Neverwinter Forest They'll be here pretty soon

AW!
set for early morning 8/4

It had been raining when she went to sleep last night, and it continued to rain this morning as she explored the forest outside of her safe area. She had the strong urge to wander lately, and neither the continued rain, nor the chilly morning air would stop her. She especially wouldn't hold back because she might get in trouble for being too far from the watchful eyes of her parents. 

The rain sounded like it was coming down harder than what she felt slowly dampening her coat, which was because the trees blocked a good amount of it from reaching the forest floor. Of course, she wasn't old enough to understand such things, so she spared it only a brief thought before continuing her search for something interesting. 

She searched for what seemed like forever before the movement of something small and green caught her attention. She bounded over to where she had seen the green thing, and it jumped away from where it had been hiding under some brown pine needles. Nuala leaped forward after it, determined to catch it and see what it was. The thing was fast, though, and it kept hopping away from her and hiding, so that each time she got close, she was unaware until it was jumping away. 

The strange creature eventually made an error, though, and landed somewhere she could see it and she quickly jumped on top of it and trapped it under her paw. She was faced with conundrum then: lift her paw to inspect it and risk losing it or keep her paw where it was and in return, keep her prize where it was. But she was impatient, and she lifted her paw to look at the tiny thing anyway; it immediately hopped away, and she had to scramble forward to trap it under her paw again. This time, she wasn't letting it go.

it wasn’t until this morning that huojin decided he liked the rain. storms could be scary, but without the loud noises and bright lights, rain was okay.

so, he stepped out from their makeshift den like he would have on any other day, and began to explore the surrounding territory. luli! huo called out, upon spotting the rosy girl. 

however, as he drew nearer, it became apparent that this girl was not his cousin. who was she then?

The call made her whip her head to look at the boy—he was was there the other day with the other kids. He called her something weird, and she gave him a puzzled look and shook her head. Noooo, she told him first, similarly to the way a parent might. Noo-a, she corrected, not quite able to say her own name correctly yet. 

She applied more pressure on the little green creature, holding it more firmly against the ground now that someone else was there; she didn't want them trying to take it from her. Mine, she told him, lowering her nose to her paw and lifting her gaze to watch him. She didn't know what he might try to do next.

she began to speak, and he visibly relaxed, comfortable knowing that neither could really speak this language. it made him more willing to try communicating.. even if they wouldn’t actually get anywhere.

noo - a, he repeated, noa? her name was nice, assuming he’d said it right. although different from the names he was used to, it sounded similar enough. huo - jin, he told her. could she say that?

the squirming lizard caught his attention, and he moved forward just as she clenched tighter. why was she trying to hide it? eat it? huojin asked. they certainly couldn’t enjoy this meal if the thing was still moving.