It has taken a while being in Drageda before Ajatar has taken up residence in Hougeda. By default, as a future leader, she is welcome but she can tell the wariness of the other wolves because they do not know her. She is an outsider to them, even if she is not truly one at heart. The cold weather has forced her hand, too, and while she is built for the frozen tundra of the northern lands, the extra wet wind from the ocean has made it often uncomfortable. The cavern offers a different type of warmth and on the coldest of nights, she finds herself in there. Usually she is out of the way and it takes a long time for her to fall asleep and when she does, it is a light slumber that the slightest of movements rouse her to wake.
This night, it is the sound of a cougar in the distance.
Her ears fall back against her head and she shifts, picking her head up. The call is not close to them but she does a quick survey and those that she’d fallen asleep around are still there but only one has stirred due to the bellows of the large feline. Ajatar watches the girl for a moment, shifting her weight for a better look. Her head is pointed up at the sky, staring intently above them. The wind does not whip at the mouth of the cavern, making it easier to decide to get up and move closer. She recognizes her from the other day with Hux though she did not interact with them. After a quick peek at the sleeping wolves, she picks herself up and moves closer. She leaves several feet between them but settles down on a frozen patch of grass to look up and try and see what she is trying to discern from the sky.
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She sees the girl move from the corner of her eyes but she doesn’t look down right away, even as she speaks. There’s a part of her that expected the question, or at least conversation, or else she may not have moved over. There isn’t anything particularly happening in the sky, either, and the sound of the cougar has died down momentarily. Ajatar flicks her tongue against the back of her teeth as she considers how to answer.
“Some,” she then says, lowering her head to cast her eyes at the girl.
“I don’t think there’s anything anyone can prove. A lot of speculation,” she offers then. Her voice is soft, but matter-of-fact, and just enough to make the distance without rousing those that sleep behind them. Most of them go deeper to their own little nook so she has little to worry about, but it does not deter her.
“I know sometimes they fall from the sky. We’ve always seen it as a blessing, in a way, to be rewarded the presence of one even if we never see it land,” she says though it is merely a comfort. A superstition, perhaps, but she is fond of it just the same. It has given wolves hope.
Ajatar falls quiet for a moment, looking away from the girl and back to the sky. The cavern only offers a little bit of exposure and she moves fluidly to stand, glancing to Dalia with a single invitation, before she finds what she’s looking for.
“There is one star—Polaris—that is used as a guide. You can always direct yourself with it,” she explains though she has a decent sense of direction, she’s used it a time or two.
“The bright one, there kind of in the middle,” she points out as best she can, assuming the other has gotten up and joined her. It isn’t the brightest in the sky but it does stand out and wags her tail a little encouragingly.
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Dalia asks the same questions she’s asked before, and many others. It is a part of the world they know so little about and it often feels empty trying to pursue. With little physical evidence to base their knowledge, they simply rely on word of mouth and deeming what they can as logical or speculation. “I don’t know,” she says, truthfully. “I’ve only seen it once happen and I could not locate it. I was sure I knew which way to go.” Her tone remains the same, stoic sound as a teacher might during a lesson. When she asks about Polaris, she keeps her nose up, staring at the bright star in the sky: “yes.”
Ajatar doesn’t spend much more time with her — if she has questions, she answers — but ultimately she decides to turn back and rest.