torgar returned home many handfuls of daylight later. he had not caught a moose, of course -- he had not come close. what he bore back was the hide of an elk. the old one had laid down to die, and torgar had kept a fasting vigil of six sunrises until the last breath was taken.
in this he gave up his need for the threshing and the blood. watching the elk die put something to rest inside his own spirit, and the lightheadedness of hunger gave way to purer thought.
he had committed its spirit to the cold reaches of an afterlife, whispered prayers over the burial mound he built when he had consumed its strength for himself and separated the skin.
that had been hours of work. more days to flesh the pelt, another to rinse it. two for drying. and four to haul it back over the sharp glinting of snowy mountains.
when torgar stepped over the borders of dawnbreak once more, he was changed. the boyish gleam was gone, and in its place solemnity. draping his burden against a tree, the young man rolled his shoulders and began to search in earnest for a fitting den.

True rest had not come easily since her return to Mythris, even when she would doze it was intermittent and broken up and when she opened her eyes again she felt as if she hadn't slept at all. Wondering if she would have just been better not sleeping at all, she unfurled once more from her den blinking her violet eyes into the silence of the world outside. A yawn would break her maw, muscles heavy with fatigue it took more effort than she would have liked to step back out into the snow.

A soft sight fell from her lips, carrying her body across Dawnbreak without purpose, no destination in sight but moving her body; occupying her mind felt better than wasting away under the earth. When she saw him, she thought it was a trick of her mind, it brought her to freeze. Her heart jumped in her chest. It was a large shape, blanketed in brown the wolf buried beneath the mass of foreign skin. Her body tightened, and she strained against the instinct to get far away from here, squinting her eyes instead to try and determine what this was.

And then he became clearer, and Eidola released the breath she'd been holding. A wolf. Just a wolf. A member of Dawnbreak no less, the scent was on him if faint, the girl waited for him to get closer before offering her polite greeting. If only to solidify his tangibility. ❝ That is quite the prize ❞

Torgar
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❝ speech ❞

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an overcrop of stone would hold off the worst of wind and rain. a spacious interior might have room for a second cache to be dug near the entrance. a heap of dirt at the back which could be stamped down into a sleeping platform of sorts. skullbones and femur to hang outside the door.
torgar did not allow himself to picture what came next. the six vigilant evenings had taught him the beginning tenets of patience. first he would create this place for himself. the rest would come.
the eiversson had just come back to start dragging the hide again when a voice sounded. senses brought him information: a dawnbreak girl with amethyst eyes stood looking over the elk-pelt. her tones were appreciative, and she spoke in common. it was on the tip of his tongue to pretend again that he knew nothing of the sort, but that had been attached to solulfur. that had been his behest when he followed the Mediator and learned what he could.
it was time to put these things aside. it would never be. it could not.
he was an old one, he heard himself say as if at a distance, voice still weighted by an accent he probably would not lose. she was his age, now that they were close, now that he was eyeing the punctuation of pretty white in her hackles, torgar saw it clearly. he gestured to the fur. would you like to touch?

"he was an old one," she heard him say, a single ear flicking in attention her eyes softening as she swept it over the pelt. Briefly she wondered what the animal had endured to lay here upon this mans back. Her gaze swept over the shades of earth and ivory that painted his fur, as well as the place he had found to carve out for himself. It was near the borders, secluded, private, whereas hers was closer to the heart of the pack. Close to her aunts and uncles that made up Dawnbreaks bulk.

"would you like to touch?" ❝ Oh, ❞ she breathed softly taking a careful step closer. ❝ Could I? ❞ she would muse, she hadn't recalled ever soaking in the detail of another animals hide. But also, she was no hunter — she was a lost girl, fumbling through life trying to find a purpose. And so she was succumbed only to chunks of meat given or stolen away from the caches. Had she ever even been this close before? ❝ Is it a deer? ❞ she wondered, but that didn't sound right it looked so much bigger than any deer she had seen.

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Torgar
❝ speech ❞

an elk, torgar answered quietly. he lay down to die. i kept watch until it was over. he pulled the pelt from his shoulders, spreading it in the snow. see. he has two coats. this one, of thinner brown hairs, coarse to feel, and this one, a much softer underguard of thickly layered fur, more grey than anything. together it keeps the animal warm and the -- snow from melting on top.
running his own paw to encourage that gradient of color in revelation, torgar found that he could not find a smile. the elkhide would have been a fitting gift for -- no. no. no. it was meant for its den, where its warmth in sleep would remind the boy of the patience he had given to get it. in this same vein, he relinquished the thought. amused or not, he was still interested in how he had overlooked anyone.
then again, he had hunted away from their territories for a long while now. a den search would ground him for some weeks. i am torgar eiversson, volunteered the young hunter. i was put among the Power fighting-class, he added, in case this said something else to the girl across the pelt from him.
heartbreak brought his eyes back to the hide, but in silence this time, thinking again of his long vigil and the surrender inherent in those hours.

"an elk," she gave a short, curt nod. Right. "he lay down to die. i kept watch until it was over." this surprised her, that he had not just sunk his teeth into the old elks throat and taken this life himself. What stopped him? She wondered. Before she could ask he was drawing the pelt from his back and laying it out in the snow see. "he has two coats. this one," Eidola drew closer, tucking down onto her haunches on the opposite side of the man. "and this one,"

"together it keeps the animal warm and the -- snow from melting on top." it was not unlike their own she learned, though it lay more flat and as her company displayed the color shift Eidola waited before reaching forward with her own paw to mimic the action. The fur was coarser than theirs, smoother, and it resisted her push against the grain, quickly falling back into place after it was disturbed. ❝ It sounds like you did him a great service, ❞ she said then, bringing back to life her unsaid thought from earlier. As she said this her eyes danced back up to his face.

"i am torgar eiversson," she dipped her nose, "i was put among the Power fighting-class," ❝ Eidola Shakti-Vaes, it's nice to meet you Torgar ❞ the returned the gesture, and then ❝ I've only just returned home, but I hope to pursue either the wisdom pillar or courage maybe as a mediator...or caregiver ❞ she shook her head lightly, thoughtfully. ❝ But I don't know... ❞

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Torgar
❝ speech ❞

torgar's lips twitched with pleasure, but he did not want to take satisfaction in a kill. eidola shakti-vaes looked upon the elk's fur and saw what he had seen, he felt: a majestic creature at the end of its life who deserved to die in honor and in peace. he wanted to tell her that several times he had been forced to stride back to the treeline, sit, and remain; that the need to end the beast had risen hard inside his spirit, and that this fight inside oneself was more noble than he had expected.
wisdom pillar.
Mediator.
her surname was familiar enough for torgar to place eidola as family to others in dawnbreak, and torgar fought the jolt of embarrassed pain to ask, where did you go? again, his paw upon the fur of the magnificent elk, his mind halfway recalling the silence of falling snow. it was travel that taught me what i wanted to be. it was coming here that taught me how to focus.
he felt so serious, unable to shake the severity which was threatening to mark his expression in a permanent way. acceptance. release. evolution. there were many words which he had also begun to chant to himself in earnest.
i hunt. i spar. that is what i like to do, torgar went on, making a flatter image of himself than he meant and not truly realizing it as he watched the hairs part under his palm once more.

"where did you go?" audits tucked back gently, her gaze casting down to the elks fur as she gave a light shrug of her shoulder. ❝ I don't really know, it wasn't terribly different from here — but it wasn't Mythris. I just had to go with my father for a time ❞ she spared him the details. "it was travel that taught me what i wanted to be. it was coming here that taught me how to focus." Eidola considered this, but she didn't think that travel had done much for her.

"i hunt. i spar. that is what i like to do," she smiled faintly eyes dancing as she imagined him in combat, what did she like to do? She couldn't remember the last time anyone had cared to know. ❝ You should spar with my Aunt Tiberii she would make for a good challenge, I think ❞ she hummed with an amused laugh as her gaze flickered up to Torgar memory dancing to the brute force Tiberii had used to shove Dante off of her.

—
Torgar
❝ speech ❞

eidola was vague, which torgar took to mean that he had spoken too much or asked too personal a question for a first meeting. on this assumption he too retreated. mythris. did this mean that she had left this world? how? and when? but ghosts came to this family, to this place. maybe it was not so far-flung an idea that she had been transported between realms.
the boy's eyes took on a new interest despite himself. niece to tiberii, established in the lineage of this land. i know her, torgar said. she was there when i came to dawnbreak. his face softened somewhat at the memory, before he recalled --
no. no.
you do not think you will be a warrior, eidola? torgar asked, trying for humour. i would spar you, but you do not have interest. a tease. he waited to see how she might take it.

"i know her," she dipped her nose, she had figured with Tiberii being one of Dawnbreaks founders and leaders "she was there when i came to dawnbreak." she smiled lightly at this.

"you do not think you will be a warrior, eidola?" she caught it, the lightness tucked below his words and a quiet sound slipped from her maw before she could stop it. It wasn't quite a laugh but a breath with warmth along the edges. "i would spar you, but you do not have interest." ❝ Spar me? ❞ she chimed laughing softly now before giving a gentle shake of her head.

❝ No, ❞ she continued, her smile deepening. ❝ I don't think I would last very long in a spar with you, Torgar ❞ she mused lightly, naturally tying in the subtle compliment almost before she noticed she'd given it. Once the words left her mouth his toned muscle beneath fur became clear to her and heat flushed to the tips of her ears her violet eyes would quickly drop.

—
Torgar
❝ speech ❞