Two weeks and Norah had got a good first impression of where she had landed this time. And old family, related wolves leaving very little room to outsiders and even then they stood on the lower tier. Two distinct lines in terms of appearances - one to the more classical agouti colouring, the Dirge faction. The other taking after the queen - dark as shadows with a distinct aura of subtle danger about them. Plenty of children - Norah had made a point to avoid them. Even one was too many for her.
The choice of land - excellent. They had only one stretch of border to protect, the rest being guarded by that inaccessible mountain range. One should be very stupid to attempt to trespass from the wrong side. The place felt like a fortress to Norah and even without knowing anyone very well, the rogue felt safe. If she played her cards well, earned trust, she might get away with plenty of mischief, while among these people. But that will have to wait. The winter was long and at this point she was not willin to jeopardize her chances of survival.
Therefore now, while the novelty of this place had still not worn off, she remained sitting quiet and contemplative, observing the wilderness below from the stone throne she had chosen to occupy.
Sialuk was even more careful of where and how she walked after her tumble. She had been searching for Toad earlier today, but her scent led away from the mountain and into the glen, so Sialuk had decided to go find her another day. Her foot still ached when she woke, but as the day wore on, it tended to get better. She made sure to stretch it gently when she remembered, hearing anaa's voice in her head when she did so.
With her silvery coat and dull yellow gaze, she was casually on the hunt for animals she might speak to. Not wolves, of course. She knew how to speak to those. But Fennec had said she needed to learn the secrets of the other animals, so now Sialuk was hellbent on making some progress on that before she tracked her down again. (Her scent, too, was heavy on the glen.)
Instead of finding animals or either of her older companions, Sialuk spotted somebody she did not know sitting on a rock and looking out at the world below. Curious about the vantage point (and obnoxiously friendly), Sialuk hopped up aside her and introduced herself. What are you looking for down there?
she asked.
Slowly and hesitantly, Cirilla Ostrega was beginning to break free of the walls she'd built up around herself. Her curiosity for the Moonspear wolves continued to grow since her accidental encounter with the mischievous Altair, but in the time between then and now she'd opted to observe others from afar.
Her mother hadn't been herself recently and, despite the girl's natural concern for her, she couldn't place or understand what the issue might be. The lioness was withdrawn more often than not, insisting that she was simply tired and wanted to rest. Ciri didn't ask for fear of the answer - was she sick? Would she die?
Were she and Elke destined to a life void not only of their father, but their mother as well?
The blackbird wandered along by herself, thinking solemnly of the gargoyle back on Sagtannet's spire as she lazily nudged a small stone ahead of her. She missed her Papa every day and just as she hoped for his visit to come sooner rather than later, a small voice distracted her from her woeful thoughts. Ciri's ears pricked and she quickened her pace, loped forward through the evergreens until her bright eyes settled on the spine of a small, silver-haired youth and the darker dorsal of -
"Du bist hier!" The cry of a daughter who longed to look upon her father once more, in that secret language they shared. Ciri bounded forward through the wilted, dewy grasses and onto the slick stone of the slope that overlooked a vast valley below, a renewed joy in her heart to know that Mahler had crossed it just for her. "Du bist hier, du bist hier, du-!"
She skidded to a halt on noticing that she was mistaken, that this frame was void of the rugged scars that adorned the gargoyle's frame. Wide-eyed, mortified at the attention she'd surely drawn to herself, the blackbird blinked up at the adult and felt herself shrink. "I'm sorry," she muttered, awkward, visibly embarrassed as she bit back the rise of disappointment, "I thought... thought you were someone else."
If Norah had wished to escape meeting children altogether, perhaps, she should have chosen a different pack to settle. She turned her head to idly watch a light-furred half-grown pup amble towards her and, when it flopped right next to, where she was seated, the older wolf simply raised to her feet and sat down so that there was a little distance between them. Then she took a moment to look the kid up and down, and only then she answered with a shrug and non-chalant: "Life's true meaning."
She hoped that this would bore the youth and it would go do some other mischief, but it was not meant to be, because soon another appeared. Dark-furred, unusual looking and speaking to her in the tongue she recognized and knew not that others beside her dear ma used. It seemed that the kid had mistaken her for someone else, because the excitement dwindled away from the child's expression the moment she realized Norah was someone else. Who? There was a momentarily urge to confound the kid even more by replying to her in the same tongue, but she reminded herself not to reveal all her cards.
Later. "Well, you two could at least tell me, what names you run by?" she offered with a small smile, while the look in her eyes remained cool and calculating. "Otherwise I will have to call you... Bleach," she turned to the white one. "And Bramble. You wouldn't want that, would you?"
When the older wolf cooly moved away, Sialuk worried that maybe she had broken some unwritten rule about sitting too close to somebody. But they were both Moonspear wolves, were they not? She furrowed her brow, but at least the green-eyed adult hadn't shoo'd her away or made her feel bad if she'd made a mistake.
Life's true meaning. Well, wasn't that something. Sialuk was about to ask more about this, but before she had a chance, somebody was running up to them, yelling nonsense. At this, the raindrop flinched, wondering what sort of poorly behaved child was allowed to dwell on Moonspear's slopes. It was not one of Hydra's children, that much she knew, nor was this girl Huojin, whom Sialuk had met a few days prior. At least he had his wits about him.
I am Sialuk Ostrega,
she said with pride when she was asked, daughter of Jarilo and Kukutux.
She did not know "Bramble's" name, or she would have offered it up as well. Instead, she turned to the adult. What is your name?
Ciri felt their eyes upon her, and hoped the mountain might open up to consume her there and then. Ears fanned backward, the sable youth did not dare look up at either the adult or cub for fear of finding sharp disapproval in their eyes.
Only when the adult spoke did the blackbird raise her vibrant gaze, and relief allowed her shoulders to slacken as she found their focus was not entirely on herself. She blinked toward the pale girl, shy but curious, as she confidently announced her moniker. The name "Ostrega" brought her some small comfort in its familiarity and, though she did not recognise either of Sialuk's parents' titles, she felt safe to assume that they were related in some way.
"I'm Ciri," she answered simply, unwilling to draw further attention to herself.
Definitely Bleach. Norah thought to herself, noting, how very proud the kid was of her parents, whose names meant nothing to her. Nonetheless she opened a file for Jarilo and Kukutux too, to find out, who they were and what were they made of sometime later. Eventually she would learn the names and habits of them all, but at present she was in no hurry.
The one she had christened Bramble was either very shy or had not yet recovered from the shock of mistaking Norah for someone else. Though the woman was in no particular place to instill sympathy or be liked, she hoped that there were no negative associations tied in. Being feared was never practical. "Ciri and Sialuk - lovely," Norah smiled coolly, looking from one to the other.
"Norah," she introduced herself finally. "Ain't you two too small to be so high up here?" she asked, sounding a little patronizing intentionally, only to hear vehement protest in return. You had to keep those buggers entertained somehow.
When Ciri did not offer anything beyond her first name, Sialuk squinted at her for a moment, wondering why she had not done so. Did she have no surname? No parents here? Norah introduced herself next, also lacking any context as to who she might be and how she might have gotten here. It appeared to Sialuk that she alone was the only wolf present who knew how to do introductions properly. She kept her opinion to herself, of course. It would have been impolite to scold others, even if they were wrong.
When Norah questioned their being up this high on the mountain, Sialuk replied in a calm, cool fashion. I was born on this mountain,
she said, I have been climbing its slopes for as long as I have been weaned from my mother.
She was quite used to the inclines, and not once had she felt like they were a hindrance to her range.
Ciri urged herself to settle, encouraged herself to believe that there was no judgement there, but something niggled at her in reminder: be cautious. She sat there quietly, hating the inability to read thoughts and more so not being able to simply not give a damn about what anyone thought.
Bright eyes glanced away and her dark ears twitched backward at Norah's question, as though she'd just been scolded. Her mother hadn't told her to stay close and had, in fact, encouraged exploration of what was to be their new home. "I was born on a mountain too," she managed a timid little smile in Sialuk's direction, glad to have something in common, whilst feeling the budding anxiety that she'd be seen as an outcast for not being born on that particular peak.
It did not take a professor to tell, which girl had been born at Moonspear and which one had not. Bleach spoke with confidence that Norah would have hard time to shake, whereas Bramble was shy and timid - the older she-wolf could crush her belief in self-worth just a little more with very few words at all. But, though messing with children was fun, it was nowhere as rewarding, when you managed to twist an adult's mind in a particular way. She decided to memorize the observed traits of both girls and use them later for her own good. Perhaps, gaining favour among children was not a bad way of garnering trust of their parents.
"So not at all afraid to fall, huh?" the she-wolf looked over the ledge and then back at her audience. "Admirable," she drawled and sighed. "I guess the gods are looking out for your good fortune," she addressed both, then asked something to Ciri in particular. "Which mountain were you born at?"
Ciri explained that she had been born on a mountain as well, and Sialuk looked at her curiously. Before she could ask the follow up question that was scratching at the back of her mind, Norah had already done so.
But there was something else that Norah had said, and Sialuk felt compelled to correct her on it.
Being afraid to fall is why I haven't fallen,
she said with a small smile. Her mother and father had taught her long ago that fear was part of what kept her alive. One needed to be afraid of the right things in order to stay safe.
Sialuk knew that, up here, there was little chance of falling. Perhaps if something came out and attacked her, but Norah was here and, considering she was a wolf of Moonspear, would protect her from such harm. At least, that was what Sialuk imagined. Weren't all wolves of Moonspear supposed to protect the children?