the little bird sings

she's been sent to Empyrean borders to relay information! pls someone come <3

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^^

Despite the... gravity of the reason why she had been sent on this little adventure/mission, Nimueh could not help but take in the sights and scents with an eager bounce in her step. She was on duty, funnily enough. Though of course Nimueh had thought somewhat on what her task with Vanderfell would be -- aside from being their resident adventurer -- and she knew she had a pull towards the earth, the sky and everything in between. Her mother and High Queen would have been delighted to know her path would take her where her lineage reigned but... she quite liked the pull of messenger, too.

It gave her the opportunity to seek the outside without being thought of as uncaring towards pack loyalty. Perhaps she could do both! Her tail wagged as she thought on the idea, thinking it brilliant -- she could be multi-talented, thank you very much. Still, the nymph supposed she'd need to pay attention to the task at hand, given that she had important information to relay as per Hiero's request. She should have felt some fear that the beast who had ravaged the two wolves from Shiroshika could very well be tormenting the mountains yet she did not, stepping upon the uneven terrain with a familiarity that seemed hundreds of years old.

The dappled girl cast her green gaze to the surrounding area as her nose told her she was where she needed to be, or so she assumed. Pack scent clung to the mountain that he had told her to go to and her ears perked forward as she resisted the urge to bound forward. No, no -- Nimueh, resist. It wasn't polite decorum to go prancing past someones borders, she thought with a pout. Nimueh barked once, twice and then she tilted her chin and supplied a quick, high howl as she looked to summon a wolf from Empyrean. "Hello? Hi!" She sung loftily. ^^

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Jarilo trailed the lower elevations, half on a hunt, and half looping into an almost-patrol. He shamelessly traveled the route of best interest this afternoon, looking to go with the flow. It did manage to land him near enough when an unfamiliar voice rang out into the crisp mountain winds. Once the initial surprise faded fully, the guardian paused to listen, ears twitching. A fluid step forward after a pivot had him heading their way to find out more.

Nothing so far urged major alarm in him, but he was open for anything, really. He guessed his sister would be busy with her quickly-growing litter, and Dirge on the hunt, he would go check it out and relay his findings to them--assuming it would be anything of note, of course. Who knew what these strange lands could concoct? The very young Ostregas in their lot might've had him on an extra sense of edge lately too; it was much easier to be protective of this yet nameless mountain now and this was good proof.

Her earthen hues and its mottling blended her well into the scenery. Jarilo did eventually spot her though, and could zero in. “Hello!” he called back as he trotted lightly down path grooved into the landscape. “I'm Jarilo, of Empyrean.” he greeted when it was worth slowing up proper, his nose angling towards his chest. He came appearing friendly, and interested; he did not meet many strangers--mostly because he did not go far. This one came to him, though. “What's up?” he asked with a curious tilt and shrewd look in his minty eyes. So far, he was not recognizing much at all about her, but that was fine here and now.

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^^

It was a wolf sheathed in darkness that came to her call, his own green gaze almost glowing amongst his darkness. Her ears perked forward and behind her, the girls tail waved as she breathed, "oh!" Why she was surprised when she had called for someone to attend to her -- she had no idea, but Nimueh appreciated it nonetheless. "Jarilo," she mimicked, trying the name on her tongue with a tilted head as she hummed. "I think that's okay," Nimueh nodded in approval to his name, it was a strong sounding name that suited the man of shadows. "My name is Nimueh!" the girl cooed merrily though gave a pause as she thought on his own introduction, should she add her Pack, too? "Of Vanderfell," she tacked on with a giggle.

"There is so much up," Nimueh sighed, knowing she had to attend to Pack business and not her own social desires. "Alas, Jarilo of the Shadows," the nymph sung as she tilted her head towards him. "I come bearing news! I wish it were better news, though." Nimueh would nearly huff at the reality of her journey. What a way to meet her neighbours! Being the bearer of bad news, it was not on, surely. Damn you, Vera-whoever-you-are! "There is a beast of white called Vera who is, as I'm told, a danger! She has attacked the leader of Shiroshika, a Pack in the Tundra -- allies to Vanderfell and has since been on the loose," she sniffed, she was not a fighter herself and was more a wolf of the earth than anything else, the thought of mindless violence was not something she was keen on.

"I have been asked to warn you, Jarilo of the Shadows, you and yours for the danger she poses. Please, keep your eyes wide and your ears perked! Miss. Reiko of Shiroshika is not in a good way and we would hate to see the same fate befall upon anyone else," Nimueh looked at him meaningfully as her tail halted in its movements, hoping the man took her words to heart and would see the danger this Vera posed. ^^

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Widening his eyes, suddenly there was a lot more to take in than the typical, bland-flavored borderlands exchange about just business. Her tail waved immediately, openly, coloring him in surprise for a beat, and her parroting his name back warranted a tentative sway of his own. Yeah, this was a little different already. “Just okay?” he teased back with a curious look, and would wonder what made her think that--about him, his name, presumably how they matched. It was one of them he knew best, and strongest.

Though sometimes, memory supplied a sweet voice whispering another to him, Kignitak. Maybe that one was more than just okay after just one look at him; but neither the time or place for visiting such depths, there was news to hear and he was all ears. Thankfully, Vanderfell did ping as recognizable: a friend of Hydra's, so naturally a friend of his. “Greetings, Nimueh of Vanderfell,” the dark Ostrega slipped in somewhere when he could, mimicking her test of the name back with a lot less grace than her own--though decent for a first attempt. But, he couldn't quite pass his judgements, not that he knew what exactly a Nimueh was or should be besides.. well, her, with all her overflowing and much to share. His expression went a touch more serious afterward as the cause of her visit came to light.

The details thickened. He stayed put, tail slowed and paws steady but brow scrunching into enough of a furrow. There was indeed a lot to take in here. While Empyrean had been most concerned with their internal, pup-sized affairs, it seemed the north had been troubled. A pale-furred danger roamed, Shiroshika's leader wounded. His ears slicked back as he absorbed this, for while he did not know these white deer, he had no enemies in these strange lands and doubted they deserved to be savaged. “That is a lot--that's awful, thank you for passing this along,” he replied. “I'll make sure we all know this. We will keep up watch in case she finds herself near the mountain, too, of course” he nodded, unable to imagine some menace harming Hydra or Dirge and living to tell the tale. Now would be an especially ugly time, considering how young the alpha's litter still was.. so Jarilo had faith in his family that they would keep themselves up to par. “Do you know where she was seen last?” he asked, fishing for anything else about this mysterious, troublesome Vera.

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^^

He returned with some words full of teasing, a question after her opinion of his name and Nimueh giggled, the sound soft against her tongue as she tilted her head to the side, "it is no Palomydes," she reasoned, as if he'd know the name and the being it had belonged to. "Your name will do, Jarilo of the Shadows," Nimueh promised with a grin full of mischief, thinking that he could have been named worse. Had he been named something such as Rolf, she'd think his parents had been barmy. Cloaked in darkness with vibrant seafoam eyes, he was not a beast who deserved a weak name. He deserved an interesting one, she thought, and he could be named worse than Jarilo. Even if she thought Palomydes suited him a touch more.


She was quite downtrodden to know her first meeting with a neighbour would be one cast in darkness but alas, what could she do? He listened, she noted, as she spun the tale she had been asked to relay and he spoke his thanks for the information, assuring her that he too would pass it along. "She fled the Tundra and was seen on the Mountains," Nimueh stated with a small frown as she kept her pale gaze upon the shadowed wolf. "Whether she has fled the mountains is unbeknownst to me," the mindless woman would have been making another bad decision had she stayed close to the scene of her crime, after all. "You'll not miss her if you saw her, Jarilo of the Shadows. You'll have never seen so many scars!" Not that she had seen her, of course, but Hiero had told her the description that had been given to him by the wolves who had.

Nimueh took a curious step forward and sniffed, committing him to her memory. Earthy, she thought, so very earthy and the nymph grinned, pleased. "Perhaps the next we meet, I'll not bring you such terrible news!" the girl sighed dramatically, her ears cuffing forward. It was a bummer to not be able to make it a social call. The girl pouted, her pent up energy begging to be released but no~ she was on duty. ^^

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It was something he had never heard before, so Jarilo tilted his head accordingly as he tried to absorb it--maybe retain it, he wasn't sure. Palomydes? He blinked at it, digesting, wondering what in the world steered her to that conclusion.. but, he decided there was not the best chance to aim the focus that way anyway. The news from the tundra's northern reaches outweighed it, considerably, and he nodded somberly to each piece there, scars included. So really, who knew what this criminal's next move could be...

He wanted to be sure his relay of this news to his alphas was sharp, after all, even if this issue might not ever make it to their door. Better to stay safe, he felt, if the mountains had been the last place she was seen. “I see. Should be plenty to help us keep our defenses sharp..” he replied, all thanks to her making this trek. Jarilo tried to think up what else he wanted to know about all of this.. but there were endless options, and plenty he didn't even know, let alone where to go from there.

Then, perhaps, he agreed with a soft chuff. He sympathized in being the bearer of bad news. “Hopefully. But I'm still grateful you did, in case she does show herself in our reaches.” Even if the subject was weighty, Empyrean would make use of it--he had his confidence there. “Do you have other packs to visit with this news?” he asked, not well-versed enough in who was allied with who. Maybe Vanderfell had others they wished to warn, he supposed. He certainly appreciated being on their list to let know, and had a good feeling that Hydra would feel much the same--but he didn't want to stall Nimueh's travels with his curiosity if she had more pressing places to be.

Not before offering anything in exchange for the news (maybe something from a nearby cache if her appetite wanted--he was willing to be hospitable for the short time he knew her considering the nature of her task here), he quite readily let his curiosity carry the conversation for as long as she'd allow. But in the end, he would understand she had a home to get back to, and would bid her safe and easy roads.

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