Neverwinter Forest go back home

minori’s boundaries never meant anything to naoyuki. he didn’t understand that he couldn’t leave the den, because to him, there was no den. he only knew warmth, in presence or absence, and couldn’t yet conceptualize that the main source of warmth was a place. 

more importantly, it was a place he wasn’t supposed to just disappear from.

naoyuki was unbothered by these thoughts as he began to explore. more rain, another storm? he sat down to enjoy the feeling of raindrops bouncing against his skin, making him feel present in the world around him.

Rain. Again.

What else was new?

Food was getting hard to find. Everyone was hiding away from the storm. The herbivores were lucky, at least, to have food around them at all times. Now with new wolves in their midst, the demand for food was greater than before. And yet a meal couldn't be harder to find.

Yao prowled through the woods, wondering if he could spook out anything in the foliage. Maybe trip over something? No such luck. He did, however, find a pup, sitting quietly as rain splattered down on them. Hello, he said to the child. It was one of their guests.

naoyuki learned that walking made noise, and that if one’s breathing could be heard or felt, they were probably approaching. he wasn’t good enough at tracking yet to know where exactly a visitor stood, but he knew well enough to follow voices; haoniyao spoke, and yuki did his best to turn in the strange wolf’s general direction.

he - yo, nao replied. his voice was soft, largely unused. this might have been his first word, if anyone was keeping track. nao - nao. — his name. who was this other man, then?

Nao? he smiled, the pronunciation familiar to his own language. The name was different — he'd never heard such a thing before, but it was nice to hear. Haoniyao, he said, gesturing to himself. He crouched down to match the pup's eye level. What you doing?

slow, steady movements worked best; naoyuki was glad this his current company didn’t move as unpredictably as some of the others. he receded into himself for a moment to reorient, but eventually found where haoniyao’s face ought to be by the gentle brush of his breath.

it was lower than someone standing, though. were they lying down? naoyuki settled onto his belly, then reached out a paw to feel for where exactly haoniyao was. ee - ow, he echoed quietly to himself, trying to repeat the man’s name, okay.

He looked into the pup's eyes, and he saw — gray and murky. Blind. Well, he was glad that he crouched down to see him, instead of looming over the little thing. Nao reached out a paw, and Yao scooted forward slightly, pressing his body against the pup. Ndiyo — yes. Yao nodded, only to realize that it meant nothing in their conversation. Do you like rain, Nao?

sorry he's a boring baby LOL

naoyuki smiled, feeling haoniyao move closer. knowing that there was someone nearby brought him an unquantifiable amount of comfort which could only be communicated through childish giggles and chirps.

do you like rain? the elderman asked. nao could piece together most of what the sentence meant, and if he was correct in his interpretation, then the answer was a resounding, ya.

no! he's cute! all babies are boring tbh

He smiled, glad that the child was comfortable. He tried to be good with children. His tribe and clan were brimming with pups, who were allowed to run freely between lessons and chores. They often gawked at his training sessions and sometimes he would join in their games, even though he was "too old". He had never met a blind child before, however. Was he born blind? Or did something happen? He figured that his questions wouldn't be answered by Nao, which was fine. He could ask someone else.

Yao hummed back in agreement. That's good. Rain is good. Too much can be bad, but it's nice to feel. He said. Some types at least, he thought to himself.

naoyuki liked anything that challenge his senses, rain being only one of them. sometimes, he would sleep beneath bare parts of the canopy, just to feel the rain beating against his skin. 

he agreed with haoniyao, however, that too much rain could be bad; yuki didn’t like being soaked. it made him feel heavy, and that frightened him, since he couldn’t tell for sure if it was himself or something else weighing him down.

yuki stood up and pushed his nose onto the ground, then started walking in the direction of his favorite place to watch the storms — all of this under the assumption that his much bigger playmate would follow.