Neverwinter Forest when the devil came to visit me

in the quiet minutes following his call, yunxu busies himself grooming the mud from his legs. he hasn't had much luck not causing offense yet. his own fault or not, it's reasonable to be nervous, but luckily he doesn't have to wait long. he recognizes vallkyrie the moment she appears from the trees, and greets her with a bow of his head.

"hello," yunxu returns. they're on friendlier terms now, but this is still her territory. hunt or not, yunxu is an intruder, and one with no desire to stumble into any more conflict. he's unsure what the rules are here, but he has to hope those of 海龙泻湖 aren't too far off.

she does still ask about his shoulder. yunxu has had quite enough of this question by now, but he keeps that from his face. she has the right to be concerned; anyone could be following him. "it just misunderstanding," he says. "i do not think it anything important." or he'd continue to hope. neither the leviathan nor the kraken on the cliffs had followed him back to the bay, and he'd seen no sign of their presence since.

he tries not to think about it.

it's made somewhat easier by the next arrival. yunxu turns his head as much to distract himself as anything, and slows when he catches sight of her. she could easily belong to his family, with sleek black head and sandy fur. the pattern is not that different from his or taisun's, and her words come with a very familiar accent.

yunxu licks his lips and bows. "jiāng yunxu," he says, on the hope that he isn't wrong in his assumption. "i came here looking for huāzhēn, meizhen, and yingyue."