soul searching

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In her defense, she hadn't been looking. She had been forced to look over her shoulder as she ran, the angry bear gaining on her with all of its fury pushing it forward. Over her shoulder she had thrown out her half-assed apology, telling the bear that they really should relax, taking life so seriously would end up getting you killed -- but in the end, she had been the one to suffer. Nimueh hadn't died, no, she loved every type of animal and thought them sacred so she hadn't been seeking to injure nor harm the bear but... she liked to poke them, okay! So the Gods hadn't punished her with death, but they had punished her with a disappearing act.

One minute she had been running as the bear huffed and puffed, looking like it was going to give up the chase and the next? The next she was running with no land beneath her. She dropped when there was no earth to run on, a loud, "FUCK," leaving her lips as she bit her tongue on impact -- her chin smacking right against the solid ground. "Fuck, fuck, FUCK you," the young she-wolf whined, her tongue snaking out from between her teeth as she tried to look at the pink, only catching a trail of crimson as she noted her teeth had punctured the skin.

Not quite the image of a high born, was it? Her mother, the High Priestess, would surely look at her with annoyance and fury had she been there to witness Nimueh's casual display of vulgar words. Inwardly she snickered, knowing that despite it, her mother would have hurried her to the Cave to check her over. Nimueh had been born to a line of noble women who had taken up the mantle of High Priestess to the close family of the High Queen yet she had... not been born with the natural charisma not dainty delicate mouth that many of her family had. Nimueh was spirited, eager to be out in the world and not sit and learn the trade of her family to be of use to the next High Queen. Instead, she was continuously covered in dirt and blood from her adventures. Her mouth vulgar despite her voice being soft, had made her mother all kinds of queasy.

Now, though, on her 'find yourself, Nimueh. You need to know, in your heart, where you belong. How you wish to impact this world if not for Healing," journey, her mother was not here. Instead, she had dropped from the sky and had a bleeding tongue. She sighed and threw her head back down, her tongue sadly hanging from her mouth as she laid there.^^

@Hieronymous

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“Ah — Another one.” The man commented lightly as his eyes caught sight of someone just appearing out of thin air just above the treeline. Hopefully this time he would be the first to approach this stranger as she landed, not one let them panic for long as others came down hard on them with questions. This one, at least, he was certain was new. And not the first he had seen falling from the sky either.

His pace quickened as he was reminded... this one was landing on solid ground, not water like the last. Was she hurt? Ears perked as he moved with haste through the rocks and trees, desperate to catch sight or sound of the individual and where they had landed. Thankfully they had a mouth on them, and he caught her talking to herself briefly. 

Soon enough he saw her laying there. She was a pretty little thing, young, feminine - something he had noted but not lingered on as he quickly tossed those thoughts aside. Because really, who else could snatch his eye like Ira could? Even with her rejection, his heart still lingers with her. “Greetings and welcome. You had quite the arrival didn't you?” he grinned with a pearly smile.

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She had been so invested in her sulking that she hadn't heard nor saw the approach of another but when he spoke, her eyes flew open curiously and her ears cuffed forward to listen for more. He was... interesting, Nimueh decided, like a mesh of two somehow and he was like her -- strange in appearance. Her tail thumped on the ground as a trickle of blood dripped over her lip, pastel green gaze honing in on him with intensity. "You're strange," Nimueh chirped as she sloppily drew herself from her sulking position and stumbled forward towards him with a flagged tail, waving above her body in excitement. "Like me! But maybe a bit more strange," she grinned as she readily stepped into his personal space as she sniffed him.

He wasn't of Home but then again, she had just dropped from the sky. She should perhaps be a bit more concerned but the wolves of her Home spoke of spirits and Gods -- so perhaps this was an act of their Gods, pushing Nimueh in the right direction. Somewhere, her mother had likely been praying for her rowdy daughter to be set on the right path, unlikely to believe Nimueh would do it on her own to begin with. She looked at him with a wide gaze, roving over his features with obvious intrigue, "I like it!" She declared with a toothy grin, her rump moving in time with her swaying tail. His question from before suddenly came back to her and sheepishly she tipped her chin as she said, "sorry. Yes! Quite the arrival," Nimueh agreed, her voice jovial, "it was so good I bit my tongue." Without hesitance, her tongue dropped from her mouth, coated in crimson and showed him her handy work.

"See!" she managed, keeping her tongue hanging out.^^

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“I'm strange?!” In a faux act of insult he placed a paw on his chest with eyes wide and almost crossed but not quite as he purposely focussed on his nose. “Where I'm from I'm what we call 'normal'.” Well he was absolutely lying. Even amongst his own family he was the strange one among them. The one with the strange coat and illness that set him apart from any other. But she seemed playful enough that he wanted to see just how quick she was on her toes. “I think I'm quite beautiful!” With the same paw he had placed on his chest earlier, he brushed the fur on his cheek and neck like some kind of prince. “And I like you too~”

Even as she stumbled closer to him Hiero was unmoving. The girl seemed friendly enough that he didn't need to be guarded, not really at least. They were on his pack lands too that should she decide to be nefarious all he had to do was call and others would come to his aid. 

When she pointed out how she it her tongue and showed it off, the bright angry red coating the tip of the pink muscle that slid out of her maw was eye catching. “Ah yes, hmmm.” At least she was found by him and not anyone else who would have been more aggressive... but then again, someone else like Orlaith would have had to believe him now that some just appear out of nowhere like this one just did moments ago. “Does it hurt? Maybe next time you fall from the sky try not to land on your face?” he teased with a playful wink.

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Her eyes lit up with delight as she saw his reaction, falling into play with her as opposed to stepping away. A giggle, vibrant and warm bubbled from her throat as she watched his expression, her tail wagging above her rump; almost unstoppable in it's movements. "Oh really?" she threw back, giving him an exaggerated one over, "were they all dropped on their heads as puppies?" Nimue grinned, finding that despite ending up in a place she didn't know; she couldn't complain. He was as dramatic as she, playful in the way he spoke and acted, drawing a paw up and across his cheek and neck, as if he were a noble lady. "I didn't say strange was ugly," Nimueh pointed out cheekily though she nodded, agreeing with him. He wasn't ugly. Nimueh snorted, shrugging one shoulder up as she gave him a confident, playful smirk, "of course you do!" 

Her mother would probably be giving him a look that said, 'why are you encouraging her? I sent her on this journey to mature!' whilst secretly being delighted that someone wasn't looking at her wayward daughter as a freak -- and considering the type of lands she came from, it took a lot for one to be labelled a freak. Nimueh had... long since been established as such with the Valyrs. 

Nimueh's tongue slid back into her mouth with a loud smack! as she gave the older wolf a playful huff, deciding to butt her head against his chin as she said, "it's go big or go home, don'tcha know?" she sung, pulling back to grin up at the man as she ignored the coppery taste of blood in her mouth.
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Laughing at her accusation, he wouldn't take any of it seriously enough to correct. No, it was just simple banter as far as he was concerned. Nothing to take personally or seriously, all in good fun. It didn't mean he would let her roam within Vanderfell's borders just as she landed here randomly not without him to watch over her - but at least she didn't seem like too much trouble... not the dangerous kind at least.  

He was always the strange one - either jokingly picked on by his siblings for being different, over protective mother hovering at every moment of every day - then there were the other instances where his curse was revered for all the wrong reasons. If anyone understood how it was to be treated differently, Hiero was your man.

When the strange girl head butted his chin, he took this moment to rub her head with the bottom part of his jaw. Ruff up her head fur with a vigorous stroke. “Go big huh? You seem pretty small for someone to do anything big.” Small but with a big personality, even he could tell that by now. With a toothy grin he was already ready for her to talk back to him about that jab at her height.

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She liked this one. Like a child, she decided she'd keep him. The exact details were... hazy and she completely breezed past the fact one couldn't just keep someone else but the finer details weren't ones that Nimueh focused on. Ever... really. The older wolf laughed easily and without restraint and Nimueh's tooth pinched over the lop of her lip as she grinned, ears perked upon her head as she felt light as a feather. The stress of becoming the next High Priestess was not upon her shoulders, not here, no imaginary shackles tying her to a fate she had been born into were around her ankles. Instead, there was laughter and play.

Nimueh liked it.

He readily leaned into her actions, rubbing his chin against her head and instantly she could feel the fur shift and spring up, rough and unruly were the tufts. She huffed, fake and dramatic as she heard his next set of words. Oh! He was -- he was asking for it. "All I heard was being called pretty," she sniffed, lifting her chin and acting the snob though certainly she gave him the side eye, moments before she cackled -- full of trouble and play -- and tried to bolt past his side and grab his tail tip between her teeth. He wanted big, he'd get big! ^^

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Hieronymous didn't have much experience with the young ones, never having children of his own or spending enough time in packs to really watch anyone grow and help raise them as a part of the pack. A part of him liked to think he was a natural with them. That his playful personality was enough to get him by with the younger generation at least for a little while.

Which seemed to be working here. Honestly even he had to admit that with their colours they could almost be siblings - more so than his own siblings by mere appearances. Even the way they played about they could have been siblings maybe in a different life. The thought of her being his child from a different time instead did not even cross his fragile mind.
 
“Those aren't exactly my words but I don't disagree with them!” She was a pretty little thing, pretty in a platonic - non-creepy old man way. For real, how could Hiero have eyes for anyone other than Ira anyway. Then came the rough housing. She was the rough-tough kind of girl and he laughed as she went straight for his tail. Maybe his lack of physical feeling would do him good with these types of youngsters. As she bit onto the tip of his tail, he in turn playfully tried to bump her with his hips. “Whadaya think you're trying to do over there?”

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She laughed, loud and vibrant at his words of agreement, telling her that he wasn't going to disagree. Good! They thought that the other was not disgusting to look upon, which would make interaction easier. Though truthfully, Nimueh tended to find beauty in even the things that others thought ugly -- so even had he been a horrible faced brute, she'd have likely been endeared nonetheless. It was a quality that her mother both adored and hated in the young Nimueh, after she brought plenty of weird little creatures home that Nim thought abandoned or lonely. (Very rarely did they have a choice; once Nimueh put her mind to something very little was able to sway her.)

He didn't avoid her actions, instead he laughed when she bolted past him and took his tail tip hostage within her mouth. His hips bumping into her, Nimueh giggled against his tail and gave it a tug as she stumbled to the side from her own excitement and his budge, his words causing her ears to twist forward. What was she trying to do? Wickedly, grossly, Nimueh slobbered extra all over his tail, making sure to leave no bit of saliva left in her mouth as she released him, "prove a point." She declared with her own tail waving high and fast above her rump, "I might be little but my saliva is big and plenty," Nimueh looked childishly proud of her declaration, her lips twisting playfully in a pleased smirk.

Her introduction to this strange land was not one that she could hate or ponder, thinking that the Gods had likely answered her mother in her desperate pleas. After all, her lineage had been nothing but worshippers of the gods, Old and New, so why would her pleas not be answered? If it were the case, she would find herself praying more to them, if only to get things like this happen more often.^^

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To prove a point the girl says - and his tail felt heavy as soon as she let it go. Wet and heavy to be exact as he twisted his spine to take a good look at the grossly slobbered tail of his. Ah so she thought she was clever huh? For an adult he had his own little playful moves as well - that and well, he would be sure to wash his tail later before heading to bed.
 
“I don't need this much of it, you can take some back!” And just like that he backed his ass up, tail swinging like some kind of moist weapon as he aimed to face slap the girl with the slobber she left of his tail. Kind of return the favour in a way. With his front half lowered, he would just hop backward with every intention to keep slapping her with the saturated tail of his - not hard enough to hurt but enough so to try and transfer that moisture back to the girl.

There were so few playful individuals in Vanderfell or in the wilderness in general that Hieronymous had almost lost himself in the moment. Just enjoying the random blissful event as opposed to taking his guard duties seriously and questioning the girl, seeing if she wanted to stay with them and all that jazz. He had seen her fall from the sky so she was not an intruder perse... So maybe that was enough to forgive him to a certain point. “Had enough yet?!”

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She had been too encased in her own giggling and amusement to realise what he said, so the realisation of his words came to her in surprise as he backed up, swinging his tail and spraying her with her own saliva. He slapped, lightly and with purpose with his tail and Nimueh gasped and giggled as she tried to swat him away with her paw. "Hey!" She crowed, "you shouldn't return presents!" Nim scolded as she backed up on three legs, continuing to swat away his tail with her lifted paw. The audacity! Her nose and cheeks clung with her own saliva but she made no effort to remove them, instead she giggled and grinned at the spotty man.

Long had her bloody tongue been forgotten.

His question had her pouting and tilting her head to the side as she regarded him, "why, what do you propose is next, slobber-boy?" she questioned, her grin still cheeky. ^^

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“Oh but there is so much of it! I don't mind sharing!” And just like that as she swatted his tail away he kept backing it up, flicking her slobber with his tail at whatever he could reach like some kind of paintbrush in a less-colourful version of an art war. Of course he would eventually stop, turning around to stand proudly like he was the victor after she had cried out.

After all, there was a line during fun and games, and it was never fun for anyone to have it crossed when it went too far. That he was old enough to know by now. 

What now she asked? “Well — I suppose a bath would be nice. I don't suppose you have a home huh? What do you say to staying here for a while? I'm to marry the High Queen here soon, you can be our flower girl.” He winked playfully thinking that maybe she would adore such a role. “You can be my special guest.”

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He spoke of having a home and Nimueh tilted her head; of course she had a home. Or well... it had been her home, she supposed, before she had been encouraged upon this soul-searching journey. Now, though? She supposed she was what they called a lone wolf. Forward he put the idea of her staying here a time with him and his, telling her of how he was to marry the High Queen -- a title that made her wonder just how similar these wolves to that of her home -- and at his latter words, Nimueh giggled with a cheeky grin settling upon her mouth. "I'd be the best flower girl," Nim declared, her ears cuffing forward as she listened to the rest.

Were there to be other flower girls? She hoped not. She didn't share such important tasks, thank you very much.

She puffed her cheeks out in amusement as she thought on it, supposing that surely this was a good thing, right? Her mother and the High Queen had thought Nimueh needed something more, something else to right her head, they had said, and here she was making a life all her own! "The most special guest you will ever have, of course," she lifted her chin in faux snootiness before she giggled, tilting her head to the side as she appraised him. "Okay," Nimueh agreed plainly. "You've convinced me!" Behind her, her tail wagged. In the back of her mind, she wondered if her mother and the queen had expected her to return once she had been pushed.

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“I will only accept the best.” He continued, a little bit of pandering yes but it was all fun and games. She was young and he honestly didn't think anything wrong with boosting their confidence now before the weight of the world would inevitably crush them. After all, starting them off on a high with their self-esteem only meant that perhaps that burden wouldn't crush them when the time came.  
 
“Wonderful! Now... lets go find a bath, I know of a great place to do that.” He smiled, standing up straight and proud with his tail wavering behind him playfully. To the pools of water he had met with Ira when their fates were tied. He had grown fond of that place for more than just one reason he found... It would be the perfect place to bathe as well as prepare the newly joined Nimueh for the ceremonies. “Come now, we don't have much time to prepare!”

It was days away after all, and things would only get more hectic until then.

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End!! <3 we need a new one soon >:C

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