Dragoncrest Cliffs A-after the war I went back to New York
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#1
keeping vague re: injuries for now


Although their victory was secured it was not without consequence. Argent -- Étoille -- had known he was likely to face injury or worse for his crimes and so he considers himself lucky. His vanity is harmed, sure, but once he heals completely, perhaps it will give him some manner of stateliness and mystery. Oddly he finds himself feeling some passing concern for the two children he became aquainted with while staying in Blackfeather's borders. With their disabilities, the trauma of losing their homes must come harder.

But they are no longer of any concern to him. The titan is back within Drageda, letting the smell of blood and feathers fade from his fur. In the immediate aftermath of their battle, he'd stayed quiet, but now that the dust seems to have settled a little, there is a report he has to make. He calls for @Thuringwethil, ready to give a full debriefing on what he witnessed in the last days of his mission.
what do i do after all this survival?
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Ooc — Kermy
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#2
Thuringwethil wears her exhaustion like a cape, unable to untie and let it loose. It hangs around for several days following the war when she is meant to be resting, but unable to do anything but think about what happened. She’s been to war before, taken lives in the name of Drageda, but this victory does not feel the way it should. They helped the caldera and made their lands safer without the Blackfeather wolves around anymore and Wildfire is home safe. Everyone (she hasn’t done a headcount of those that remained) is home.

When Étoille’s call reaches her ears, she turns and idly makes her way to him. After a few minutes, realizing her gait has no purpose behind it, she shakes her head and begins to trot, dropping the drudging what energy she has to spare to close the distance. It is a strange feeling, she thinks. Étoille has spent more time away from Drageda than actively in it but she feels closer to him on their cultural level than she does some of the others. His dedication to them has given her surprise and a fondness has formed and she wonders, very briefly, if he has this effect on everyone.

She sees him through the redwoods and she weaves over, slowing to a stop and greeting him with a single nod.
Trigedasleng · Common
all that wanting, all that aching, all that capacity for love:
it never belonged to you in the first place
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#3

Heda is quick to arrive (at this point the fact that he doesn't know her name barely crosses his mind -- she's just heda to him). He dips his own head low, feeling a slight twinge of self consciousness at his newly marred face. He hasn't sought a reflection yet to assess the damage for himself, but it cannot be good.

"I'm glad you are well," he says by way of greeting. She'd suffered injuries as they all had, but none that seemed life threatening. If it weren't for the urgent nature of his message he might be inclined to let her rest longer (and rest more himself) but as it stands... "do you know of a child that resembles the Blackfeather leader -- nearly identical, in fact." The boy seemed to be from Drageda -- or at least that was the impression Étoille got -- but he had not met him before his depture for Blackfeather and so has no way of knowing if Heda knows him or not.
what do i do after all this survival?
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Ooc — Kermy
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#4
As fond as she is of the titan, there is little she knows about him, but now is not the time. She feels she knows him well enough through their bonding of Drageda that whatever else he has won’t be a problem. This meeting is no different, either, as by his posture and tone of his words are still in business and if he needs to tell her, she’ll listen. The war with Blackfeather may be over but that doesn’t mean it is the end and as Étoille offers a question, she stiffens and tightens her jaw.

”Yes,” she says, recollecting her time with their leader (not fondly, by any means). She hadn’t noticed Arrille’s scent but she hasn’t been looking for it either. She hasn’t really looked for anyone in particular, if she’s being honest. ”Arrille. A young man that Blixen’s friend invited, however I confined him to the borders,” she explained. She hadn’t trusted him, not until after the war, but if Étoille brings him up then she knows something is off and the end isn’t so concrete after all.
Trigedasleng · Common
all that wanting, all that aching, all that capacity for love:
it never belonged to you in the first place
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#5

He can't help but straighten slightly at her words. Blixen's friend presumably means Furi. He'd not thought too hard about the boy but he feels a latent surge of offense on behalf of choupinou. Does she know of his betrayal, he wonders, and then hopes he doesn't have to be the one to deliver the news. That sort of thing isn't his forte.

"He arrived at Blackfeather's borders some days before you with a woman. Small, mostly white but for her head, which was black." Her appearance had been distinctive, memorable, though of course Étoille has no idea of her history with Drageda. "She seemed to want to mobilize Blackfeather against Drageda while our forces were split for war." He had not remained long enough to gather all the details, nor did he really understand the full complexity of the relationships at play between Vaati and Arrille and the other man who resembled them. But it is enough to know they had a traitor in their midst and an enemy who wants to see them gone.
what do i do after all this survival?
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#6
Well she let him into the arms of Drageda, she hadn’t trusted him enough to go beyond the borders, which hadn’t change when they’d left for the caldera some time ago. She’s thankful now she’d taken the precaution but she hesitates to think it had been the motivation from the start. The boy has been misguided and lost without the proper knowledge on how to behave.

Etoille’s explanation doesn’t offer much, speaking about a woman she does not recognize. By the description, she sounds like she’d be recognizable with a black face and pale body. The Phoenix leader from long ago doesn’t look anything like it and she does not suspect they are back for revenge, so long after they’d been chased from their land, but that does not mean they’ve created some enemy in the meantime she’s unaware. This section of the coast has long since been just them and Blackfeather Woods obviously didn’t take the bait to come to their lands.

Something doesn’t quite add up. Is Arrille even here after this?

Thuringwethil licks her lips and l0oks away, thinking about what she’s just been given. Arrille has committed treason and her jaws tighten, wishing for the boy’s throat between her teeth.

“I do not know anyone by that description,” she explains, wondering if she should bring together the other wolves and begin to sort it out. She clicks her teeth a little in frustration, wishing to lay all this to rest but their work is not done and it would be foolish to have thought it be. There’s the possibility the Blackfeather wolves now know where they live. “Did she say why? Or who she is? Where she’s from?” she asks, though if he hasn’t told her in the initial, he may not know at all. Still, it is enough to prepare them. “In the meantime, we will keep an eye out for the boy.”
Trigedasleng · Common
all that wanting, all that aching, all that capacity for love:
it never belonged to you in the first place
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#7

Heda doesn't recognize the description he provides, curiously. He tries to think back to the scene, but he had not stayed for the full of her plan, too concerned with being caught. "She mentioned the Sound," he says finally, "perhaps she is with the pack that has formed there?" Though what business they would have against Drageda up above them Étoille has no answers for. Regretfully he lowers his head. "I am afraid that is all the information I have," he says, feeling not for the first time a mild sense of frustration at his inability to gain much useful intel. His learning of Arrille's betrayal, even, was happenstance rather than skill -- but perhaps it is enough that he lived among them and survived, and the war is won, and he is here now to continue to serve heda as needed.
what do i do after all this survival?
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Ooc — Kermy
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#8
I know technically you don't have your specialty but you have most complete and those left are close to closing, anyway. Plus it fits, lol.

News of a pack in the sound is new to her. There hasn’t been anyone nearby since the Nereids were once on the island nearby. She stares at him for a moment, trying to process this news. She has spent the last day or so resting, nursing her wounds but there has been no report just yet. Her ears fold back against her head and she looks away, processing it for another time. She at least has a starting point in finding him, if they do go hand in hand. She licks her lips and nods her head, thankful for what she has been given. “Thank you. We’ll sort this out, too,” she says.

A pack next door does not scare her, especially if they are new. Their numbers are not likely to match their own (she doesn’t consider she could be wrong) but she does not realize there is a connection. She hums quietly, shifting, deciding she’ll need to talk to Dio and Eske soon. But for now, her focus remains on her companion.

“You have done a lot for us with success. I’d like to give you the title of Steltrona. You’ve proven you’re good at it,” she tells him after a moment and given his talent, she suspects it’ll be easy to determine his job within Drageda.
Trigedasleng · Common
all that wanting, all that aching, all that capacity for love:
it never belonged to you in the first place
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#9

Although he is frustrated he did not glean more information for Drageda, he is glad to have been of some use, at the least. He hopes whatever conflict the black-capped woman sought to bring to them is nothing more than false alarm. Blackfeather had not bit at the bait if nothing else, as far as Étoille can tell. 

His eyes widen slightly in surprise at heda's proclaimation. He is, of course, flattered. And it is true he considers himself sort of a success in his own right. Yet.. "Thank you," he begins, "although I am not sure I was very good at all." It is a rare display of -- humility, perhaps. Insecurity if you squint. Not that he will turn down heda's appointment or shirk any job given... but he doesn't want to let her down, either.
what do i do after all this survival?
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#10
wrap?

Étoille appreciates and accepts the title but he does brush his work under the rug and her ears swivel a little on her head, watching him a few seconds before deciding on what to say. ”Even if you hadn’t learned anything, you went into enemy territory and came out in one piece,” she tells him. He’d managed to keep a veil until the end, when they did what they needed to do. What she has planned for him next, if anything, will remain to be seen, but she nods her head once in further appreciation. ”Let’s find something to eat?” she offers, though perhaps something only from the cache for the time being—until her paw have at least healed enough to put more force on them.
Trigedasleng · Common
all that wanting, all that aching, all that capacity for love:
it never belonged to you in the first place
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#11
yep <3

She raises a valid point. His stay in Blackfeather may have been relatively peaceful for what it's worth, but he had still been putting himself into significant danger, hadn't he? With a hum the titan dips his head, accepting her assessment in silence - and her offer of a shared meal. "Merci," he says quietly, falling into step beside her as they move to the cache.