1/11/2025, 7:08 PM
Chou rolled to her paws after a few moments, snow and moss scrubbed into the fibers of her freshly-donned pelt. She shook fiercely, before a low chuff caught her attention. It was firm, commanding, and Choumi's attention snapped to the direction it'd come from with rigid tension and pinpoint accuracy.
Izumi stood tall in the night, snowy pelt glittering in what dim cast-off sunlight there was filtering through the shadows like the crests of the waves not too far off. Choumi ducked her head, tucking a paw to her chest in a hasty but courteous bow. Such formalities didn't come naturally to her, but her lupine instincts demanded some degree of deference displayed to a higher-ranking wolf all the same. Despite the bow, her tail swayed high and cheerful behind her. The butterfly was in a pleasant mood - feeling fresh, and relieved that whatever mystical phenomenon had just occurred to her hadn't taken her away from the pack she'd pledged herself to.
She didn't want to have to start over, again.
Her jaws parted, the Fujiwara crane's name invisible but felt between her teeth. Izumi. Choumi was sure she would not say it with the right accentuation; she was not a native speaker of Japanese, but was quickly learning to understand it from living amongst the clan. But this was a new body, a fresh start, and she didn't think about her limitations at first; she only wished to greet her leader, assure her it was indeed Chou standing before her.
Her teeth clicked, the only sound except a fizzling exhale that actually filled the air, aside from the sigh of the wind and the whisper of the far-off sea at the shore.
Her tongue was blank, but her mind buzzed with a staticky fear, old and rancid where it had rotted in the woman for too long.
Choumi's expression fell from its mirthful grin, meeting Izumi's lilac gaze evenly.
