Ankyra Sound providence, just a myth if i aim to let my trigger pray

nomi has been gone for a while, now -- blixen doesn't know when to expect her return, but she hopes, secretly, that it is soon. she has been in control long enough for her to feel more comfortable with it -- or, well, about as comfortable as one can get in just a few short months -- and so it is not necessarily a desire to be 'rid' of her leadership. she just misses her nomi.

today is one of those rare times blix lets herself slip from drageda territory, walking with @Helix toward the sound. in a way, helix's company is soothing when she most misses nomi -- they are similar in many ways, even if she does not yet have the same relationship with the older woman. plus she's trying not to be too forward with mallaidh right now, lest they fall back into the same suffocating pattern that hurt them both before. the trip to the sound itself was, surprisingly, the commander's idea, to see if that wretched bear that scarred her is still lurking in the caverns. between bat's disappearance, kiwi and silkie's panic-inducing forays, and in general, the ease with which the younger generation takes to leaving whenever they feel like it (something that startles homebody blixen) she thinks it probably makes sense to try and scope it out. 

(and if secretly she kind of hopes its still there, lowkey eager for a round two to prove herself -- well, there's a reason she's not alone.)

outloud she addresses none of these thoughts, instead letting her gaze flicker back to her companion as she asks, "how long do you think nomi will be gone for?"

Helix has visited the sound a number of times to be able to comfortably lead Blixen away from Drageda’s borders into the neighboring territory. She doesn’t question the reason why they’re going, settling back into her guardian ways. The acting commander doesn’t have a proper guard of her own (perhaps foolish on Thuringwethil’s part) so Helix has picked up the slack at the same time sitting at her right hand (wait a second…).
 
Ears stand tall upon her head, setting her issues aside and taking note of any stray scents. Nothing stands out and after all, she feels they’re alone enough she can let down her guard. She turns her head to the girl when she speaks. “I don’t know,” she tells her and frowns. “No two wars are the same.” It isn’t going to make it any better but for all they know, they’re on their way home. “How long was the last war?”

ugh sorry my dear finals are hellish

helix's answer is honest but not exactly reassuring. the commander makes a unsure gesture, the wolfish equivalent to blowing her bangs out of her eyes (imagine at your leisure), and says, "a few months at least." the actual battles had been briefer, but she counts the time spent at the caldera -- maybe even the time spent looking for mother, at the expense of her childhood.

hopefully the war nomi wages won't be so much longer. she pressed forward cautiously, ears pulling forward as they near the spot the bear had struck. there's stale scents, wolf and ursine, but nothing recent as far as she can tell. still, her muscles tense, hackles raising slightly. to helix she says "there was a bear in the sound -- we fought it. it's how i got these," she adds, wiggling a little to demonstrate her chest scars. "there was a pack here -- i think the bear must have driven them out. but i wanted to see if the bear was still here." she leaves the implied "and try to take it on again" omitted (she knows helix would immediately put the kabosh on that anyway.)

helix nods when she speaks of the other war. a lot of it is planning and preparation so she suspects much of those few months had fallen into that category. when it comes to the actual fighting, it’s a matter of hours, days at most, and so it reaches a crescendo before toppling over to an end. thuringwethil has a lot to familiarize herself with returning to trigeda and she doesn’t suspect it’ll be an easy process but once it’s over, it’s over, and surely heda will return home.
 
when blixen speaks of the bear, her ears twitch and she comes to a stop to stare at her. she remembers the two women from before, speaking of a bear, but she’d only been briefed upon an attack near drageda. with nothing to show for it, aside from blixen’s scars she likes to show off, helix doesn’t feel comfortable continuing.
 
“we have to be careful if we’re searching for a bear. two against one isn’t going to be in our favor and we have to be prepared to run,” she tells the commander. she can see the glint in blixen’s eye and doesn’t have to utter a single word of what she truly desires but the last thing the fleimkepa is going to do is lead her leader, and heda’s daughter, into danger. she may not be cheka in title but she assumes the role more often than not.

ah, there is helix's stalwart, stabilizing presence to nip blixen's impetuousness in the bud. she nods, hiding a tiny frown. "we'll be careful," she agrees, which really means, fine, i'll be careful, but she's grateful underneath it all for helix's ambigous role as mentor-cheka. on the few occasions she's let herself imagine what it'd be like to stay commander (never heda, of course, just commander) she wonders if helix would formally agree to be her cheka. sometimes, very very briefly, she allows herself to imagine that mallaidh would be her cheka -- though in those fantasies the roles usually end up reversed, with blix desiring to serve as her friend's faithful guardian. 

despite her assurance to be careful, she presses on, creeping slowly further inland. she's never been this deep in the sound -- there's something she likes about it. the scent of her foe remains stale and intermingled. "i don't think it's here anymore," she comments, her gaze drawn toward the caverns where, presumably, it made its home (not that she knows much about how bears live). glancing back toward helix, she makes a gesture toward the caverns, an eyebrow raised in question.

blixen assures her she’ll be careful. helix remembers being her age. with responsibility on her shoulders, she hopes it can override the desire to live big an free and fight everything with teeth and claws. she’s learned over the course of years that she is not invincible and eventually she will come to an end.
 
it’s not going to be a bear to do her in, either.
 
the acting commander announces she thinks the bear is gone. her own nose unable to determine anything other than the ordinary, they find the entrance to the grotto and looks over at blixen, offering to go inside. helix tightens her jaw and nods, stepping closer to the woman so they do not miss anything and if they need to, they’ll have the ability to run without separating—or, at the very least, for helix to distract the beast long enough to get the redhead out of there.

their exploration after that is silent, a careful trip through the grotto. there's no life here, only scents that tell stories blix doesn't give thought to; eventually the pair emerges and makes back toward drageda, her itch to investigate thoroughly satisfied. once safely returned within drageda's borders she parts from her guardian for the night to rest.