Blackfeather Woods lighter than an eiderdown

@Shivali

Should Blackfeather Woods have another war, Maegi had them covered. The girl trotted awkwardly along with yet another bundle of moss in her mouth, eventually drawing to a halt, rearing on her hind legs, and placing the wad gently inside the cache she had started. It nestled in with the other wads, creating an otherworldly-looking green fuzzy growth from the hollowed out tree that made her giggle slightly to see it. It was like something out of a scary story--the hairy tree.

It was something to do, at least. Kove was more busy than before, what with stepping up to the plate as Dark Master. Euron and Ramsay were gone, as was Cicero--so no one remained to teach her about poisons. She supposed she could ask Potema for lessons on healing. . . The girl laughed aloud at the thought, a different sound from the childish titter of before--something cold, menacing, an edge of steel to it.

Despite Cicero's warning against it, she had been beginning to test substances on herself in quite small doses. She would have snared a fox, but they were unusually absent, perhaps waiting for the weather to grow warmer before poking their noses out of their dens again. Anyway, nothing she wasn't familiar with--but she had seen how nettles could make one bleed, and the seeds from the poppy flowers sent her into a delirious haze. No wonder Potema had been addicted.

The incest children had always been raised hands-off, but this was getting ridiculous. Maegi felt all but abandoned lately, sitting here in the woods with her moss collection and her stupid collar. All she wanted was for someone to play with.

Was that too much to ask?

Given how small their numbers have fallen since the war, she suspects they can keep a low profile for now. If the other pack shows up to check the territory—something she’d do if the victory—there’s been no indication. She doesn’t spend a lot of time outside the borders, keeping close to the dark depths of the woods for any sign of an intrusion. There isn’t much she’d be able to do on her own but the rest of them are on high alert and a short call would bring them closer.
 
For now, she takes a break and moves inward, absently following a scent she can scarcely attach to a face. Most of the wolves seem close and she doesn’t know any of them, except for Kove, and spending all her time with the one leading them isn’t plausible—even if she wants to—so she settles for whatever she’s come across.
 
When she finds the child, her gaze softens and her posture shifts a little. She’s shoving moss into a tree and Shivali watches for a moment until she plops down. The dark collar contrasts against her fur and her brows knit together, trying to get a better look. The woman chuffs lowly for the kid’s attention but with no intention to startle.

Her time spent wary and alone in Blackfeather Woods had given her reconaissance skills almost on Euron's level, and so she heard the woman coming from many tail-lengths away, settling back down on her haunches and turning to face the. . .well, this was an unfamiliar face.

Like Kove and Relmyna--and herself--the woman was white-pelted, a pale apparition in the dark forest. She was further tied to the Dark Master in Maegi's mind as the girl drew in her scent; Kove's musk was layered upon her pelt thicker than anyone else. They must be close, and, well, if this she-wolf was a friend of Kove's, then she couldn't be too bad--right?

"Hello," Maegi called out softly, one side of her mouth lifting in a small smile of greeting. She saw the woman's eyes rest on her collar, and gave a simultaneous eye roll and shrug of shoulders in a thoroughly, "aw, this old thing," gesture. "It's okay. It doesn't hurt. I don't know how to get it off, though." Maegi blinked softly at the woman, taking in her appearance. "Who are you?"

The girl regards her a moment before speaking and Shivali nods once upon the hello. The common tongue is not one she is very good at in practice but she hopes to be able to pick up on her body language and what few words she does know.
 
Briefly, she smiles, hoping not to be a threat to the child, but she quickly moves on and (what Shivali assumes) addresses the thing around her neck. It doesn’t seem to bother her and though her smile’s genuine fades, the skeleton remains as if she needs to fake not being concerned. She’s never seen anything like; has the girl had it her whole life? It doesn’t necessarily look like it’s attached to her but she doesn’t want to seem too obvious she’s trying to figure it out because she doesn’t understand the girl’s explanation.
 
It shifts away from the thing in question and Shivali looks away from the accessory and two the two-toned eye she sports. “Shivali,” she says, her smile widening some with a shake of her tail.

The woman spoke, giving her name, and Maegi nodded, finally making the connection that she had seen this woman before, when the rest of the pack had returned to the Woods. She had been close to Kove, there, too; Maegi wondered if they knew each other well. She hadn't seen this woman before the war, so she must be knew.

If so, how was she so close to the Dark Master already?

"How long have you been here?" Maegi asked, head tilted in curiosity. "And how do you know Kove?" She felt an odd surge of protectiveness toward her mentor; with Vaati gone, he had assumed leadership of this place, and she knew that wasn't an easy role. Even Vaati, whom she had once thought of as somewhat of a god, had struggled in that position.

Wolves challenged each other constantly, and she didn't want to see an Iliksis rise up to take on Kove. She hoped this Shivali was not one, though she didn't seem the sort. . .only time would tell.

Part of the reason she sticks so close to Kove is because she can speak freely with him in a language they share. She doesn’t have to struggle and pick through someone talking to her, trying to decide what she understands and what she doesn’t, but she knows she can’t avoid them forever and she has to at least try to break the barrier. If she sticks close to Kove, he can translate what she doesn’t understand and explain to the others her… shortcomings.
 
Maegi asks her something, she can tell by the tone, but she isn’t sure so she opens her mouth to try and answer—or maybe explain—when she mentions Kove and the fact she knows him. Shivali’s lips turn into a smile and she wags her tail, nodding her head.
 
“I know Kove, yes,” she says with a little pride in her thick accent that she understood what was asked of her (ha) and takes a step closer, then lowers her rump to the ground to make herself comfortable.

Okay. That didn't quite answer her question. Her tilted head twisted several degrees further, before she shook herself out of her puzzled trance, blinking a couple of times before speaking again.

"He's nice. He's my mentor," she explained patiently, wondering if the woman even knew what that was. Unlike Relmyna, she did speak a few words, but her accent was halting, and the girl wondered briefly if there was something wrong with her. She seemed all right, but. . .

Maegi sat down with Shivali, two white figures in the dark woods, one bigger, one smaller. "Where are you from?" Maegi asked, hoping that the woman would understand that, at least.

Her answer doesn’t seem to be enough as she’s given a look of confusion. She’s compelled to open her mouth and say something else but she doesn’t know what she would say and, luckily, the girl says something else instead. Dark eyes narrow slightly but she nods her head anyway, regardless of whether or not she understands.
 
The girl sits and makes herself comfortable before she continues on, Shivali watching quietly. “North,” she says, “Aningan Tundra. Your name?”

"Maegi," she responded absently, giving the name she'd given seemingly so many times (little did she know how many more times she'd have to give it before she entered the Void). Her mind grew clouded for a moment--it tended to, sometimes, and she'd ingested a couple poppy seeds for fun just a few hours before--before becoming sharp once more, focusing like a razor on the rest of Shivali's sentence.

"Aningan Tundra?" Maegi asked, tilting her head slightly in inquiry. "I don't know where that is. North. . . Oh, wait!" She remembered something Kove had said to her, before the war. About the North, and his own language. . . "So you and Kove are both from the North. Does that mean you speak In--Inntut, no--Inuttut, too?"

That would explain her halting words in the common tongue. She had thought Kove's speech beautiful, but he'd been quite busy; perhaps this woman could teach her the language, instead!

“Maegi,” the northern attempts. It is the same as any other word of the common tongue, unfamiliar and clunky. Shivali smiles anyway, repeating the name once quietly to herself. As the girl speaks, even if it is fast, and a lot at once, there are more that she knows and hopefully piecing it together works in her favor. It is known Kove is from the North, too, and she hopes someone finally understands. “Âha! Inuttut,” she chirps, perhaps a bit more excited than she should. She doesn’t suspect the girl magically knows the language she shares with their leader but they’ve made headway to better attempting to understand once another. “Not so good, uh… your tongue?”

The language was indeed familiar to Shivali, and Maegi smiled faintly, delighted in having cracked the code. Though she didn't know more than a single word of Inuttut--and nukadlik hardly applied here--at least it was an explanation for the woman's halting speech, which she went on to explain, anyway.

Maegi shook her head in polite dismissal. "That's okay," she insisted. "It's hard to learn a new language. I'm learning Daedric--that's our ancestors' language--and it takes forever to keep track of all the new words." Her ears perked up as she thought of an idea. "Oh! Do you want me to help teach you the common tongue?"

It would certainly be a way for the two of them to bond, outside of Kove. And if she were to be a priestess, she must get to know the members of her congregation, no?

Shivali smiles at the girl as she pipes up, focusing on the way she moves and each expression with corresponding word. She talks so fast in her excitement that she misses most of what she has to say and even if she thinks she recognizes it, the context around it is far from in reach.
 
When the question is asked, Shivali tilts her head and searches her face. Slowly, and from what she’s able to gather, she nods her head in answer. “Y-yes,” she adds after a beat, hesitantly agreeing to something she isn’t so sure she understands but she can’t say no to the girl.

"Cool," Maegi responded, giving Shivali a smile in turn. At least she knew yes. . .that was easy enough. Along with a smattering of other words. But--how would she teach the woman without knowing Inuttut herself? After all, Miraak had known both the common tongue and Daedric, and was able to make those connections for her.

Maegi frowned, thinking maybe she had gotten herself in over her head. Perhaps this job was better suited to Kove.

Nevertheless, the girl was not a quitter, and she certainly intended to at least try to live up to her word. Firming her lips stubbornly, she pondered for another long moment before speaking again. "Tree," she said, getting up and placing her small paw against the trunk of one such specimen. Might as well start with the basics. She looked insistently at Shivali. "Tree," she repeated, with emphasis.

She placed her good forepaw on the ground, thumping it once or twice. "Ground," she said. "Ground." Maegi hummed, lost as to where to go next. She gave Shivali an exaggerated, toothy grin. "Happy." Then, a clown-like frown. "Sad." Teeth bared, a growl in her throat. "Angry." She cocked her head, peering at Shivali. "You understand?" she inquired, praying that she did.

Shivali doesn’t expect the lesson to happen immediately, so when Maegi says cool, she opens her mouth to say something but the girl’s expression halts anything she might have said. Her face turns to concentration and she quietly waits to see what she has up her sleeve. To her surprise, the attempt to share tongue begins now and she smiles a little awkwardly before she watches, listening for her attempt to share words.
 
As she goes through a few things, then looks around to continue with her expressions, Shivali nods. “You know Inuttut too?” she asks, though not exactly what she wants to convey but the woman backs up toward the tree. “Tree?” she tries, then, “napâttuk.” Then, “Ground. Manigak.” She smiles then, wagging her tail and repeating the words she’d said to her with their corresponding word in her own tongue.

Maegi shook her head at the woman's question, looking a little ashamed. For as much time as she spent around Kove, she felt as if she should pick up a few words here and there, at least make the effort to learn. . .but, alas, Daedric took up most of her time. She didn't know if she could handle juggling three tongues.

"N-napâttuk," she stuttered, stumbling a little over the word. "Tree. And. . .and man. . .manigak. Ground." Well, now she knew three Inuttut words. Her little body wiggled with delight. "It's beautiful. It sounds so. . ." She paused, looking for the right words. "Old. But in a good way. Like a prayer."

She tilted her head, giving Shivali another luminous grin. "So. . .happy. Happy. What is happy in Inuttut?"

The exchange the words a few more times. A smile graces Shivali’s features. Perhaps it won’t be so dark living here, after all. Helping Maegi with something makes her feel like she does have purpose, no matter how small. She can still contribute more than physical violence and hunting. Maegi knows more, now, and in return, so does she.
 
“Hah-ppy?” she questions, watching the expression the girl makes and nods her head. “Yes, yes. Iggettuk. Hap-py,” she enunciates more than necessary, wagging her tail. For a while longer, they share a few words still, before parting for another day.