Otatso Wetlands Moonjock

Malachi eased onto his haunches as the woman spoke, tilting his head as he listened. She gestured Southward and he followed with a turn of his head. Upon seeing the marshlands, Malachi felt a sudden relief he'd chosen to wade the river North. He didn't know how far South the river stretched, but couldn't help imagine what the wolves of Swiftcurrent would have done if they'd found a lone wolf drifting through the heart of their domain. A grimace twitched at his maw, but a shift in the woman's voice distracted his musing and Malachi turned her way, back in the present again. So this woman did live in these parts - at one time, at least. The woman gave no information besides that, but the change in her voice made Malachi wonder if her departure had not been made without regret.

The woman switched topics, and Malachi welcomed the diversion, at least for the moment. Tuwawi. He marvelled at the melodious ring, and Malachi wondered if she had taken her name from a different tongue. He dipped his head at Tuwawi, keen to fix his shameful first impression with a proper greeting. "My name is Malachi." He flicked his gaze at the woman and pulled out of his bow. Hesitating, he thought to share more, but bit his tongue and shifted the conversation her way instead. He tried her name in his head again to distract himself - Tuwawi of Swiftcurrent - before he spoke, finding his voice quiet and careful. "If you are no longer with Swiftcurrent, do you run alone?" She'd given him no reason to believe otherwise, but the woman's physique spoke a different answer. Aside from a thick scar that scored her face and multiple scrapes on her shoulder, she looked strong and robust, not at all like the loners he'd encountered on his wandering, and certainly not like himself. She couldn't have been packless for long if she truly ran alone.