Dragoncrest Cliffs thelma and louise drove off a cliff... so be careful

This starts out north of Drageda territory and will end up at the borders.

Furi slowly blinks a few times, feeling the warmth on one side of her body and not the other. It takes a few seconds to register where she is, her jaws parting in a long, tired yawn. She bats away the water the swells in her eyes and she tries to stretch out, meeting resistance as she realizes Rose is still there. A part of her expected the girl to leave at some point when she’d fallen asleep but she’s glad she’s still in one spot, still slumbering away. Her tail thumps on the ground and she noses the fur behind her ears. At first, she doesn’t want to disturb her, so she retreats and leans back against the sandy wall of the dune, thick underbrush blocking out the pale morning sun, and she waits until @Rose shows the first signs of movement.

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Furi honestly should have woken her, cause if given the choice, Rose would have slept till noon. However she fortunately wakes only a couple minutes after her companion and lets out a tired groan while still half asleep. It takes a few moments for her to register where she is, eyes blinking several times as she adjusts to the light. “Morning” she greets, tilting her head downwards to try and avoid hitting Furi with her gnarly morning breath. 

Rose had to admit, after spending countless cold nights by herself, it felt nice to have some warmth beside her. Lifting a paw to try and wipe away the drool that had slid down her maw, Rose shifted herself so that she was no longer hogging up the area. “Sorry if I kicked you during the night” she suddenly said then, fully aware that she wasn’t the most pleasant of sleepers.

In an attempt to give Rose as much space as she needs to get up, she struggles against the sand to get up as gracefully as possible and ultimately gives up, seeing as Rose doesn’t move away from their shared space too much. “I didn’t notice,” she adds, having slept relatively comfortably. If she’d been shuffled around, she’d gone with the flow.

She doesn’t particularly want to break the warmth, but the sooner they get move, the sooner they’ll be home. She even ignores the grumble of her stomach that insists on her hunting first but she can find a cache later. Carefully, she pulls back and focuses on the ground, trying to scramble to all four feet without stepping on Rose and manages to do so somewhat successfully. Stupid long legs.

“It’s not too far from here,” she assures the girl with a smile, looking out in the direction they need to go. Furi swings her head back expectantly with a few swishes of her tail.

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She smiles and watches as the girl moves to all fours, Rose simultaneously moving out of her way, or at least attempting to. A paw is stepped on maybe once or twice but she hardly notices and begins to stand as if nothing had happen. After shaking her pelt free of any tangles she had gained during the night, Rose turns to listen as the girl assures her the pack isn’t far away. 

She wonders what it’ll be like when they reach their destination and can’t help but feel like a kindergarten on their first day of school: excited but also a tad bit scared. She sucks in a breath and with a soft smile says “lead the way.”

It feels weird to watch her get up (not that they hadn’t just spent the whole night curled up with one another) and she glances away briefly until she’s standing. It’s silly, she knows, but the weight of it all falls upon her shoulders. If they don’t let Rose, then maybe the girl will be upset with her for wasting her time and she tries to figure out the best way to go about it by the time they get there.

When Rose is ready to go, Furi moves with her side-by-side and is silent for the first little bit. Tired, she blames it on, and her tail remains lax behind her to avoid showing any internal anxiety settling in.

”Are you good at anything?” she asks rather abruptly when the silence becomes too much and she falls down the rabbit hole of worry. She still has a light expression, and smiles every so often, but she hates how twisted her stomach has gotten in the last few minutes. She briefly worries about running into @Blixen on the borders and what she’ll say, though she doesn’t know why. Nothing is wrong with Rose, that she can tell, but she doesn’t know too much. ”I’m a good fighter and they’re training me to be better. And I can hunt pretty good, too,” she muses, hoping to give her new friend something to go with.

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blix is used to the fact that furi occasionally wanders from drageda's  borders - she knows she doesn't go very far alone, though it makes her a little anxious when she wakes up to her absence. this is the tricky thing with outsiders (at this point she barely counts furi as an outsider but for things like this) -- the gona has no problem accepting them but what is to stop them from leaving drageda behind for good? but furi's happy here... she thinks, at least.

she's on her usual patrol route when the wind carries, speak of the devil, the warm scent of someone familiar. impulsively the ginger decides to pause her patrol to go greet her friend as she approaches - and as she gets closer she realises there is not one but two scents on the air - furi's, of course, and someone she doesn't recognize. alarm flares through her as she quickens her pace, though she does not hear any sounds of scuffle.

the gona slows as the pair enter her field of vision, her alarm fading only to be replaced by confusion and something else that blixen doesn't know the name of but makes her bristle slightly. furi and a strange girl, talking, heading towards drageda..? "furi," she calls out, forcing herself to relax lest she upset the other warrior, "hei." pointedly, she looks at the stranger, waiting for some sort of explanation.

It falls quiet, perhaps a little too quiet, but Rose doesn’t question this. Instead she turns her attention to the future and begins to try and plan ahead with what she should say. Does she greet them first? Will they ask questions? What if they don’t accept her? She let’s out a disgruntled sigh and turns to glance at Furi, wondering if she should just let her do the talking instead.

With a huff, Rose pulls herself out of that blank state and perks up at the sound of the Gona’s voice. A warrior? She had pictured her as more of a caregiver, astronomer or really anything that wasn’t all that physical. But Rose had only known her for a single night and couldn’t really be the judge of what suited her best. “Plants and the like, I’m good with them. I know about medical herbs too and how to diagnose certain illnesses, but I admit I have a lot left to learn.” She had spent the last few months convincing anyone she could find to tell about herbs and how to heal, but that only got you so far.

Just as she was about to add on to her list, a rustle in the distance interrupts her and she turns to face the noise. Her doppelgänger? No, they weren’t quite that similar but the resemblance between them was still uncanny. The stranger speaks, and Rose puts two and two together to realize that she and Furi are packmates. Not really feeling it’s her place to speak, the yearling look to Furi, hoping she would explain to the awaiting female.

Rose mentions she’s good with plants, and she thinks of Portia (and by default, Hux, even if she does not know him). Blixen seems to like plants too, or at least helping with the garden. Perhaps they’d get along and share whatever they know with one another. She tries to remember who had been good with those sort of things back in Teaghlaigh but it feels so long ago and she’s been wrapped up in her own things most of the time. Furi shoves the thoughts away quickly.

She also doesn’t have enough time to respond because it isn’t long before Blixen shows up, interrupting their conversation. Furi significantly brightens and bounds forward a few steps to close the distance but she stops short, noting the tension in the girl’s shoulder. It’s not the first time Blixen has seemed out of sorts with her and, just as most other times, she’s confused. Her brows knit together and she slows her approach, glancing reassuringly to her new companion.

”Hey...” she draws out with a few swishes of her tail. ”This is Rose. She uh... she wants to join. She was just telling me about all the plants and stuff she knows.”

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SORRY 4 BLIX

the girl - she looks a lot like her. a lot, actually. not exactly - blixen has those tell-tale fox markings, and she's bulkier, and she has amber eyes, not strikingly bright blue. but still. her mouth tightens into a frown despite her best efforts as she fixes her gaze on furi, in time to catch her brows knit. the ginger mirrors her unconsciously, feeling stung but not sure exactly why.

furi introduces the girl as rose. and says that rose wants to join. and something about plants - at any other time blixen might have been happy to hear that but now she's fixiated on wants to join. wants to join what? surely not drageda - but they're at the borders (together) and rose doesn't smell like any other pack. 

blix clears her throat. "furi," she says, fighting every urge to shout 'she can't!', "can i, uh, talk to you for a sec? privately?" it is the most mature she has ever managed to make herself be in these sorts of situations and she does not really wait for furi to move closer to her before she bursts out in a loud whisper, "what do you mean she wants to join? we can't just - nomi's not here," she says significantly, "and we're not really meant to take in outsiders." she shoots the red-furred girl a furtive look, her expression - not harsh but coming close to something bitter, suspicious. 

straightening up, she forces herself to soften her expression (ending up on a sort of guarded neutrality). "sorry," the gona says, not really meaning it a bit. she doesn't want to send her away necessarily - after all, they did take in furi and that big one, ette, so it's not like there isn't a recent precedent for accepting total outsiders, but she thinks about the possibility of the ghost showing up too and imagines what nomi will think. no, it really won't do at all. why did furi have to put her in this position of being the bad guy?

Awe man things just got weird. The stranger, who’s name Rose had yet to learn, outwardly didn’t seem to approve of her. Well damn, that kind of sucked. The candle lit female was grateful for the reassuring smile Furi offered, but Rose couldn’t help but feel as if she was being shoved further and further away. It didn’t help that her look alike asked to speak privately with Furi, making Rose feel as if she was intruding during a sensitive time. 

She tried her best not eavesdrop on the pair’s conversation, only catching the bit about her not being able to join cause a nomi wasn’t here or something? What the heck is a nomi anyway? Her face twisted, trying to recall if she had ever heard the word before but nothing came to mind. She breaks away from the thought as the rusty girl shoots her a suspicious look and apology, Rose offering a forced smile in return. Wait a second, was her replica in charge? It seemed unlikely, making Rose have to wonder why she got to decide who joined and who didn’t. She wanted to voice this, but ultimately thought it best for her to hold her tongue, at least for now.

Uh oh.
 
Maybe she is in trouble. Blixen doesn’t seem amused about bringing a loner to their borders and it surprises her. She isn’t sure she should feel surprised. One ear flickers on her head as she pulls her closer. A whole new world of emotions flies through her and her ears fall. She tries to open her mouth and she has to snap her teeth back together as several things at once try to get out but she stumbles, faltering of what she wants to say. Trying to process it all at once takes her off guard and she searches Blixen’s face for some kind of break.
 
“What are you talking about?” she asks, brows knit tightly together. Eske let in Prince not that long ago, Rose isn’t any different. She even brought Furi to Drageda and she got to stay. The nerves behind her eyes tingle, pricking painfully. Blinking a few times, she shakes her head a little.
 
Her breath seizes up in her throat but she stiffens her posture, keeping her feet firmly in place. The fur along her neck tingles but she fights against it, trying to find some common ground. “You don’t get to make that decision. Eske does.” She aches from clenching so hard but everything shouts at her to back down and it takes whatever she has left to keep it going, her posture matching anything Blixen tries to offer.

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surprised that furi is pushing back, blixen bristles. she has no desire to fall into some dominance battle - they're both gona, they're equals, and they're friends, but why won't furi listen to her? "there are rules," she says, voice sharper than she means (and she winces a little, correcting herself with a slightly softer tone). "there're rules. i know it's eske's decision - or dio's," blix adds meaningfully, frowning a little, "but you don't understand..."

somehow she thinks she's not going to convince furi - and the girl is right, it is dio or eske's decision in the end, blixen's approval be damned. sighing, she turns back to the fire-licked girl, her ears flicked back in annoyance. "okay, rose, what can you contribute to drageda?" furi'd said something about plants but blix hadn't really heard it - and, anyway, she wants to here it from the horse's mouth, so to speak. if rose is so special and cool that furi has to have her join them, fine, prove it -- she isn't going to call for wanlida or wocha until she has an answer for herself.

Oh shit. Things just got good, like real good. Furi, Who Rose had honestly pictured as someone who wouldn’t be so assertive, just roasted the other chick. Rose fought back the urge to smile and snicker, mentally giving her friend a pat on the back for saying something. It was amusing to watch, but she’s also aware that it put a target on her back. 

The other suddenly turned to her then, questioning what she could contribute towards the pack. Rose wasn’t sure what she had done to deserve such hostility but she did her best to try and not let her annoyance show. “Like I was telling Furi,” before you interrupted “I know a lot about herbs and a bit about toxins too. I have medical experience and have helped several wounded in the past. I don’t know everything and there is definitely room for me to grow.” That sounded professional...I guess? She looked to Furi to see if she approved before returning her attention back to the rude one.

Furi tries not to roll her eyes. She really does. Rules. Everyone had rules. She knows that. But this is the process, right? Rose comes to the borders, talks a little bit, and then they let her in. There’s nothing wrong with her. She’s relatively healthy for a young longer right before winter. Furi had been emaciated when Eske came across her a few months ago and look at her now! She opens her mouth to say something, to fight back, but she’s cut off when Blixen turns away from her and begins to talk to Rose. It’s insincere and she’s probably only doing it to placate her. She considers lifting her nose and calling for Eske and Dio but she holds back, hoping the girl will have enough charm for Blixen.
 
Forcing her eyes off Blixen, she looks apologetically at Rose but she hasn’t backed down, either, nor run off. She knows she would have run if it had been her on the other end. Because that’s what she does.  She twists her lips and feels a weight fall off her now that most of the attention isn’t on her anymore. After Rose elaborates a little more than what she’d told Furi, she glances up with a bit of a smile, hoping it would be enough to sway Blixen at all.

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 it did not occur to blix, bless her heart, that she is creating something of a scene, and the idea that rose might be off-put by her spat with furi escapes her. but rose holds her own and - actually, blix can kind of see what furi sees in her. assertiveness is a turn on somewhat... charming.

 "oh," she says dumbly, and glances at furi. "okay, good, that's. good." whatever negative energy had been building inside her suddenly dissapates, leaving her with something of a stomache ache. hell, she's definitely put her foot in it again. even if she's right this time. for a moment the gona considers just resuming her patrol and leaving furi to call for leadership but she isn't going to shirk her duties. "my name is blixen," she adds, incredibly belatedly, "our wocha, dio, or wanlida, eske, will make the final call." the ginger sucks in a deep breath and calls for @Dio - or @Eske, whoever's nearer.

A bit of worry began to set in as she awaited for Blixen’s reaction to her skill set. Rose knew the flame child didn’t have the power to turn her away, but it still made her nervous having someone against her. What happened when someone with real power did show up and saw that the girl already disapproved of her? Plus she had Furi supporting her, and Rose didn’t want to put her through any more trouble than what she already had. 

She sucked in a breath at the Gona’s words, relief rushing through her when the word “ok” reached her ears. Why the heck couldn’t it have been this simple from the beginning? She doesn’t question it, leaving herself to wonder if her look alike had real bad mood swings or was simply that easily swayed. “I’m Rose” she formally introduced, an exhausted smile falling on her lips. She just hopes that whoever shows up to determine if she is fit to join makes their decision quickly, cause she honestly couldn’t handle going through that whole process all over again.

At the urging of the call, he sped his route up and closed that last bit of distance between the tail-end of his patrol and to where Blixen summoned for leadership. Not knowing what exactly could await was one thing--good? bad? something else entirely? He couldn't say. Although he was glad nothing about the note had suggested any particular urgency or bad news, he still didn't want to dawdle around.. especially with Thuringwethil still gone and a whole lot up in the air in regards to how all of that would pan out in the weeks to come.

He slowed up before the trio when he reached view of them. "Hei," he rumbled while flagging his tail and set to eyeing the unfamiliar reddish girl most of all. Blixen and Furi, too, got glances. He was quick to assume the stranger had something to do with why he or Eske were wanted here. Nothing about her was familiar, scent nor sight, but he was going to need to hear more. "What's going on?"

There’s a weird sort of relief Furi feels when Blixen seems to be “approving” of Rose and she hates it. It isn’t Blixen’s decision to turn away Rose or not but if she doesn’t have a good impression, when someone with the authority does come, they’re gonna believe the fiery girl instead of the “outsider.” Her jaw tightens as she does not completely let herself relax as they exchange an awkward introduction followed by a call to Eske or Dio. 

Furi doesn’t know what to expect when Dio arrives a few minutes later. Since Blixen stays with them, Furi decides against speaking up. After having spoken for Rose once with her head nearly chewed off, she isn’t in favor of the incident repeating with one of the leaders. She averts her eyes, looking near Rose and tries to offer what support she can without allowing herself to get closer.

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secretly, she's relieved to see dio instead of eske. not because she has any doubts in eske's ability but she knows eske would favor furi's opinion over hers. dio, at least, will be impartial. 

furi doesn't speak - the gona glances at her, a little expectantly, to find her eyes averted. blix's mouth twists. she is not diplomatic, she does not approve of this, why is furi making her do the talking? but if she... voices her disapproval, her friend will definitely be even madder at her. the ginger licks her lips and looks at dio. "this is rose," she says, somewhat awkwardly. "she.. knows about herbs and has some medical experience. she'd like to join us," she adds after a beat, glancing at furi once more. her tone is not exactly warm and welcoming, but she thinks that's a fairly neutral introduction and she's careful not to mention that the other gona brought her to their borders. blix doesn't want to get furi in trouble - she was just trying to be preventative, you know? it just. backfired. a lot. a lot.

At the sound of footsteps approaching, Rose suddenly felt an unexpected rush of anxiety over take her. She had never gone through the whole formal joining process before and the yearling had to admit it was a bit intimidating. It didn’t help that Blixen was still around, who Rose felt still held some kind of unwarranted grudge. But oh well, there was no going back now. 

She listened as her look alike filled the pale man in, Rose taking the opportunity to toss Furi a smile that said don’t worry, I got this. Once Blixen was done with the basic overview, Rose dipped her head to greet the man before saying “it’s basically what she said. I’m good with plants, have prior experience with healing injuries, and I’ve spent enough time on my own to become confident in my hunting abilities.” She was no master hunter, but she had been good enough to make it this far on her own and that had to count for something.

Although his eyes narrow between the three of them, he cannot quite tell what is going on here. When she speaks, though, he settled on Blixen for her details that come. He angled back his ears, because of course she would come to them while their commander is away. Still, he nods slowly, and pulls the weighty look towards the other red-head--Rose, rather--as she lays her case. Naturally enough, any mention of plants and healing makes him think about his mate. If she were here, he knew she would have the right question to ask to see just how good she was, and if her skills were tangible enough to be worthy of Drageda. Now really wasn't the best time for plant gathering after the frosts had set in, and neither did they house any injured here.

However.. depending on the outcome of Heda's very trip, there may be chance to prove herself soon enough depending on what their next course of action would be. If they had a directive, he did not doubt that his commander may make a rise of it.

"Alright," he says, drawing a breath. The thoughtful scrunch of his brow deepens, and his ears tilt up tall again. It isn't bad and although she looks pretty young and wispy still, time and the right environment could always do wonders for that. "Why Drageda though?" Did she understand, or even know the half of it? Then again, what did she know? Blixen and Furi might have shared some, or at the very least, alluded to their lifestyles here. He did not want her to take this choice lightly.

To her surprise, Blixen takes over (though she supposes she’s not that surprises. She does, however, miss the look shot her way when she focuses on Rose who gives her an encouraging look in return. Her smile softens and becomes less tense and a beat later, Dio holds her attention as he accepts the information given. He doesn’t outright turn her away but he does follow up with another question instead of accepting her. It’s not the end, though, and she holds her breath in the meantime while she waits so she doesn’t get herself in anymore trouble this time around. 

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she looks at furi again, sees the way her expression softens when she looks at rose. her mouth twists, something ugly settling back into her belly, something different from the anger she'd carried when mother had been missing. swallowing thickly, the gona looks back at dio. as expected, he doesn't quite take her in with open arms, though he's certainly much more diplomatic than blix about it. his question is fair - she forces herself to glance again at rose and furi, wondering how much furi told her about drageda, about their way of life. she hopes more than nothing, for rose's sake.

Rose feels a rush of relief at the male’s assumed acceptance, only for her to be thrown off course by his next few words. He tossed a question at her she hadn’t been expecting, and while it is a relatively easy thing to answer, the yearling doubted he’d let her in with “I made a friend and I wanna stay with her”. She took a few moments to think back to last night, recalling her bed buddy mentioning something about the pack being family oriented before they both dozed off. “Furi told me a bit about how your pack is like a family, and since I don’t have one of my own, I thought it’d be nice to try and build those relationships here if I could.”

It sounded nice enough, a close-knit family all joined together in one place. However, based on what she had seen between Blixen and Furi, Rose wasn’t entirely sure if they were all buddy buddy like she had originally imagined.

She answered, and he couldn't argue with it. It didn't seem like she came to them with much baggage, and instead, a good measure of potential promise. Mention of her earned a quick glance Furi's way before he began his slow nod. This had become his family too, and once, he had also been the outsider. There was more he could pry for but instead, he would rather she just prove it. "Fair enough," he exhaled a sigh, then prepared to trudge through the next matter. Always, he'd defer to Heda, and if for some reason she deemed this flame-coated girl unfit, or knew something he couldn't here and now, then that would be the deal-breaker. "I'm Dio, Wocha here," he explained, not going into ranking detail here and now unprompted. There were more important issues at hand: "You may stay, but, our commander is away right now. Appealing to her and proving that you're worthy by the time she gets back will make sure that welcome doesn't expire," he punctuated with a firm look to drive the point home. Thuringwethil would be a wise wolf to know once she was back and all was settled, hopefully in their favor, when the time was right.

"Kru is where you will begin until your skills are recognized. My mate Portia is a healer here, and we have several hunters to rally with," he suggested--and trusted that his speckled other half would let him know if she was bluffing her skills eventually. It would just take time. "Anything else?" he eyed her less harshly now, although left this pause hanging in case she needed it. If not, then it was soon time for her to learn about Drageda's lands firsthand.