Tsöllög

 Qachuli did not lack courage, for all he had come to despise of him. The horsemen had rallied around their young khaan. Jin had heard their shouts carry into the mouth of his ger. Even Nergui, the wife of his brother he’d so envied— lusted after. Qachuli need only curt words of command. Jin saw the moment had come to ride. Blood brothers and bondsmen, lovers, the best of their tribe, all had turned to him with bared fangs. Jin had earned the precious furs he wore, clad with the blood-mark of the khaan. He knew when to fly for battle— and when to concede.
 Far from the majesty of the steppe is this bitter, frozen shore on which he’d awoken. The wind is a roaring devil on the ears though he shows no discomfort. The horseman had borne it for so many months he cannot be sure he feels it anymore.
 Hauling to weary paws, he roots along the shore. Painful memories are idle noise when his stomach is aching.

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The woman woke with a start, her limbs splayed like the gnarled roots of an oak. A soft breath disturbed the wildflowers near her nose as she slowly blinked open her eyes. Ochre eyes looked around the unfamiliar area, bleary vision creating shapes from nothing. Lyra slowly shifted onto her elbows, dizziness wracking her mind and making her movements sluggish and unsteady.

Once again, Lyra could not remember anything of before. The only thing she could sense was the scent of herbs that mingled with her fruitful one. The scent of another. A small image appeared in her mind of a dark-furred gentleman, the low timbre of his voice rumbled in her ear. He was, kind. Yet, she couldn't remember his name for the life of her. And the thought broke her heart. Who was the kind man who took care of her? Where had he gone? Was he...

Lyra shook her head and pushed herself onto shaky legs, determined to orient herself. The last she remembered was being in a cave near... what did he call it? Mord, something. Its name was foreign to her, a language she was unfamiliar with. No matter. Lyra would find her way back, even if she didn't remember the past. “No better time than the present.” The woman hummed as she traipsed towards the trees.

The wind tugged at her fur and snagged on the very tips of her ears as she cautiously padded along the cliff's edge. The sea surged against the cove, white foam splashing against the large stones that lined the bottom. Lyra nervously glanced down at the distant bottom, not wholly trusting herself to not topple over. She needed to leave this area and soon, if she wanted to survive.

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He did not wake.

He did not appear.

He did not wonder.

The pale man had never left, never vanished from his mountain of ice, had never strayed from the stretch of forest covering the mountain’s slopes. Every night, he had come home. Every morning, he set out.

This morning had been different. Something was different. He’d known as soon as he woke and pulled himself from Kajsa’s side, from the tangle of adolescent limbs belonging to his brood. Looking out from the cliff he’d stood upon that morning, Stjornuati had taken note of the work of the gods, looking out at the lands that had shifted and changed. Even there, upon his mountain, he could smell the sea, and it was she that beckoned to him now.

Without waking his woman, the Northman descended from his kingdom and set out, his pale feathered companion taking wing above.

How long he roamed, the pale one did not track, but he did eventually reach the sea and her salt spray smell. A deep breath filled his lungs, a simple pleasure taken in its scent. But there were other scents too. Faint. Fresh. But they were there, a pair of them, easy enough to follow in the crisp breeze.

It wasn’t hard to find them.

It wasn’t unlike him either, to watch from a distance, dark eyes tracking one, and then the other before flickering back to the first. Overhead, Synin let loose a firm caw!, as if announcing his own presence. Was the bird right? Had his hrinja led him here?

Only time would tell…

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Stjor can be skipped over! unless he’s directly addressed, he’s hanging back for the moment!

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ty both for joining <33

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 A calloused nose ceases its prodding to examine the air’s scents. Wolf, here. He is not alone, and Jin thinks first that it is the blood riders who have found him. Fitting, then. He is a khaan’s son and death is his constant companion.
 Mounting the craggy sea-wall, wariness lifts in the glimpse of a volcanic pelt. He looks on for a moment, regarding the traipsing figure with eyes that shield from the light. An aching stomach is idle noise when a woman is nearby...
 “For what?” The horselord grunts to her, dropping down into the frozen dell and drawing a half-circle around the woman. She’s a dusting of fulvous, not unlike the women of the steppe, though she is no mare. A sidesmile raises his lip, pale gaze singular even when a distant avian caw summons his attention.

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Lyra felt shaky as she walked along the edge of the sea-cliff. Her chest tightened as she kept glancing downward at the roaring sea waiting to swallow her whole. Something about the drop and roar made her uneasy. What if her paws failed her and she fell to the sea? Lyra shook the thought away as she focused her gaze on the distant isles. Would it be possible to reach them? Did others live on them? Her inquisitive mind took to a land of island living wolves isolated from the rest of the world.

At the sound of a masculine voice, the spell was broken, dragging her from her wandering thoughts. Lyra jumped, eyes wide in shock. “You scared me!” She could hardly contain the rapid beating of her heart as she turned her gaze on her unexpected guest, her tone accusatory. Lyra drank in his herby aroma, and it almost resembled the one of her savior. But she knew better than to ask this stranger if he knew who the man was. Her eyes followed his movements, subconsciously taking a step back. “You shouldn't sneak up on a lady like that.” She admonished the stranger, but her words were breathy, almost alien to her. Lyra was never this nervous, this afraid. His verdant eyes reminded her of the herbs she once cared for, a familiar warmth filling her at the fuzzy memory.

Lyra's mind registered the man's question and she lifted her eyes to his. “To find out where we are. Well, more so how to get back to before.” She rambled, before snapping her mouth shut. “Sorry.” A sheepish smile cracked the woman's lips as she lowered her ears. Lyra kept silent now, though the incessant cawing of a crow pulled her eyes from the man to the sky in search of the source.

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 “Apologies. No other way to walk,” the horseman docks his stride to regard her warmblood visage, made brighter by an appealing smile. Nostrils flare the air, searching among the scents for an implication of her readiness to take a mate.
 No land, no ger, no riders fell alongside Jin. He had nothing to offer a wife, and still his heart beats fast in anticipation, a youthful haughtiness brought about by the winter’s cold and the desire to warm it. He steps forward, ears shifting between bird and the buckskin filly.
 “What’s to get back to?”

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The woman nodded, though she kept her distance from the man. Lyra could not deny he was an attractive fellow as her eyes took in his taller stature and stocky frame. “R-right.” Lyra stammered, flesh warm under his gaze. She felt like a young girl giddy that a cute boy had given her attention. Lyra could not remember the last she had ever spoken to a gentleman, but this time felt like the first. Stammering over her words, cheeks warming, slight shuffling of her feet.

“I don't know, but my soul does.” She answered with a slight sway of her tail, a smile once again appearing on her lips. Lyra wanted to find out what happened to her in the past, to find something to return her memories to her. She even wanted to find out about before her awakening here. To find out why she couldn't remember anything of her life before coming here. She wanted to find anything that could explain why her mind locked away her memories.

“I've been rude, my apolgies! I am Lyra. And you are?” Lyra's features softened as she looked up at the gentleman once more, her ears twitching at the sound of another caw.

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 Gentleman! He’d have balked at the idea if only he’d known the woman’s mind. No horselord was a gentleman, least not Temujin. He paced forward even as she maintained a civil distance.
 “Temujin,” again he halted, leveling his own against the gold-bronze gaze. A priestess she might be, though not of Sky Father. Amusement streaked through him at the imaginings of this delicate woman dancing upon his unrelenting plains.
 “What else does your soul know, Lyra? The direction to the mountains, perhaps?” He teases from a crooked grin. “The salt does nothing for my lungs,” Jin explains absently, jade eyes threading the copse ahead. He didn’t intend to stay. He also didn’t intend to leave this lone woman here in the height of winter— though not for any gallant reason.

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Temujin. A unique name Lyra had never heard before. It had a ring to it that she liked, so much so that it even had her repeat it a few times in her mind. “A pleasure, Temujin.” She timidly dipped her head in greeting, reluctant to sever the connection between their eyes.

At his teasing, a blush dusted along her cheekbones, a titter rising from her lips. “That is for me to know, and you to find out.” She returned his grin with a teasing smile of her own before answering his questions. “I assume that way, seeing that the crow caws from there.” She motioned towards the trees with her nose. “And I must agree. I have never been fond of the sea, though the Gods must have found it amusing to place me here.” Lyra glanced at the endless expanse of blue beside her before shifting her focus to him. Even though she didn't say anything, Lyra wanted to ask if she could continue on her trip with him. After her awakening, he was the first to find her, and Lyra felt safe enough to want to stay by his side until she identified something she remembered. However, she could not assume he wished to do the same.

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he watched them, both interested and not, if such a thing was possible. it could even be called an dis-interesting interest. he enjoyed observing others, watching them interact and live their lives as if he weren't there. perhaps that was why he had bonded so with synin.

the raven in question cried out again, before wheeling away and further towards the cliffs, away from the pair shaking the slumber from their furs. stjörnuáti followed, turning where he stood to ease into a lazy, smooth lope.

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Stjor exits~ MWAH TO U BOTH

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<33

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 She was flirting with him.
 Dangerous game to be playing with a horseman evicted from his herd; who’d toiled honestly across the steppe with no meed waiting at the end. His eyes took a shade darker, moving briefly from Lyra to the near tree-line.
 “No woman should stay alone on these cliffs. Come with me to the mountains,” he spoke in invitation, bannering his tail in the tradewinds. Once more did his eyes rove her, then he pushed out into the dancing lea, each step from the sea a welcomed advancement towards a new home.

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besitos <3

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Lyra knew this was now treading the line of being improper by engaging in flirtatious banter, but it soothed the aching in her heart. It quieted the little voice that feared the unknown and worried about her lack of memories.

“As you wish.” Her lips quirked with a smile as she found a comfortable pace at his side. Lyra should have been afraid and refused him, but she was enjoying the banter and his company. A proper gentleman he was, offering to travel with her to the distant range.

Lyra lifted her eyes to the man's face once again before parting her lips. “If you don't mind my asking, where do you come from?” She wanted to learn more about the man, though she did worry she was now crossing a line they had not yet drawn. Would he want to share more about himself? Or would he snap at her for prying?

Lyra tried to keep her face from showing the nervousness coursing through her, but if she were successful she was not sure of. She only hoped he would not point it out if she weren't.

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