Moonspear the stones marked an old tongue and it was called eternity

three weeks, now. she is not fit but she is not weak, not anymore. she tires quickly, still, but she's filling out, muscle and fat where there had been once only skin and bone. her pelt remains patchy, grown in some places more than other, but the raw patches of skin are vanished. she had taken Hydra's instruction, rested, recovered. but such things grow dull despite her gladness at being back here, and the looming worry of not being enough gradually grows heavier until she feels crushed by it, and must do something. 

late morning finds her recently returned from a patrol, headed back toward the innermost territories. on a whim she pauses, considers. tilting her head back, she calls for companionship, a sparring partner, or a teacher.

A wolf he knew very little about, but Nikai was eager to get settled better in Moonspear, so when he heard the call he eagerly took the offer. He needed to work on being a coach, anyway -- he had taught the young in Easthollow, but now he was in a different place with different rules and mostly, a different set of most-valued skills. This last thing bit him in the butt quite a bit, for even though he had trained, with Hydra and then Alya, he would never be good at fighting. It was not his thing and so if it was that which the young wolf wished to learn he wouldn't be of much help. But maybe they could talk about what she wished from her role in the pack, as he remembered that was a thing very much on his mind in that age category, or maybe he could teach her how to easily defeat a three-legged wolf should she ever face one.

As Nikai rounded a corner she came into view. Heya, Nikai greeted as he closed the distance between them, a friendly smile on his face and his body language otherwise neutral. His gait was smooth, as he had grown used to walking on three legs fairly well, though it impaired his speed.

the male who comes to answer her request is unfamiliar; a few years older than her and—her gaze drops to the emptiness where a leg should be. for a moment, she's confused. how does a leg just, well fall off? she puts a stop to that train of thought before it can leave the station, instead opting for a small smile and a wag of her tail at his approach. "hei," she greets, opting for an introduction before posing any questions of her own. "I'm Isi." 

For a moment all focus was on Nikai's leg; something he was used to, so Nikai simply smiled and waited patiently for the interest to shift back towards more sociable parts of him than his missing limb. He was greeted by the younger wolf, who introduced themselves as Isi. I'm Nikai. Nice to meet you, Isi. Nikai smiled at Isi as he wondered, Were you born here? She had the age to be, after all, and he wondered if this was one of Hydra's children. The name did not ring a bell, however, so he was not sure if he was correct.

I'm not a great sparring partner, but I'm a coach. Maybe there was something he could help with by talking about it that was blocking Isi in some way. Nikai waited before suggesting this however, wanting to see what sort of reaction mentioning the word coach brought first.

nikai, he introduced himself as. the name is quickly committed to memory; she doubts she'll forget him anytime soon. besides the missing limb, the spots scattered loosely across his features are unique. a shake of her head at his question, a vague motion northward. "I was born in Diaspora." elaborations on where it lies are forgotten. 

"a coach?" she echoes, head canting a fraction. "what's that?" there is some disappointment when he reveals he's not the sparring partner she'd been hoping for (how desperately she wants to impress the queen) but it is overtaken fairly swiftly by curiosity.

Diaspora wasn't a name that came familiar to Nikai, but he nodded as he committed it to memory. He was curious to figure out how she'd ended up here, but maybe it was more important to focus on the tasks first. He could tell that she wasn't too happy that he wasn't going to spar, but he hoped he could help her anyway, and he noted the curiosity she showed when asking about coaching. A coach helps others, often young wolves of the pack like yourself, by teaching them things. Nikai smiled as he patiently explained. We also try to keep pack morale high. Which honestly, he hadn't managed a whole lot here at Moonspear yet but it was mostly because it was such a new, familial pack to him, and with the timing of his and Alya's appearance here it was no surprise that pack morale hadn't been great. It was better now though, he could tell, and he hoped to integrate himself a bit better so he could fulfil that part of his job package too.

Is there anything in particular you've struggled with when it comes to sparring? Anything you're focussing on right now? Talking could help and maybe he could help with a bit of technique or ideas if there were any things she struggled with. Then curiosity took over and he couldn't help but also ask -- How'd you end up here, if you were born in another pack? Had her parents moved here, too? He didn't dare ask, afraid that the answer might be negative. He wasn't sure he would've liked a question like that at that age for himself and Keoni...