Razorback Ridge my armor is harder than most

the ridge that gojira walks, is treacherous. in hindsight, he thinks there must’ve been a better path that he could’ve taken but the tenrai is lost; unfortunate but predicted. he is a long way from the copse he’s known his whole life. the sun is setting, casting it’s defiant and harsh light upon the mountains. up high and without trees to offer shade, gojira finds his path careening down towards the green canopy that lingers at the bottom of the ridge. aware by the rise of smells coming from it that he is close to pack territory, he struggles to remain in the trees that remain apart of the neutral territory, unwilling to be a trespasser.

The lanky brown wolf too found himself scaling the ridge, knocking loose rocks here and there and nervously watching them tumble over into the sea of green below. He had more or less found himself here out of unwillingness to leave the mountains, and curiosity pushing him past the point of no return. He preferred being high up in a place he didn't know, having a vantage point to survey the land was remarkably helpful to the directionally savvy wolf. He may be lost now, but he'd been through tricky paths before and had the stubbornness to continue forward regardless. And if not now, he'd have surely been tempted to do so later.

The scents of other wolves were pertinent around him from the ground below, and it made him alert to his surroundings. But the scent of another stood out, growing oddly louder than the rest. Coming to a halt and perking his ears he remained still as a tree, listening and watching around him for a few minutes. Eventually, the sounds of paw falls could be heard on the path in front of him. In the distance, he began to see the silhouette of another. A wolf much larger than him.

Traversing the path alone was one thing, but Henryk hadn't planned to run into anyone else on this road. He remained neutral and still to see what the other wolf would do, composing his outward self so as not to let his hackles betray him and show any sign of ill will. A bad confrontation wouldn't be wise in this situation. Well, in any situation for him.

ehh, don't mind my awkward, ramble-y posts while i try to figure gojira out.

the area is forested but the terrain is uneven with jutting boulders; of landslides past and covered with moss of varying shades of green and brown. the poignant scent of moss musk and sharp tang of rock is strong but not strong enough to conceal the traipsing scents of woodland creatures — and of course the pack wolves who's claim he cannot help but walk close to. gojira has no experience with any wolves outside of the copse he grew up in. coveted at their claim's heart where his den site had become an alter; of fresh caught prey, of worried bones, of shiny pieces of seaglass from the typhoon bay, and of whispered confessions and prayers.

if he hadn't known about his parentage, that his blood father was a god in mortal flesh released sometime before his birth, gojira would've found this attention strange.

not knowing anything else, it does not perturb him the way he will come to learn that it should.

the sound of approaching footfalls draws back his torn ear; tall and erect like his late father's, lazily. singular eye roves the terrain, a quick sweep to be sure he is not to walk into anything before he peers over his shoulder to catch sight of the slight wolf — male, purebred — lingering behind him like a curious kage.

gojira stops then and turns to face the stranger, tail offering a curious and amiable sway against his hocks. hell-o. the common word feels awkward on his tongue; not sounding right as he naturally wants to space the word out unnecessarily. his knowledge of common and how to articulate it correctly is askew; largely self taught. his imperial parents had insisted that his purpose in the world outside of the copse did not rely on talking.

You're fine! Im also trying to figure Henryk out lol

The large wolf turned toward him and- rather pleasantly- swayed his tail. Henryk's head lifted slightly in response but didn't hesitate to return the gesture with his own. Now facing him he could clearly see the strangers odd features, and his head couldn't help but cock to the side ever so curiously. He'd been raised deep in the inland where he knew nothing about the existence of wolves that were anything but wolves. He'd never seen a dog, though he had heard of them from another, he really had no idea what they looked like. Nor did he even know what the gigantic body of water was that he could see from the mounts at times, still convinced it was a large lake in the distance that's other shores were simply out of sight... His lack of knowledge wasn't an act of willful ignorance though, and he was interested in knowing more about the wider world outside what he thought he knew. 

And this wolf- tall, covered in scars, with abnormally tall ears that peaked towards the heavens- captured his intrigue for the moment.

Hello. Came his awkward reply. Didn't expect anyone else to be as foolish as me. He joshed, only then realizing how that may come off. He could only hope the stranger understood what he meant by that. Taking this path, this late in the day, wasn't a very wise decision to make, but surely the wolf had his own reasons just as he had his.

so far, this interaction is …pleasant. surely, better than some of the interactions he had with his own clan at times. the fujimoto wolves were just as likely to draw his blood and scar him as they were to worship him ..and he let them, assuming that their natures were simply fickle. the other male replies with a cadence that strikes gojira as being designed to speak the common tongue. the words flow effortlessly from the stranger, who does not struggle with the pronunciation like gojira does. for a moment, there is a blank look up the tenrai’s marred face as singular eye studies him.

the translation of the words is slow and he hesitates; unsure that he understands.

foolish?

fool …like a baka?

a slow blink is given and he tilts his face slightly so the empty eyesocket is positioned towards the sun and his singular eye is cast in the shade of his own face as he tries to determine whether he’s being insulted or not. but the tone the other used had not insinuated that he meant it as an insult. yes. gojira offers with an awkward bob of his head; hopeful that it was right but suspecting that it wasn’t the sort of response that was needed here.

It takes a moment to sink in, but when it does his eyes light up with realization as to why the stranger seemed so confused. Ah! The other wolf had trouble understanding him? Perhaps a disability? Or maybe.. Oh! He simply didn't speak his language. He did know his family's tongue and accent were different from other wolves, it wasn't so far fetched to come to the realization that other wolves had different words for things. Perhaps he did understand some things though. Maybe?

He brought up a dark paw and motioned towards himself, keeping what he'd gathered in mind. I'm... Foolish. For taking this path, it's dangerous. Heh...

After saying that he just felt silly... Anyways. Hopefully that cleared it up, albeit awkwardly.

My name's Henryk He thought he may as well introduce himself, since they were going the same way- there wasn't exactly anywhere else to turn except back and he wasn't really keen on doing that.

were gojira a human, he might’ve smiled with muscles ‘round his lips tight with uncertainty. the language barrier might not be seen but it, to gojira, was a palpable thing; pushing against his efforts to bridge it. at the very least, he hoped he was able to build a bridge across it even if it was tightrope thin and fraying in the middle. the stranger gestures to himself and speaks again, communicating that he was foolish. words get lost in the translation but gojira nods like an overeager puppy; desperate to understand.

he gets the gist of it, he thinks; unfortunately for the stranger, gojira only grasps that he, the stranger, is calling himself baka; a fool. the perils of the path — though the tenrai would agree if he understood what was being said — are lost on him.

name, he understands. henryk, the stranger says. his name, is henryk. it is a strange sounding name, gojira thinks. gojira. he offers his own name with a stiff bow of his had. i am gojira. he adds, speaking each word slowly.

Henryk's tail wags for a moment, despite the barrier difficulties. Go..jira. He says the name aloud, trying to get down the pronunciation. It's just as odd on his tongue as Henryk must be on the other wolf's, he surmises. Still, he found it admittedly very interesting to meet a different sort of wolf. He took a few hesitant steps forward, momentarily observing the male's dark scar littered pelt with fascination while he did so. 

Then, he lowered his head in a pleasant greeting. Nice to meet you, Gojira. Perhaps if the other wolf couldn't understand his words, body language was the way to go. At least, it was the best thing he could think of to do in this awkward situation. It wasn't the first for Henryk, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

We are... Going the same way He mentions slowly, pointing in the direction that both of them were previously walking. He couldn't have had any notion that this wolf was also aimlessly wandering, unfortunately. His brows lifted to try and emphasize his next question. What is there? I am... New here.