Moonspear and strong when you are weak

from crogeda, praimfaya makes her way back to the teekon wilds, back home; a victor. the final test of her training: sadgeda complete. she bears the four kill marks upon her left shoulder as proof; scabbed over and healing. she moves as wanheda; crogeda agreeing to be apart of her developing coalition. despite that the wolves of crogeda — and dacio and opalia — have accepted her as their wanheda ...she still has a long way to go before she will again attempt to resurrect a geda in the wilds. those that do not understand their ways will not follow a wolf that is not even a yearling.

to moonspear, she returns. she owes @Hydra and even so knows that beneath the spear queen's tutelage she could learn even more ( should she be welcomed back, of course ). she does not wince as her steps pull at the healing wounds upon her; though she does stop to inspect them frequently, ensuring that she does not tear them back open.

she comes upon the familiar sight of the spear; like a looming rocky sentinel at mid-afternoon and stops a respectful distance from them. despite having told the spear queen of why and where she was going prior to her departure, praimfaya does not wish to assume that she will be accepted back and so she tilts her head back and releases a summons for her.

Hydra was swift in her arrival, close enough to do so. The matriarch regards the recently wounded Praimfaya with interest, ears pricked forward. The wounds were not so recent as for Hydra to think that they were caused by anyone nearby; her proficient eye could see they had healed over, though the ones that were not were likely due to her travels.

So, I take it your visit was a success, Hydra hummed with a small wave of her plume. Good. Hydra gestured to her side as she turned; given Praimfaya had discussed with her the reasoning behind her [brief] absence, the matriarch had elected to allow her back within their ranks. She had not disappeared without a word, after all, and had expressed her intent to return to boot. 

There is much to discuss. But first, tell me of your own battles, she encouraged, wondering what new things the girl might have learned in her time away.

it did not take long before hydra appeared before praimfaya; a ferocious queen melting from the breathing shadows of the spear's treeline. a dip of the wanheda's crown is given in deference. it was, praimfaya offers in simple, matter-of-fact affirmation. when invited to do so, praimfaya draws alongside hydra, being sure to keep her pace a couple of heartbeats slower than the queen's own. the sadgeda was more vicious than i could have imagined, praimfaya admits; feeling the twinge of her kill marks. the would-be commanders she had killed.

we are what we are.

but my victory has earned me crogeda as the first in my coalition. and that was a definite step in the right direction even though she has miles to go yet before she is ready to try again. they recognize me as wanheda and as such, they will aid moonspear if needed for as long as i remain here. her aunt thyri hadn't entirely understood praimfaya's desire to return to moonspear but she had lived in these wilds once upon a time and understood that a child commander — despite that it was their way — would struggle in this place.

i was right to go. and arrogant to think that she would be the only fos goufa out there vying for the title of wanheda. now, should any come from crogeda and any others thyri works to bring into the fold, there would be no questioning. i still have much to learn and plenty of time to grow into adulthood ...but i feel more prepared.

Hydra listened to Praimfaya with interest. Again her eyes fall toward the newly interrupted furs, where the wounds that would turn to scars rest. How many of those might she have, she wondered? She had lost count of how many she had killed—their faces blurred into one another. And more yet to come, she thought darkly. 

As Praimfaya spoke of what she had gained, Hydra rumbled in appreciation of what she offered. Hydra considered things in silence while Praimfaya spoke. Her thoughts roamed to the war she had, internally, been planning. She had indeed been raising fighters, training her subordinates, planning expansion, beyond—not simply for her Wilderness. Largely for it, to protect it, to keep it safe... but also to remove the threat of Caiaphas, of Merrick, of his counterpart. To eradicate any like them. 

She had not been idle in this work. And as the prey returned, and their bellies were full again, Hydra's focus shifted to them—tenfold, now, given the return of who the matriarch believed, wholeheartedly, was the nightshade who ran with Merrick. Hydra's march had lengthened and a savage look was within her eyes as she turned to look to Praimfaya. 

Do you feel prepared for war? Hydra inquired, referring back to her own point that there was much to discuss. It was something she wondered; in her mind, Hydra was coming to the place that soon it might be time for this. Hydra also considered the life that would soon be growing within; Hydra could train her wolves, guide them, before she sequestered herself so that they might continue their training before she returned again. Hydra would not leave her subordinates unprepared while she stowed away. 

sort of vague b/c per discussion rebs is starting up a backdated thread, hence awareness here!

praimfaya watches hydra as she speaks; offering a report of her victory, her observation of sadgeda — despite that she opts not to go into gory detail of what she's done — content that hydra is clearly listening and appears to have interest in what she offers her. in ways, allowing praimfaya to go could certainly benefit moonspear even if, in the end, it had largely been a bit of a selfish plight. moonspear was not meant to be a permanent settlement. they were allies and she and her's provide and assist where they can during their time in moonspear but the intention had always been, when she came of age, to start again.

and praimfaya had always been clear with communicating that intention ...or at the very least had strove to be such.

the question of war comes as a bit of surprise; having been gone for a while but she realizes that it shouldn't. hydra is like-minded and in many ways she easily reminds praimfaya of one of her own wolves. we are always prepared for war. jus drein, jus daun. blood must have blood. that is our way.

She found herself pleased with Praimfaya's response, and echoed thoughtfully: Jus drein, jus daun... I quite like that, the dark look in her eye brightening some; Hydra ever echoed those sentiments in her actions. There will be more training. It is time we do more to prepare and ready ourselves for what is to come. The blood that has been shed by our enemies before the famine has not been forgotten; we will have theirs. All of it, she drawled, looking to Praimfaya. 

Before all this begins, I would have you convene with Dacio, he had been the one to report to her after all. She could hear of things firsthand from him that way. @Arcturus and @Dirge had, no doubt, known it might come to this when she presented them with the information gleaned... the more she thought on it, the more she wished to gather each of her allies to her and destroy. Fang after fang after fang after fang upon her enemies so that the only blood that those bastards would taste before death was their own. Utter evisceration; she did not want to give them even a chance. 

Her anger continued to build, but Hydra was quick to regain her composure for the time. Here and now, there was little use for it. Recalling their last conversation, and her own request to learn more of Praimfaya's tongue, Hydra hummed: In the meantime, let us converse. Speak to me in your own tongue; I will guess at the translation, and you can correct me, a small grin, then, in knowing that she was sure to fail given her lack of lessons thus far but for what Praimfaya had already shared. That, though, was one of her favorite ways to learn. At least these failures were not the fatal sort, in the present moment.

one, by one, by one.

their enemies would fall.

as the fos goufa's fell to praimfaya's teeth. the taking of their life was not because they were her enemies but because they were her competition. they could only be one wanheda and it was her or them. still, though necessary she had not taken pleasure in ending their lives.

their enemies?

she would take great pleasure in killing them, and great pride in adding to her kill marks — upon her right shoulder; for the left, she decides, will remain dedicated to her fallen fos goufas. a sage nod is given as hydra requests that she would like praimfaya to convene with dacio. her seda could fill her in, certainly.

and then comes the request for a lesson. sha, praimfaya agrees; assuming that to start off will be easy. frag em op. praimfaya says, without missing a heartbeat, sorting thru phrases that would be essential given their talk of war.

Sha, Hydra heard. This she knew as yes, at least; as they moved and Hydra surveyed there borders (marking, now and then, as she went) one ear cupped toward Praimfaya. Frag em op, she had said. Hydra hmm'd and her head turned toward Praimfaya. Mess them up? She wondered aloud, em, sounding to her, like them and op sounding like up. Frag, though, she had no idea. Fragment, like rock sediment, she had considered in her silence... but rock them up did not sound right. 

She peered to Praimfaya, waiting for correction or acceptance of what she had said... and also waiting for what might come next. Her tail waved, quite liking the lesson already. Hydra always did like to learn new things.

hydra's guess was a good one; a logical one even given the relativity of trig and common. frag em op means kill them. of course, such a command was a severe one and not necessarily to be given lightly. although, now that she has taken life herself praimfaya knows she will not hesitate when faced with the decision to end a life. the conclave had seen that weakness stripped from her. but you were close. praimfaya praises with a small smile quirking at the corners of her lips.

she pauses for a moment, another phrase coming to her mind; one that, admittedly, she likely should've started with. nou wich em in. praimfaya offers next, mercurial gaze rising to look up at spear queen as she awaits the older woman's guess.

Ah, she had been wrong. But the knowledge gained was worth it; Hydra took note of its actual meaning, and stored it away. As far as her being close, Hydra hummed, oh, you are being kind, with a light huff. The sway of her tail eluded to the fact that it was all in good fun. While her pride might smart a little for the error, it was quick to heal when she recalled she was learning here. The matriarch was old enough to know that a mistake (or several) was bound to happen. 

Hmm... she again looked thoughtful. English and Dragedan were different; 'em', though, did seem like them. It was even in the previous phrase provided. So, Hydra looked to Praimfaya and tried: Now, bring them in, her expression seeking evidence that she was right or wrong. It felt right, though Hydra was still working with English as her baseline. Though she could speak her mothers tongue, there were no similarities here Hydra could draw that came to mind for any translation, either.

would trigedasleng translate close to it's common equivalent — which sometimes it did — hydra would've been on point with her guess. it certainly sounds like praimfaya is saying 'bring them in'. if you ever hear dacio, opalia or myself say nou wich em in we are saying i don't trust them. she explains. a common phrase used among her wolves for there are few they trust in terms of 'outsiders'. hydra and her wolves are a rare few ...but that trust has been and continues to be duly earned.

next she tries a phrase that has used words she has previously offered hydra; trying to go in some kind of order of immediate usefulness. chon em bilaik?

Hydra heard the translation and nodded, storing that one, too. Useful, and good to know. nou wich em in, she echoes. Surely one to use; Hydra, too, had very few she trusted in full. Moonspears collective view on outsiders was the same as the Roangedans. It had always been such a way. 

Chom was not a word Hydra recognized, nor one that she could associate even with her own language. Chom... chom... time...? Given that, sometimes, as with the word 'frag', it had nothing really to do with the sound. Hydra had grasped that much, but wondered if this was too much a reach. But Time them did not make much sense, if Praimfaya sought to teach her what Hydra imagined was terminology useful to the circumstance. Which was how it seemed. But, well, Hydra had been wrong in her translations several times over, so she could be off base there, too... 

Chom... Chom... Chew?... Show? Perhaps show. Show them. Bilaik... Perhaps another more poetic word for 'kill them'. Show them death? It was not blood, knowing the word for that. Hydra hazarded her best guess, arriving at some middle ground (within her own drawn conclusions as to its meaning), show them pain?

in many ways, praimfaya realizes as she teaches hydra words and offers her phrases to guess it's meaning, she has taken studious advantage of trigedasleng. it is her native tongue ( by choice ), spoken between her and her mother as soon as she was able to begin to form words. though it may be a bastardized version of common, it's cleverly crafted to sound both feral and misleading to those who would try to discern it's meaning; and like common not everything translates perfectly. words can be switched in which could alter the whole meaning of a sentence despite how similar it sounds to something else.

this, if anything, only solidifies its usefulness to her and those, such as hydra, that prove worthy allies and friends.

to ask 'chon em bilaik?' is to ask 'who are they?'. praimfaya explains to the spear queen. though by teaching hydra their language, she surrenders some of the privacy her, dacio and opalia have by being able to speak it fluently to one another ...but she trusts hydra and has nothing to hide from the ebony woman. even so, she doesn't want these lessons ( rightfully, she feels ) passed around to every moonspear wolf. she trusts hydra and dirge and arcturus — and knows that dragomir might remember some trigedasleng — but her trust, naturally, is hard earned.

and breath is taken, frostbound gaze scanning the terrain yawning out before them; a habit from border patrols before she offers after a few beats, nou jomp em op.

That had not been what she had expected, though she took the answer in stride, absorbing it as she would each thing shared. Hydra repeats what Praimfaya has pronounced a little crudely before practicing it again, this time the words coming out as they ought to. Satisfied, Hydra peers to Praimfaya who continues on with the lesson. 

Hydra again thought on the words. Was nou I? In the previous utilization of it, there had been possession there; 'I do not trust them'. Nothing else had used nou that Hydra could think of to indicate otherwise. Previously, 'em op' combined had translated to 'them'; I, and them. Trust and the lack of it had already been revealed. Jomp sounded like jump; but perhaps it meant attack, given the context. I will attack them, Hydra guessed, also feeling as though she might have translated correctly here and not realizing that this particular statement, translated, was the exact opposite of that.

you're getting better, praimfaya praises the spear queen with a soft curl of her lips and a sway of her tail. you were very close that time, and praimfaya was not just saying it to be kind. nou jomp em op means do not attack. nou translates, depending on where it is in the sentence, to 'no' or 'do not'. praimfaya explains and offers extra, to say 'i will attack' you would say 'ai na jomp op'.

easily, hydra could learn it from dacio or opalia — both of whom would probably be a better mentor than praimfaya; but nevertheless, the commander is honored to teach the spear queen regardless. breaking it down like this ...trigedasleng is more complex than i've given my predecessors credit for. praimfaya admits with a sheepish shrug of her shoulders, steps faltering only to lower her nose to the still-cold ground before she falls back into her previously pace at hydra's side. i suppose its easy to take advantage of things we've learned since birth.

she is quiet for a moment before she offers hydra another phrase: hod op.

Hydra's tail swayed with the praise given and in mute thanks both; she was appreciative of that much, and hoped to only ever improve. But was that not the same of all the things that she did? She put in her proverbial pocket the potential meanings behind one singular word. In any case, she repeated the correct way to say what she had made an error on, and then its alternative... I will attack. 

As for Praimfaya's epiphany, Hydra hummed with a grin: I can hear that, now, and she could. One word could have dual, or more thorough, meanings. Hydra hoped to continue to learn about that. What other words might have many meanings...? I suppose that it is. Though now, you might be able to appreciate all that you have been able to learn in a different way, she considered. For the benefit of knowing this language, of being able to communicate in front of an untrustworthy party, went without saying. 

Praimfaya continued in their lesson. Op was a word she had heard several times over, but only with them. Was em them, or was that the obvious, and therefore potentially wrong, assumption? Hod... what could that mean? Hold? Hold up? Hold them, if it was them? Wait up? So many conclusions her mind sought to come to, but she did not know which was right, which was wrong. 

This early on, Hydra really could only guess. Trial and error. Wait, she guessed, peering to Praimfaya with interest to see if she was off-base or still somewhat on track.

i am fortunate, she concludes in soft acknowledgement; despite that it doesn't always feel that way. losing blodreina, ingram and roangeda had been far from easy defeats but in their own tragic ways had held life lessons for the young commander. life was painful but that pain was a lesson. just as killing the other aspiring commanders-to-be had been a lesson. it only required her to see; and sometimes to be forced backwards so she could not take such advantage of things that she'd before taken for granted.

very good, praimfaya praises hydra as she guessed the correct translation of hod op. it feels a little strange, in some ways, to praise a woman many seasons her elder on something. though hydra wasn't the first adult wolf she's taught trigedasleng to and the bizarreness of the role switch ( however small ) passes quickly. chil au. praimfaya gives another phrase to hydra, content to keep the guessing game going until the spear queen tires of it.

Hydra did not mind it. She was not so arrogant to assume that she knew it all; if anything, Praimfaya would learn for herself that the matriarch was an open-minded woman... and just how tactical she could be, to the smallest degree. Down to learning the dialect to protect her own, Hydra was thinking ahead. Again Hydra guessed at what Praimfaya said, and Praimfaya streamlined it to it's actual definition... the duo patrolled together, talking and Hydra learning phrases such as this, for the remainder of their time together. 

Fader <3