Ouroboros Spine up with the trees

Soot-smudged ears stood up and then laid low before settling somewhere in the middle; the sound of the man's voice had flustered him, as had the greeting he was still growing used to. He turned with his tail wheeling weakly at his hocks — something that was corrected with enthusiasm as he set eyes on a friendly face.

"Hail," he replied, bemused by the strange way of speech but already assessing the man as a suitor for his sister. He would make a fine husband, by all appearances! "I — this one, that is to say — greets you. I am White Elk."

He was different from Callyope. They looked as though they could be siblings, but he understood instinctively that they were not. Their speech was not quite the same.

"What is your name?" he asked, eager to get to know the man.