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@Kieran - sorry for the delay in getting this started!
When she roused that morning, dawn had not yet broke. Darkness still hung over the land which was almost enough to make Paarthurnax decide to roll over and try to doze again, but she was feeling particularly restless. She pulled herself onto her Winter-white paws and stretched out the stiff muscles of her back, reminding herself of her aching joints as she moved. The cold season was far from kind to a wolf from the Southern deserts, not to a heavily pregnant wolfess.
With her ivory companion already gone and likely hunting elsewhere, Paarthurnax did not have to worry about waking anybody up. She moved carefully, however, into the short tunnel that led from her den and paused at the entrance, where the crimson beauty peeked out at the pale world around her.
Snow had fallen heavily through the night, and continued more gently as the mother-to-be observed for any potential danger for a further moment. Satisfied that no one was lurking, she slipped from her burrow and into the biting cold, leaving fresh prints on the alabaster blanket that covered the land. She jogged, keen to maintain at least some of her warmth, in no particular direction with no destination in mind.
No problem love. I use This for my translations of his broken english in case you were curious.
It was with determined step that Kieran fought to find something for the pregnant female to eat. Food was scarce, but he would make sure she had her fill, even if he had to go without his own. Her and Bazi were the two that needed the food the most. One for the simple fact that she grew the future in her womb and the other so she could have her chance at love.
He had merely by luck managed to catch the rams when hunting with Star and he decided if he couldn't catch anything this time, he would take some of that to the pregnant female Paarthurnax. He wasn't sure if he wouldn't totally butcher her name when he finally spoke it outloud.
Realizing there was no game to be had, he dug at the one cache and unearthed the chunk of ram meat that he had won. Grasping it tightly he went towards where ht thought the lone pregnant female resided. He froze as he saw her coming and laying it down he chuffed at her.
"'owaya me lady! 'oweya the-day? Ah've broot yer sum grub for yer an' de babes."
Soon, she happened across the dark form of a male she did not know, but recognised from the pack meeting. Paarthurnax could not remember if he had been for or against her return to Swiftcurrent Creek, and so the crimson Frostfur eased her lazy jog to pause a short distance from her pack-mate and blink uncertainly in his direction. Her tail swept low and her ears fell back somewhat, a mild display of submission should he seek it from her. Between his jaws was a rather tasty-looking morsel of meat that was relatively fresh, though the dirt on its surface meant it had likely been dug from one of the caches. It did not matter to Paar, however, who was suddenly ravenous at the sight and smell of what the unusual brute carried.
Much to her surprise, the strange male lowered his prize to the ground at his paws, leaving it before her for the taking. In his unusual way of speaking, he outright announced that he'd gone out of his way to bring it to her. Blinking up at him, the pregnant wolfess found herself practically gawking at her sable companion, at a complete loss for words.
"I... for me?" Paarthurnax struggled, emotion constricting her throat as her eyes grew glassy with gratitude. "I am well, thank you. You didn't have to do this." She smiled then, a genuine upward twitch of the corners of her mouth, and she managed a merry swish of her feathery tail.
Kieran had said nothing at the pack meeting. He had merely observed, he was rather good at observing and it was what he often did. He didn't like to speak to often. Though he did try and speak more to the wolves of the creek than he usually would. Especially Kaskara and Bazi the two she wolves he had grown to like and perhaps even call friend.
He laid his ears back to his skull at her show of submission he did not wish that from her. As far as he was concerned it was she that deserved submission and reverence from all. After all she was able to carry the children in her womb and when her time came birth them. Though he knew well that was not how the hierarchy worked.
He returned the sweep of tail. And he snorted gently in a small sound of disbelief.
"T'be sure oi did. yer deserve as much grub as yer can 'av. " He offered her a smile and pushed the chunk of meat closer to her.
"Scon are kieran o'malley at yisser service m'am."
His charm and kindness toward a wolfess who should realistically be seen as a threat to the pack's resources warmed her heart, and Paarthurnax let herself relax considerably. Tentatively she reached out for the morsel he'd offered her despite her instinct as a subordinate to decline, though she could not deny the twinge of hunger in her stomach. Nor did she wish to disrespect her pack-mate by outright refusing, which seemed more rude than anything else.
She licked congealed blood from the gritted surface of the dark male's gift, plucked it between her teeth and took a step back to set it between her forepaws. Paarthurnax lifted a paw and placed it atop the meat, holding it firmly in place as she began to help herself. It was while she picked at the flesh that the dark male announced his name, and curiously the bi-coloured Frostfur lifted her fiery copper gaze to look upon his face.
"I am Paarthurnax," she said, flicking her tongue across her now bloodied chin, before she returned to tugging the muscle into fine, bite-sized strips. She was fully aware that he already knew her name, but this was the first time she'd formally introduced herself to the kind-hearted Kieran. "But please, call me Paar."
Sure she could threaten their pack with her babes by taking away the resources. But wasn't it a strong pack that put forth babes? And there was no one else having babes this year so therefore she deserved all the help and care she could and would receive at least by his paw.
He watched her kindly as she began to eat and nodded his head happy that she as enjoying her meal. He sat down and curled his tail tightly around his forepaws and simply waited.
"Paar oi tink dat 'ill be much easier for me ter say tanks. oi wouldn't want ter offend by butcherin' yisser name."
The way he spoke was... interesting. He drew her in with an accent that seemed foreign, that was very obviously not common of the land they lived in. Paarthurnax found herself wondering where Kieran had come from, if he'd traveled far and if he missed the place he'd been born to, as she oft pined for Samarkand. As she chewed at the tough meat, she managed a smile and swallowed, "I doubt you could "butcher" it. Your accent is very unique."
She shook her head then, ridding her crown of snowflakes that clung to her fur. Averting her gaze from her dark-furred companion, Paarthurnax looked skyway. The cloud were thick and grim, obscuring the heavens as the weather threatened to grow worse, and the pregnant Frostfur made to move away. "Would you mind if we kept moving? It'll keep us from freezing our tails off," she chirped, loping forward and past her pack-mate with a beckoning glimpse over a fine shoulder.
As he announced that Paar might be one of the first to appreciate his unusual way of speaking, she couldn't help but feel bad for him. Had others given him a hard time for simply being who he was? She sincerely hoped not. They did not know one another well at all, bit Paarthurnax was confident to come to the conclusion that Kieran was a gentle soul with a kind heart. He'd defended her, purely because he saw purpose and something good of her being in the pack that some others did not.
Unsurprisingly, soft flurries of snow began to float down from the pale sky above, littering their pelts with tufts of frozen rain. Paarthurnax shivered, slipping past the trees and leading her pack-mate deeper into the forest just far enough that they couldn observe the storm in safety.
"I love the snow," she said gently, blinking up at the dark features of her companion. "It was not something I ever saw in the deserts of my home, and I can't say I'm a fan of the cold... but untouched snow on the lands here is simply beautiful."