For clarification he hasn't crossed the border yet but he is on his way towards it!
Quiet.
In time the giant comes to stand before a grassland with nothing to accompany him but the sound of wind echoing off distant trees—leaves rustling in its wake followed by an array of songbirds scattering upwards.
It's pretty,the giant thinks whilst gazing at the crags worn by time—Deep etchings of lines chiseled into every surface.
The wind seemingly bellows through it's passages, lashing his fur in all directions, obscuring his view and causing the man to turn in an attempt to block it with the back of his head. It's uncomfortable—the feeling of his fur being twisted and pulled in all directions. But fleeting as it quickly dies down and goes back to coasting atop the grass.
He continues to wander around, taking in the beauty of the land silently.
I made some assumptions for the time of day this takes place, but let me know if theres a mistake you want me to change <3
The Tundrian woke up a tad later than usual this morning, looking (and feeling) like actual shit as a result. Grogginess seemed to weigh his heavy form with each step today and made even the slightest movements a chore -- Half-lidded eyes felt lazy scanning his surroundings, and Ignis -- strangely enough -- didn't really feel like greeting anyone on his way to work. Maybe later.
His pale bulk managed to carry him slowly towards the Caldera's borders, circling his way eastside it's mouth until his were set on the greenery of the outer territories. The Phoenix's morning-dazed attention span wasn't focused on anything in particular, but more blood began pumping through his tired body as the sight of a large form began making its way towards the borders -- 'A stranger', he thought.
His stance quickly changed from a relaxed state and towards a wary one -- tall, and tensed at his muscles. The large male was eyed warily as they approached, and Ignis awaited their presence with equal alertfullness.
Samwell's player says it's cool to set this tomorrow morning. :)
Towhee stood on the ridge line, torn between keeping an eye on her children and heading to the borders to fortify them. Both were equally critical duties. She knew someone was keeping an eye on her ever unrulier trio, just like she knew there were other guardians out there patrolling. And it wasn't just indecision pinning here there but the whole entire weight of the world. At least, it felt that way.
She had suffered so much loss lately, it was utterly unfathomable. Part of Towhee wanted to cut every last remaining connection and run off into the sunset. If she didn't have anyone, that meant she couldn't lose anyone. But, of course, that was both impossible and insane. She loved her children, her children's children and the rest of her makeshift family here at the caldera. She couldn't just walk away from them, from any of this.
That left her with no choice but to move forward. The world kept spinning, careless of all her personal tragedies. Towhee let out a long breath and took one step in the direction of the borders. Then she took another. And another. Soon, she was partway down the mountainside... with tears streaming down her face. It was still progress.
Towhee stopped to roughly swipe a paw over her blurry eyes and runny nose. When she put her foot back on the ground, she spotted two figures in the distance. From her elevated vantage point on the slope, she watched them, their forms shimmering like mirages in the desert.
In time a white ghost rivaling his physic would arrive between the great plethora of the land and Samwell, and with a glint in his eye, the giant came to stand strong before them. Eyes flicking upwards as his chest rose and fell with every deep inhale of the sweet air.
Samwell did not offer anything but silence, only letting his single eye sweep over them, tail flicking slowly at his hocks. He looked upon the other akin to that of a child looking at ants- dull, unamused, thoughtless. They were not as pretty as the land, sweet-smelling as the air. They did not compare to the beautiful glade before him.
The Phoenix remained focused -- unmoving -- as he scanned the man who'd approach and allowed a better view of his features. Their sizes seemed to rival each other and their eyes, while different shades, did not match it's paring in color; heterochromatic. A bit of age shown on his features to convince Āzon he was a tad older, and his pelt colorful like autumn feilds and dried leaf piles.
Pale audits flickered forward to listen in as they approached, but instead of a voice -- Ignis was left with dead silence, paired with a nonchalant stare. A stare that was returned on his end -- and after a few seconds of this, an eyebrow was raised and blinked in bewilderment. 'The shit?' The Tundrian wondered in confusion, even taking the time to turn his head behind him a few times to see if they'd actually been staring at something else.
It looked as though he wasn't intent on speaking, which was kinda sketchy and had the Tundrian more on edge on why this guy was approaching in the first place, but Ignis decided it was best he initiate things himself to find out.
"Hey." He greeted neutrally. Towhee's presence in the far distance behind him was not noticed yet, as Āzon's attention was laid out in front of him instead. "You travel near Redhawk's borders. Y'need somethin'? Or just passin' by?"
She blinked hard and wiped at her eyes again, trying to distract herself by focusing on the encounter taking place down below. Nothing much was happening though. Āzon closed the distance between himself and the stranger, who stood like a statue at their borders. Towhee could see the similarity in their sizes as they came closer together. She was a large herself, though these two were gigantic.
From up here, there was no way at all to follow any conversation taking place. Judging by the stranger's continued stoicism, she wasn't missing much. The two males appeared to be squaring off, perhaps sizing each other up? This naturally made Towhee warier. With tears still drying on her face, she began to lope down the mountainside to join her pack mate in case of a confrontation.
A word was finally offered, and with it Samwell dipped his head in greeting. His eyes closing ever so slightly along with it before rising up to meet who he could only assume, was a Redhawk, judging by the mention of a border. He turned around at it with a blinded view, picking up a massive paw and motioning to it with a questioning frown as if to say 'this?'
To anyone, he could of been read as a simpleton with his lack of speech and monstrous size, an odd gesture, but Samwell was anything but that. He noticed the steps of another, and turning his black-tipped ears he was met with another who eerie enough, in his mind, shared the same coat at him. Hot tears still drying of their face made part of him wonder what had transpired before his arrival.
A beautiful land, a crying woman, a ghostly giant. His interest was piqued before, and this did little to quell it.
There was finally some form of communication rolling -- well, somewhat. The giant before him still didn't really offer words, but instead dipped his head in a way that caused Azon's ears to splay in discomfort. Bowing was a little too formal for Azon's taste, but he didn't feel like he could say anything about it at the moment -- so the mouth that opened to protest was quickly shut.
Next, they'd raise a paw behind him to what Ignis assumed was to refer to the Caldera. Did this guy...just not talk? Or did he just not want to talk to him in particular? "Yeah, that's, uhh....that's th'Caldera alright." The Tundrian confirmed while looking back, clearing his throat awkwardly amidst the painful silence.
As if to (unknowingly) come to his rescue, The appearance of Towhee graced his vision, and a relieved sigh fled his dark lips while he stepped aside to allow the Soveirgn room to join. Except, he too, did not miss the tears which streamed down the woman's face -- the only difference was that Ignis already had an idea of what could've caused it.
He made no comment on it as she approached -- only a worried glance to wonder how she'd been doing since yesterday before turning back to face the silent giant.
Aware of what she looked like and not caring (well, mostly), Towhee gruffly commanded, "State your name and business," as soon as she flanked her comrade. She afforded him a quick sideways nod before training her attention on the enormous stranger. Who was he and what did he want? Hopefully they would find out shortly.
Perplexed as to why he was given such a reaction by the ghost, the man chose to ignore it, humming under his breath and flicking his tail before his attention was grabbed. Quick to turn towards the woman that descended upon him, Samwell gave her the same gesture; A small dip of his head in greeting.
"Beautiful." Was all that was torn from his throat. Slow and sloppy, gruff and heavy whilst he pointed towards the tip of the caldera with his nose to show. Talking was never one of The Giant's strong suits. His voice was too deep, too grainy from under- use.
He pulled a paw up to his chest to point to himself. "Samwell... No harm, admiring."
In a surprising twist of events, it turned out that Mr. strong and silent actually spoke. This made Azon's eyes light in surprise for a second -- and upon realizing that yes, this guy actually spoke, his expression turned into a deep frown. 'Damn dude, I see how it is. Y'just didn't wanna spare me a word and let me stand there reading ya like'a idiot instead -- TOTALLY no hard feelings though. None at aaaaall pal'
Well obviously there was -- Ignis just chose to pretend like there wasn't and silently stand there fuming at the guy.
That wasn't the only surprise though, because the word that he chose to spill out towards Towhee -- albeit in a voice that would've been difficult on untrained ears -- was a peculiar choice that made his frown turn into a confused quirk of his lip. Well...If that wasn't the world's least subtle flirting method, then he didn't know what was.
No, wait a minute -- he was talking about the....Caldera?
The snowy brute just couldn't get a read on this guy, and decided to look to Towhee to see how she'd respond to the man who referred to himself as 'Samwell' instead.
Sometimes, Towhee had trouble reading a particular wolf's lips. She wondered if this was that or if the crying had messed with her vision. Her eyes did feel a bit... muzzy. She blinked hard a couple times, even went as far as to rub at her eyes a bit, wiping the tear stains from her cheeks. She sniffed for good measure.
"I didn't catch any of that," the Sovereign informed the visitor. "I'm deaf, so please look right at me and speak slowly so I can read your lips. Repeat what you just said." There was no "please," just an expectant, steady stare.
Being uncomfortable was not common for Samwell. He rarely ran into it- cept for times like these. He wasn't built for social interactions; His face creased, his brows taut and side of lip quivering with how to approach next. Should he leave? Abandon the place around him without having the chance to admire it some more?
He eyed the ghost beside him, pleading silently for the man to perhaps convey what he had garbled out. But all he was met with was no more than a frown and a confused face. Defeated, he breathed through his nose heavily.
Taking a moment to wet his sandpaper tongue Samwell tried once more to talk to the woman. Repeating exactly as said before in the same manner.
Again, the silent giant would repeat what he'd said before -- and this time Ignis flicked an ear to show what recognition he could catch from those gravely words. The brute turned his head towards Samwell again as he repeated how they'd simply been admiring without harm -- which was a strange reason to approach someone else's borders, at least to Āzon, but the expression which wrinkled the man's face while speaking had him wondering if they were actually being genuine.
Trust was like an annoying game of dice he didn't like playing. On one hand, the lack of trust can compel the pale guard to simply run them off, but if they weren't lying about not being a threat, then he didn't just wanna go baring his ivories at some innocent bystander.
The Phoenix licked his lips, indecisive, then would lightly bump his shoulder against Towhee's to catch the Sovereign's attention for a second. In case Sam's words would be missed a second time.
"Guy says he's no harm, just admirin' the Caldera I think."
His repetition didn't really do the trick. Towhee squinted, feeling her frustration mount. Her ears drew backward when she felt a nudge, her eyes cutting to Āzon. He offered up a translation and her brows rose. The Sovereign didn't know how he'd guessed she'd still needed it—maybe all it had taken was one look at her expression—but she appreciated it immensely. She would file away that kudos for later, while she proceeded to pull an even worse face at the contents of the translation.
She looked back to their guest and promptly said, "I don't have time for this. You need to leave." To Āzon, she added a silent look that he would hopefully understand: "Make sure he leaves." Towhee then turned to leave herself, literally lacking the bandwidth for such banalities right now.
Squeezing in a wrap-up reply here since Sam went inactive!
Azon relayed Samwell's words to the Sovereign, and it was clear as mirrors that she was not having it. An understandable reaction if he was being honest with himself, but at least it was nothing more than that. Besides lingering around for a reason that didn't make sense to him, this Samwell guy seemed mellow enough. It wasn't enough for Ignis to trust them of course, but seeing as he didn't give off any obvious red flags to boot then there was no need to use force.
He let out a breath.
"Whelp! You heard the lady. Let's get ya up on outta her pal," The guard said to the giant, giving a sharp nod towards Towhee as she left, then turning back to him. He'd stand at the borders to make sure their exit was a speedy one, and only after making sure the shape was gone would the Phoenix continue his trail along the borders. Bid'ness as usual...