Wolf RPG

iseul busied herself to become useful. it was by the grace of heph that she was allowed entrance into moontide with matteo, and it is by this grace that she must continue to work. during her spare moments, she thinks of ines, and she thinks of the isle. she thinks of colt and boon, and the other strange characters that came to grace land that she once held.

daydreams, now. nothing more. she had made the climb into the higher parts of the rock formations, sniffing out for eggs from the seabirds nest. chances are, she was too late, but perhaps there may be older chicks who cannot fly yet that she could snatch. 

it is with greedy and unprepared jaws that she attempts to snap at a bird, the movement causing her to stumble as she must abandon her post and come to land back onto the sand and grass, the stones threatening to cut her pads. a frustrated growl leaves her, as nothing but feathers come to blow into the wind.

They have moved their nests! He called out when he saw her, witnessing an attempt by the golden-furred woman which was thwarted in part by a lingering murre. He came sauntering over, tail high, but other than being sure-footed among the rocks, Raiyuk kept his posture neutral.

The bird wheels overhead. Raiyuk watches it a moment. His interest is in the woman, though: she looks and sounds frustrated. My father and I plundered this area for eggs recently. The flock, they had to move. I can help you look for them, though? A wave of his tail-tip, and a shy smile.

she hears his wise words, coming to try and release her frustrations while in his presence.

nodding her head, she comes to join the boy on the ground as she comes by his side. "help is nice" she says softly to him, not really able to quite articulate the other thoughts in her mind. matteo had learned to speak parts of her tongue, and perhaps even recognize her broken english. but of these coastal wolves? shame burns her cheeks.

"what is name?" she asks him, head turned the slightest as she looks over the boy.

The woman seemed happy enough to have company, and help. She moved to meet him and Raiyuk could get a good look at her. She might've been the same age as his father, or his step-mother, who were different - but he couldn't really tell, in the sense that everyone who had reached adulthood looked equally bigger, stronger, and more capable than himself.

I am Raiyuk, he answered quickly, and then with some care he continued on to say, —son of Chakliux, out of Nasamik. That way all the practice didn't go to waste. What is your name? They could walk and talk, he decided, and began to lead her along the rocks.

"raiyuk" his name is foreign on her tongue, though perhaps phonetically it may be similar to some of her words.

she listened to him, wondering about the names he spoke, names she did not attempt to recreate in her mind. she would meet them eventually, at least, ignorance tells her this.

"iseul" she says to him, it lacked the hard sounds his name harbored. though, one can always appreciate differences. she walks with him calmly, not realizing that this boy was younger than she anticipated. perhaps he would find a friend in matteo, it was something she hoped for him. this change to the coastal scenery was meant to benefit them both, but in reality, iseul only cared for matteo's wellbeing.

"raiyuk born here?" she asks as they walk, wondering how much of the sea the boy knew.

She spoke in a stilted way, but he did not mind it. He would be sure to speak carefully back so that they would understand one-another. Her question doesn't have an easy answer, and he knows it is wrong to lie, but he answers earnestly: Yes.

It felt that way, these days. While he had been born to Moonspear he no longer felt connected to the mountain, and he had left it at such an age that his memory of it was fading. Moontide was much more home to him and his father; he liked to think this was where he was truly meant to be, with the sea in his veins.

What about you? He knew she wasn't from here by the look and sound of her, but he was curious.

a son of the sea, then. she could see how the water ran through his veins and how greedily salt clung to his skin. she nods to him, accepting his answer. and when he asks of her origin, iseul has a thoughtful look in her peridot eyes.

"not from here," she says with a small shake of her head, " 한국, it is far. we speak, ah... different tongue there." she thinks of her home, of the autumn leaves that she could have seen by now, of the changing colors and the calmness of her mountain home with the crashing waves of the beaches she once knew.

she felt herself a stranger in these lands. "raiyuk is... hunter, yes? or fisher?" she comes to ask, wondering what this boy remained talented in, a chance to boast about himself if he wished. "learn from 아버지, father? or 어머니, uh... mother?"

=Her words! They were very different from what he knew, and he found himself tilting his head to these new things in an almost rude way, without meaning to. He did not know what she meant without further clarification, which came carefully from her.

The boy smiled. I am both! I hunt, and I fish. And one day my father will take me to the ice, where we hunt the seal. So that would be... a little of both. It amused him to have words for hunting and for fishing, but not a special thing to call this.

He listened to the way she spoke her words for father and mother, and repeated them in his head, wishing he could ask all kinds of questions! I learn from — father, yes. Chakliux. He repeated his father's name as if it were holy. He did not mention his mother and turned from Iseul upon thinking of her, feeling a brief but strong tension crawling up his throat.

With a dip of his snout to the rocks, he scoured for the scent of birds; further ahead and in the sky where he did not look, there were winged beasts coasting on the cool air, but he did not see them.

iseul nods as she listens, watching him as he begins to show the skills his father has taught him. in many ways, she can feel a thrum of pride to see such youth with vigor to impress and please. matteo had all of those things too, and perhaps raiyuk would be the one to bring them out.

she looks up to the sky, noticing some of the birds were merely cruising on the coastal wind. had she springs for feet, perhaps she could simply leap up to retrieve them. her nose would come to to join the boy's on the ground in search for other scents of food, ears prickling at the stark calls of seagulls and other wild birds of the coastline. 

"what does raiyuk smell?" she comes to ask, wondering if his nose was sharper than her own with his familiarity with the land.

He was glad to show off what he knew of the island, and of hunting, which his father had taught him. It gave Raiyuk a sense of power, in a way. A confidence, underpinned by a strong sense of pride. When she asked, he gave one heavy exhalation to clear his nostrils and then with a serious look upon his face (which made him look like his father quite strongly, but also a little silly) he commented:
Stone and sea, and the greens that stick to the beach. Here, a feather — he reaches out and plucks at it, but it is netted in the sea weed and has obviously been there a while. It won't come free, and even if it did, was missing pieces. He pulls away without it and licks his lips.
It is too open here for the birds. Maybe they haven't had time to build new nests? That sounded wise, like his father might say, but that also meant they would not find anything or be successful in this hunt until the flock had established itself. Raiyuk did not want to disappoint his new friend.

she thinks of his answer, humming softly and nodding to him. 

her eyes cast to the open skies for a moment. "then we fish" she offers to him, a smile tugging on her black lips. in times of challenge, they must be able to change and adapt. and perhaps it was for iseul's own luck, as she preferred the scaled creatures over the winged. her eyes cast to the ocean for a moment, an inviting warmth in those jade irises.

in the sand, she can see a few crabs side-winding across, drawing her attention as she thinks back to her beach days with the others in her family.

Giving up on the search for nests was a good idea. Raiyuk nodded, snorting as he cleared the many scents from his nostrils, and followed her toward the water.
While Iseult pauses to watch the crabs scuttling, Raiyuk plunges through the approaching wave and feels the shock of cold against his ankles. His tail raises up as he braces against the feeling, puffing out, writhing a moment later, and he looks over a shoulder to Iseult as the wave retreats.

she would come to join him in the waves, eventually, once the crab leaves her mind. the ocean bites her the same way it would always feel against her body. though, it begins to become numb in some way, recognizable in the sense of her toes beneath her in the wet sand. so she sticks her head down, searching and feeling the foam rush into her nostrils.

getting ahead of herself, and perhaps desperate to prove herself as being of use, iseul comes to snap-- only to find the dark shape in her eyes was not a fish but rather a small detached limb of kelp and seaweed! her cheeks could feel warm underneath, and she spits out the sea veggie with a small expression of disdain, ears airplaning as she looks desperately for another fish, or at least something swimming!

He knew better than to laugh at the woman as she fished. He knew how difficult it was to find the smaller smelt, how quick they swam, and how futile it felt. The boy had spent much of his time along the coast and trying to do the same, so he watched Iseult in silence and when she came away with weeds, he said nothing to dissuade a future attempt.

The boy nosed at some rocks as he found his own perch, and looked then upon a tide pool where baby crabs scuttled to hide from him, and he could see these darting fish as well, but didn't try for them. With a mischievous look to Iseult he dipped his muzzle in to the pool and began to blow bubbles from his nose, causing the salt water to froth.

she could see him look back at her, and silently iseul is grateful for the lack of mention for her less than favorable catch. while she keeps tromping through the water, she notices that the young boy has found solace in the tide pool, and for a moment, she thinks back to the day she met Heph.

joining him, she inspects closely, trying to see just what it is that he's doing. her ears are pressed forward with great interest, peridots glistening as she watches the water bubble beneath the surface from his nose.

putting aside her adulthood, even if just for a moment, iseul dips her muzzle into the water and begins to blow her own bubbles, a small steady stream of air first before suddenly bubbles grow wildly and rapidly, her tail behind her wagging in an excited manner that she has not felt in quite some time.

Her laughter filled the air above! His bubbles became erratic as he began to chuckle as well, but with his nose still beneath the surface. As he withdrew the salt slicked the fur of his face and sluiced from him. He spat some water out that he carried upon his tongue, and felt his tail give involuntary wags of its own. It was not often that Raiyuk played games with adults — or games at all, these days.

It was good to hear her laugh.

in her mind, many thoughts still buzzed. but perhaps for the moment, they are pushed aside as the bubbles of saltwater keep her content. iseul was a stranger in this land, but each small interaction that graced her gave her the chance to feel more cohesive with everyone else. in many ways, raiyuk had given her something today that she hadn't felt in a long time.

hope.