shut up and dance with me

It had been a long journey, but Nevada knew in the end it was going to be so worth it. She had her own life now, nothing to hold her back from going on all the adventures she wanted to go on. This was a new land with new places to see and new wolves to meet. And she could hardly wait.

But, as usual, Alma was there to be the responsible one. "Pienso que debemos descansar y recuperar antes de explorar esta tierra nueva," said the colorful hummingbird as she hovered nearby, looking around at the beach Nevada was standing on. The woman gave her little bird companion a quick glare and shook the damp sand from her feet. No way she was listening to that advice.

"No lo creo," Nevada scoffed, shaking sand from her tail and flicking it right at the hummingbird. "No hemos venido aquí para descansar y recuperar, Alma. Hemos venido aquí para explorar." Alma could go take a nap if she wanted to, but Nevada intended to make the most of this first day. She ran off through the beautiful white sand to see what exciting new things she could find.

It was daytime now. The waters didn't glow in the daytime. It still was beautiful. It wasn't crazy hot either. Really, Ashmedai could get used to living in a place like this.

There was someone else. Ashmedai could smell them. He could hear them. That... wasn't the common language, was it? Before he could do anything, the other wolf ran off. Ashmedai approached trying to match her speed, his tail flagged and waving behind him.

"What language was that?" he called out, "It reminds me of an old friend of mine, but I doubt you speak her language."

Man it was hard to run and talk, "I'm Ashmedai, by the way!"

shut up and dance with me

Nevada was practically prancing through the sand, her eyes practically glowing with curiosity and excitement as she prepared to explore whatever lay beyond this beautiful beach. But then she heard a voice that certainly did not belong to her friend Alma, and she turned to see that she was being followed. Slowing her pace, the lovely little woman turned fully to address the man that was calling out to her. Apparently he recognized her language. Or thought that he did.

"Back home we call it español, or if you like you can call it spanish," she said with a playful wink. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Ashmedai," she said, the name rolling off her tongue. Maybe her accent marred it a teensy bit, but it sounded nice either way, so she didn't fret about it.

"My name is Nevada!" she said with a dramatic bow and a flourish of her fluffy brown tail. "What brings you here, guapo, are you a native? Perhaps you could show me around?"

The woman noticed him and slowed, turning to speak to him. Even when speaking the common language, her voice sounded a bit odd, accented by her- well- accent.

She said the language she spoke was español or spanish. "español, huh?" Ashmedai repeated, his own voice slightly butchering the native word for her language.

She said her name was Nevada, asking if Ashmedai was a native here and if he could show her around. Ashmedai shrugged, "Not quite a native, but I've been hanging out around here for a little bit, so I can show you around a little."

Ashmedai took the lead. He would try to show her the glowing waters, though maybe that was better for night time. "Where ya from, Nevada?" he said, his voice making her name sound like "Nee-vAd-UH" rather than whatever it was supposed to sound like. He would pass a little time walking then maybe they could see the glowing waters.

shut up and dance with me

So, the man wasn't a native per se. But he said he'd been spending some time here, and could show Nevada around a little. She grinned and followed close behind as he walked along the beach. She was excited to see what the man would show her. He seemed very nice. Hopefully all of the wolves here were nice like him.

When he asked her where she was from, her smile faltered, but only slightly. "It's a place west of here," she said. "The land we call Baracoa, but the pack where I was born, we call it Marbella. It was not a nice place to live, too strict and too boring. So I left," she said, and it was at this part of the story that her voice brightened significantly. And, she decided to stretch the truth just a little, to make the story more interesting. "I'm sure they will be missing me. I was their princess."

And of course, this is when Alma decided to chime in. "You mean you would have been their princess, you silly girl," the bird chirped, laughing at her as she came to perch on the top of her head. "But your blood is only half royal." Nevada scoffed, and rolled her eyes as if that didn't really matter.

"Ah yes, how could I forget?" she said, and quickly shook her head to send Alma back up into the air. She supposed it was time for introductions, then. She smiled over at the big grey male. "Ashmedai, this is my friend Alma."

The woman went on for a little while about running away from her home land. That seemed typical of a lot of loners somehow. She said it was too strict and too boring. Huh, well, he would have left too! She said they would be missing her because she was their princess. Ashmedai's brow quirked, "Funny, me too."

A bird then came and chirped up about she was only half royal. Ash chuckled a little, "If your parent was willing to sully their blood, then I doubt they were real strong royalty to begin with. Half princess, all princess, no princess... whatever. I think royalty's overrated- too spoiled. They act like they're all special, but most can't fight worth a shit." Ashmedai shrugged. It really wasn't that important. Ashmedai hadn't been able to tell the difference between royalty and non-royalty ever.

"It's nice to meet you half-not-princess Nevada and Bird court jester Alma."