Barrow Fields i hated how people shouted at me for looking different.

for @Stjornuati and maybe @Solpallur too :D
im sorry ive gotten so lazy on starters lmfaoo

Huā had just finished a short hunt that had been largely a chase, and now she laid in the grasses with a fat rabbit held between her little dark paws. She snacked absentmindedly, but wasn't especially focused on devouring her food, images of many things flickering in her head: all the little things that made her life too complex and stressful. The flower wished it could just be easier- and was happy for times like this, where she did not have to confront some ally or crush or enemy, and could simply exist, despite the bothers that plagued her mind.

Hunter though he was, the smell of a fresh kill drew the scavenger in him. A wolf of the desolate cold and the Lang Vetrarnótt, Stjornuati knew the value of a carcass left to pick at, both for the meat and tendons, and the skeletal remains left behind. The wolves of Stormhaven had made use of all of it, and the potential of such treasure today led the dweller of the Watch across the neighboring fields, golden form slinking along in an effortlest gait.

The meal he sought was the very one he found settled between the dark paws of a petite kona. Her features were peculiar, alluring in the way that an exotic looking kona always was, her dark head and paws stark against her lighter pelt. Halló, kona. He spoke, the rumble of his voice smooth and unthreatening, similar to his posture. She was far from the bounds of their chosen home, and so he held no quarrel with her.

She looked up to find a well-built man knitted of white and cream and gold before her. 'Kona'的意思是什么？ She joked to herself, knowing he would not understand anyway- and licked her chops of any blood upon them, glancing up to him with faux-innocent seaglass eyes. She felt shy now, eating a meal in front of him- and thought of how, back home, young single women ought to share their meals with single men out of good manner. Sorry, ah, have you eaten? She questioned, ears flattening bashfully against her dark head as she nudged the carcass towards the handsome stranger. She had had a good share already anyway- and saw no harm in practicing her feminine etiquette once more, beyond the land in which she was taught such behavior.

If the common tongue confused the man at times, whatever vitleysa fell from the pretty female's mouth just now truly baffled the man, his dark eyes staring at her for a moment as he tried to make sense of it. There was a moment, fleeting but prevalent, that Stjornuati wondered if he had lost what sense he had but such a notion was swept away, ushered by the wonderment of another language.

A long shot though it was, the light-furred man volleyed a question in his own language at her, wondering if she knew his tongue, despite he not knowing hers? Þú talar ekki sameiginlega tungumálið? His question was answered rather swiftly, however, when she offered him food in the language he had been making much more use of this last moon-cycle than he had ever before in his life.

Curiously, he watched as the kona nudged her kill towards him, ears perking gently as the small wave of his tail signified his pleasure at this overture. Þakka þér fyrir. The words were accompanied with a dip of his head before Stjornuati settled near the woman, drawing the offered meal closer to him with his teeth, golden crested neck stretching slightly so that he could do so. This one hungered, He would finally speak in a way that she could understand, setting teeth to bone to pull a strip of flesh from the carcass in a wet tear of sound.

She widened her eyes as he continued speaking his odd language, and laughed lightly too, feeling slightly glad to find another foreigner even if he was not from Seadragon Lagoon. The common was better, though- it meant she could communicate with the handsome stranger, with words and not just offerings. She watched as he accepted the food and begun to dig in, finding his boldness on being unashamed about taking what was offered to him charming. Well, 'this one' is happy she can provide, then. Huā laughed with a beat of her tail against the earth. What language were you speaking before? She wondered with a curious tilt of her dark head.

If she sought to prod and poke fun at his stilted use of vernacular, the joke was lost on him, instead a crooning note of pleasure rattling his chest as he looked upon her. In this, she reminded him of the women back up North, those who were unafraid to provide for their pack and pour the same blood, sweat, and tears into their efforts as any male did. It was a quality he appreciated, though not quite as much as he appreciated the snack. Not right now, at least.

Tongue of the North, He supplied, though he knew there were many. Icelandic. He missed speaking in his first and second languages, both far easier than that of the wolves here. Your tongue? Another bite broken away and swallowed. Is it from these Wilds? These Wilds that were so vast and bountiful, providing much in the way of food and companionship, though said wolves were far more tame than he and his brother seemed to be when compared side-by-side.

Tongue of the North, Icelandic. It was unfamiliar to her, though she briefly recalled Kukutux who had told her about her life in the North. The siren wondered if perhaps they were from the same place, but was not inclined to ask, instead focusing on his questions. Mandarin, She shared with a small smile and a shake of her head, No, it is from Far South. My home empire is called "海龙泻湖', Sea-dragon Lagoon. How silly that title sounded in the common tongue, but it was a beautiful thing in her own words, Huāzhēn thought. How recently did you come to this place? She wondered as she watched him eat.

Mandarin. The word sounded odd in his mind, its syllables smooth and lilting where the ones of his language where rough and harsh and hearing where she was from, Stjornuati supposed this made sense. They were as night and day. A sound left him, quiet and contemplative as he consumed another piece, pausing as he lifted a blood tinged muzzle from the small carcass.

Hii-long-sheee-you? The attempt was an utter failure but the male was fascinated by the idea of a language so different and obscure when compared to his own. An aspiring omniglot, the star eater would forever be enraptured by those who spoke a language apart from his own, though his favorite would be the unspoken, bodily language that he had learned from a young age.

One moon-cycle. This one and this one's brother are fresh to these Wilds. Yourself, lítill sjódreki?

She couldn't help but giggle a little at his attempt, but she tried to keep it to a minimum in case she managed to hurt his feelings. Good try, She offered honestly, grinning at him. Far from perfect, sure, but for a first try, it was just fine. One-moon cycle, though! He certainly was a super fresh newcomer. She tried to recall the feeling- had her sisters even caught up with her, at that time? Wow, so new! I arrive here about... a year ago, twelve moon-cycles, She shared, But sometimes I still feel like I am new. Everything is so different. Do you feel like this, too?

Her laugh pulled a grin from him, a baring of teeth that was more wild and feral than pleasant, too used to baring teeth in threat and violence to have so pretty a smile such as she. Your Sea-dragon Lagoon is Sjódrekalón, in this one's language. The distance between their homelands and their languages was vast, and all the more fascinating for it. Where he found the common tongue crude and ungainly, the lilted speech of his companion was pretty and pleasant, much like the woman that spoke it.

A year. The mark of a pup's first Seiðr ritual, the earning of their first true name. It was a long time, and yet, it was not long at all in the span of Yggdrasil's branches. Ja. Many things here are unlike they are in the lands of my people. Many of the wolves he and Solpallur had found to be soft and untested. The tribes in these lands smell large, made of many more wolves than where this one hails from. And far less territorial, judging by the lack of response from thee Willows wolves.

His smile was a little scary, in a way, but she did not comment on it, and instead maintained her warm exterior. Syo- dre- ke- lun, She imitated in her best attempt, and laughed slightly at herself afterwards. When he shared that the packs here were larger than he was used to, her mouth formed a small O. Really?~ In my homeland, the pack is almost double the size of here. A big pack, with many roles to fill, and many men and women to fill them. It could not be so simple as alpha or omega- there was the emperor, his wife and concubines, the nobles, their wives, the fortune-teller, the matchmaker, the sky-reader and general, the citizens and the lowly... In your home, the pack is how many wolves?

Falleg kona's discomfort, while noticed, went unacknowledged. He was used to such reaction, he and his brotheer both, for they were feral and wild compared to the tame creatures that lived here. Heathens, the both of them, though he would wear such a title with pride.

Ja, He confirmed, picking at the last bits of the gift she had bestowed upon him. It took him a moment to figure out the common number  to tell her, and when he could not, he iimprovised. Ten and five at best. Smaller, at usual. It was why Rivenspire had split from Stormhaven, and another still from Rivenspire. To have more is to invite unrest among the ranks.

Ten, five?! So little! She sucked in a little breath of faux surprise, already having known his answer would be a small number, but exaggerating her feeling anyway. To invite unrest, hm? If you settle here, then, would you only join a pack this small, She wondered, and continued, In my home, they say a wise, level-headed and powerful man can lead any number of wolves, and keep peace. It was spoken from her without bias- it was only what she was taught. But how long had her cousin run a slave ring right under the nose of the emperor, stealing women from his kingdom? Perhaps, Huā considered, the emperor of her empire was never strong and smart enough to lead all the wolves of 海龙泻湖.