Bearclaw Valley up the wolves

can i tempt @Tvar? :angel:

when she was not @Cole's newfound slinking shadow, she lingered around the valley in other spots. the cold weather had made higher spots appealing so she did not lose herself in the snow.

today she had climbed the sentinel stone at the mouth of the valley.

she had considered going out there, off into the world. yet she had figured that only trouble might find her out there if she went alone. this was as close as she would let herself get to leaving.

in a few more months, her behemoth of a size might reveal itself in full. limbs already long as if she had planned to become a tree. one day she might be a terrifying sight to behold upon this stone. she might look like a real sentinel upon the perching place she had taken up.

for now, she was only an uncomfortably tall child, looking out on the world beyond the valley.

He approached quietly, his paws crunching softly against the snow. Stopping a short distance away, he tilted his head, his blue eyes lingering on her lanky frame against the backdrop of the open sky.

Morning, kid. He rumbles out, head tilting as if to peek around her imposing silhouette.

Tvar had been young once, too, staring out at the world beyond the snowy outcrops of Winterhelm. Seeking to feel bigger than what he was. The open world had a way of doing that to a young one. Invigorating.

Eventually, he'd had no choice but to leave it behind.

He huffs, cold breath visible against the morning light. You belong to Nephele, right?

for only a brief moment, she think cole has come to collect her for something.

yet she knows all too well that this isn't him. it's someone else. someone that maybe she should know better but only knows at surface level. despite the fact that everyone seems to know her mother. maybe it meant her mother was settling in well. shouldn't she take comfort in that?

it takes her a moment to say anything. far too busy staring at this man who stood at a height she would one day near. yet he had clearly already grown into his own body. strong and hardy. scarred.

this is someone who has seen plenty beyond the valley.

is that jealousy in her chest?

yeah. she finally grunted in a manner that maybe suggested she spent too much time shadowing the Guard. i ain't gotta go back to her yet, though. on the defensive just an edge. worried that someone might think she still needed any kind of baby sitting.

who're you?

she was sizing him up, he could tell. not unusual, he supposed. at the very least, tvar was used to it.

tvar made no move to fill the silence, letting her take her time. he was in no rush.

her eventual grunt of acknowledgment earned a faint twitch of his ear. "not looking for you on her behalf," he reassures, a chuckle coming to fall from his lips as result. he takes a few steps closer, looking to round the rock and stop near the front of it.

looking up at the girl.

"tvar," he offers his name with a bow of his head. "claw, under cole's command." speaking of, he can smell the cowboy on her pelt. he quirks a brow upwards.

and your name?

right, right.

she figured her mother would know better than to send someone else. after all, she figured her own mother might borderline know her location at any given moment given...

she tried not to think about him. lost, scared, alone. maybe dead. that seemed to be the general consensus even if the word never broke the surface. how quickly she had lost the battle of not thinking about him.

it's only cole's name that brings her back to reality.

anatolia. because annie was just for cole. she had half a mind to think that if this man was under his command, that meant hers too. only she knew better than to test that theory.

what's he have you working on? i help him, you know.

keen to prove herself in the eyes of this stranger.

working on keeping the borders tight, he replies simply, and he steps back slightly, his posture loose but far from dismissive. not the most exciting, but necessary. especially with the season turning.

he tilts his head slightly, watching her with calm. her eagerness to prove herself doesn’t go unnoticed, though he doesn’t comment on it directly. instead, he lets the faintest flicker of amusement touch his features—a subtle quirk of his brow as he regards her.

help him, do you? he echoes with a smile. guess that makes two of us. though he didn’t mention much about you... he can't help but try to irk the youth. it's the big brother in him.

the season turning?

she looked, as if she might see it somewhere in the trees or the sky. although winter and its continued dusting of snow had certainly changed the world. she wondered when that had happened.

had it been before or after he went missing?

her gut churned at the thought and she shoved it down to dissolve in acid. she might have been more upset by his comment, if she did not feel that there was a perfectly good excuse. cole was her secret keeper and that meant that maybe he didn't want to give her away.

she didn't like being in the spotlight anyway.

because i'm his shadow. she grunted and jerked her chin up. ain't do any good to tell you about it, if we don't want you to know.

he isn’t pressing, not really. it’s more of a gentle prod, testing the surface of her walls without trying to break through them. you don’t like being seen, then? he asks after a moment, tilting his head slightly to glance at her again. there’s no judgment in his voice, just a calm curiosity. that's a shame, kid. you remind me of your móðir.

he shifts his weight slightly, his gaze flicking toward the snow-dusted treeline beyond them. shadow or not, everyone benefits from a good patrol.

his blue eyes meet hers once more. come on. let’s see if your shadowing skills hold up out here.