TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021

"Speech!"

The new armour fit like a glove, and he was glad he'd managed to get his paws on it. Restoring the rusty, well worn chest and shoulder plates had taken time, and refitting the new straps with the old buckles had taken even longer. Lounging in the sun, he had doffed the steel plates from his chest and shoulders, and let them dry in the sun. The alabaster Destruction male wasn't certain he would ever tire of the sunlight, after the Long Night and everything that had transpired therein. Raure was settling in, slowly but surely. The new rank system was taking some time to adjust to, but he found himself enjoying the opportunity to learn more from the established adults that lived in Abaven. Now, it was merely a matter of finding his own role within the new structure. That would be enough for now, and he could busy himself with caring for the remaining wolves in his life.

He basked in the sunlight, and the sound of the waves was a balm on his tired mind. After the swim across the narrow channel, his muscles ached comfortably. The giant male wouldn't mind a nap right about now, but it felt like it would be a waste of a beautiful day. There hadn't been the smell of ozone in the air when he left, and the skies had remained blissfully clear of ominous clouds. So, he reached out a paw to feel if the leather straps of his armour were still wet, and found them bone dry. A grunt of satisfaction was all he uttered as he lumbered to his paws and slipped into the steel plates. The buckles still took him a moment to adjust and close, but then he was good to go. Of the most intrigue were the series of small stone buildings that squatted throughout the overgrown rainforest that dominated the island. Vines and undergrowth was trying to reclaim them, taking any little break in the crumbling walls and shattered glass to secure a stronger hold on the ancient structures. Heavy, self assured pawsteps brought him towards a gap in the wall, where it had crumbled away from roof to foundation. Easy to slip through, even for a wolf of his size.

It took a while for his eyes to adjust, but they hardly needed to. The subtle glow that they'd begun to constantly emit after the Long Night served a purpose well enough, and illuminated vague shapes in the darkness. Pale silver haloed his broad, stern features as the handsome yearling plodded lackadaisically into the small room. Assorted furniture was scattered about, some of it dismantled for raw materials, others mouldering in corners where they had long ago been forgotten. Places like these had a strange ability to simultaneously draw his captivation and unease, and he rarely conquered the urge to walk past one. He tipped over a three legged side table as he slipped past, and grunted in surprise. Had he always been so big?

It was no surprise that Zoey would wind up getting herself into a place like this to explore. She had a knack for finding the smallest of spaces within the smallest of things, and weaving her tiny puppy body through them much like a cat squeezing through its little flap door. The stone buildings had captured her attention before the yearling had come across this particular building, and the little child was in great awe of the place. "Woah.." She whispered as she cautiously slipped through the little gap that would later accomodate the male. The russet child felt some prickle of ‘stranger danger’ as she entered - as if she wasn’t supposed to be here. With a soft frown, the girl stood in the remenants of what was once a lavish and furnished room, now sparsely decorated and left to the erosion of time. Her brow furrowed as she recalled what her parents told her when they were beginning to fall ill aith that weird ooze from the seasons before. Not all wolves will want to befriend you, They told her, rather sternly in fact. Sometimes they don’t have your best interests in mind. Keep yourself safe if you’re alone, hide if you must. Look out for yourself. She shook her head, as if shaking off an inpleasant memory of her parents would help. Though their words did stick, she felt completely alone in the moment. This place was a bit eerie, and foreign in design, but it was fascinating! Zoey marveled at the menial trinckets that littered the floor, abandoned by theives long ago. She examined bits and bobs - vases and little containers that used to hold cigarettes and jewelry. But she didn’t know that, so her little brain was wracked with confusion as she grabbed an ashtray clumsily in her soft paws and sniffed it. "Ew,” She wrinkled her nose at the faint but stale stink of old cigarettes, placing it where she had found it and continuinf deeper into the room.

All was going well - her fluffy tail wagged as goggle-laden eyes scanned her surroundings, adjusting the the dark with relative ease. So much to do, so much to see! She was having a ball with figuring out what all these things - no, relics were from. Maybe some weird species of wolf once used these as their packlands - oh, that would make sense. Though she didn’t know what they’d need a flat surface with sticks poking out the bottom that could barely fit anything on it. There were several of thise that she didn’t realize were called ‘chairs’. The chikd got into a rhythm of scanning weird objects, examining them, and theorizing their uses as she began to hum a soft melody her parents used to sing her. It was broken when she overheard a soft noise. Perking her ears, she noticed a faintly glowing shape pop through the same crack in the wall she had. Through the darkness, she made him out to be a wolf, but her parents’ words in her early memory rang painfully in her mind. What would this guy want in here? Was it his house? Had she intruded? Instead of rushing to greet him, the girl quickly ducked behind a nearby counter, barely daring to peek at the armored wolf through the edge of said counter with wide eyes. She was curious, but quickly dipped back into her hiding spot, wondering what to do as her survival mechanism kicked in. Greet him and hope he wouldn’t attack, or hide until he went away? He did have armor on..that meant he was a warrior of sorts. She knew that much. She forced her breaths to quiet down, curling her body inwards.

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021

"Speech!"

As he meandered through the space, there was a change in the air currents, he passed through the stagnant air and into a small slipstream where fresh air flowed through a chink in the concrete shell of the building. It brought the smell of a young wolf to his nose, and the giant paused. Glowing mercury eyes narrowed slightly as he cast his gaze around the room, searching for signs of movement or life. When he didn't find anything, his expression softened. The alabaster male cleared his throat quietly, letting his ears droop to the side a little to soften his stoic features. "I don't mean any harm, I can leave if you'd like." he suggested in his gentlest voice possible, his impossibly deep baritones rumbling from his burly chest wreathed in a thick English accent. Heavy skull lowered between his shoulders as he swept his gaze about one more time, taking a few careful, slow steps deeper into the shadows of the stone walled room.

"I just came here to explore, if that's alright with you." he spoke up again, waiting for a small voice to pipe up. How did he keep running into lone children in the wilds of Boreas? Some kind of grand scheme relating to his own parental abandonment? Sweeping a plush banner against his heels as he walked, the stocky wolf picked his way through the discarded furniture that littered the room for a few more steps. Whoever this kid was, she was pretty good at keeping out of sight.

Quietly, Zoey perked her little lobes as the stranger spoke. He seemed nice enough, and though his deep tone appeared to suggest he was older, she took a peek and realized he was actually fairly young. He carried on his body various equipment, like armor. It was what had frightened her a bit in the first place, and though it seemed out of character for her to be so afraid. He was just..so big. Her father and mother had been decently tall, but not as hefty as this male. His reassurances of meaning no harm encouraged her to poke her whole head out this time, her goggled brown eyes scanning the figure with intent curiosity now. His verbal promise, and suggesting he could leave made her feel just a bit better. Mean and dangerous wolves wouldn’t bother with such formalities. She’d learned much from her parents in a short amount of time, it was as if they were cramming all they knew into her because of the eternal nighttime and the oozy disease and such. The memories of the last season before the last made her gaze prickle with the slightest of tears. Something she hadn’t done in well, forever. Zoey was strong and brave, she was a scientist and unstoppable! Why was her loneliness suddenly so painful? Why did this large, strange wolf bring her some semblance of protection and comfort she was severely lacking in her little life?

At last, the girl stepped out a tad hesitantly from her hiding spot, her little toes padding the floor softly as she trailed the armored wolf. She tilted her head. He was just here to explore? Fine with her, she enjoyed exploring to some degree. "If you’re not a mean wolf, we can explore together, ‘cause this place is cool," She said, though her normal smile was absent. Being alone without any guidance or security since being orphaned was beginning to catch up to her. Though still cautious, she decided to address the wolf’s accessories. She had goggles, though not for fighting, so she was curious about this male’s attire. "Um, so, your armor..are you a warrior or something? Do you fight bad wolves?" It was her running hypothesis that the male would fight those who crossed him and meant harm, but her childlike wonder of the world shone in her eyes, even as she maintained some safety distance between her and the larger stranger.

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"Speech!"

Ah, there she was! Sneaking up behind, apparently satisfied that he wasn't interested in eating her. He could hear the subtle clicking of dainty claws on the hard floor, coming up behind him from wherever she had been hiding out. Rather than turning immediately, he tucked his head between his elbows to peer at the child between his legs. She was a tiny thing, and wearing... were those goggles? Luminescent eyes blinked once, twice, in consternation. That was definitely a new one. The cinnamon pelted youngster announced that if he was not mean, then it would be fine for them to explore together. A lopsided grin played at his features as he lifted his head again, pausing for a second while the blood rushed away from his brain. "Why thank you, gracious adventurer." he drawled amiably, taking a step to side that would allow the young girl some space to sidle up beside him and walk with him. Without much further ado, he picked his pace back up and set to the matter at hand. Checking out whatever might be lurking in dark corners and weathered drawers. If he didn't corner the little one there was a better chance of her losing some of that trepidation about being around him.

The girl spoke up again, this time about the armour he had so recently gotten his paws on. With his claws busy prying open a particularly warped wooden drawer to an overturned desk, he could only glance over with a decidedly glazed over expression while he processed what had come out of her mouth. "Oh," he said dumbly, gathering his thoughts to come up with a halfway decent response. "well, I don't go looking for bad wolves to fight, but if they put my home at risk I fight them." he replied with a small shrug, and followed up by giving another hard tug to the old wood. It came away rather sharply, and splintered in the areas where his claws had been hooked into the material for purchase. Pushing the ruined wood away with that same paw, he peered into the shadowy depths. Illuminated by his pale eyes, he could see that there was nothing interesting aside from some mould growing at the back of the drawer.

"What about you, what do you use your goggles for? Swimming?" he questioned with a good natured grin on his face, taking a half step back so that he could turn around and search for something more interesting to root around in.

Zoey blinked as the male spoke softly, offering some space for her to walk up next to him, but no pressure to be right next to him, either. He had to give her a good once-over beforehand, which she understood to some degree..though still, in her naïve childlike eyes, it seemed more like he was eyeing her like a piece of prey. Her parents instilled within her a great deal of information, even in such a short frame of time before their utimaely, glowy-fungus deaths. One of which was to be wary of strangers - she’d made friends with a younger child before, but it was the adults she had to be careful of. Still, as she approached the male on soft baby feet and tilting her russet head, she realized she did meet a few adults on the way to this place and nothing bad happened. That didn’t mean she trusted him wholeheartedly just yet, but considering her positive experiences this far, she didn’t think it would be so bad to follow him. And he did call her a gracious adventuror - that she definitely was!

Curiously sniffing the drawers the older male was investigating - her checking out the smaller bottom ones and he the higher ones - he soon replied to her inquiry about his armor. Though, he was a bit preoccupied with ripping apart a drawer he’d been looking at. Backing up to give him space, she nodded at his response. He didn’t look for bad wolves to fight, and only fought if his home was threatened. It made sense, and it sounded heroic in a sense. Why wouldn’t you defend your home if someone threatened it? Suddenly curious as to what this home was for the wolf, she tilted her cinnamon chin up to the armored wolf and asked, "Oh, I see! What’s home for you? Do you have brothers and sisters? Or a mom and a..dad..” Though enthusiastic and bubbly at the first part of the sentence, mentioning siblings and parents made her tiny voice trail off into the air, a feeling of gloom and grief settling there instead. It was clear now, to the older male, that the child was truly an orphan. Still, the sad pause was interrupted when the male’s claws finally paid off in tearing apart the rotted drawer, and the pup stepped back to allow the splinters to litter the stale carpet beneath their feet. She wasn’t totally concerned about her distance from the wood - her goggles obviously provided some degree of protection from foreign objects. She peered into the drawer like he did, craning her neck to observe the mold littering the corners. ”Oh, careful you don’t breathe that stuff in! Some molds can make you super sick,” She chirped out of the blue, her inquisitive tone returning to its excitable zest. Still, her previous comment left an impact in her wide, big eyes, which still reflected her isolation.

The male then commented on her goggles, and a bright smile curved her lips as she tapped them with one claw and said, ”Oh, they’re not for swimming. My parents made them for me because my eyes can’t focus well on things by themselves. The glass is curved so I can see far away stuff better!" Her tail even wagged a bit, her eager nature beginning to show the more she opened up to the male - a sure sign of trust. He was curious about her, and she was curious about him.

Speech

TABLE & CODE © SKELLE 2021

"Speech!"

She perked up at the mention of defending his home from threats, and a light blush flared up beneath the dark fur of his cheeks. Praise of any kind was foreign and left a strange taste in his mouth. Copper, acid, repugnant and discouraging. Did he really deserve that, in any context? Dark auds tipped towards the young girl as her tone changed, trailing off morosely as she brought up his family life. Pale gaze drifted towards her soft features, still round with baby fat. Oh how he knew that look so well.

"Ah, it's just me and my sister now. My parents died when I was still just a pup, and two of my siblings left us.. quite recently, actually." he admitted softly, gilded brows furrowing as he fought down the sharp pain of loss that arced up his spine and down into his toes. As her small body wormed past his thick forelegs so that she could peer into the drawer that he had just demolished, excitement reading plain as day in the taut pull of her young muscles beneath downy cinnamon fur. Her zest for exploration was clearly more than incidental. A pitchy, excited warning echoed back up to him from the hollow space of the open drawer- and he decided that it was time to move to a different spot. There was no way he would be messing with mystery moulds after the events of the long night, now that he was reminded of their very real threat to his health.

While the girl avidly explained the purpose of her unique face gear, he made sure to keep his body turned towards her as he moved about. It sounded like her eyes were a bit on the weak side, but the work around of adding tempered glass into the mix was decidedly genius. He would never have considered it in the first place, since it was so far out of his realm of experience and education. A thoughtful hum escaped the titan, and he paused in the middle of overturning a damaged office chair to look her way with a raised brow and a small smile. "Your parents sound like pretty smart folks, then." he quipped, keeping his tone light. He was partly trying to cheer up the little wolf, and partly fishing for the truth behind that profoundly mournful tone earlier. If she was indeed an orphan, he wouldn't be able to leave her behind in good conscience.

Zoey tilted her head softly as the older male’s eyes seemed to betray some hint of shame - as if he didn’t believe he was what she claimed him to be. Didn’t wolves normally want to be praised for doing a good job? That they were powerful and strong? She knew she would - compliments weren’t always heard to her ears, but they showed in the interactions with other adults, mostly marvelling at how such a young child was managing on her own. Not to mention wearing the strangest headgear they had ever set their perfectly-functional eyes on. He seemed to look down on her with a feeling of longing himself, perhaps nostalgia, as he then told her about his own family. The russet-pelted girl frowned softly. She never had siblings, so she was unaware of the deep bonds that were forged between them..and how easily they could break. Perhaps it was for the best that she ended up an only child, but it would’ve helped to have a sibling to warm her on cold nights and help hunt and explore. His own parents dying rung a familiar bell in her own mind, how her parents tragically perished and how the girl was powerless to stop the illness from spreading. It was painful. Too painful. In some ways she knew how he felt. Her warning about the mold had been heard, and she went back to beaming after speaking, clearly satisfied with her wealth of knowledge at such a young age. One would say she had quite a bit of potential, no doubt. The brute continued onwards to explore the room, Zoey trotting after him even closer now, her downy fur barely brushing his forelegs with her proximity. She thought he was interesting and cool, and she hoped he thought similarly to her. Her explanation if her goggles’ functions seemed to impress the titan, and he then remarked on how smart her parents were. Except he said it in present tense, as if they were still..alive. The word churned in her stomach, her emotions seemingly rising and plummeting in uneven staccato. It was heartbreaking to see the light dim from her inquisitive look as she paused, silent, but nonetheless still cracking a smile. Her parents were geniuses. And what better way to keep them alive in her heart than by talking about them? "They were super smart," She said, curiously peeking over the office chair’s worn cushion as she spoke, "My mom knew a lot about the world around us from observing and experimenting with bugs and other animals we hunted to see how their bodies worked. My dad worked with shiny stuff like glass and he found a way to help make it so that the glass helped the world look less blurry. They told me lots of stuff, especially during the Big Bad Night.." Her voice faltered slightly, a hard swallow in her throat as she tried distracting herself with peeling the frayed faux leather from the chair’s frame. "The more they taught me about survival, the sicker they got. Their faces were all slimey. Mushrooms grew on their heads and bodies. One day they never woke up ‘cause there were so many mushrooms growing on them that they couldn’t breathe." She looked down, clearly melancholic as she absently poked the shreds of the chair. She hadn’t meant to go into such detail. It just..flowed out. Zoey realized she hadn’t talked to others about the whole story of her parents’ tragedies, and it was honestly something any regular wolf would find to be extremely traumatic, especially for such a young child. ”Speech” ‘Think’

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"Speech!"

ooc. you're welcome to ping me more often for tags, I'm really sorry for dragging this out ugh

The girl joined him in a quick examination of the worn leather and crumbling plastic of the old office chair, and admitted that her parents were smart. Ah. Without faltering, she launched into an explanation of what her parents had been the most well versed in. A mother who was familiar with the inner machinations of various animals and insects, as well as a father who was a skilled crafter. Well, it certainly explained the technical prowess of the goggles she wore. It was only with the mention of the Long Night that he heard her voice crack, and her zeal trickle away. gawky young digits began to absently work away the frayed and crackling leather that covered the cushion. Slime, fungus, sickness. The death of her parents. Her features downcast, idly prodding the remains of the dark leather with a small paw.

The burly young male sighed softly, a gentle nod of his head of understanding being the best he could offer. "We lost many of our family to the sickness, too." he admitted quietly, dropping softly onto his haunches to peer down at the girl. "Is there someone taking care of you, since your parents...?" he didn't dare mention the harsh reality of her situation aloud. He remembered the sharp pains that used to arc through his chest at the mere mention of his mother after her death, and he knew she was well aware of their state. She was more than smart enough. "Because... I know a few folks who would be more than glad to keep teaching you about the world, if you need somewhere safe to rest your head." rumbling baritones escaped gently, wreathed in that thick English accent and all too familiar with the pain that lingered in the fringes of her awareness at all times.

Zoey glanced up from her lackluster inspection to see the older boy nod his head, explaining that he, too, lost family to the sickness. She couldn’t offer much in support, being so young and rattled by her parents’ traumatic end, but she merely offered a sympathetic glance to the armor-clad titan as she dropped a paw back on the ground, stepping back from the old chair she’d fiddled with. It was worn down, tattered, inside foam and dust exposed to the world. There wasn’t much else one could learn about it in its state that she didn’t already gather from her astute observations. When the male mentioned if she had anyone to care for her, the girl shrugged and mustered a smile, almost like a soft light emenating from a dark, foggy forest. "I’ve been taking care of myself all this time," She said, "My parents taught me a lot so I could survive on my own. Otherwise they would’ve taught me themselves." They crammed a vast amount of knowledge into her before they met their untimely, glowing fungus deaths - she’d barely begun to process the fact that they poured so much into her because they knew they were going to die, and wanted their only child to survive the best she could. Perhaps they were waiting for somebody - like this male in shining armor - to come and give her a real home to be safe. When the male mentioned he knew a few people that could teach her and give her a place to rest, the offer was too much to resist. A child so bright and yearning for knowledge and adventure, yet so tired from struggling to hunt, eat, sleep, and take care of herself when in reality she should’ve still been under the care of a mother and father. She couldn’t keep this up for long. Her body was exhausted, her mind was demanding more teachings, more information, more about the world around them. Zoey wanted nothing more than to learn and grow - perhaps his suggestion wasn’t too bad. The smile still curving her lips, the young child and said, "You do? Um, can they teach me more about bugs and animals? Then yes!" She let her little tail wag ever so slightly, though it was clear she was in need of a safe place to grow. She wouldn’t find any security hunkering in a place like this by herself. Bright eyes, full of life and yet barely concealing the pain of loss, looked up at the larger male she’d befriended. ”Speech” ‘Think’

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"Speech!"

Her heavy shrug, ill matched to the delicate constitution of the young girl, triggered a pang of sympathy in his chest. Little Zoey explained that her parents had taught her all they could so that she could survive on her own- probably trying to keep her from being lost to the plague after they'd gone. A slight frown crossed his features until he schooled his features into something more neutral. He nodded lightly in understanding, more than familiar with the tactic. His own father had done the same before he'd vanished into the night, never to return. If your kids can hunt, and they're in a pack that will care for them, parenting is optional apparently. At the very least, her expression seemed to brighten at the mention of the chance to learn more. The tiny, sad smile turned into something a little warmer. She asked if she could learn more about bugs and animals, to which he hesitated for only a moment. A small smile of his own crossed his features, crinkling at the corners of his lightly glowing eyes. "I'm sure we can find someone to do that," he replied with a chuckle.

Heaving himself to his massive paws, the giant tipped his head towards the crumbling hole in the wall that he'd used to enter in the first place. "Come on, if we get moving we can probably make it there by sunset. We'll see what Theory has to say." he offered, lifting one of those pale paws to gesture for her to lead the way out. This was one last chance to back out, if she so chose. He didn't want to consider how Theory was going to feel about him arriving with his second orphan since the Long Night, but he didn't think she'd complain about more students.

The titan chuckled at her mention of wanting to learn more about various fauna, to which he replied that they could find someone to teach her. She started to let herself lighten up a bit, now intensely curious about who they’d meet at this point. Did that mean he knew a lot of teachers, assuming they had more than one, or taught more than one subject? Her inquisitive mind reeled to life as the armor-clad male gestured towards the crack wherein they had both entered the strange den through. Realizing she had more than enough exploration of this place for now, Zoey padded towards the crack as the male said something about getting to his home by sunset, and a name. Theory. Her head tilted ever so slightly in burning curiosity - she’d never heard a name like that. It almost sounded a bit formidable, but not that she was going to be afraid anymore! Now this guy was on her side, a friend she’d made and was beginning to trust. He was quite nice to her, and that was all a lonely child could ask for. As he had stepped to the side to let her lead the way, Zoey beamed up at him and eagerly trotted out, feeling the tang of the ocean’s salty wind on her nose. She looked at the male she’d befriended, ready to accompany him to his new home..and on to new horizons. A new chapter in her life had begun, changing it for the better. Who knows? This man might have just saved her life without even realizing it fully. ”Speech” ‘Think’