Wheeling Gull Isle The tree branches scraping the roof like people whispering

setting: early evening; lavender xin

The smells around the island were marginally different. Nuka could not find any trace of Ying; as it had been explained to her, the woman was no longer among them, and she did not know how to feel about it. The brief encounter with the Empress' sister had been enjoyable from what she could remember of it, though Nukilik did not get a chance to know them well.

There were sweet scents too. Similar in composition to Hua's with slight variation, which spoke of family. Nukilik wondered what it had been like for her friend to raise children here. How fortunate that she was an Empress, welcoming whoever she needed to bed with her! A pang of jealousy beat in Nuka's heart at the thought, which was purged as she drifted through the field.

Lavender; it was not so pungent in the autumn. Winter would be here soon and the surviving buds would freeze, but come spring time the area would be flooded with beautiful colors and sights. She could hardly wait.

Lavender, like seasalt, was easily a favoured scent. She found it eased the stress of her crippling anxiety, which she'd experienced daily for as long as she could remember. The aroma reminded her of @Daiyu, her most beloved babysitter, who hadn't visited her in quite some time. Luli couldn't help but wonder if she'd decided her time among Yuèlóng was over now that the Empress' children had grown.

She had not dared question her mother of the caretaker's whereabouts, so fearful she was of her suspicion being confirmed. The koi carried on holding onto that small hope that Daiyu would remember to visit someday soon.

It was with her in her thoughts that Luli lounged among the wild lavender, sniffing at a few soft purple flowers that clung to life before the arrival of Winter's frost. She felt at ease there, but her relaxation was short-lived with the arrival if a stranger. The koi gathered quickly to her paws on sighting an unfamiliar she-wolf who meandered along in her direction, and bowed her ears submissively. "你好," she said softly in her mother tongue, and offered a timid twitch of her pale tail.

A small shape pressed against the last buds, a face lifting free to look at her. It was a small wolf—a girl. Hua had spoken of her children briefly and Nukilik presumed this was one of them.

The flash of movement was all she noticed at first. It wasn't directed at her—not at first—not until Nukilik was closer; then they were peering at her shyly, both finally noticing one another.

When they spoke it was a very soft sound that Nukilik did not know, but she assumed it was a greeting. Hello young one, she murmured in return, planting herself where she had been standing and drawing in a cold breath.

A greeting was returned to her, but the words were void of her language. Still, the koi was practiced enough to recognise the tongue she assumed belonged to the mainland wolves; she let her little smile grow to communicate that she understood.

"You like these flowers?" Luli piped up in question, deciding that she rather liked this she-wolf's collected demeanor. Her seaglass gaze swept over the field, looked upon the wilting purple buds beneath the dim light of a setting sun. She did not know the name for them that the lonely fae might understand, so simply offered: "薰衣草?"