Chimera Fields The echoes of the fallen

@Eydís

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His steps were slow and thoughtful. The eastern half of the fields stretched out before him, a riot of colors bathed in the soft glow of dusk. Honeybees buzzed lazily among the blossoms, and hummingbirds darted between blooms, flashes of color against the evening sky.

As he moved, Luhtar's head was hung low. Level with his chest, there was a slight sway to his walk, a careless toss of his weight. He was loud as he moved through the fields.

He thought of his family—the ones who had stood idly while the elders cast him out. His ma and pa... they felt distant now, yet a wound that time could never fully heal remained. His father’s stern face, his mother’s soft and weary eyes were burned into his mind. The way they’d turned from him as though he were a stranger.

And then, like a whisper in the back of his mind, he remembered her. His starlight. Her laughter, her warmth. And he remembered the way her tears glistened as they fell upon the thick chest of another. As Luhtar paused within the fields, his eyes remained poised upon the ground beneath him, staring vicious daggers between his two front paws.

How was one to search for what they did not know?

It was a question that Eydis often found herself repeating, though she swore it was not necessary. But it was the truth, for they would nearly be yearlings by now; shed of their soft puppy coats and milky scent. But a mother that could not recognize her own children, would she really be a mother at all?

The wonderings and taunts were shook from her head with a soft growl as the woman entered the field neighboring the forest from which she now resided.

Head lifting, she spotted a man not far ahead. She did not recognize him by face, but his scent spoke of Solharr. He too must have joined the auburn man, she decided. Large and pudgy with a coat that reminded her of the mountains which she came from, Eydis found herself rather curious.

Just as he thought his emotions mind overwhelm him, there was a snap of foliage behind him. His large silhouette burned with the fire of the setting sun as his head whipped around. Legs lifting to move, he paused mid-step when he noticed the figure emerging from the tree line. An unfamiliar woman, but Luhtar's fur didn't bristle with the usual discomfort a nearby stranger brought.

Something about the way she looked at him caused something to click in his mind. He remembered what Sólhárr had told him about the blonde she-wolf he had welcomed into their fold. Her name... he couldn't recall her name.

He had been in no mood for company, but then again, anything was welcome reprieve from the memories which darkened his mind. A soft noise loud enough for her to hear was barked from the round wolf's jaws, if anything, a greeting from packmate to packmate.

He began a slow trot towards her, paw steps cautious through the blades of grass; it wasn't his intention to spook her.

Before her mind could be made up as to whether or not she would turn back, the man called out and began to approach. For a brief moment, her ears pushed back. It would be rude to turn back without at least introducing herself first. It was rude to stare too, and so she returned his approach.

It had been some time since Eydis had met so many wolves - her travels keeping her far too busy to settle the way she had now. But searching had not worked for the year that she had been searching, and so she thought that maybe it was time to take her turn waiting.

She did not speak, not yet. Her neck craned forward with a furrowed brow to further take in the scent of the other, so that she would learn to recognize him for more than just Solharr.

He came to a stop a respectful distance away, allowing her the chance to study him as she took in his scent. “Luhtar,” he offered simply, dipping his head in a small greeting. There was a faint buzz of recognition in his eyes as he looked upon her.

The formality of introductions still felt new to him, a habit he hadn’t fully learned to settle into, but he was willing to make the effort. If only for his Hárkonungr. “You are Forneskja, yes?” he added, voice warm and quizzical.

His nostrils, ringed with wet, flared visibly; he inhaled a greedy amount of her scent, noting the underlying presence of Sólhárr. In some attempt to ease the tension that gathered in the both of their pelts, his tail swiped upon the ground as he lowered himself to his thick haunches.

His tongue wetted his nose, a question lighting up within his mind like a bulb. "Talar þú okkar tungu?"

He was patient, and offered his name. She could appreciate such behaviours. Eydis. She returned, only responding to his following question with a nod. She was not one to be overly talkative.

And yet, it was what followed that made her pause. Carefully she had to dissect his words, for they felt distantly familiar to her. She believed it to be her mother's tongue. Eydis had not spoken it since her own departure as a yearling.

Aðeins lítið magn. Her words lacked confidence, her accent weakened from years apart from the language.

However she wondered if being here, in Forneskja, she would have to learn once again.

Eydís.

It was a beautiful name. As his eyes wandered across her, picking apart everything he could see within a first glance, he thought it was fitting. It was enough to make the wolf smile, albeit it was a small and nervous thing, hidden beneath a fat nose.

His eyes flitted about her face, watching the way her expression morphed into one of uncertainty. Her lips pursed, as if she were going to speak, then fell flat. When she did talk, her speech was slow, the syllables contorted with lack of experience.

His ears perked forwards, a small laugh falling from his lips. "Mjög gott." He complimented, the tail behind his large form patting enthusiastically upon the ground. Luhtar was passionate about his culture, and more than eager to teach the less informed of Forneskja.

He straightened his posture a bit, nails scraping against the earth below. "Eydís means something?"

He praised her attempt, and that was enough to bring her some pride. Her tail began to sway for a short moment before it stilled once again.

Goddess of Fortune. She clicked her tongue at the explanation. Her mother had put quite a bit of care into the names of her children, but Eydis had never like hers. My mother thought too highly. Rather than self-deprecation, she spoke this as fact.

She paused for a moment, before finding herself speaking again. My husband called me 'Bluebelle' for my eyes, he said it suited me better. At the time she had agreed, but now she was unsure if she wished to keep such a thing.

Luhtar’s ears perked at the mention of her husband. Almost as if he'd see the brute somewhere, Luhtar's eyes shifted to their surroundings, dragging along the edges of the treeline. Question lingered upon his face, but he said nothing instead, and dipped his head in a quiet nod of understanding.

"Here," Luhtar gave her a warm smile, and one of his large forearms lifted so that he could bring a hearty paw to her chest. His toes melded briefly into the soft fur of her chest, placed directly above her heart. "You are Eydís." The ears, short and rounded, atop his head swiveled with a twitch.

"Við þekkjum örlög," He trailed off, eyes searching hers. He understood the feeling of someone lost all too well. Of course, he could only assume... if her husband was not here, then he was indeed lost. "with you here."

He hoped that, with time, Eydís would grow to love his culture as much as he did.

She watched the way his eyes searched the treeline at the mention of her once husband, saw the question appear on his face. She could not understand it. He is not here with me. He left some time ago. The words tasted bitter, but she knew them to be the truth. She had learned to live with it, for she did not see the benefit of loving a man who refused to believe her words.

A paw was placed on her chest, and as the eyes of the other searched her own she could only stare back. The gesture felt odd. Kind, but odd. She felt no malice from Luhtar, and so she did not wish to pull away from him. For a moment, she felt her heart beating harder.

If you say that I am Eydis, than that is who I will be.

The wolves here were warm, gentle. Eydis couldn't seem to turn them away.

He didn’t say anything immediately, letting a sweet silence fall between them, filled only with the quiet sounds of the field and their shared breathing; his ever so slightly louder than hers. There was a vulnerability in her words, a willingness he didn't see in most, and he let his eyes flutter closed for the smallest of moments in recognition. He understood, completely.

His voice now was warm, filled with a lazy gravel. "Good." He responded, before he drew himself to all four of his paws, shaking off the complacency that'd begun to cling to his thick pelt like briars.

Dusk, slowly, had descended into nightfall the longer they had spent time in the fields. Before long, the stars would dot the expanse above and the sun would be replaced by the moon. Luhtar offered her a wag of his tail, head tilting as he moved to walk past her.

"You would walk home with me?" His question held a gentleness to it, reserved only for her in this moment. It felt only right to escort her back after the small, miniscule vulnerability she had trusted him with. "Or, you will stay longer?"

She took a moment to respond to his offer, but as she noticed the way the sky had changed so drastically, she agreed. Eydis did not wish to wander in an unfamiliar territory, not at night.

Now she would rest, and tomorrow she would rinse and repeat. Her new routine, her new daily life. Slowly but surely she was beginning to grow comfortable within it's bindings.

Turning, she joined Luhtar at his side. Tomorrow, I will hunt. She stated, blunt and straight to the point. Her eyes then shifted to meet his. You can join me. An offer, rather than a demand. If he did not come, she would find another wolf to join her.

Luhtar gave a soft nod of approval at her decision to walk with him, his tail flicking once before he turned his gaze toward the path ahead. The quiet was comfortable, a natural lull. As Eydis joined him at his side, he kept his steps steady, mindful of her presence beside him.

Her blunt statement brought a faint smirk to his lips, and he glanced at her from the corner of his eye. “Tomorrow?” he agreed, his voice carrying a subtle warmth. “I will join.” He gave her an affirming smile, before returning his attention to the treeline ahead.

He was eager to get home and settle into his comfy ferns.