Chimera Fields We found to our surprise that he was not fearsome

@Dirge

She could not remember the forest. Or where it had come from. 

She stopped suddenly, the bird overhead soaring right over her and onwards before realizing her comparing had stopped. Kai appeared puzzled where she stood, brows furrowed in deep thought and her ghostly eyes trained on the ground. She swayed on pale toes and then her head swung first left, then right. Finally she turned swung right, her body following after her movement and causing the kingfisher to be dislodged from her grip on the wolfdog's matted mane. 

The girl snorted, snapping at Tula's tail with fangs that just barely kissed their target - though of course her teeth never landed when they played this game. She dodged any retaliation the bird might launch her way and loped ahead - shaking out her thick ruff. It was then that a flash of bright color - pink maybe - caught her attention. She yipped, gesturing to her familiar to follow after. The wraith hovered on the edge of the tree line, peering between branches. 

The field was an alien, bipolar place. The half nearest to her was thickly populated by a variety of wildflowers - the riotous colors bright enough to hurt the eyes. Fat bumblebees buzzed clumsily over the blooms, a low hum from their collection reaching her upright ears. In the distance, the far half of the field was bare soil. It was rocky with no sign of plant life. The leopard prowled from the tree line, a cautious Tula clinging to her shoulder blade, ivory gaze scanning for threats. 

she was not sure kai was okay. the canine had hit her head in their travels, shortly after leaving kjalarr behind, and seemed even stranger than she had been before. the fisher was loyal and remained at her friend's side, flying overhead as the wolfdog wandered. tula might not have taken notice that she stopped if she had not accidentally glanced down. with an indignant chirp, she flew back to kai and clung to her usual perch against the girl's shoulder. 

she was startled from her spot moments later when kai surged to the right, taking to the air once more with an angry flap of her wings.

she was roused into action when kai lunged for her tail, flitting out of reach with a taunting rattle. the fisher dove, nipping the girl harmlessly with her beak.

the bird followed behind, disinterested in the meadow, until kai stopped again at the edge of a clearing. she took hold of the canine's dreads again, comfortably settling in the hollow between her patchy shoulder blades. she took up preening her feathers, one head tucked under her flint-colored wing, waiting until something more interesting happened.

A thin swath of sunflowers embraced him on his return trip to the strange field, their varying yet towering heights a backdrop to his ranging. It was warm and dry, a break from the humidity that had graced them all thus far. The nights still held fast to just the skightest chill, but when nothing had come of it to suggest the passage of seasons, he had grown used to it. Perhaps it was no wonder with favorable weather that the sunflowers stood so tall, or that their ilk flourished as proudly. It all lent to the companionable ambiance.

He teased the barren line by weaving along the stalks, a leisure stroll for what was turning out to be a lazy day. @Nyx seemed to have risen with the sun and disappeared in with the misty tendrils of the weald, and he, well, he had contented himself with a bit of unattended wandering. For the most part he did not worry about his solitude being interrupted, though company was never hard to find even along the fringes of the wilderness.

As it were, his eyes alighted on another as he dipped and rose from beneath one floral arrangement, a peculiar peltage to stand against verdant earth and bright skies. His steps ceased naturally as he regarded her from a distance, his head canting gently with curiosity. She was a quaint thing, but he was not quite a stranger to the oddities the world offered. To draw her attention, he chuffed, intrigued if the spotted canine would draw near or flee through the meadow that would swallow her so.

A wind caught in her matted mane, causing the girl to tip her head back in pleasure. Her spooky gaze was hidden behind fiery eyelids as she breathed deeply the scents of summer and fragrant blooms. Another scent was brought to her, a hint of wolf amongst the sunflower sentinels. 

Kai opened her eyes, her head turning as his chuff brought her ears forward. The wolfdog approached curiously; Tula huddled close to her neck for protection. He looked more the part of a wolf than she did; coated in bands of brown and gold and black. He was not the first wolf she'd met nor the biggest, dipping her head and emitting a soft placating sound of submission that clearly stated she wasn't worth the effort of a fight. 

The girl pressed as close as she dared, sniffing at his scent with intrigue as her eerie 'cracked' gaze remained trained on the ground. Tula gave off a whispery chirp, shyer than she would admit in the face of a stranger. 

tula did not approve of approaching a strange wolf but she could no more stop kai from investigating possibly dangerous situations than she could stop the sun from shining. she hunched close to the curve of the wolfdog's shoulder - frightened that the male might try to eat her. it  wouldn't be the first time someone had tried.

as kai finished introducing herself in that silent, canine, "let me sniff you" way she had; the bird let out a soft peep. it was the bravest greeting she could muster before the fearsome looking brute - who, somehow, was ten times more ferocious looking than her companion.

She approached, lured in by his invitation for company in what was perhaps the most submissive he had seen anyone to date. If his ambition had been any more tipped towards the necessity for power, it may have appeased him greatly; instead he found it curious that she forewent the common tongue and attended to their crossing with simplicity. He obliged her in return, letting his tail swing easily at his hocks. She was no threat and neither was he.

It was in this close exchange however he found the nuances of her being; the way her coat was far wilder and unkempt than the average, the smell of soil and flora rose off her readily and ever heady. Wolf yet not, some combination and some mystery enough to further whet his interest. She was certainly a strange find here of all places, yet perhaps she was not the one so out of place—save the bird. His wandering gaze found it, tucked away in the safety of a tangled, dirty plait. Now that was truly a strange sight.

"Is that your helper there?" he asked, words soft and hopefully well meaning. Seemed a better option than repeating their nonverbal greetings, amd certainly better than a tastless inquiry into what her heritage was. And of course, that was presuming she could even speak at all beyond hushed tones lodged in her throat.

sorry for the delay!

His eyes wandered her over but it was not malevolent, if anything he was merely observing the strange appearance she had been granted. A tail, which might have been bottlebrush were it not weighed down with matted locks and leaves, swayed crookedly at her heels where it brushes the ground softly. 

"Tula," she offered in a single, soft exhalation. Her tumbles into the sea had left her brain addled but the ghostly gaze that wandered to Dirge was sharp with intelligence. 

Kai turned, ever so gently poking the bird in her chestnut belly. With a small flap of her flinty wings, the bird hopped onto the wolfdog's mottled muzzle. Canting her head towards Dirge, she let the fisher hop onto him if they both allowed it - settling back to watch the two together.

she hopped onto the proffered muzzle, swaying slightly as she was extended out to the male. he did not seem threatening and tula was not so inclined to be frightened of him. she chirped at dirge, not noticing whether he liked the song or not, before flitting onto his head. 

she examined the grayish brown wolf head she had taken up as a perch, noticing that his fur (which was much cleaner) was also slippery and that he had less dreads (which meant less handholds for the fisher). 

it was ungainly, the way tula clumsily hopped onto his back - settling in the center of his back with a huff.

When she did speak, her voice was gentle and marred slightly by disuse, or at the very least the illusion of it. It was a hushed thing, a two-toned syllable as seift and small as the bird she offered him. Dirge was still as the kingfisher made an investigation of him, its feet a strange sensation against the crown of his head, out of sight of his eyes that struggled to follow it until it had unceremoniously settled between his shoulder blades. He peered at it, only catching sight of its pointed beak and nothing more. At least someone seemed comfortable; his gaze rounded back to the mismatched canine, curiosity once more up staging any charm he may have unbridled.

"What's your name?" He chose simpler words, the short sentence not necessarily to imply a lack of intelligence but rather to seem more kindly. A means to gain what he wanted to know without offense, if it could be avoided. It wasn't the norm for him to encounter such subservient company, even less the norm to encounter a bird keeping, bespeckled woman. He decided she must have been a cross of something, distinctly wolfish, but more than just standard fare. An interesting hybrid, an outlier fitting of the very place they stood in.

A name was only the start he had for her.

"Kai," she offers simply, her tail giving another ragged sweep. She seems unperturbed by the change of syntax he offers, unoffended, if anything - relieved. Ghostly eyes found his golden gaze again, darting away soon enough. 

Her lack of language doesn't seem to bother her as she reaches out, sniffing the much cleaner, lupine male she's encountered. Gently, as if asking if she was allowed, the wolfdog prodded his silver chest with a freckled muzzle. Her "cracked" gaze, shot through with eerily vivid cerulean, met his again, her brows raising as if to ask, your name? 

she settled as best she could, clinging to a couple handfuls of silvery, agouti fur. she could hear the shift in tone, but unlike the wolves she was not blessed with the ability to speak at all. her head cocked slightly, particularly at the mention of kai's name, but for the most part she was focused on preening her feathers.

Kai, and Tula. Easy names to remember if nothing else and at least she seemed able to slip into some comfortable mindset to answer and ask; the gentle prod against his chest obvious enough to pick out. He felt the shift of the bird again, this time as he shifted his stance slightly.

"Dirge," he offered—at least he too had a short name that was as much ill-fitting as it was suiting. "Do you live here?" he went on to wonder with the next breath. He had roamed here a time or two, never shying away from an encounter, but this was the first he had seen of her. The florals there masked them ever so much, yet the tangles of her coat suggested more.

[size=11.6667px%]Dirge. She nodded. It was a fine name, she thought, though she'd likely thought this of any name he offered.

Do you live here?

"No," she whispered, ivory gaze flitting from the flowers to the dirt to the distant sunflowers like a restless bird. The colors, the conflict of it was enough that it would have driven her from this place eventually, oddball that she was.

"Ta' sea," she breathed as if were a lover's name. She could picture the cove if she tried and gods, she missed it. 

"Jump o' die. Lost." She offered the words to sum up her life - struggling to piece together even that much. A dull pain blossomed behind her eyes in response and she squinted them against the ache.[/size]

what tula wouldn't give to be able to speak to the wolves. she knew most of kai's story, she could tell it but they'd never understand her chirps. frustrated but unable to help, she flirted back over onto kai's patchy back - preening the wolfdog gently to offer some comfort.

Another sea dweller, at least of a sort. It should not have surprised him as it did, given how close they were to the long stretch of sandy shores. The barren field and the gouge that separated all served more as a buffer, a literal border between sea and wilderness. He couldn't help but cast a glance that way, past the wolfdog and the bird, and wonder more what it was that had led her to this jump and die, or whatever it was that had led her to be lost.

Still, an opportunity presented itself. He was speaking before he realized it.

"Are you looking for somewhere safe to stay? There's a forest, not too far from here," he said, gesturing over his shoulder. "Just a few of us staying there as long as we have need of it. It's quiet," and deep, and thick, and all sorts of words he could think of at length to append to it but didn't, "and you could rest." The offer seemed tactless and more than likely was but the world was without a doubt wild and unforgiving. Why on earth he thought about being some bastion of kindness (or maybe simply ignorance) was beyond guessing.

The offer comes and Kai isn't sure what to make of it. She wants to tell him that she isn't sick, that there's nothing wrong with her. Something about the way he seems to so freely give kindness indicates some form of pity or charity - as if she were a basket case in need of protecting. Ivory eyes find the ground, fine furrows of confusion forming between them. "Spoke," she murmured brokenly, the other half of her thought lost. Half a heartbeat passes, her gaze flicking to and fro slightly as if searching for the rest of her sentence.

"Once," she breathes, eerie gaze snapping back to Dirge once she recalls the word. Her feathery ears dip in unison, wondering if he understands, a strange sentience burning in her eyes.

"I go," she chirps in agreement, touching a berry juice-stained muzzle to his shoulder briefly as if to indicate she would follow him.

tula fell carefully still, head turned so that one beady black eye could lock on dirge. the bird was neither set against going not overly attached to the option of staying. she merely waited in wait, catching the phrase kai muttered that indicated they would be joining the male before them. tula settled into the dip between kai's shoulders - clinging to a matted loc with her tiny claws.

She murmured softly a word or two, his head left to cant in silent questioning; he wondered if she was deliberating his offer to come along. Though uncertain if she is or isn't or even if he understands, he is patient. It would not have phased him to be rebuked here, but it would have been better than the inevitable abandonment of followers to come with the turn of the season.

A smile bloomed thinly along his features as she reached her decision, the probing touch of her nose to him a reassurement that perhaps he was right to offer. "I'm glad," he said, finding a bit of charm to shine as he passed by her and her feathery companion to lead the way.

He found a conversational, easy tone to elaborate to her: "I'm afraid it isn't much of a pack now, but it is my hope it will grow. There's no shortage of food and we aren't troubled by much of anyone. Plenty of safety and shelter and plenty of stories and secrets in that old wood to find too," he trailed, a careful glance back to gauge her reaction—would it intrigue her too?

She lapses back into silence, comfortably so, feeling drained from the efforts of putting her thoughts into words. The wolfdog longed for the days her words had flown freely. Spooky eyes danced over the chaotic field as she followed in his shadow, wishing she could relay to the wolf just ahead of her what she thought of this meadow and its haphazard beauty.

Her tail took up a broken tempo on account of Dirge's words. He probably doesn't mean it but Kai ignores this, choosing instead to believe that Dirge is truly happy she's coming along.

Curiously, her ivory gaze drifted over to him as he spoke, dipping her mottled crown in response. Kai offered him a crook of a grin, expressing her excitement with a soft rasp that might have been a laugh.

she fell into the seat of kai's step, comfortable with the swaying motion she'd grown so accustomed to. dirge led the way towards the fledgling pack, the lupines sharing more words. tula paid little attention to their conversation, taking to wing as they left the strange place behind.

She would have been wrong in thinking that he didn't mean it. His way of showing such may have been wolfish alone, but when it came to the endeavor he had taken on he was glad that any would follow him. Family may have been a given, far more solid in its willingness than complete strangers; the fact that Kai seemed happy enough to go along with him for however long she decided was reassuring. The rasp of her laugh emboldened his steps, his pace picking up as they reached the edge of the field and to the fringes of the coast beyond. The journey would not take much longer he felt, with the both of them light on their feet, and Dirge would eagerly show her the forest he hoped to claim for himself soon.

wrapping this up; feel free to tag dirge for more threads though. i really like kai!