The newcomer of moonpack (to the best of his knowledge) was a man bathed in the final light of sunset, heir to a pack that was blurred and slurred in the deepest recesses of his mind. Fallen Sun knew little of how he had come, only tired paws and a drink that had led to company.
.
Company that he had decided to keep, in a man he called Silver Shadow (
@Dutch). Though the creamy wolf had not heard of the name his companion thought of, Fallen Sun heard many words that the former had said.
.
After all - he was on the cusp of understanding more words. His ears and eyes were trained on the man's jaws, watching for mouth-movements that would lead to Words.
.
What would Silver Shadow teach him today? he wondered.
Dutch had been enjoying the consistency of Fallen Sun's companionship. Tulugak had her travels and Kilgitsuk and Ariadne had each other. He felt great warmth for silenthunter — Towhee — but there was only so much time he could spend with a young girl before he grew wistful for the company of an adult. Fallen Sun filled this role nicely. Although his silence sometimes chafed, his willingness to go along with whatever Dutch asked for was a priceless boon.
Today, he woke with urgency stirring in his legs. There was information he needed to impart on the other man, and he was not yet sure they were capable of reaching that understanding together.
"You have been good," Dutch said slowly, choosing his words with care. What he meant was that he appreciated the other man's loyalty and work ethic, and that he was a man that Dutch was quickly coming to trust and rely on. For now, though, he started small. "Do you like it here?" he asked.
Fallen Sun nodded when he heard Silver Shadow speak. Like here? may have been the only words he understood properly, but... he was smart for a silent sort.
.
Even better, he thought - Yhheah.
the response was actually one he could say! Along with nho, but why wouldn't he like living with moonpack? Cloud Ember often went out of her way to make every-wolf feel welcomed, and he did! These civilized wolves of the wild were a lot better than he thought they'd be.
.
His feathery tail wagged softly behind him, even though the red-pelted wolf sat at attention. Wind Flower loved it when he did that.
He was a man of focus — almost overbearingly so. But Dutch appreciated his effort, and it increased his patience to known that they were both working diligently toward the same goals.
"Good," he replied, his voice warm. There was something in his eyes, however, that spoke of unrest. "Soon, I will go," he said, watching the other man's face for signs of understanding. "I must hunt an evil man. You will stay here. Protect cloudwoman. Protect Moonsong. Yes?"
These words were unfamiliar to the red man. He did not understand their meaning, but Silver Shadow sounded like these were... important words. Bad words, that meant bad things. Would moonpack be okay? Would Cloud Ember and the others he had yet to meet be okay? Could they protect themselves?
Fallen decided that he would help protect them, but how? He could fight, yes - but this, he wasn't skilled at. Yheah.
he huffed out, at any rate. whel ghurd.
As much as he would have liked to take comfort in these words, Dutch still had trouble putting stock in anything Fallen Sun said. He had no doubt that the man's spirit was true, but his understanding still left something to be desired.
"Good," Dutch said again. "Guard and protect."
He stepped back, looking the other man up and down. "Do you know how to fight?" he asked, thinking, privately, that he would like Fallen Sun to put on his a few more pounds before he left.
The random noises I make in order to describe Fallen's noises
Fallen's familiar head tilt resulted from Silver Shadow's question.
Fight was a word he understood, but had trouble picturing. Wolves fought all the time, no? Over territory, over mates - and at that thought, his heart again ached for Wind Flower, over herds of elk to eat.
Fighting wasn't hard to understand.
But picturing himself doing it was difficult. His base instinct was to protect with snarls and raised hackles, bearing fangs and acting aggressively - but it was all a bluff. The red man was a wolf who wanted peace, not war.
As to how to answer? He did not know the words, so-
yheh-nho?
Yea no? The word he didn't know was
Kinda.
Somehow, Dutch hadn't thought so. Fallen Sun seemed as capable as any wolf of surviving on his own — but to protect a pack with vulnerable members was more challenging. The option of retreat was all but taken away. He wished he could talk strategy. That he could tell the man not to take risks, and that the purpose of a fight was not to win, but to escape with as few injuries as possible. Perhaps the man knew this, but perhaps he did not.
"We will play a game," be said, bowing and slapping the ground with his paws in demonstration. "I will try to pass you. You will stop me."
In another movement that was more demonstrative than practical, he bluffed forward in a half-hearted lunge. If Fallen Sun seemed to understand his purpose, they would move forward.
He did not take the man for one who liked games, but that was clearly an invitation to Play. Fallen's familiar head tilt gave way to a face that sized up his opponent. If he were to protect moonpack, like what he could only assume Silver Shadow wanted of him, he needed to prove he could - hey, where was he going?!
Silver Shadow started to move, and they were Talking! Busy! Don't leave! And other words the red man couldn't say. Actions spoke louder than words, anyway.
Fallen Sun's muzzle parted in a wuff as he darted in front of the other, accidentally tasting his fur.
It was not clear to the panther whether Fallen Sun understood his aim or not, but he at least responded as he was meant to. His tail gave an encouraging wag, and he growled at the other man the way his little siblings used to growl at each other when they were small. Not as a warning, but with intent to provoke.
He allowed Fallen Sun to stall him the first time, but the next time he lunged for him, the weight of his body followed through. This was meant to be a lesson, of course! But the truth was, Dutch never missed an opportunity to get some wrasslin' in.
And he did not know how to make the aim of the game clear to the other man. He could only hope that, if the situation arose, Fallen Sun would be cool-headed and capable of protecting both the village and himself.
all posts going forward will be on a phone until further notice. Please bear with me, my laptop decided it hates me.
Hadwo?
came a noise that almost sounded like a word. Shadow, it was meant to be. He thought it sounded pretty, but he barely barked the word out before the man lunged, and this time, the red man's haunches sprang into action, intenting to stop the other's charge with his chest.
Again, his fangs tasted fur, but he wouldn't hurt Silver Shadow. They were moonwolves, both of them. He'd never had rules explained to him, but he was at least somewhat sure that one was not supposed to bite a moonwolf if one was also a moonwolf.
At least, this was what his gut told him. His gut was rarely wrong as far as he was aware.
Normally, the panther appreciated a good round of wrasslin' — but something about harassing Fallen Sun in this manner just felt a little too mean. He couldn't tell for certain whether he understood what was going on, and in any case, they were not going to make significant progress before it came time for Dutch to go. He would just have to hope that this same instinct that kept his teeth from closing around Dutch's flesh would have him going for the throat of anyone who put their packmates in danger.
"Mujhe maaf karen," he sighed. And then, remembering himself, he spoke (and signed in ptero) the translation: "I am sorry. I just want to know that you all will be safe."
The idea of leaving them without him to help defend their more vulnerable members (or even Fallen Sun himself!) sat as uneasily on his spirit as ever. But part of making sure they were safe was tracking down the evil one that'd harmed Chakliux's wife.
"There is a bad man sneaking about," he said, still signing in ptero as best as he could. "He wants to hurt our women."
A forced breath of a wuff, a nod. Fallen Sun smelt uneasiness in Silver Shadow, and that couldn't do. He leaned over and held his head in the fur of his neck, only for a moment. Reassurance, he thought. Prah-hek.
he huffed the last syllable, a gritty heck more than "-tect" as the word was supposed to be. I will protect them, he wanted to say.
I'll protect them all.
The panther breathed deep, leaning into the brotherly embrace. Fallen Sun smelled like their common place, and like the glacial breeze, and like Dutch himself. Of course he would protect them. And Dutch would be back as soon as he could to help.
"Good," he said again. It was the word he found himself most often saying to Fallen Sun.
His eyes fluttered open as they drew away. There was still a pit of unease in his belly, but he at least felt as though he'd done what he needed to, here. All he could do now was trust.
"Thank you, brother," he said, signing the words as well. Onto lighter topics! "While I am gone — shall I bring you back a woman?"
His tone was playful again, for all he believed Fallen Sun was capable of reading it.
The word woman was a mysterious one, but not one that wasn't in the red man's vocabulary. He had had one, at one point, and - well, now she was gone entirely. He couldn't find her, and that scared the silent man.
It still hurt his heart, but he should probably find another she-wolf. At least for this season.
Maybe he would actually bring one back?
Fallen Sun nodded, albeit a little half-heartedly. Yheah.
The sun man didn't seem convinced. Dutch read a story between the lines, but they were not yet in a place where the other man could tell him of such things. Not for lack of trust, he thought, but because they still struggled to communicate. Even so,
"Wanna talk about it?" he asked, the way that Valiant sometimes did just to humor him. The difference here was that, if Fallen Sun could do so, then Dutch would be eager to listen!