Hymn had finally worked up the courage to do what he knew he needed to do. Summer had come and the man could feel his life slipping away. Was he older now than his mothers had been before they passed? He wasn't sure anymore and his age had been part of the reason he'd been so hesitant. But he knew what he felt and so he knew what he had to do. The man emerged from the den that morning, Eis was already gone. He'd fished out the precious bundle, wrapped in a small soft fur to protect it. The man moved through the basin carefully seeking out the leader of the Viking band, sniffing for her now familiar scent. He wouldn't dare call for Valkyre, even in his advanced age he couldn't help the excitement he felt, the excitement he felt at maybe being able to surprise the snowy warrior woman who'd taken his heart. So he didn't call for Valkyre, instead hoping to find her, hopefully alone within the basin. "speech"

Art by Sterling-Raven

Valkyrie lay stretched out beside a stream with her skull mask pinned between her forepaws. One thing she hadn't anticipated when she'd decided to keep it as armor was how labor intensive cleaning it would be. If she had known its many nooks and crannies would be magnets for blood and guts she maybe would have reconsidered it. Maybe.

Presently she was picking flecks of blood out of the bear's teeth with her claws. It was boring, labor intensive work but it needed to be done. She couldn't run into battle with the teeth on her skull mask looking like they belonged to a backwoods hillbilly, could she? No, no she could not.

She paused mid scratch and looked up when movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention away from the task at hand. Her aunt Eisleif's beau was approaching looking very much like a man on a mission. Valkyrie almost dismissed him and went back to her work; it seemed likely he was there only for the elder viking. She hadn't seen him once since their initial meeting so she could only assume he had no interest in her. And yet he was deliberately walking in her direction, wasn't he?

Hymn spotted the woman, clearly busy but as she looked at him he screwed his courage and approached the Viking woman. He stopped a respectful distance away, giving Valkyrie a slow dip of his head before dropping his bundle at his paws. "Good afternoon." He began, his baritone cracked with age. "I was hoping to discuss something with you, it probably won't take too long." Well he hoped anyways, the last thing he wanted was to be in negotiation with the woman for her relation's marriage. But he also couldn't deny it was a possibility. He glanced at the skull, not wanting to keep her from her work but also didn't really want to have to wait much longer. Still, he'd remain silent, and wait for Valkyrie to give a response before continuing on. "speech"

Art by Sterling-Raven

Valkyrie gently ran a claw down one of the eye sockets as Hymn approached. She followed a line, a fused point from a past injury, maybe, and peeled from its dimpled edge a curl of dried blood. Hymn addressed her politely and she slowly stopped what she was doing and rested her paw on top of the skull. She wasn't sure what to make of the man. It was clear he only had designs for Eisleif and that didn't sit well with her. What kind of man chose not to belong somewhere? As far as Valkyrie could tell he belonged to nothing and no one, and she was of the opinion that made him suspect.

"Oh?" She decided to toy with him a bit. "The answer is yes." Valkyrie waited a beat to let that sink in, then said, "I agree it is time for you to accept responsibility like a man and join us. Following us around like a pauper does little for one's image, no?" She didn't know why he was there or what he wanted, but she did know what she wanted and what she wanted was to suss out the man's intentions. Let her blunt and seemingly off-point assertion rouse him. She was ready for a fight if he took offense.