Luneshale Pass [mp2] suds

tuna had dreams these nights she spent within the lowlands. dreams that she did not understand, dreams that she had never seen.

toula remained wrapped in gilded sunlight, wearing upon her the crown at ra himself placed before her head. she was the light itself, the radiance in everything that reached far within the soils of the lowlands.

and beside her? the figure of another, adorned with silver as they bow to her. their queen? no -- pharaoh. 

her birthright. and tuna could see that divine blood is praised within the land. thousands fall upon their knees as the light grows within their bones and skin, blessed by her own very air.

but she can see the uprising, as thorns erupt from tuna's mouth. the nonbelievers, the heretics, the greedy and power starved. she could see them reach for her light, tainting the golden rays with stains of shadowed vermillion. seeping into the very veins of toula, the pharaoh falls and grows corrupted.

the thorns from tuna wrap ahold of each victim, from those who stain the holy ground to the queen herself. devoured as an unpure heart, they bleed a potent tar that drowns the world.


she awakes. startled, in a sweat, gasping as her hackles remain on edge. it could not have been earlier than a few hours before sunrise as the sky outside remains dark. tuna looks over to her totem of protection, a gift from the girl queen herself. and she draws it close to her for a moment, pressing her head into the totem as if it may bequeth to her its sacred protection.

tuna had seen the divine plans. and now she did not know what to do with the burden within her heart.

It may be strange, but it happens that two neighbours across the street can live there for decades and not learn about each other anything. The same was with Brecheliant and Akashingo. Or rather Dwin's bubble in the world, where she was slightly aware that there was a pack nearby judging by the scent paths that sometimes criscrossed the plains, but for most of her life they simply did not exist to her. Or, even if she had heard the name or someone from her pack had made a contact, she would not know. Having just names and no faces to attach to them simply did not work. They were just as imaginary as unicorns until met in person. 

She had caught smell of a hellcat's relative near Brecheliant's borders during one of her nightly strolls and feeling both anxious and curious, she had found the path it had taken and tracked it diligently all the way to the Haunted woods, where it disappeared in the colourful chaos of scents inside there. Sure that it would not pester anyone at her home, she moved on to scout in an area near a river and eventually she returned to an area that she had explored a little few days ago. This time, instead of heading south, she walked along the stream, checking the water for fish and stopping to look at yet another odd plant. And being so pre-occupied with exploring she almost did not notice the little sand-coloured wolf with pelt that blended with the surroundings almost perfectly.

"Sorry," she murmured, taking that stranger's startled expression had been her fault. "Did not see you here."

"JESUS FU–" Tuna managed to yelp as the sudden presence of a stranger near.

a long drawn out sigh, tuna collapses onto the sand. "gewd looooord al'mahty, yew scared th'a livin' daylight outta me!" she says to the other, though noticing how young they were, she tries to end the note with a small laugh. she hadn't been that scared in a long time.

"what'chu ev'n doin out'ere, kid?" she decides to ask, pressing her hackles back down as she swipes the totem close to her and overlooks her grayscale companion.

Dwin snorted at being called a "kid" by a wolf that was not that much older than her. At least not by the looks of it. "Well, it seems it is a good thing I did scare that daylight out of you, because the sun is about to set and it probably needed some nudge," she explained, beckoning to, where the light should start to appear in the east. It was still dark - which was the only thing Dwin disliked about the autumn - but there were subtle signs of light stirring somewhere. These were things you felt not saw. 

"Name's Dwin -  I am from Brecheliant," she introduced herself. "And may I know your name?" she asked. 

she snickers at the witty response, a laugh that was dripping with sweet honey. "yew're pretty smart then" she says as she looks upon the girl. "dwin, huh?" she tests the name on her pink tongue before offering her own. "tuna, ah'm from tha king'dem awf akashingo. our queen's decided tah move here tah find'a new summer palace... or somethin' awf that' sort."

"ahm probably sah'pposed tah introduce her, but uh, ah don't think yew got much dee-sire to know all that junk. where's home any'ways, what yew call it, uh, brecheliant?" her head tilts in the slightest as she looks over her gently, realizing that this isn't a child she's speaking to, but rather a young adult, just as herself.

Dwin took a liking to the coyote lady, who spoke in an adorable and sometimes unintelligible

 accent, which made her furrow her brow and concentrate hard to understand everything she was telling her. Kingdom seemed like an odd way to call a pack, but it was probably no less weird than an enchanted forest. The word of palace, however, piqued Dwin's interest. Not surprising for a plebeian, who for the most of her time slept on the ground and considered a den that did not flood or collapse on top of you, a luxury. She was tempted to ask, what the ordinary den did not have that the palace did, but she kept it back. Acknowledging your ignorance was the first step towards wisdom. BUT Dwin had pride and did not want to make her - let's put it very simple understanding of life necessities - known to the other party. 

She chuckled, when Tuna spared her all the proper introductory "junk", and then replied to her question: "I think that we live one meadow over from your kingdom. It is a place with a huge lake and a mountain in the middle," she told. "I have not had the pleasure of making any acquaintances in Akashingo up until now, but I am fairly certain that my sister Frolic has been to visit your young on more than one occasion."

she listens, and while the names never ring a certain bell in her mind, tuna none the less still nods her head to show she is listening. "home soun's nah'ce" she says politely, "do yew got 'ny interest'n meetin' tha' others?" she comes to ask with a headtilt, battish ears coming to shift to the side. "they're a lil, uh... uppity, at worst, an' real formal at best. whatchu thahnk? wanna be'a emissary fer yer brecheliant?" a crooked grin graces her features.

"there's gon'be a party soon, too, ah coranation. yew should invite yer group tah come!"

Dwin had to focus to understand the thick accent of Tuna, therefore her answer came after a pause, during which her mind processed, what had been told and suggested. "Uh... I don't know, are your people of the meeting kind?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. "What I mean - are you friendly and open to curious visitors? Because not all packs are like that," she elaborated, because her first question might not have been very clear. 

"What is an emissary? Like an ambassador? What should they be doing?" she asked, interested in the job only if it did not mean additional responsibilities. For the time being she had enough of those. "A coronation - a real one? Wow, do people practice these things nowadays?" Dwin was surprised, because up until now she had considered kings and queens being on the same level of "real" as unicorns, dragons and honest politicians.

"Forgive my ignorance - but I would love to learn more about you, folks." 

tuna offers a crooked grin as she slaps on her orator's confidant voice. "akashingo looooves visitors," she begins to tell the other, "makin' connections an'all that's their way'o'life." a common shrug of the shoulders, in hopes to show she means her honesty, and perhaps brutal honesty at best.

"all yew gotta dew's make nice" she says to Dwin, "bring a gift'a somesorts, show'em yew mean'tah be allies 'r friends. bring yer company, any'one interes'ted 'an all that, we ain't picky." the palace would take those who showed respect, and tuna partially wonders about wayward guests who are here to do nothing but stir trouble and steal. perhaps she ought to speak to the crocodile king himself, khusobek, and explain her concerns later...

"akashingo's awf old blood, lah'nes of history, purity, and god'speak" (none of which H2O has forced herself to become educated on), "is'a old way, sh'ure, but is'their way awf doin' things. an' they like tha' idea of friends. those ta'h trade an' help; yew know how it is." chocolate eyes come to focus on her newfound friend. "that make any sense?" she now asks with a hopeful and light tone, head tilted as her ears brush against one another.

Something in the manner Tuna told that visitors are very welcome in Akashingo gave Dwin a vibe of a witch that is inviting children to her gingerbread house in the woods. The lady was probably harmless, but here - far away from the protection of Brecheliant - it was so easy to imagine that behind that mask hid a witch, who enjoyed having guests just because it meant that she would have a feast made out of them for her and her coven. 

"I will tell this to our Auspex and the council of Ravens," she told, attempting to match the grandeur that she sensed in the way Tuna spoke of her home. Otherwise the feeling that her home was a shabby shack next to a castle made of marble, jewels and gold stung her pride. "Kind of," Dwin shrugged, because she had had very little dealings with packs that followed fancy religions and traditions. While Brecheliant's name indicated that there was some magic involved in the creation of the Enchanted forest, it was really a place, which hosted regular people, who were free to express themselves. 

"My sister joined a pack like that and I amazed at her ability to convert so easily. I could never do that," not least because her own narrator was lazy and did not have the patience to learn in depth about any of the cultures. It was much easier to have Dwin to ask all the questions, be critical of the answers and share her opinions galore. In the hopes of converting some people to that religion of hers, which was called "trust no one and doubt everyone".

"Were you born in this pack or you are also a recent convert?" she asked.

tuna offers a humorous cackle to dwin's question. "ahm not awf that'ol bunch," she grins to the other, "ahm from tha' middle awf nowhere, wayyyy down south" she says to her thoughtfully. part of tuna thinks of her family for this moment; she wonders how her mamma is doin, how papi is doing too and all her brothers and sisters (god know her parents breed like rabbits and tuna would probably have more litters of siblings by now).

"ah needed a home, an' they offer'ed one, so lahng as ah'worked." she rolls her shoulders, it was all rather honest work. nothing dark had yet to come to paint her a poor image of the Egyptians, but perhaps that is simply due to luck and her later presence in the timeline. "ah just roll with'tha current, ya know?" tuna was like the little seal in the bottom of the ocean, holding onto kelp as she sleeps while the tide pushes her to and fro. simply just pleased to exist.

"well, ah shouldn't send ya home emp'ty-handed an'all" tuna thinks thoughtfully for a moment, "let meh bring yew a'gift'a somesorts? tah show tew yer council o'ravens an' hopefully mean good will an'all" she says with a charming grin, looking back to the stores that were slowly collected while finding the place in the cenotes.

"Thank you for your kind offer, but I don't think any gift of yours will survive until I get on my home turf," Dwin declined politely, not wishing to take any gifts that might have strings attached. Besides her resoning was also valid - she would get hungry on her way home and more likely than not that gift would be consumed and only a tasty tale were to be brought back. That was the best case scenario. The third thing - witch and the ginger-bread house! That warm and loving granny-vibe was appreciated, but viewed with a bit of healthy suspicion as well. 

"However - Brecheliant is unique among other packs, because a good story is just as much appreciated as a good gift," she told the she-wolf. "So - before I head home - maybe you have an Akashingo specific story to share? Both old ones and recent ones will do," she asked.