yunxu crouched and was careful not to move, conscious now of both pairs of eyes upon him and the fact that both appeared to know each other; that if anyone was likely to risk being torn apart by teeth, it was him. he needed no growl to warn him of that- though he was willing to (privately) admit, knowing himself, it was probably the smartest response.
nonetheless. he allowed himself to believe that maybe that would not happen. nobody was lunging now that words had been exchanged.
they were speaking. of what, yunxu was struggling to make out, because while he could understand the man well enough the woman's accent- already present enough in a few shrieked words to be noticeable- was even harder to comprehend outside the familiar shape of chinese. yunxu stared at her for several moments before the pieces fell into place, and then felt foolish for even taking that long.
ghost? so she too had heard it. so he had heard it too- the tenor of his voice was no match for whoever had been whispering in yunxu's ear. his eyes followed the jab of her paw toward the den's mouth and the short clipped sentences that followed, speaking of someone who'd spent long enough to pick up the basics of a tongue but not quite enough to speak fluently.
he was quite familiar with it.
"yes," yunxu said, with a habitual wrinkle to his muzzle. "english." japanese was not entirely unfamiliar either, but he was no better with it than she was with his own and had even less of a desire to converse in it. now he was here though, and well-trapped, so he straightened a fraction and cleared his throat. "jiang yunxu," he said belatedly, with a vague gesture towards his chest. "i come here from the sea, trying to get home...or to find someone who know where here is." his last interaction unmentioned. "i am sorry. i thought... you were voice. or what voice warned me about. do you know what it is?"
english | mandarin