more and more rangers keep finding their way to her door. it makes sense, in a way, that those already connected to the league in a professional capacity would come with ideas. civilians are busy with their civilian lives, content to shake their fists at the league after every disaster. 

she's clicking away at a laptop when there's a knock on her slightly ajar door. pale eyes peer over the screen to see a young, nervous girl standing at the other side. her lips tilt in a frown. 

"miss morningstar. i've no spouse." she runs her tongue along her teeth and waves a hand to beckon the girl inside.

"i have time, yes." she clicks around a bit more, moving to block the next thirty minutes off on her schedule, but it's already been done. Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki is faster than freya gives her credit for. 

she draws away from the keys and gives the girl her full attention. 

"what brings you in today, ranger...?" she asks, waiting for the girl's own introductions. 

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

she must be around Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki's age, but the two young women are like night and day. tsubaki may trip over her tongue sometimes, but it's not from lack of confidence. she carries a weight with her that this girl does not. this ranger - gwen, she introduces - is softer. not broken in or broken down. not yet, anyway.

hoenn has a way of changing that.

her brows go up at the compliment, but she doesn't comment on it; instead, she tilts her head to see the pages from her book displaying on the tablet. pride flushes the back of her neck, straightening her spine, and for a moment she forgets how exhausted she is. 

the thin line of her lips draw up in a small smile. she reaches for the water bottle on her desk and pours a cap full of water into the palm of her hand, turning it gently so the droplets can patter on top of the chirping goomy's head. 

setting the bottle down and with that hand free, she points to the taming tips section of garchomp. "novice tamers should not engage with wild garchomp," she reads. "and though Michael Navidson works with them in more capacity than i do, i think he'd be inclined to agree."

she wriggles still-damp fingers above the goomy in an effort to make it squirm happily. 

"your little one is healthy and sweet. what attracts you to the garchomp?"

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

gwendolyn yearns to be another statistic, it seems, but freya can understand feeling powerless. more than most.

the goomy wiggles its gelatinous little body, swaying to the slow fanning wave of freya's wrist. she chuckles and gives gwen time to explain herself, all while distracting the goomy well enough that it turns circles while trying to follow the pattern her fingers are making. 

"your goomy escapes its ball because it does not respect you," she says cheerily and finally withdraws her hand. "not to say it doesn't love you. or that it wouldn't stand in front of an enemy for you. but there will come a time when it needs to trust you over its own instincts." she tilts her head. 

"dragons are not a 'get strong quick' scheme." her voice is steady and forceful, professional and void of any irritation. gwen sits and freya crosses her arms. "if you lose control of a dragon on the field, it only makes any situation all the more dangerous."

she hums. "such are the sacrifices we make working on the frontlines." you won't be able to protect everyone, she wants to say, but she bites back the words. instead, she sighs and stands, grabbing her keys. 

"come with me."

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

well, at least there's that. she doesn't think it's going to be all sunshine and daisies. it helps, too, to hear that she's an inspiration. dragons, after all, aren known for their pride. 

they have to cross the expanse of ever grande's property to get to where they're going. at gwendolyn's question, freya simply smiles and readjusts the plaits of her braids as they walk. 

"in a controlled environment, with proper trainers and trusted dragons, learning the basics of taming is easier. not to say it's easy. you may very well still lose a finger and get scars." her own are littered over her body in pale silver and blushes of red. 

across the grass they walk. onto a trail out back; one that leads down, down, down into a tunnel. sunlight wanes and is replaced with electric sconces, which buzz to life as they walk. and then comes more light. 

they step out into freya's current work in progress. "Eva Morales originally built this as a sanctuary for rayquaza while they were healing," she says. traces of the dragon lord still remain; shed skin has been repurposed into nests; foot-long scales serve as fencing.

"and now it has another use."

most impressive though, are the hordes of dragons nesting and training and flying about the area. they're under the careful watch of handlers. freya tears her gaze away from the area and looks down at gwen with one brow raised. 

"would you like to meet the garchomp then?"

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

"it's important you feel heard," she replies to gwen's thanks. her council duties keep her busy and the ever-present threat of cataclysm has its demands. but for too long, the council has forgotten about the people. 

one soldier can turn the tide of war and if this one wants to learn how to tame dragons, freya would be a fool to deny her. the jury is still out on whether or not the mild-mannered ranger can handle it, but she wants to protect others. she wants to protect someone. and that's a good enough reason as any in her book.

she smiles amusedly and raises a hand at one of the noivern looking down at them. "nevy." at her name, the noivern's ears swivel and she unclasps her toes, dropping down with a flutter beside them. freya's outstretched hand meets her white, fluffy mane. 

"they're not in the wild because they're all mine," she says with a laugh. and then goes on, "the morningstars tamed and lent dragons to the league in sootopolis. eva and i thought this sanctuary would be most useful if turned into a similar facility, as it had almost all the infrastructure we needed."

nevy cocks her head and observes her mistress' companion and with a soft hiss from freya, takes her leave.

"alice, have the garchomp been fed yet today?" she asks a worker in passing. the brunette flips through her clipboard and nods. "wonderful. can you pull ghishath and minos out for me please?" she gives freya and gwen a sideways glance at she goes, but moves off to fulfill the request. 

as they stray from the entryway tunnel, the area brightens considerably. above is the clear blue sky. a few fluffy clouds drift through the open-air dome. "she didn't want rayquaza feeling trapped when it woke. of course, there are mesh guards at the top now in case any of the dragons act up, but they appreciate the fresh air."

she leads them to an outcropping of rocks. the greenery becomes sparse and as they near, low hisses and the snapping of jaws can be heard. that same brunette has a slab of meat in a gloved hand and is leading one of the garchomp out of its tunnel. 

basking in the sun is a gabite who spies them, hisses in warning, and ducks his head back down. 

"minos is still mostly feral. we've been working extensively with him the past couple of weeks. ghishath, oddly enough, is higher on the social hierarchy. he's the only one of the garchomp minos listens to."

she crouches down next to a bin and scoops up a couple of painted crystals, holding out a couple to gwen. "we'll approach ghishath first. follow my lead, alright? and no sudden movements."

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

she's asking all the right questions. her appreciation for her deepens at her pondering. it's been a long while since she's had the chance to speak to someone at length about her work - her real work. and so gwendolyn is afforded a rare instance where freya morningstar has a smile on her face, her griefs and her losses forgotten, for this moment, as she is wholly absorbed in sharing her passions. 

"some of them are, yes, but almost all of them are tamed. and we keep the easily aggravated species away from each other. without resources to fight over, they're more amiable."

she rolls the tumbled stones around in the palm of her hand and laughs. "no, they're not going to eat them."

when gwendolyn holds her hands out, a ruby catches the light, sending pink and red hues onto the rocky ground. ghishath turns his head quizzically and uncurls from his perch, stepping down with a hissing click in the back of his throat. 

"they like to collect shiny things. he'll see it as an offering from you." she reaches slowly into her back pocket and offers a glove to gwen. ghishath's reptilian gaze follows freya's movements and then shifts back to the ruby. 

he bobs his head. "ah, there you go. keep at it. entice him closer. no sudden movements. and if you can get the glove on - sorry, i should have asked you to do that before - you can try to reach out and touch him. slowly."

Gwendolyn Conway

☉

ghishath continues his approach. freya looks over their heads to view the garchomp behind them. minos is still happily tearing into the flank of meat he'd been given. satisfied with the amount of time they have to establish a connection, freya drops her gaze back to the two. 

ghishath teases the ruby into his mouth and cocks his head, considering the woman in front of him. his yellow iris follows her movements. some of his weight shifts to his left side as she pulls the glove on. 

good. 

he does not lean into the touch. but she's able to place the pads of her fingers onto the rough skin of his hide. he makes another sound in his throat and then backs away, snorting and then turning his back on her. 

"mm, well he doesn't see you as a threat. otherwise, he'd have gutted you for the ruby in your hand." her eyes twinkle mischievously. "but that sound he made? that's basically dragon-speech for contentment. it's as close to a thank you as you'll get. and minos heard it too, so he won't bother you now either. you'll just need to be respectful of their space."

she nears her and clasps a hand on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. "you want to work with them with me? over the next couple of weeks?"

Gwendolyn Conway

☉