She huffed at the name drifting from his tongue. Oh yes, she knew what the Britishmen called her home, and she’d never been one to capitulate to it.

Aye, I am well aware of what they’ve called it. In my heart, it is Cymru, and it will be forever. The brough slipped from her tongue without meaning, and she cringed mildly. But Tyr was of the Norsemen, wasn’t he? He’d probably understand. She adjusted her weight just in time for his offer to hit her ears, and she took a shaky inhale.

Really? Oh, I’ve been trying to map them but I could not find anywhere clear besides the beach! And the sea winds were cold, and nothing ever really comes out there, so..well. The ice seemed a good way to catch the stars, or find somewhere with high elevation. Which is what had appealed to her about the distant island, the jut of a mountain distant but intriguing. Steren was a scholar at heart, not an orator, and she had avoided every wolf smell she could catch on the breeze. Which, unfortunately, meant no mountains for her, as they all seemed to be claimed in the area around the beach. She’d never ventured further out of fear.

「 Skill Point ― Orator 」

He smiled at her retort. Such passion about one's heritage was admirable, and he wholly agreed. It is good to hold onto your birthright, do not let them take it from you. he offered in response, his attention momentarily caught by a glimpse of the black sandy beaches of the island up ahead. Like a flicker of his imagination, the snow created a wall in front of them, but he knew what he saw.

Usually I would wait to offer, but you are welcome to remain with us for as long as you would like. We'll get some meat on those bones before I drag you up the mountains first however. the invitation was extended, and he was more than happy to have Steren wandering the isle. She was honest, her emotions obvious to the male despite the critical condition of her body.

I'll take you to our Heila, Lilja, she'd get you back to good health.

Staying.

It may have been a daunting prospect for some. More prideful would turn their nose up at it. More shy would have run at the first hint of an offer such as that. But for Steren, who belonged to nowhere but a high tower and the stars, grabbed it with both of her hands. Tyr knew about her transformation, had believed her, had known the soil she had grown up in, and the air she had loved so much. Even if Cymru was distant to her now, cut from her by flame, she would forever remember its lands. And with Tyr, perhaps she’d have someone to reminisce with.

Aye. Came her answer. It was just as easy as the snow had made falling asleep feel, but far more alive. Like lightning striking against her body. Besides, where else could she go.

I’ll map them faithfully. And maybe, while I’m laid up, I can teach you some Cymric, eh? Another piece of her home, gifted to another, to many if she could manage it. The world was open, while she was recouping her life, and she looked forward to taking it in stride as best she could.

「 Skill Point ― n/a 」

It was a promising offer and one he didn't hesitate to accept.

Sounds like a plan, he hummed, finally seeing the beach in it's glory before him. They were so close he could almost feel the grains beneath his paws already. It wouldn't take long from here to get her to Lilja's den in the south and warmed by the hides she kept clean. He worried that the exposure to the cold had already taken affect but only Lilja would be able to tell.

You will find many of us on this island have similar awakenings to this world, don't hesitate to reach out to anyone if you feel lost. Lilja didn't have it the easier from what I can tell, but she does not often speak of her life in the past. She's quite a sweet woman, and probably near your age. Perhaps you may teach her and the children your mother tongue too,

He would keep her talking for now, at least until they got to Lilja's den. A person who was speaking, was one who had yet to succumb to the elements after all.

It was a deal. Steren felt warmth spread in her chest, but she couldn’t quite tell if it was happiness or frostbite just yet. The only time she’d done this before, she’d wound up bedbound with some kind of sickness in her chest. It hadn’t been the greatest of times, but she’d pulled through, and resolved to spend as little time outside in winter as possible.

Tyr told her of others, many who’d woken the same as she. She wondered if they missed their hands too. She did, but it was a lesser pain than everything else she lost. He told her of Lilja, a healer woman who’d been through much, and she gave a matronly tut, then examined where that had come from, and why it sounded so much like her mother. Children as well, which she had a fraught history with. They never did seem to enjoy her lectures in astronomical math. But she’d hold those in, for now.

That I can do. She said after a moment of silence, when the ground had turned from ice to sand and her riding upon Tyr’s back felt different with the change.

You’ve children? Of course he did, he’d just told her of them. Her brain felt like it was made of soup, the one she’d used to make with wild greens, and she breathed a sigh.

Tell me of them. His voice was easy to focus on. And she would hold onto that point of contact the longer they walked together.

「 Skill Point ― n/a 」

She wasn't as talkative as she'd been prior, but she did seem intent on listening to his as they travelled through the storm. He was okay with it, as long as she made noise throughout. He couldn't have her passing out on him right now. Not when they were so close to their goal.

Yes, he breathed, one of the weirder things about being a wolf was that he somehow managed to have children in this life.

There are 8 of them, used to be more before the gods decided to withdraw them with their mother, Trygve was one of the reason's he'd ventured to the mainland after all. The child was missing, but there were signs that the gods weren't the ones to tamper. Gone with the water it seemed, but like water, it left no trace of the child. The man swallowed the lump that formed in his throat.

They're rambunctious, and I doubt they are all mine but they're good kids. Strong willed, but good. They'd be hard to miss once you come across them, the majority that remained appeared much too much like their father, while the two that he suspected were not his own still favoured their more sane father. If you ignored the pied markings.

Good gods! Eight! Eight! Eight children, all belonging to this man! Her mind reeled, and she almost wanted to ask after the poor woman who’d done all that bearing. Then, of course, she remembered. Wolves. Wolves had litters. Right, right, eight almost made sense if she thought about it that way. And he said there was more before! Before..

Oh, oh my. My apologies, I..that sounds obscenely difficult. To lose children with their mother, she couldn’t even imagine it. She’d outlived her own mother and father both, but she remembered the toll it took on her mother. Tyr explained he did not believe the children all his, and part of her melted. She smiled, though she knew it could not be seen.

And you care for them anyway. Many men I have known would throw them out the door the first time their blood was questioned. He seemed a better sort than what she knew anyway. Steren felt that drowsy feeling sweep over her, and she fought to stay aloft, above that tempting black sea. She scrambled for something else to say.

Though, I hope you’ve enough hands to tend to them all. Did wolves tend to their children? She’d never studied them.

「 Skill Point ― n/a 」

A chuckled rolled from his chest, her reaction not all that unexpected. Tyr thought she might have fainted if she'd heard the true number of children. Before the loss.

They're all vastly different personalities and that can prove difficult, yes. he offered, focusing on moving to the south of the island towards lilja's den. She'd know what to do far better than himself.

The questions of his children brought warmth to the man's body, and while there was a steady ache, he tried to remain present.

I love my children equally, be them blood or not. the reason behind the admittance was sorrowful, a man plagued with infertility and wishing for a family of his own. It was hard to come across a child as a god after all, many of them had to be created. Tyr was not lucky enough for such a thing to have been wished into existence though.

The others do well with them, their elder siblings help as much as they can too. While everyone has a different background, I'm proud of them all for unifying as they do. he smiled, while it looked a smidge sad, it held pride. It was a mixed barrel of emotion given the amount of loss they'd experienced.

I can only imagine. It was difficult to even attempt it. Growing up with eight other children would have turned her into a right terror for attention from her mother, especially if it was only her. Steren tightened her limbs around Tyr as he turned, if only for a moment to ensure warm blood continued to circulate to the muscles there. She even tried to flatten down her ears, but that just made it hard to hear his words beyond the feeling of the rumble through his chest to her forelegs. She didn’t have enough warmth left in her to feel embarrassed about that.

That puts you a mile above most, in my view. In my village, before I left it, there was an ordeal with the abbot and the woodcutter. His son, the woodcutter’s, that is, looked absolutely nothing like him. But looked every bit like the abbot. They foisted the infant onto him, and chased him deep into the woods. I don’t know what happened to them. She hoped they had survived, but she knew that unlikely. A man of the Britain’s God, and a babe he didn’t know how to care for. The wolves had probably gotten them as soon as the sun went down.

It sounds like you have a lot to be proud of. She finished off, her tail giving a pitiful wag.