Dragoncrest Cliffs with walls and towers were girdled round

i'm gonna say Tasha went off to try and find other Luks so that I don't have to backdate this a stupid amount, kay? paging @Isleñaa @Blixen @Dio

she was elated to have found isleña at the fertility festival, and thought that the reunion might be the beginning of good fortune. emboldened by it, tashkent went out seeking others, searching near and far (avoiding the mountains, this time). but the meeting seemed to be a happy accident; she found not a single luk—not enx, not kuyuk, not even mengu. they were all gone; vanished, it seemed, into thin air, like her memories.

so isleña is all that remains of her blood here. with a heavy heart, she makes her way toward the coast and the cliffs that they had described, searching for the scent she'd found upon her cousin's pelt. it is sundown when she reaches the place, and she wastes no time in letting loose a sweet but plaintive howl for isleña and for the leaders of drageda.

tasha knows this place will fit her like a glove. truthfully, all places fit her like gloves, for she is made of sinuous, liquid stuff, and fills every mold she's poured into. she has to, to survive. it has been in her nature since birth. and not only will she survive, she will thrive, as she always has. it will take some time—but soon, her desires will once again be within reach.

Determined to beat the bite of the bitterly cold temperatures, he patrolled anyway for as long as he could tolerate it, and this placed him near when the call rose to reach the winds. With a heavy sigh, he turned towards the source with his ears up tall, listening, and was already expecting to be the first to find her before he set to close the distance. This could potentially be a distraction worth looking for, at least.

The pale wocha arrived stone-faced and horrendously serious, all far from the most welcoming of countenances to come upon on the edge of these Cliffs, and even less so lately when after it all, a somber, dire guardian remained in the aftermath of his sorrows. Thankfully each day was greater than the last, and he was persistent devoted to toughing it out if all else failed. Why have you called? he asked when he slowed to a stop, poised and drawn to his height. Blixen may not be far behind him, but he wasn't feeling like stalling much already.

He kept the wondering about her summons' other note for Isleña for later, plus how long until she showed too. It wasn't lost on him that their looks seemed a touch reminiscent (though he only really recognized her in passing), so he hoped her explanations could have time to outrun suspicion.

a very handsome man greets her, and she wonders whether this is aurewen's beau that had been mentioned in sly, furtive passing. she dips her nose demurely, giving him a smile that straddles the edge of bashful and coquettish.

my cousin, isleña, dwells here, tashkent says, eyes wandering a little around his bulk, further into the territory. i wish to join her, as i've no other family left in these parts—and being alone is a terrible thing. she lets a little bit of grief slip into her tone before it vanishes again into warmth.

she tilts her head, regarding him curiously. do i need to prove my worth, sir? the barbarian asks. i assure you, i am not dead weight. i can be of whatever service you need in. . .drageda, she recalls the name, which pleases her. it is full of elegant violence.

That answered that, already, and for knowing they had her family among them--the last of it in the area, evidently--should add some weight to their cause here as unsurprisingly now, she sought to join them. Plus, something about her handling of this told him she knew a bit of what to expect here, like perhaps a vague enough familiarity of Drageda. He wasn't sure if this was a good, or bad thing yet but at least she seemed good at acting that way.

And in the wake of so many major losses, her assurances spoke their magnitudes. She offered to prove it, and he took a slow, single step closer while leaning off on it. His adjustments were subtle but he would like to see her do so soon, if only as a quick glimpse. We need the strong. Warriors, and guard, to start.. he said. Those not afraid to face the potential of war, or turbulence as the cliffside wolves could be keen to find--and he wasn't overlooking their hostile neighbors who still posed an ongoing problem when they had litters on the way, too. 

What he wanted for Drageda were those able to hold their own, most of all. So, show me, the wocha quipped, offering a flagged tail and a feint forward towards her space to tell her what he meant with the click to his teeth. He could see how she could take to that, and gave her the chance to answer before he pressured her again for an exchange of motion, and if she knew what she was getting into, jaws too.

i am strong, she answers, her grin growing foxlike as she danced away from his forward motion, relishing in the sound of his teeth against empty air. her blue-green gaze settles upon his burly form, flickering from muscle to muscle with a mixture of open admiration and clinical observation.

and then she darts forward, jaws aimed at his left front ankle, all the while twisting her body to land perpendicular when her mouth closes around his flesh. should she be successful, her weight will slam against his right leg while she attacks his left, leaving him with only his rear limbs to carry his bulk.

then he will go down, down, down, like a tree in a terrible storm.

She answered, and she answered well to give his better expectations one good solid push forward. His experienced eye wasn't missing it, not even in her subtleties, and soon a new fascination was able to seep in. Worries eased back then too, for although he already had his response, he did not yet say--not to interrupt this, not when his shift from offense to defense has to be rapidfire. She has him backpedaling already, very fast, and though his lips curl into a new snarl as he tries to avoid her, his eyes are bright with opportunity and interest. But, she's quick and he likes that, despite the inherent danger in it that he isn't one to ignore. He can work with that, though.

The sting of teeth on his left forelimb is soon lighting up his senses and given nearness enough for that, took that instant to gather up a hard slam forward of his own to meet hers that he led with his teeth towards her nape, or shoulder's whereabouts. He aimed for anything to help slow down her momentum while he tried to balance all of this, but he knew what he could take, and swung back undaunted--prepared for the volley of teeth and bodies to follow for as long as it takes. It's what he wonders if Drageda lacks enough of it right now sometimes, after all that had gone on.

Some new fiery blood could do them good when everything felt so bleak and slipping, so, with him overdue for a proper outright go at it, welcome to Drageda in this way said the force he put behind his strikes. He hoped she is in their best interest, and at least their first meeting was the most interesting, least stressful thing he'd done in days.

considering everything, this can be his last here. you can pp him if you wanna post again for any narrative sake or just archive it since vague, i'll leave it <3