Luneshale Pass Only angels fall

Safiya had found herself at the mercy of another pack. She had been brought here by that wolf. And every step reminded her of the day she was maimed. She was in constant fight mode. And as such she kept herself high up above all the peons of Soto. Growls and snarls were her only means of conversation if any came near her.

She didn't want to talk to anyone. And definitely not the wolves who had hurt her and her family. But as all hypocrites. She did not snarl at the man that had moved this all into motion. She kept that close to her chest. Far as she knew. No one knew her and she'd keep it that way.

oh, his sweet summer pearl.

she is lost without the redsands of her home. lost without the guidance of her father.

he sees the way she moves among them, her steps guarded and single eye strained with pain too profound for a wolf her age to taste.

and her soul being lost calls to mind another daughter, whose memory was so far removed from him that for a moment his heart was struck with the agony of it --

safiya, he comes across her with his single eye softened, a gesture reserved only for her. 

he knows better to get attached, and yet here his heart was, beating softly for the hurt of another. marciela showed him once this vulnerability, and here he was again! qué ocurre?

Safiya was not lost for her home or family
 It was lack of purpose that caused the filter in her pawsteps. She had no one to guard. And she also felt guilt. Gyilt for being here near a man her father had hated. And yet had never treated her badly.


A lift of red head. Sea glass eye turned towards him. A twitch of an ear a whine hello. 

Soto

She had to think. Her grasp of his language was not profound. She knew what. But occurs she had to think. Realize.

She spoke halting. aprendizaje, protección, propósito

though he could not possibly know her thoughts, soto’s mind carries along at a similar trajectory. verapaz is very different than the halls of her home; its coldness and lack of splendor made more significant by rustic quarters and lean times. he supposes another challenge for her is the lack of wolves in her age cohort; he resolves to find her a peer this coming season. there’s emilio, but soto wonders of their compatibility. 

safiya’s words bring a warm smile to his face, that for once reaches the hard edges of his eyes. she’s learning — and shows promise. 

soto’s throat clears. he has been learning too. if not for safiya, he might never try at all. 

cual... his paws rotate in circular motion as he tries to find the words escaping him. what es — another break in speech as he thinks: tu ‘purpose’?

Safiya had lived in the Mazoi barracks as she had grown. So her own quarters had not been as splendid as the rooms where the royals lived. It had still she supposed been more resplendent than this. But the material things had never mattered to her, unless they had a sentimental value.

Also Safiya had never had many her own age to hang out with. Her friends and mentors had all been older, hence why she was sort of in her situation as it were. 
She made a soft hum noise. No lo sé

A tilt of her head. A smile and a shake of head. Nudge to cheek at his attempt at her language.

 Maybe guarding. I am a soldier. uh. Soy soldado

a soldier! emberfire warmth kindles the cheek which safiya gently touched.

to soto, she's more than a soldier -- but he can see her performing that role very well. already she has proven herself full of the iron bite of her father.

thinking of him causes soto's stomach to turn.

ven conmigo. soto instructs, moving slowly out towards the dry plains. if she wishes to become guardian, soto has things he can teach her -- things that will ensure no matter what comes at her, safiya never flinches first.

Safiya was raised a soldier. Trained a soldier. Wounded a soldier. And stood here a soldier. A tilt of her head. She was what she had always been. Just larger. Though she doubted she'd grow any larger now. And she was not big by any stretch of the means for a Mazoi/Soldier.

Safiya was taught well. Even if he was no longer here. And he was not the kindnes man to others. Her father.

A shift in his movements and his demeaner and a softly uttered command. So she followed. Curious. Wary. Excited. What would await them. Did he have something to teach? Safiya always enjoyed learning new things.

they move off in what soto believes is companionable silence.

he brings her past the wellspring, up through the thin channel he and fiamma carved for the green.

young though she is, safiya has already been battle tested. now, it is simply a matter of sharpening her wits.

he brings her to a stone quarry and waits for her to notice the scent of mountain cat on the wind.

Safiya enjoyed the silence. It gave her time to study the world and Soto himself. From the guard hairs to the tail. The different colors in his pelt. 

Sea green eye drifted over the scrub grass. The green where it smelled like a few of the pack stayed near. Cultivating maybe. With a pang she thought of Machi. And his plants.

She froze and lifted her head. Gaze narrowing as she searched for the bitter smelling cat. Lift of lip, teeth showing as she caught the scent and began to track. Gaze only at first.

no spring lamb, this one. soto's eye apprises her, glittering with approval as she freezes. he can sense the gears within her churning; each synapse sparking off into another.

cat.

he lowers his head in acknowledgment, a single paw upturned palm up in the universal gesture of your move.

she is warrior; but she must also learn that danger comes in many forms.

 it is an art to dissuade peril from darkening your doorstep.

Safiya wondered briefly if Soto had expected her to be afraid. She wondered if he had realized fear was an emotion she didn't particularly ever feel. That she was reckless and wild with Soldiers fury. That she was A Mazoi born of slaves and soldiers. Built different.

Body lowers and she stalks towards the creature. Nose lifting to gather the scent and whether they are down wind or upwind. And she moves to make sure they stay downwind. 

Paws small in the desert dirt. But determined air to her shift.

do you want me to forward date this to after fight or keep it before?

whichever u want!! <3 maybe there's two kitties? lol!

he follows her cue, hunching low to the ground.

marveling the shift in her posture, her demeanor.

and in her determined gaze he sees a shadow of her father -- a sight which causes internal roiling.

the cat is somewhere upwind. soto's single gaze flits from stone to stone, knowing they blend in well, particularly when motionless.

no fear from either of them -- just a resolve that this is their home, and cats do not belong within it.

that could make sense I think it's breeding season

Safiya stayed low. And she used her other senses. Tail twitching. She had to rely more heavily on her sense of smell and hearing. Especially on her bad side.

She found a rocky outgrowing and stood motionless tracking. Finally honing on the soft sound of padded feet. Stones rolling from beneath. And the breathing of one not feeling threatened.

Sea green stared. Then turned to Soto. Silent asking. Attack? they were above. They could leap below, but it was a fully grown mountain lion. Did he have faith in the two of them? Did she?

he follows behind her as she tracks, her nose game on point.

before long they are in the cat's proximity. her slender form casting a long shadow below them.

soto inches close to safiya, meeting the verdant green of her gaze. safiya, he whispers in his heavily accented way, urging her close.

she was a warrior, and she was brave. but brave warriors often died, and soto could not live with losing her.

if he could teach her nothing else, he wished to teach her the value in discretion. the two of them could confront this cat, get hurt, and lose everything.

or...

he struggles to find the words. when threat es aqui, a handwave as he plucked from his library of borrowed phrases and words: sometimes, es better to... moverse suavemente y disuadir. he held her gaze a long moment, wondering if she would understand.

not every conflict was a battle. sometimes, to demoralize your enemy, you had to show him how clever you were -- not how brave you were.

come. he rose suddenly, noisily, knowing it would draw the attention of the cat. he throws back his head and howls -- a low and sonorous boom that carries downhill like a landslide. and then he scrapes the ground with his feet, leaving scentmarkers every three yards. wolf country, this communicates loud and clear.

and he notices the shadow downhill has moved on.

Safiya had learned while in Akashingo the importance of her other senses. She had too. It had been a lesson of necessity born from weakness. And Weakness she could not fathom. No she would have to change that, and she had. 

She shifts and turns her head towards him, moving closer at his request. Ear's perked forward to catch what he had to say. Safiya was glad to be brave. She would be glad to lay her life down for others. But it seemed that was not the goal for this day. And she reassessed.

A small smile as he attempted to try and make her understand with her own common language. She would need to teach him arabic someday too. It would probably sound exotic with his already accent. But would he want to know the language of her father?

She did not know what suavemente meant, but she could guess based on the rest so he did not want to outright attack, but chase away. Make it realize there was too much to tangle with. She could accept this. 


She followed along, adding her own scent to the borders. Paws and claws and water. She could do this. And she did.

they course the stones as a pair, safiya's mind on the beautiful language of her father, and soto's mind on the cat.

he doesn't like how quickly it ran off. it meant one of two things; either, it knew the land too well to be intimidated by a show of force, or it knew wolves too well -- both of which suggest a clever creature.

he stops and sniffs at a scent marker left by safiya. she is growing and now her scent joins the dozen others, not as puppy but as adult. though he held no love for her father, and he knew her father held even less for him, soto briefly gazes skywards in silent oath - that as long as he drew breath, she would be protected. safe.

that he would not make the same mistakes he'd made with marciela.

bien trabajo. he starts up again, trotting jauntily down the shale towards the river. the cat may come another day, but for now verapaz is strong as ever.