary question flashing through her mind. Blixen, unsurprisingly, gives some clue as to the nature of their return. There are no tears, but something stubbornly resigned in the weary set of her mouth.

The Shouna finally settles her attention on Thuringwethil, though her eyes are respectfully cast away while her tail dangles between her hocks. "I am glad you're all back," She said, "though nothing is amiss here."  But where is Wildfire? she asked with a subtle pop of her brow, and furitive glance up towards Heda's own dark eyes.

Eske feels a wave of relief wash over her as she hears Heda’s call. Furi beats her there, taking off without preamble or hesitation and Eske assumes that it is the promise of Étoille’s homecoming that drives the girl surge forward like a bat out of hell. It causes a soft chuckle to spill from the Wanlida’s lips as she watches the girl disappear into the foliage with undeniable fondness, glad to see the girl’s spirits returned. She moves towards the scouting party, not bothered that she is not the first to arrive. Eske’s gaze seeks Furi first and then rises to the titan whom the girl has grown attached to. Though the Drakru does not know him very well she is glad to see him returned safe and sound to them. She offers him a smile, unsure if he sees or not before her gaze rises to her Commander but as her gaze takes in all that have returned she notices that Wildfire is absent and her gaze flickers back to Heda wondering if it is better to get the elephant out of the room subtly or bluntly. “How did your mission go, Heda?” Eske inquires ( so subtly, then ) not bothering to tell her how things went in her absence as Tirgatao had beaten her to it and there was no sense in being redundant.

The journey has been long, but relief came in a steady rush when they finally reached familiar turf without incident. He'd been glad enough to leave the Caldera, even more pleased to finally smell sea-salt on the winds again, and then this was all that and more. In due time, the edges of the territory outlined the horizon, and at last, they are back home to their cliffs.

It could have been worse. By leagues, certainly. They'd found Wildfire, but she had suffered--still suffered, and they failed to return with her so her family suffered still. Well, those of Drageda did. Simple as that. He's marinated in the mixed feelings of this all on the whole walk back, watched Wildfire's kids do the same, so by now, he's all but exhausted by the idea of it and just glad he's home, in one piece, and back to the rest of his pack and family.

When their Heda rose her call, his ears splayed and he brushed against Portia lightly, despite the sorrowful weight their news was sure to carry. Soon, the pack came. For long enough, at least until tiredness weighed out, he did intend to loiter with the group--with his tail waving, glad to see familiar faces as they trickled onto the scene (each curious, looking for their answers) and wishing they had something better to return with..

PPing Ajatar and Bobby!

The first wolf she sees takes a second to register. Her fur bristles around her nape but Étoille’s side step from the group to greet her quickly reminds her of who she is. She barely has time these days to think about those outside of her bubble and she looks away, deciding to address that later. She is more concerned with the rest of the wolves and what she missed while away, as well as the desire to passing the information along.

Tirgatao steps out and she smiles, greeting her with tired eyes. Heda takes a step in her direction. She spots Eske from the corner of her eye as the advisor speaks, waiting until Wanlida is settled nearby to begin. No others step out of the woodworking but the information will spread quickly.

“We found Wildfire. She—” she pauses and takes a breath, eyes casting out behind them as movement occurs in the shape of something white. “She is in bad shape. Hux and Eljay has stayed behind with her until she can heal and travel home. I needed to bring everyone before winter and I did not want endanger her more,” she explains to the two, disinterested in the pale form of the Fos Goufa. A second later, however, @Bobby streamlines through the redwoods and crashes into the group, circling around his siblings first with a little excessive excitement. Thuringwethil smiles at her son but she lets him be with Artaax and Blixen while she speaks to the others.

She is excited when Étoille greats her in return and she squirms, licking his chin as he speaks. In their short time together, she has grown so fond of him and his absence for weeks weighed heavily on her. Still, she has grown. She has changed and filled out and he seems so tired and thinner than she remembers. She’ll hunt for him, when she can, but for now she focuses on his return. “Yes,” she says, then glances across the way as Eske comes up behind, looking back and, with a much softer voice, “it was kinda borin’ without you.”

Ajatar does not move quickly when the call is made but she still moves. The matter of their return is not urgent in her books with a wolf she has no connection to. The outsider they search for has no impression on her and has not been born within their walls. She is the mother of their own, she supposes, and is the only reason she moves in their direction in the first place. She’s gotten used to the terrain of the cliffs and she is confident enough in the lay of the land that she makes it with ease, but the majority of the information is already being laid out. Glancing over the group, she takes note they are a few less than when they left but by deduction there is nothing to be concerned about. They found her, it seems. Ajatar licks her lips and lifts her nose a little, glancing to Étoille and the girl with a slight nod of acknowledgment but makes no notion to greet anyone else.

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When Bobby heard of his mother’s return, he was more than happy, he practically glowed with joy. Her howl rang through the forest, and he somehow managed to ignore the slight sadness of it. His moms were back! Both of them. His heart leaping in his chest he beelined for the source of the howl, weaving through the trees recklessly. When at last he saw them, the now much bigger coal colored child began to scan the crowd, searching for Nomi and Wildfire.

However he only saw Nomi. His heart began to flutter with worry. He trotted forwards slowed now, catching the end of Nomi’s sentence. Apparently she was with Eljay. Eljay was Bobby’s friend so that was alright. He wanted her to be with him but as long as she wasn’t gone for good he would be alright. He smiled at Nomi who smiled back, though it seemed a little halfhearted from Bobby. He tried to focus on the fact that they were back, and so he turned and ran up to @Artaax and @Blixen. 

He circled them quickly then spoke, So tell me what happened! All of it! He said, his tail wagging behind him.

furi does come but - goes right over to the big rauna that blixen hardly knows (his name is funny, ettal? ettowl? ette, she decides). he'd been on the trip with eske when they'd found her, so it tracks that they might be friendly, but it doesn't do much to help her bitter mood.

she's ready to skulk off but bobby chooses to make an appearance - she eyes him with a stern frown. he hadn't come with them and she hopes it's because he was working on training while they were out. her frown doesn't last for long though when faced with his bubbly presence and she offers a strained smile, glancing at artaax. "mother showed up on the borders at the same time as us," she says, a painful edge to her voice, "and immediately collapsed and wouldn't wake up. we stayed with her but - since she hasn't woken up yet and - nomi couldn't be away from drageda all winter... and i wanted to stay but nomi said no, so." were she a less loyal child blixen would've had half a mind to sneak off back before they'd gotten home. but she is a loyal child and the thought of leaving again without permission never crosses her mind. 

suddenly the fatigue of the trip catches up to her, and compounded by her bad mood, she can't stand to be around any of them. she looks at furi again with a deeper frown and huffs slightly, straightening up. "you shoulda come, bobby," the redhead says scoldingly and then, feeling tears prick the corner of her eyes, turns and abruptly takes off at a brisk pace, her spine rod-straight.

Their packmates filed in, and Artaax greeted them each with a stoic nod and a flash of a smile. He focused only briefly on each face he saw before looking out between the trees again, hoping to see his brother. His ears fell back as Thur explained to the crowd that they had found Wildfire but left her behind, feeling a familiar sting of guilt in his heart at the memory. He hadn't wanted to leave his mother, but he also could not deny the wisdom in their departure. It was a hard choice, but the right one. He only hoped that were he faced with such a difficult choice, he'd be strong enough to do the same.

His brother's arrival brought Artaax quickly out of his moment of contemplation. Joy tightened into a knot in his throat as Robin approached. He smiled broadly then, his tail flapping back and forth frantically at his haunches. He ignored Blixen, who was guarded and frowny (as usual), reaching forward to sniffle affectionately at Bobby's face and to nip almost playfully at his cheek. He glanced at their sister as she began to explain what had happened and rolled his eyes when she ended her diatribe with You shoulda come, Bobby. As though it had been his choice to stay behind.

Looking at his brother, Artaax gave a nonchalant shrug. "She's been rather crabby this trip," he said, dismissing her emotions as just a bad attitude in a rather unsympathetic fashion. His joy sobered though, as he looked at Bobby and saw the features he had inherited from Wildfire. His tone shifted as he said quietly, "The Redhawks are good wolves. Mom'll be okay with them. She'll come home soon." He offered a small smile, believing the words in spite of how odd it was for him to show confidence in anyone outside of Drageda.

Blixen appeared really tired and kind of moody. Bobby noticed it quickly after he approached her and it did worry him a little. But also she could just be tired, after all it was a long trip. She began to explain what happened and Bobby saddened a little, he hated to hear of his mom’s condition. He was about to say something when Blixen told him he should’ve come, then turned and left. The black and red pup blinked a few times, and felt a wave of shame. He hadn’t had much choice in the matter of going or staying, but he should’ve been there for his mom. He should’ve gone.

He was looking down at the ground when Artaax spoke up. Bobby turned his golden gaze to his brother, who luckily seemed a lot less upset. Had they both been upset Bobby would’ve felt even more guilty. Artie explained that he felt mom was safe, and it was just what Bobby needed to hear. He offered his brother a small smile, then nudged his shoulder. He decided to try and move on from the topic of Wildfire, seeing as there was nothing he could do about it, and instead jumped into a play bow.

Hey Artie, I think I’m as big as you now, I bet I’m more athletic too. Race you to Hougeda! He said quickly, then before giving his brother time to respond he turned and sprinted off towards the tunnels, turning his head once to make sure his brother was following.

Étoille listens to Heda explain the situation before addressing Furi again. For the moment he is removed from the conflicts of their family - he is, after all, an outsider. He's glad to hear that choupinou has fared okay without him (boring being an emotion somewhat unfamiliar to him) and takes in the differences in her appearance for a moment before leaning forward to give her forehead an affectionate lick. "We can walk together and catch up," he murmurs, ready to head to the den and rest.

The news that Heda brings is troubling as is the words shared by Blixen. The girl appears to be put out that Heda would not allow her to stay in the Caldera but Eske thinks it was a good call even if the girl does not agree. There was a chance that Blixen’s presence might hinder Wildfire’s recovery but Eske keeps her opinion to herself. Eske does not know anything of the Caldera wolves but assumes because it is Wildfire’s family that she will be safe and in relatively good hands but she cannot say it with conviction. Eske knows firsthanded that family isn’t always the best and as if on cue her thoughts flicker to her traitorous siblings. Once siblings was more like it. She has disowned them a long time ago but that does not mean she has forgotten. She will never forget their betrayals. Eske’s expression mirrors the trouble she feels and she wants to offer comfort but the words stick in her throat. “What are we going to do about it? Are we going to go after the wolves that have done this to her? That allowed this to happen to her?” Eske asks Heda, fixating the Commander in a gaze. Surely, this was an act of war in and of itself.

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Eske is the only one to speak up and no one else has anything to say. They’re all tired and Étoille and Furi have already gone off on their own, and Blixen has lift. Surely Dio and Portia will leave soon but they’ve stayed in place anyway. She doesn’t even want to have this conversation but she clears her throat, and looks across the way at Bobby and Artaax that seem to be having their own reunion. She doesn’t want to talk much about it in front of them, either, because she doesn’t knw how honest she can be with them looking at her. Thuringwethil licks her lips and then returns her focus to Wanlida and Wocha.

“We are not sure who did it but I met two wolves outside of the caldera that mention Blackfeather Woods and a wolf there terrorizing them,” she says and takes a deep breath. If it’s the same wolf, or the same pack, they won’t last much longer. “For now, we’ll wait. We can’t do anything until we know more. They will send a scout to us when they have more information. We need to focus on Drageda, here, preparing for the winter, but we should train more—spars, patrols, the like—should war be the answer to all this,” she further explains, knowing likely she’ll be leading her wolves into battle.

She diverts any other question for later that can’t be answered with a simple yes or no or brief explanation. There isn’t argument to this, either, and for that she is thankful. Thuringwethil takes a deep breath, watching as everyone dissipates and she finally skulks back to Hougeda, a tired, ragged, and hollowed out shelf of a commander.

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