Dragoncrest Cliffs There's a rock in my paw..?

tourists. the moment val learned they had little to offer, he turned unusually cold. in years past he might warmly greet strangers — but now, he had seen enough revolutions of this planet to know better than to put too much hope in those who showed up unannounced.

he looked to chacal, reading from her expression she wished to speak but didn’t. it hurt his heart to witness this — how she was gradually losing her voice day by day. the light, he sometimes thought, was dimming.

val turned back to the strangers, his tone perfectly perfunctory. while it’d be hard for them to explain exactly how, he seemed less welcoming. this is sapphique. i am val, and this is chacal — sapphique’s leader. we are a family pack that prides keeping to ourselves. if you are looking for a pack, i suggest going inland.

a glimmer of raleska in him then. he kept conversation short thereafter, relieved when the two picked up on his various hints and quit sapphique’s doorstep.