iseul has traveled a bit from the berry meadow and has mentally marked anything peculiar that she has seen. mainly, sources of food, water, or anything that can serve as a marker in her mental map of where she's traveled.
today, she was happy to report to herself that a large lake was on her horizon in this early morning of overcast. with how chilly it felt, she was unsure if she should wade herself into the water to fish. her belly did not growl, but her mind begged her to do something besides walk all day.
she comes to the shore, lapping up her first drink from the lake. a fish or two jumps from the lake unexpectantly. droplets cascade as their scales return to the cold depth of the lake, leaving iseul curious about their nature.
she laid across the sand, shore cool still from a moonlit night. her gaze was to the clouds. her nostrils subtly flared, taking in the ambient scent.
could she tell if rain would come, just from those details?
a splash.
medalina watched the fish with endearment. so many lovely sights, nature gave her. it made her thankful-
вук.
she saw it now, and the hound tensed. her hindlegs repositioned to allow for quick ascent.
iseul was often told about great legends when she and her sister were younger. though, more often than not, they were meant to be tales to keep away the nightmares and to remind them that being good and honorable were the best traits young wolves of their family name could be. she often enjoyed the tales of the dragons and the haetae, wondering if she would ever meet such wonderful and mythical creatures in real life.
of course, those were just legends.
but the creature before iseul was something she had not seen before. it was certainly like her, but also very different. and the first and only thing she could manage to whisper under her breath was followed by a small blush.
"아름다움".
a beauty. perhaps the hound was just lucky today. she found a wolf not angry and willing to spill the blood of the seemingly innocent, but instead of the soft-hearted woman who knows something wonderous when she sees it.
a predator of great size. their coat invoked a different place, a different seasonal palette for a hunter's skin to blend with.
and they said a sound, not found anywhere within her carefully sorted words of here.
wariness drummed, steady, but interest piqued.
with slowness, and with gentle non-threat, the woodswoman rose to her feet. i am not an aggressor, conveyed trough care and posture.
"...vho...?" blown into the wind.
the message was clearly received.
and then returned back with her own body language.
the words are foreign, two very different beings now standing at ends with one another. iseul is quiet as she watches and listens. the word is heavy with an accent but she makes do with what knowledge she can.
"iseul" she offers, with a sway of her leg that comes to touch her own chest. a way to try and introduce herself with more use of action besides just reliance on words. "who are you?"
her voice is quiet, afraid of scaring the other as if she were nothing but a delicate butterfly.
исул.
the following gestured made that a name.
the question asked for the woodswoman's own.
the dog was uncertain. her gaze slid towards the woods, wondered if she could outpace a born hunter's chase.
they came back to исул, and found them submissively posed, nearly wary. as if the other were a frail, flighty thing.
she felt a sting of insult, then the chill of realization that yes-
she very much was such.
"uhm." a braided foreleg lifted to her deep, narrow chest. "медалина."
me - dah - leena.