Surreal had enjoyed a good talk with Epiphron, catching up on things, and grieving over lost parents, though admittedly, that wasn’t enjoyable. BUt it was time to return home before Regulus got impatient and came after her. A faint, sad smile crossed her muzzle, coupled with a sigh. She was proud of her boy, but she felt like he should have had more time to just be a puppy. Instead… He’d had to grow up and take care of her instead. She hoped her next litter, if she were blessed enough to have conceived this season, would be able to enjoy their childhood to the fullest. She wanted her children to be able to run and play without worry. She had followed the river that let out into the Mangroves inland, intending to follow the shoreline as it led west across the continent. Her shoulder ached with each step, but she pushed on, because she needed to get home. As she crossed a shallow part of the river, turning north a bit, she dipped her head, lapping water as she went. It was about then that the scent of deer caught her nose, and her belly growled, reminding her that she hadn’t eaten more than a beaver lately. She frowned, testing her shoulder. It throbbed as she rolled it. Bringing down an adult deer was out of the question. But perhaps she could find a late fawn hiding in a thicket. So she started forward, following her nose. It was soon that she found an expanse of… sand? She started forward, then froze as she felt her paws sinking; it was a strange, strange feeling. It wasn’t the kind of sinking where there was solid ground underneath, it was.. She jerked back, and felt the strange stuff suck stubbornly at her paws before relinquishing her. She stood for a moment, willing her heart to stop pounding. As she gazed about, she noticed the carcass half in, half out of the sand. It was a deer, a doe. Beside the dead creature quivered a young fawn, eyes wide with confusion. It couldn’t have been more than three days old, and had been lucky enough to have been on a safe patch of ground when its mother had stepped in the wrong place. Surreal frowned. Without the mother, this one was a goner. Best to put it out of its misery before starvation truly began to hurt. But just how was she to reach it? Her eyes trailed over the ground, hoping for a clue. Ah. The pair had left tracks. They were faint, wind having erased a few here and there, but the path was clear. She set out, keeping her pace slow so as not to frighten the already skittish fawn. ”It will be quick, little one. Just stay put.” She offered a soothing voice to the fawn. What if that had been her, and Regulus had been standing there, at a loss as to what to do? She doubted the fawn understood her language. Apart from Obsidian and the missing foal Rikku, she had never met a prey animal that knew the language of predators. She was almost there. Were her shoulder fully healthy and strong, she would have bounded forward right there and then, in a lightning strike of precision. But since that wasn’t the case, she slowed her pace to a few steps at a time, letting the fawn acclimate to her, until she was within striking range. ”It’ll be alright.” She struck hard and fast. The fawn had no time to bleat or react before the life was severed, her canines punching into the base of the skull as she wrenched her head about, snapping the fragile neck. It was over in a breath. She turned, carrying the limp body and mapped out her path once more. However, with a full mouth, and a flopping, limp limbed body dangling from her jaws, it was hard to see where her paws were landing. All too soon, just as she was nearly out, she felt that horrible sinking feeling under her paws. With the added weight of the fawn, her dew-claws were brushing the surface of the sand before she knew it. She heaved backward with a muffled whine that was completely involuntary on her part. The action only served to suck her down further. Her mind raced. What the hell could she do? Well, there was one thing. Maybe lightening the load on the sand would work. She tossed her head, flinging the dead fawn up and releasing it as soon as it reached its arc. The fawn landed on a safe patch, while Surreal tried to gather her wits. It seemed to have worked. She didn’t feel as though she were sinking as swiftly. However, she was up to her breast now, with her hind end thrust up in the air, her hind paws teetering between quicksand and solid land. She tried to heave backward, thrusting her power into her haunches. She gave a frustrated howl laced with fright as she felt the ground under her hind paws give. This was not her day...

Shai was often found on the hunt, though as his paws brought him to the pitfall he got a rather bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. That was not typical. He'd been here a couple of times, knew very ell how trecherous the quick sands could be. With the feeling in his gut he'd almost turn and head back to Abaven empty handed. He might have to if h hadn't heard the sudden call. It was obviously a wolf in distress, and for a long moment he considered turning around anyway, but he knew he couldn't live with guilt like that. So with every care in the world he would make his way towards the helpless creature.

He had not expected to find a wolf he recognized. Though her rear was very plainly pointed in his direction he could tell she was in a bad place. Already the sand had swallowed most of her legs. Not good. The tall wolf barked his presence as he found a young sapling to help him out. He'd push the young tree to the ground next to her, he'd let the branch be held down by his rear legs and he'd reach out to grab the woman's scruff. Using the tree as leverage he'd pull her from the earth's deadly grasp and back onto more solid ground.

Surreal often had nightmares where the ground swallowed her alive. Ever since that damnable earthquake. Even as she sank a bit deeper, she tried to repress the terror that was battling to take over. If she held still, she felt as though the sinking slowed significantly; however, trying to pull herself out made her sink faster. Holding still was the better course, but it was still not a step forward. A sapling slapped down onto the sand beside her, yanking a physical jolt and yip from her. No sooner had she registered the presence of the male than she felt jaws clamp on her scruff and a powerful, steady pull. The sand was reluctant to relinquish its meal, clinging to her legs like the worst kind of mud imaginable. But she felt the give, and tried her best to help the wolf pulling her free by leaning back on her haunches. Soon enough, she popped free, staggering backward until her rump hit blessedly solid ground, her back against the other wolfs legs. she sagged there for a moment, heart in her throat, trying to stop the violent shivering that had cropped up all over her frame. A gasping breath hissed through her teeth as her weight leaned onto the sore shoulder. The pulling of the quicksand had not helped the healing muscles. The scent of the other caught her attention. It helped to snap her out of the fear induced daze enough to look around. ”Sh-Shai?” It was him, alright. Gold eyes, handsome markings, thing in his nose, blue feathers and all. But was was he doing here? He smelled of a pack, as well. Whatever the reason for him being on the North continent, she was glad he was there.

He really had to use his strength to retrieve the woman from her would be grave. Even if he hadn't met her before he would have done his best to recover her from the deadly sand. With the exertion of much strength, and the man consciously making sure that he didn't pierce the skin in his jaws. Though he was sure surreal would have much more to common about than a couple of puncture wounds that helped save her life. With one last yank he would feel the earth give up its prize and the pair would be sent back away from the pit.

He would feel his haunches coil beneath him as the smaller she wolf was thrust against his legs. A relief would wash over him as he say contentedly for a long moment. The threat was gone, surreal was safe. She was quite obviously still quite shaken up by the experience and he had no intentions of rushing her into speaking. He would remain a silent statue, a column for her to cling to as she regained her brains after the near death experience. She would eventually revive, her features shifting as she took in his features and recognized his name. He realized that this time he really would be able to speak to her. "Yes," he answered easily in the common tongue, though his accent still obviously there. "You shouldn't play in the sand pits."

Surreal Adravendi

Shai answered, the first word not really a surprise to her; she’d taught him that much, so far as she knew. It was his next sentence that caused her jaw to drop slightly. He’d spoken the common tongue. The shock helped her get over that last vestiges of terror in her system. ”You… When did you learn so much.. Oh..” Her ears fell back slightly as she realized that whomevers pack he resided in, he must have learned common there. Now that her mind was nearly on all cylinders again, she began to discern individual scents on his coat. That of a female being to the forefront. Ahh. Her eyes drifted back down to the sand, eyeing it with distaste. ”I was hardly playing in it… My mate, daughter, and son need a meal, and I happened to smell that dead doe. The fawn was standing by her, and it would have starved to death where it stood. I put it out of its misery. It won’t feed us for long, but it’ll help… I was nearly out of here when I stepped wrong.. You know the rest.” She rose, feeling her legs shake slightly. She tested the shoulder and immediately took all her weight from it as a slash of pain shot through her leg and shoulder. Getting home was going to be a major pain in the tail. Her eyes turned to the large male. ”When did you come to the North lands? When we met, you seemed pretty sure about being on the south land.” She’d hoped, once she realized where she and Regulus had washed up, that she would run into Shai, because he’d been a native of the land, and would have been able to get them back to home. Obviously, they hadn’t, so that either meant they’d missed him, or he’d already gone north. So many questions ran through her head at that moment.. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

She seemed pretty obviously startled at the statement he was able to make. Even he would admit that it must have been odd coming across him, a foreigner who'd barely been able to speak English. Now, thanks to his daughter and living in a pack, he could speak rather fluently with most any wolf that lived here on this continent. He'd come so far from the religious zealot he'd been a year ago. The goddess turned her back on him and he'd found no trouble turning his back on her. He wouldn't answer her yet, letting the she wolf explain why it was she'd decided these dangerous lands were good to hunt in. He wasn't even sure why it was he'd come out here in this mess.

He would only nod as she brought herself to all of her feet, the need of her children was obviously why it was she risked herself. He knew very well those feelings. He'd given up his whole life for his daughter, and he would do it again if he had to make that choice. Once he knew she existed he became devoted to her. His thoughts of his own situation were partially interrupted as she asked about his life, why it was she found him here in the North instead of the deep south. "When I found my daughter." He'd offer, though his explanation was obviously lacking. "The tribe is gone, and i knew my duty lie with the girl I sired. I came here to be with her."

Surreal Adravendi

Shai seemed in deep thought, though he listened to her explanation. It was rather an odd feeling, speaking to him in the Common Tongue, and knowing she didn’t have to go slowly or teach him. It rather miffed her, to be honest, but she was glad, at the same time, that he would experience no language barrier any longer. His answer to her query brought a faint smile. A daughter. It was a good reason to leave all one knew. However the smile fell as he continued, adding that his tribe was gone. ”I’m so sorry, Shai… I know what it’s like to lose those around you…” And all too recently. Her eyes fell to the fawns carcass. Did he mean they had all left? Or that they had all died? Of course, she knew a good deal about both of those instances. Her father and Castiel, then Gabriel, then Lyric, and other members of her family. Castiel and Lyric, at least, had returned. For a while, at least. Shaking the thoughts from her mind, she decided to distract herself by asking something she’d wanted to ask since the first time she’d met him. ”Do… Do you think we could continue the lessons? I’d like to learn more of your Tongue, and while you’ve gotten Common down, I could teach you my second Tongue. My mother..” A pause to control the sudden rise of emotion at the mention of the female, before she continued on. ”My mother made sure myself and my siblings all knew it as though it were our birth tongue. I did the same with my children.” She glanced up, not quite meeting his gaze, hope speaking fluently in each line of her frame. The love of learning was not lost on her. Anything new, she threw herself at with an eagerness to know it. Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think

She offered her condolences and he would shake his head, everyone had their own battles that just happened to be his. When the land bridge opened up the goddess left them, he just had to accept that his culture was gone. He was the last and he needed to focus on his family. It seemed Surreal too was more than happy to direct her thoughts elsewhere, with his pierced ears the wolf would lend her his focus as she questioned him further, she wanted to learn more Yoruban. Not that it would help her anyway, he had no doubt that the language had died with the tribe. Still he wasn't about to deny her. "Of course, I'd enjoy it." he stood, where they had stopped was still not the most pleasant of places. "We should go somewhere less dangerous though," he'd offer as he picked up her catch to move it for her.

-exit shai to do all the lessons with surreal-