someone to tell him ico has gone. or attack him *whistles*
the pathway to the mouth of the valley was an odd red stone. germanicus stared down at it; the crimson dust mingled with the rainwater until his feet were caked in scarlet. lifting a lip in disgust, the soldier stopped his march. the meadow had ended; he stood before clearly marked borders. no scent of ico upon them, however.
having informed
@Célnes of his plan to return once he had found the boy, germanicus now pondered the ancient trees that towered along the curved stone walls. if she and her family set off, it was well-met; he would follow or he would not. his affiliation was only to her, after all. now he let out a great wondering howl, summoning ico, who he did not know had been weeks gone from ursus.
a tiny, silent sentinel, Avicus watches from afar as the man approaches the entrance to the valley. her ears cup at his howl, and then she stalks toward him, caring not a whit that the call is not for her. it takes her a little longer than it would an adult wolf to reach him, but eventually she does, and she stops several paces away, watching him coolly.
big and gray; he looks like the mountain man that her mother had tusseled with. but it wasn't him—this man smells not of the valley, but of places she doesn't know. she doesn't know why he's here or why he seeks someone within bearclaw's ranks.
all she knows is that he's a stranger, and strangers aren't high on her favorites list.
Ico? no. not at all. probably one of the nameless faces around here that have never bothered to meet the children. she stares at him, muzzle wrinkling slightly. shakes her head, a quick gesture, dispassionate. but she's not the one to speak to. she doesn't really speak at all.
lifting her muzzle, she howls for Merrick and
@Astara, hoping they can set the record straight. her call has become less infantile with time, gaining a resonance that will only grow as she ages. it echoes, and she looks at the man. waiting again. just waiting.
silence is golden.
i have never done this before
the coolwater call of his dainty bearberry drew merrick out from his open-jawed slumber beneath a stand of tall ferns. muzzy, he jogged in that direction, yawning along the way and shaking his head to clear his eyes.
first his scarlet child, leggy and brilliant against the foliage still bright with summergreen. second, a greystone man merrick had never seen before. he stepped to avicus' side. "what can i do for you?" conivivial. joyous, even, completely unmatched against the brazen pierce of his hard eye.
giggles
she feels relief as her father joins her at the border, addressing the man with
words. glorious words. silence is golden, but words are a different kind of currency. she soaks them all up, intending to use them later.
what can i do for you? she mouths, and then does it again, a broken, quiet automaton.
what can i do for you?
anyone paying her any heed at all would think her mad, likely. but she is learning in the only way she can. her dam hasn't offered her anything of verbal substance, so she's picked things up from others. her father has the gift of the gab.
what can i do for you? she mouths.
'grats on 100!
a celebration. a party. does he mean the dying man, and Merrick's passionate speech? Avicus hadn't noticed anyone leaving early, though she had been too immersed in the proceedings to notice, well, anything beyond the blood. still, if he had left, she didn't care. she hadn't known Ico from anyone.
and she is growing bored with this conversation anyway, one that doesn't much involve her. Merrick has it handled, and so she presses slightly against her father's foreleg, giving him a glance and a nod. she casts one final look at the stranger before departing, dutifully following the border line.
what other surprises are in store for her today?