The lands of Ebony had been troublingly quiet lately. She'd seen no sign of Raisa, though her pups were about and Vaughan seemed to have the administrative portion of her duties well in hand. Signs of her other adult packmates were also rare. Once Katja gave her oath of loyalty to someone, it was there's... but this was quite concerning. That combined with her own guilt over her continued inability to track down her cousin had sparked a restlessness in her that could no longer be assuaged simply by patrolling the border as she'd been doing on her own for far too long lately. She considered going back to the bay where she'd been staying when she gave Raisa her oath, but it was getting too cold to enjoy the water, and she didn't feel it worth intruding on the loose organization of wolves who were living there and risking them trying to protect their nonexistent territory. So in her restlessness she had found herself much farther from Ebony lands than usual. The prairie lands still teemed with life this time of year as herds came down from the north to try to escape the harsher weather there, so Katja considered trying to take an older fawn on her own - but even if, with Ullr's blessing, she were to manage it, even one of this years' fawns would be too difficult to bring back to Ebony, and would be entirely too much to eat on her own. She sat and watched the group of whitetail as they grazed upwind of her, just thinking. Her restlessness had not been soothed even by the long journey here. The gods were trying to tell her something, and she was just not getting it. Frustrated with herself and moody, she stared out over the prairie. "Speech."

Where was he now? The dark gray male was wandering through the prairie, mind buzzing. He had been separated from Koi again, and in searching for her, once again Kyda had gotten himself lost. He had been near that pack before.. The one with at the plains that stirred that memory and wouldn?t come. It still troubled Kyda, though he was still thinking more clearly than he had in, well, years. The triggers for his memories trying to come back were pulling strongly... But his frustration grew that he couldn?t figure out anything. He was sure that there was something truly wrong... His mind wasn?t right. Something about his speech too. It sounded normal to him, as if he was talking the same as everyone else, though when he spoke they looked at him strange manner, as if he was speaking some odd language that made little to no sense at all.

Little did the male know, someone else nearby held frustrations just as he did. He would heave a sigh, not paying as much caution as to where he was going here, or what was ahead of him. Until his scent was blown to the herd downwind of him, sending the whitetail into an alerted, thundering frenzy.

The earth shook a bit under their hooves, eyes widening as he looked up, horrified to see the herd coming on hard and fast. The male would step back, fur bristling as he lowered his head. Calm... Try to remain calm... He tried to tell himself. As different members of the herd began to move past Kyda?s main focus was to dodge, try and make it out of the area without substantial injury to his body. Kicks went in his direction, as well as antlers of bucks of different ages.

Though it lasted only a few moments Kyda soon found himself standing alone, trembling, with minor cuts on his body. Luckily for him he had managed to avoid getting knocked over and trampled to death. The male would shake his head, looking back after the deer. ?Stars the thank...? He would mumble to himself.


{{Kyda Speech translations::

Original:: ?Stars the thank...?
What Kyda means:: ?Thank the stars...?}}

The sudden frightened surge of the deer herd pulled Katja out of her thoughts and fully into reality with a jerk, and her body stiffened when she saw that they were charging as a whole toward a lone figure - a wolf. Springing to her feet she raced over the prairie, stride eating up the ground like it was nothing. She would not be able to head the herd off, she knew, not when she was on the opposite side as this fool, but she could at least provide some small emergency aid were he to go down. Luckily it appeared the wolf had managed to make it through with minimal injuries, as she saw when she slowed to a stop near him. "Lucky you are the gods did chose to shield you," she observed coldly. "Speech."

The deer herd was gone now, and he was alive, though there was someone else now who approached him. A woman, speaking in a way that was different from the common way of speaking he was used to hearing. Her words were a colder, and the male would lower his ears, body lowering some as he tucked his tail. A sign of submission, not that the woman suggested an immediate threat. Faded blue eyes would lift to hers as his odd manner of speech left him.

?Them to startle mean I didn?t... Them I see didn?t was it too until late...? Kyda let out a soft whine after the words, expecting the femme to be angry with him for having the deer run off. If anything the male looked a pathetic sight... He wasn?t even sure what he was doing or where he was going anymore. His mission was still trying to find his friend, Koi... But so far there was no luck with that. ?Koi I?m find trying to lost but am I.? So far anyone he had met, asking about Koi, didn?t know the she wolf. Though Kyda hadn?t yet registered he might not see her again.


{{Kyda Translations!!::

Original:: ? Them to startle mean I didn?t... Them I see didn?t was it too until late...?
What Kyda Means To Say:: ?I didn?t mean to startle them... I didn?t see them until it was too late...?


Original:: ?Koi I?m find trying to lost but am I.?
What Kyda Means To Say:: ?I?m trying to find Koi but I am lost...?}}

"Speech"
'thoughts'

The male's speech patterns were harder to follow even than the common tongue usually was for her. Perhaps he, too, was not a native speaker. He showed an immediate submissiveness, which Katja both took as her due and made her regard him with distaste. He showed the mannerisms of a slave, a weakness of the heart and soul. She shook her head dismissively. "It does matter not, whether intentional it was or not. Nearly died, you did. The gods will not always so favor you for your carelessness." It was a surprise that they did favor him at all, with his cringing. He went on to say he was looking for someone, or that was the impression Katja got - he spoke the word koi as though it were a name, rather than a fish. She sat, tucking her half-striped tail neatly over her paws. "Know that name I do not," she spoke, then - perhaps with some stir of pity she didn't even know she was capable of - she added, "Sorry I am you have lost this Koi. Perhaps assist you, I could?" She had her own problems, certainly, but perhaps she could set them aside to help this boy... for a price, of course. "Speech."

The woman would speak again, scolding him again for having the herd run as it did. Nearly killing him, as she was quick to remind the male. He didn?t want to think of such things, and gaze would lower to the earth. ?I...? The male knew he was not so careless on purpose, not necessarily. There was something wrong with his mind... Something that kept him distracted and distorted... Affecting his speech. His mannerisms. She would speak again, seeming to understand his loss, and even offering to assist him in his search. Kyda would look up to her, faded blue eyes shining with a bit of hope.



?Appreciated be it would... Sort some have of I... Think I injury something or... Remember hard to is and it concentrate...? She seemed to understand him at least somewhat, which was good. Kyda would move, his body shifting to reveal the male had more than just some sort of mental trauma that gave him trouble. She would be able to see now that he had bore previous injury, taking away that part of him that made him truly a male. He?d look around, giving a soft sigh. He had no idea even where to begin. ?...Might lost be think I.? He?d say softly, unaware of what this woman might want in exchange for her service of aid.




{{Kyda Translations!!


Original:: ?Appreciated be it would... Sort some have of I... Think I injury something or... Remember hard to is and it concentrate...?

What Kyda Means To Say:: ?It would be appreciated.. I have some sort of... Injury or something I think... It is hard to remember and concentrate...?




Original:: ?...Might lost be think I.?

What Kyda Means To Say:: ?...Think I might be lost...?}}



"Speech"

'thoughts'

As the young wolf moved Katja's eyes flickered, catching with the realization that the wolf was a eunuch, but otherwise unphased by it. Eunuchs she had seen, and worse, in her travels. Slaves were often castrated, the shame of being unmanned often keeping them more docile. She had seen much, in her travels. It was difficult though, to think what she could possibly get out of helping such a wolf as this. Perhaps upon helping him find his friend she would simply take them both into thralldom as he rightly should be, and sell him and his friend to someone who had something better to offer. She had to concentrate on his words, finding that the long sentence made it far more difficult to follow his meandering syntax than shorter sentences. She muttered beneath her breath in German, suppressing irritation. "When last did you see your friend? How long?" she asked him as patiently as she could manage. "Remember, do you, where you were? Try to think."

The brute would frown, closing his eyes in thought as he tried to remember where it was he had last seen Koi. ? ?...Believe I woods... Woods sort of some separated got we is where.? Kyda would say softly, faded blue eyes opening once more. He wasn?t sure why he hadn?t come across Koi again... Or when he even would. But he wouldn?t give up, and he would keep looking for her in hopes of finding her again. Of finding his own path and finding the right way. Ears would perk up a bit, focusing on the black ticked woman again. If she would honestly help him then surely he would find Koi again, right? But she bore a pack scent... And he wondered what her pack would think of her helping him, or how long she would help him search.


{{Kyda Translations!!!

Original:: ?...Believe I woods... Woods sort of some separated got we is where.?
What Kyda Means To Say::?...Woods I believe... Some sorts of woods is where we got separated...?}}

"Speech"
'thoughts'