Bramblepoint Faith is just another worthless sign

@Valencia

Yao grinned. His teeth stung with the crispness of the air, but he relished the pain rather than shrink away. This was new, different. His home, far south from here, never grew as cold as here, never got this much snow. He was no stranger to the strange precipitation, but it was just that to him — strange. Stranger still was that, this late into spring, it still fell on the ground. Was this just how it was in the north? How long would the snows remain, until the sixth moon? Part of him was delighted at the thought and it was this part that took hold of him as he entered the woods. 

He bounded through the snow like a pup, running in bursts of speed only to skid to a halt. He enjoyed the feeling of the snow building up against his fur, and when he turned with a flourish, the feeling of the snow flying from him. He weaved through the trees, yipping in delight, embracing the childish part of himself that never got much time to flourish. His quest (duty, goal, whatever) could wait just a few moments, couldn't it?

Thank you for getting this up c:

The heavy snow was a bit odd, even Lenny had to admit. It was a bit of a downer at times, because when would the flowers start growing and when would things become warm and colorful? But in times like this, where she could freely play in it, it was more tolerable. Lenny didn't have long to travel today, nor was she busy. Instead, she played in the snow, looking much like a black splotch on the white paper of an ink blot test.

And it seemed that she was not the only one who was using today as a means to goof off. There was a tall wolf enjoying himself, rolling and jumping in the plush snow below. A smirk broke out on the girl's lips as she jumped upward, grabbing a tree branch in her jaws, and caused the snow on the branch to fall off, aiming to have it fall onto the man.

Yao did not fathom the idea of another being nearby. In his childish bliss he focused only on himself and his enjoyment as he frolicked through the snow. It was no surprise then that he was caught completely off guard when a cascade of snow fell upon him. Buried under a thin layer of snow, he panicked for a moment as he realized that someone, or something, could be near him and he had no idea until they made their presence known (though snow often fell from tree branches on their own accord, this fact did not come to mind). He pushed his way through the snow layer and shook himself as best he could. His eyes darted around until they settled on the lupine form sitting by the tree grinning at him. You! Yao barked, all sense of fun drained away.

The man spun around to look at her, and Lenny smirked playfully, tail waving through the air. He was mad, understandably so, and barked sharply at her. "You!" And Lenny honestly thought it was one of the funniest things she'd ever seen - this big guy, dusted with snow, glaring at her. 

"Why, good sir, I'd never," she gasped in a faux accent that sounded remotely southern. "You can't go around accusing ladies like that." The picture of accosted, and yet still mischievous and obviously the one who pulled the snow down on him.

The dark wolf stretched, chest touching the ground and remaining there. "Besides, you were covered in snow anyway." A chuckle, then. "It looked like you were having fun."

The anger bubbling inside of his chest could not help but cool down ha! in the face of the woman's exaggerated accent. What? He barked, the words a mix of outrage and mirth. He'd never heard such a dialect before. He shook himself to remove the aforementioned snow from his body, stinging at her words. I was until you dropped snow on me! Yao bared his teeth in a grimace that was not entirely friendly or threatening. Is that how you greet strangers, eh?

Laughter rose up in her own chest and Lenny poorly muffled a series of giggles, watching the man overreact - in her opinion, but then again, she wasn't the one who had snow dropped on her. Still, she didn't think she'd mind it too much. "Ah, you liked the voice, didja?" she asked, stretching and padding up a little closer to the guy. 

"Not often," she said, in regards to his question, arching her brow. He had an odd accent of his own, but it wasn't anything like her little collection of them. "Are you hurt?" the girl questioned, scanning him over just to make sure.

It was weird, He wrinkled his nose in amusement. His guard was definitely lowered now. I've never heard anything like it. Where's it from? It sounded pretentious and vapid. Was it a character rather than just an accent? He was honestly intrigued. He had to learn it and bring it back home one day. Glad to hear this isn't a common thing. I'd pity every other person you pull this on. He felt snow melting and running down to his ear. His ear twitched and he shook his head. Oh, I'm fine.

"I just kinda made it." It was true. A lot of her little voices had come from loneliness and also a need to establish herself as an individual, so she'd just done what made people laugh and ran with it. "Feel free to use it whenever. It's supposed to be funny." 

A laugh pealed from her lips when he continued talking and she shook her head. "No harm no foul, right?" she asked, tail swishing behind her. "Would it help if you threw snow on me?"

Yeah, I'm gonna take it Yao attempted the accent, failing spectacularly. It was too open, with things emphasized that he had slurred in his normal accent and vowels pronounced differently. He wrinkled his nose. You need to give me more examples,

Yao obliged without a word, charging forward with his paws together, sweeping a mass of snow in front of him and then onto her. He laughed, trying the accent again. Now we're even.

Lenny, taken aback, snorted in a rather unladylike way and burst into laughter at his mockery of her accent. No one had ever... played along with her like that before, and it was one of the funniest things she'd ever heard in her life. She was so wrapped up in laughter that she didn't realize he was going to throw snow on her until it was too late, and the slush coated her front. The muddy snow tasted horrible on her tongue, but she wasn't mad.

"That was the funniest thing I've ever heard!" she remarked, shaking the snow off and wagging her tail at the man. "You're great. What's your name? I'll teach you all the accents you want."

Caught up in her laughter, the dark woman didn't notice the wave of snow heading towards her until it was too late. Yao laughed, harder than before, at her look of surprise when the muddy snow finally hit her. Haoniyao, he managed to say between the ebbing bursts of laughter. You promise?

"Cross my heart," she told the man, moonstone eyes alight with mirth. "It's... been a pleasure to meet you, Haoniyao." That was a name that felt weird on her lips, but she found she didn't quite mind it. "My name's Lenny. Or Valencia, I guess, if you really wanna call me that." Her own full name irritated her greatly. 

She looked him over - the two of them were very similar in size, she found, and it was easy to look him in the eye. "Say, you happen to be lookin' for a place to stay?"

Yao took her at her word, nodding. I'll call you Lenny if you call me Yao, he conceded. I suppose, Yao hadn't considered putting in his lot with one group for very long. For all intents and purposes, he had struck out as a wandered, but he chafed under the life of a lone wolf. He was too gregarious for it, too used to living in close quarters with his family and friends. Are you offering?

Yao fit him, she decided - this big, dense wolf. It was funny how close their physiques were to one another - she hadn't really noticed that before. "We've got a deal, Yao," she accepted with a flourish, tail swishing once behind her. Are you offering? "Well, I can't offer, since I'm not the leader, but maybe Mal will understand if I tell him you're the funniest wolf in the entire world." The girl winked at him and tipped her head to the side. "You coming with me, or no?"

I'm going to hold you to it, so don't forget. She winked at him, an impish gesture that Yao hadn't been on the receiving end before. He felt a tingle run through his body, thinking very little of it in the moment. Sawa. He stood up straight and shook himself. Lead the way,

NOTE - takes place on April 13, 2020

"I always keep my word," she told him, and though she didn't quite understand what that odd little word he used was, she assumed it was in the affirmative. "Alrighty. It's not all that far away," she assured, tail wagging with excitement as she turned to lead Haoniyao to Neverwinter Forest.