Blacktail Deer Plateau the sea my favored fortune

part ii of this thread. please let tweet reply first. also: slight pp of ying. lmk if you'd like me to change it! <3

as kun follows @Ying further from The Sea and into the heartlands of the wilds the sensu fan gradually spreads out; warmth of reuniting with his cousin fading rapidly in the command of the glacial demeanor he has adopted to dealing with 'outsiders'. though the thought of reuniting with huā and mei is a sequestered blossom of warmth in his chest; the seadragon covets it, hiding it away. grip readjusts upon the gyrfalcon carcass he carries; feathers sticking to his tongue and roof of his mouth. as they move closer and closer — close enough that the scent of their claimant is the strongest it's been — he steals a glimpse at ying's own gyrfalcons and hopes that three gifts is an acceptable apology ...in lieu of words that kun would rather wither and die than give voice to.

following his cousin's lead, kun's steps slow to a cease-all as her's do a respectful distance from the borders; aquamarine gaze surveying the forest within the invisible borders, unable to help the sour frown around his mouthful of gyrfalcon neck. they are far from The Sea and he feels the ocean's absence keenly.

The territory was not far from where they'd met; the birds were still warm at the time of their arrival. Ying turned back to Kun and dropped her catch, letting them sit beneath raised paw. Be nice, okay? Knowing him— knowing her family as a whole, she doubted that her words would resonate.

The huntress turned back to face into the territory. She sounded a howl directed to her sisters, then another for @Aningan. It might have been easier to guide him through the territory and seek the Alpha out that way, but she wanted to be safe.

The howl that sounded was for Aningan, but it would be Rosalyn that answered it first.  It was maybe presumptuous to assume her word carried the same weight as their boy king, but that didn't bother the woman.  She slipped into old habits easily, and Erzulie's presence in the hierarchy alongside her only made her bolder.

When she arrived, she looked expectantly at Ying, as though nothing were amiss and the summons had been for her.  She ignored the newcomer for now; it was obvious she'd get an explanation there shortly.

be nice, okay? 

ying's words do not go unheard, tell-tale by the twitch of his ear in her direction but the hooded seadragon makes no promises; things that one shouldn't make if they can't keep anyway. by her suggestion — or is it warning? — alone she already knows just as much as he does exactly how he will behave. in this, kun is very much a creature comfortable in his habits with little to no intentions of changing them for the better.

instead of the male — who's name has slipped from kun's mind though this is less being snobby and more that it is not any name he has heard before and in it's foreigness unlikely to stick — ying mentioned a woman appears; heavily scarred. his presence goes largely ignored by the woman which ...though fair given his disposition towards strangers he doesn't necessarily like having turned against him.

gyrfalcon carcass is placed down at his paws though he makes no moves to break the silence that settles between the three of them, instead looking to ( poor ) ying expectantly.

Aningan was not the first to appear. Instead, it was Rosalyn who met them at the border. The pair hadn't been officially introduced yet so she was wary of Kun's joining being overseen by the new Beta. Ying turned back to her cousin, saying, I don't know her as well as I know him — careful to leave out names, should one of them be recognized — Let me talk. She spoke in their native tongue, having assumed that it wouldn't be understood.

She looked at Rosalyn, a smile growing across her maw. This my cousin, Kun Kun. We bring gifts. The huntress picked up each gyrfalcon and placed them beyond the border's edge. He want to join us here but he don't speak this language like me. Pretending that Kun didn't speak the common tongue would work to their advantage, Ying thought.

Kun Kun.  The name was ridiculous on her ears and she turned, finally appraising him with her single eye.  She wasn't sure how she felt about this.  Hua had made it clear she did not feel quite suited to the pack as it stood, and now they would bring in more of their own.... one who did not speak their language.  How would he interact with the pack?

We already have a problem with a cohesive pack, Rosalyn said blatantly, though her tone was more questioning than hard.  If he cannot speak our language, how will he know any outside of you?  She looked back at Ying, studying her.  Rosalyn had met her sisters but not this third.  She didn't yet have a measure for the kind of woman she was.

i don't know her as well. let me talk. kun offers ying a nod of his head, fighting back the urge to groan as she admits that this woman isn't as known to his cousin as the alpha; and as ying launches into explanation and the woman replies kun understands that this will present a problem. well practiced in the art of appearing slightly bewildered as if he were trying and failing to make sense of the common passing between the two women; kun's brow furrows softly, ears fluttering back to rest at half mast atop his skull as his gaze volleys between the two women.

tell her i can still be useful. a pause of breath is taken. tell her i can chart the stars for scouting and i can fight? careful to craft his tone so it sounds like he is asking ying for a translation instead of feeding her his skills — she might remember but a refresher never hurt. he looks from ying to rosalyn then, averting his gaze in a rare display of submission. he was on her borders, after all and this wasn't the time to play the glacial seadragon, especially when he and his cousin(s) have come under direct fire.

Rosalyn's tone reminded her of Nieve. It was abrasive, cold, but hidden beneath a facade of genuine concern. Ying thought that they were both entitled and lacking in respect. However, unlike the girl, this woman was several years her elder; a challenge would have been unnecessary and inappropriate.

She maintained her composure by swallowing her growing frustration. Bright blue eyes turned back to Kun Kun, her brow furrowing as she realized his game and decided to play along. I'll tell her that you can fight, Ying said with an instructive wave of her paw, and I'll tell her that you can hunt. It wasn't to disregard his skills as an astronomer because she knew that he was capable. She simply doubted that Rosalyn would appreciate this addition, and pleasing the Beta was their current priority.

Turning back in slight submission, she switched to the common tongue. He know enough, the huntress assured her, He can fight, and he can hunt. These birds, all from him. Ying looked over at the pile of gyrfalcons. And me, Hua and Mei, we translate to this language for him.

Rosalyn watched her, and him, carefully.  Her stints as captain had shown her that a crew was only as good as its members and the moment one lowered their guard, the idea collapsed.  A crew that had no common ground would not serve and they rode dangerously close to these waters already.  It mattered little to her if Rusalka collapsed; her family did not need it.  But for Aningan and Raleska and Nieve's sake, she would try.

So he was not guaranteed entry for his relation to this stranger.  Her tone hadn't been unfriendly, and it was lucky she saw none of Ying's thoughts.  She was too busy watching Kun as he spoke.

They had hunters, and fighters.  Every wolf alive could do this, else he'd have perished long ago.  She eyed him.  He'll need to learn.  But if he agrees to try, then he is welcome.  

It wasn't worth it to turn him away, but she had misgivings.  It didn't bode well to create an inclusive division amongst the crew.  The sisters had already shown themselves to be little interested in bonding with the rest of the pack.  She knew of this woman's challenge towards her daughter, something that did not sit well already.  While she liked Hua well enough, and Ming was pleasant the time they'd spoken, she resolved to keep an eye on the situation as a whole.

She waited patiently for confirmation, none of her suspicions apparent. The worry was not immediate, but if she and Erzulie were to do this, they needed to be sure of every part of it.  She was tired of playing games with wolves who couldn't see past their own noses.

would it just have been the two of them, kun would've given ying a sour look as she both informs him that she will tell rosalyn that he is a hunter and then goes on to claim that all three gyrfalcons came from him. given what they were trying to pull off, however, the sensu remains firmly in place and he offers a slow, hopeful nod, aquamarine gaze volleying between the women as they speak: first ying and then rosalyn. it is not lost upon kun that now, should the scarred woman accept him into rusalka's fold, he would have to hone those subpar hunting skills to keep up the facade of being a hunter good enough to down three gyrfalcons.

the back of his ear, where gyrfalcon talons had spliced flesh, stings.

tell her that i will try? though he suspects that ying will not need the affirmation from him. still, presenting it in a questioning tone to ying as he looks to her, helps with the illusion they've wove.

The huntress hadn't considered that the skills she attributed to her cousin might one day have to be shown. She doubted that they would be there long enough for things to get suspicious; once the island was declared safe, the family would move on. Ying nodded back to Kun, then turning to Rosalyn to say, He will try. 

The conversation seemed to be coming to a close, though she wasn't sure that it was appropriate to cross the border. She took a step back and nudged her cousin's shoulder. We come in now? she asked, a wary smile on her face.

Her suspicion still wavered, but she nodded and stepped back, physically signaling despite the fact that they could easily have gone around.  Welcome to Rusalka, she said, despite the fact that he could not understand.

Her misgivings would follow her, and though they were far from the reality, they would cause her to keep some manner of an eye out in the coming days.  For now, she dipped her head, then began to walk away.  She would leave them to their own devices.