The dame glared up at the Fjord, her limbs wobbly as she paused at the crest of one of the hills. Dammit all to hell, she knew that this was going to be a hard climb but she didn't realize how out of shape she had gotten. A season of sitting around and moping did that to her, and she did it to herself. Growling she tossed her head as her elongated tail lashed behind her. She was going to make it to the top of this thing it if killed her. Getting irritated at how loose her muscles had gotten, Mercy had been tossing herself into a sort of work out. Climbing this, chasing that, sparing with strangers. All the good things. She wasn't going to let herself get behind because she was sad. That was for sissies and wimps. Snorting and shaking her head slightly, the pale girl rolled her shoulders and set up the sharp incline. The smell of the salt water was getting stronger, and she knew that she was getting close to the top. Almost there. Then she could flop over and pant like she had just ran a marathon. Mmm, the thought was very tempting. It was hard for her to push on then, the lingering thought of laying on the cool ground sounding like her best idea since she decided to climb the blasted thing.

Finally, finally she could see the sky stretching before her, the edge of the cliff now in view. Pushing herself even harder her ears folded against her skull as she took off at a run, pushing herself up the last few feet at a quicker pace. It was her own fault that she had gotten so weak in the first place! So this was her punishment. When her creamy paws finally leveled out she skid to a stop, salmon tongue flopping out of her mouth as she stood there and heaved for a few moments. Looking over her shoulder as she panted, the girl smirked. Hell yeah she did! If she knew was a fist pump would, she would probably be all up in that action right now. But instead she flopped to her belly, the cold ground seeping into her sore muscles and relaxing them. Ah, this was the life. If she wanted to get back to the way she was before, and even more than that, she would have to be able to get up here a lot easier. Tail thumping on the earth, Mercy gazed out at the jagged scar that cut through the land, the cool breeze buffering her face. At least it was still cooler out, if it had been a hot summer's day she might have passed out. But nope, it was the perfect weather for training.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

GOT AN ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER But the devil always won... Faller's Fjord was a name that simply begged exploration but any man brave enough to deep himself a viking. Curious thing to find fjords so far south. Winding through the thick deciduous forest, Hárekr nimbly navigated the rocky escarpment. Surefooted and agile he paused just briefly to catch his breath and gaze out at the ocean. Breathtaking! The morning sun was rising swiftly in the sky it's rays glittering across the top of the undulating waves. Panting Hárekr took a few steady breaths to ease his rhythm before he went right back into climbing. Methodically scattered in his movement Háre let his thoughts flee from his mind, focusing only on the physicality of the next step and then the next. Soon he started humming absentmindedly to himself. He was getting tired but Hárekr was more than determined to reach the top, gods wiling. Finally, he broke to the top and panting he sat down heavily. Uff da! But oh the view was worth it. He was so caught up in the landscape that he almost missed the woman who was stretched out on her belly several meters away. "Hallo! Korleis har du det?"

Mercy was enjoying the view, purple eyes trying to take it all in, when she heard the panting of another wolf. Slowly turning her head she looked at the black and white beast that had flopped on the earth much like she had. He didn't seem to notice her for awhile, giving her a moment to really take in his form. Just like her he was both white and black, but he had far more of the darker hue on him. The thing that caught her attention the most was the patch of black that surrounded one of his eyes, wrapping up around his ear and part of his cheek. He was very handsome, she had to admit. Never before had she seen a marking quite like that, and she would be lying if she said that he didn't capture her attention. Realizing that she was staring and he had finally spotted her, she blinked several times as her pale cheeks grew warm. Oops, she had totally been caught ogling him. When he spoke though, an unfamiliar tongue came out of his maw. Head tilted to the side as she rose into a seated position, confusion clear on her black marked face. "I'm sorry... but I have no idea what you just said," Mercy said truthfully. Well, the 'hallo' part she could assume was the same as hello. "but hello to you as well." The dame offered a smile to the man, not even knowing if he spoke the same language as her. She prayed that he did though, otherwise this was going to be a very confusing encounter...

"Speech"
'thoughts'

GOT AN ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER But the devil always won... Fresh and cool the high mountain air was doing wonders for his head. His eyes met those of the woman and he smiled before he suddenly remembered that most of the wolves here spoke another language. Ack! Hárekr chuckled. "My apologies miss, I often forget that this is the tongue most native Alacritians speak." The man moved to sit comfortably on a shallow boulder, tail wrapping elegantly around his paws as he gazed out into the lands below. "My name is Hárekr Kaltharsis by the way. It is quite the view from up here. Do you come here often?"

The male laughed softly, before speaking in English to her. Curious, she picked herself up off the earth, shaking her pale fur as she took a few more steps towards him. His accent was evident in his words, and her head tilted to the side. "And what language were you speaking, if you don't mind me asking? Its not often that I meet someone who speaks a different tongue than me... In fact I think you are the first." Mercy mused. He moved to sit on the rock, and the girl stopped a few paces away from him before once more sitting on her rump. He introduced himself, and it was quite the mouthful. She couldn't help but let out a giggle. "My, quite the name. You are foreign indeed..." There was no insult in her words, but there was definite admiration. "My name is Mercy, quite a downfall after an introduction like that." The pale girl teased. When he asked if she came here often, her purple eyes followed his own gaze as he eyes the expansion of land before them. "No, this is my first time up here actually. I have been training myself to be even stronger, and thought a good run up this mountain would do me some good." Mercy admitted, simply shrugging her shoulders. Even though she was born in these lands, she had seen very little of them.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

GOT AN ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER But the devil always won... Hárekr chuckled, giving a little bow as he spoke. "Well I seem to be something of an oddity in these lands. I was speaking Norwegian, I speak Spanish as well." He'd been rather proud of his knowledge but then he'd know wolves who spoke a plethora of languages, one in particular knew nearly a dozen and next to that his feat did not seem quite so impressive. But he wasn't about to tell the woman that. "Ahhh but Mercy is a nice name. Though is that it? Only Mercy?" The words were out of his mouth before his brain noted that it might not be good to pry. Like the Sin he met earlier she might not be overly attached to her family history or name. Oh well, the question was out and he would not retract his words once they were spoken. The bi-colored man nodded. "Ahhh yes, training is good, especially up in the higher altitudes. If you are done resting then perhaps we can hike together."

Her ears perked even further when he said that he didn't speak just one foreign language, but two. Wow, that was really, really cool. Her tail wagged slowly behind her, head tilting to the side. "Well you speak English very well too. Three languages! Wow, you seem to be a rather accomplished wolf." The comlipent flowed easily from her maw, it was hard not to see that she was rather impressed with this Hárekr. She hadn't done a lot of traveling in her short life, she had joined Valentine's pack when she was still rather young. Mercy's focus had been mainly on gaining rank, more than knowing the layout of the lands passed her own claimed territory. Only now had she really started to explore, a lot later than most wolves. It didn't matter much to her though, she did seem to meet some very interesting beings on the other side of Imperium's borders. Like this one. She eyed his black and white coat again, admiring the way the patch of black flaked off to smaller dots around the circle before colouring his cheek. Realizing that she had been staring, and that he had asked her a question, the dame shook her head softly. Oops. She needed to be a bit more careful about her admiration of others, although she wasn't one to hide her interest. What Háre had asked her left her clearing her throat, ears pulling back slightly. "No, its more than that. But I left my parents at a young age, and don't like to carry the association of them. But its Mercy Destruction." She said with a slow nod of her head. She didn't mind being honest about it, its not like she hid her distaste for those that raised her.

When he spoke about going on a hike, her ears pulled towards him once again, the tip of her tail flickering between her hocks. That did sound like fun, and she found this man quite interesting. Not just to look at, but to talk to as well. It wasn't very often that she got interactions like this with strangers, and to do some exploring would just be another sweet addition. "That would be wonderful, Hárekr." She answered, lowering her front half as she stretched out her back legs. "So, were you born here, or did you come to this land from somewhere else?" Mercy asked after her little stretch, shaking out her fur as she waited for the man to rise to his paws as well. She was curious about him and his language, his life and how he learned things like that. "And maybe you can teach me one of those languages of yours." It was mostly a teasing statement, she wasn't the most patient wolf. She was pretty sure she would go frustrated by the strange dips and the different flow of words. A few would never hurt though...

"Speech"
'thoughts'

GOT AN ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER But the devil always won... Hárekr grinned proudly at her praise but the grin slowly receded as darker memories stirred at the surface. "Either that or unlucky…" He'd been stolen from his own language and culture at a young age, learning the language of his captors had been absolutely necessary to avoid a wealth of suffering. At least with Constanza one of the languages of enslavement had become a language of love. Hárekr's head titled down. Melancholy threatened to seize his lungs and halt his breath until he pushed the air out in a raucous laugh to crush the memories back where they belonged. "Nay, accomplished, I like that better. Effort and work is still effort and work regardless of motives or end goals." He was aware of the girl staring at him but assumed it was something he said until she spoke again. He gazed at the younger woman and nodded. Hárekr knew wolves of all walks of life and many that had every right to cast aside their surnames. To sever those ties in more ways that mere distance. "Hmm… perhaps we should pick you a new surname?" He trotted along quickly, pulling up beside her as they began the hike. Carefully, he repositioned his paws as he scrambled up loose rock to sniff at a curious tree root before marking it and scrambling back down to their makeshift trail. Restless as ever his mind seemed to writhe and twist within his skull moving from though to thought both in the physical world and away from it before his attention was drawn by Mercy's voice. "Nay, I was born in the far, far north. Well…. I suppose I could though I have never taught anyone before. Which would you like to try a little of? Norwegian or Spanish? whoops." Hárekr came to a stop at the base of a large boulder in the way, a cliff to the right and a sheer mountain scramble to the left. "Hmmm…. time for a detour apparently." He shifted to begin carefully scrambling up the sleep embankment.

It would seem that the reason he had learned so many languages was not a fond memory, at least from where she stood. His once happy demeanor seemed to vanish as something completely knew took over his features, giving Mercy pause in saying anything else to him. But it didn't seem to last very long, focusing instead on her more positive words that she had offered him. It would seem that accomplished was much better, and she grinned softly as her tail wagged against her hind legs.

When he suggested finding her a new surname, her ears pulled forward as she gaped at him slightly. She had... never thought of that before. Why keep one part of her name out when she could just invent a whole other name for herself? Tongue lolled out of her mouth in excitement as she let out a yip of agreement. "That had never crossed my mind until now..." she admitted, although her tone was far from shameful. "But would you help me think of one Hárekr? I am not the best with names." She said with a laugh, turning with him as they started their little hike. She was so glad that she had chosen today to climb this giant hill, otherwise she might have never met this black and white man.

Once they started to go uphill, she tried to keep to his sides, but the sliding stones threatened to send her backwards. Taking a big leap forward she landed somewhat gracefully, slipping a bit as she looked down at Hare as he spoke. He had never taught anyone, but she was eager to learn. But what one? "Um, Norwegian!" She called down to him, before slowly picking her way up the steep cliff face. They both came up to a large hill, with a giant stone blocking their path. The only way across was a very steep incline, and she swallowed sharply as she fell into step behind the male. Her toes spread as she tried to keep herself as balanced as possible, keeping her purple eyes forward as she chanted to herself to not look down. Her breathing came out a bit more ragged as she tried to keep herself as calm as possible, the danger aspect of this hike sending a quick thrill down her spine. She couldn't see ahead of her, Hárekr's shoulders blocking her view of what was up ahead. Suddenly she was completely dependent on the male, he would have to be her guide through this narrow section.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

GOT AN ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER But the devil always won... Once high enough Háre began to move across to get around the large boulder and back to the path as Mercy stated she wasn't the best at coming up with names. "Hmm… well what's important to you? If you could describe yourself in one word what would it be? Any favorite color, food?" He grinned. "Anything can be a place to start. I could perhaps try the words in Spanish and Norwegian and see if any work or…. since this place may be the place of your new name you could take it's name. Mercy Faller goddess of the fjords?" He chuckled and she stated that she was interested in Norwegian. Hárekr slipped a little but quickly found a foothold and took a moment to catch his breath. "Alright lets start easy with greetings. You can get this one. 'Hallo' is hello. 'God morgon' is good morning. See it is similar to English, no? There are a couple ways to ask how someone is but let's try this one. 'Hvordan har du det?' How are you? Just those three. Go ahead and give them a try." After he finished speaking he continued the climb until they came to another large boulder in their way. Ahhh joy. Could this mountain not drop it's rocks in better locations? He overtook Mercy to take the lead once again and prepared to navigate a narrow incline around the boulder. "Oh goodie, certain death on both sides." He cackled as he pressed his body lightly against the boulder, toes spreading wide and his abdomen tensing as he eased his way around.

She had to think hard when Hare asked what was important to her, her pale ears flickering backwards as her purple gaze looked around. She was careful to not get too distracted, one wrong move and she would topple over the edge of this very tall cliff. She huffed, tail flagging out behind her. "Well, I enjoy fighting. And my pack is important to me, but I don't think that Valentine would like if I stole his pack name. I like purple and red as colours..." she said softly, thinking out loud as she carefully picked her way behind Hárekr. He made another comment about taking this place as her name and her head tipped back and let out a barking laugh. "I'm not so sure about the goddess part, but Faller makes me sound like I fall all the time." she said with a snort.

When he slipped Mercy lurched forward, her muzzle tipping downwards as she went to grab his hindquarters if she had to. But he was faster in steadying himself, and the black faced girl backed up to give him space. He quickly moved on to speaking the new language, and her ears pulled all the way forward to focus on the words. Hallo was easy enough, but she was sure that if she tried to say it that she would butcher it completely. But the rest of the words were different, a lot different. "God morgon..." she tried, her tongue sputtering over the accent that Hare had. The next one made her head spin, and she tried to grasp on to the words, trying to hold them in her teeth. "Hroven har de det..." she tried, head shaking back and forth slowly. She totally fucked that up.

He started upwards again and Mercy followed behind him, tail swinging behind her with more ease. This time it became more narrow, and she gulped as her gaze cast downwards to a very certain death. Holy crap... "I will bite onto that pretty black and white tail of yours if you start to fall." she muttered, her sides heaving as she followed closely behind him. "Its all your fault if we die."

"Speech"
'thoughts'

GOT AN ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER But the devil always won... Careful and deliberate Hárekr managed to worm his way around the border and safely to the path on the otherside, a few more feet and they'd make it all the way to the tippy top. Her pondered Mercy's words. Fighting. Red. Purple. Hmm…. he could work with that and he turned to grin as he watched her try to follow him. "Well, if you fall of the side of the cliff to your death 'Faller' is what I'll go with so make sure you make it around." He chuckled a bit at her pronunciation. "You're closer than you think, give it another shot, try a bit slower, focus on getting each vowel sound out." Finally, finally they reached the top and for a moment Hárekr was speechless as he gazed out across the horizon. Dam it was gorgeous here. Slowly his thoughts returned to Mercy's name. "Hmmm… in Norwegian 'Red' is 'Rød', 'Purple' is 'Lilla'…. Mercy Lilla is not bad. 'Battle' is 'Slaget'. Mercy Slaget…'to fight' is 'å Sloss'" Hárekr started to chuckle. "Of those I would go with Lilla, yea? Though in Spanish 'Red' is 'Rojo'… 'Crimson' is 'Carmesí', Mercy Carmesí, that rhymes a bit, yes? That is a nice one. 'Purple' is 'Morado' ooo also nice, I find Spanish to be a bit more elegant….'Fight' is 'Lucha', 'Battle' is 'Batalla'. Mercy Batalla. 'Warrior' is 'Guerrero'. Mercy Guerrero…." There are some options." He laughed, curious what she might think of the translations.

Mercy was no mountain goat, but she sure wished she was at the moment. She couldn't even tell where the top of this stupid cliffs were, and the burn started up and down her legs. Damn this man wasn't one to give up, was he. Her purple gaze met his mismatched one as he turned to look at her, joking about her falling off the cliff. Ears pinned back slightly as she let out a very forced 'ha, ha', showing him just how funny she thought he was. But, she couldn't help but smile slightly, he was a good wolf and was only trying to help her. While also trying to kill her, of that she was pretty damn sure. If they didn't get to the top soon, her legs would give out and she would slide all the way back down. He told her to try again with the words that she was given, and she let out a sharp huff. Okay, she had this. It was nice too, to have a little bit of something else to focus on while they climbed this stupid rock. "H-hvordan har duh det..." she said, trying really hard to force out the very odd sounding words. They sounded a bit better to her, but she knew that she still didn't have them spot on. Oh well, closer was better, right?

At last they reached the top, and Mercy felt like the wind had been knocked from her chest at the view. If she thought she could see everything from down below, she was kidding herself. The land expanded beyond their vision, even the chilly mountains in the North could be seen from here. She was wowed into silence for awhile, greedily trying to take in everything around her. Okay, so maybe the climb was worth it. And then Hárekr began to bring the topic back to her last name, and she listened with perked ears, carefully sitting on her rump to give her legs a bit of a break. There were a lot of good options, and she replayed them all in her mind. "You should be an official name giver or something." She said with a soft laugh, trying to narrow it down to her favorites. Out of the ones that he listed in the first language, she agreed with him and liked Mercy Lilla the best. But the Spanish ones were harder, there was more than one that she liked there. But out of all the meanings, she liked the idea of having something to do with fighting as her last name. "I really like Mercy Guerrero, it almost sounds like a growl." He had really given her a lot to think about, and the girl looked over at him with admiration in her purple depths. "And really, thank you so much for all of this. Its... one of the nicest things that anyone has ever done for me. I really appreciate it Hárekr."

"Speech"
'thoughts'

GOT AN ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER But the devil always won... Careful and deliberate Hárekr managed to worm his way around the border and safely to the path on the Hárekr breathed in the cool mountain air before turning to Mercy with a grin. "There you go! You're getting the hang of it." Learning a new language, especially the pronunciation was a daunting task and he was pleased to see her putting in such effort. Carefully sitting down Háre turned is gaze to the terras below, marveling at the stunning beauty and half wondering if the gods had this kind of view. They must really look like ants from so high up. Either way, there was no denying that this was one of the grandest sights he'd seen in awhile. Constanza would've loved this….. Háre resisted the urge to sigh at the thought of his lost lover and he half wondered if she could see him here, was he close? If he leapt with all his might could he perhaps reach high enough to give her a nuzzle before plummeting to his own death? Hárekr quickly buried the thought as Mercy spoke again and he found himself even more grateful for her company. He never knew quite when his moods would shift and he didn't want to entertain that particular trail of thinking for much longer. Háre smiled. "Mercy Guerrero…. yes, yes, I like it! I'm glad my suggestions helped. You should wear that name proudly!" Hárekr beamed at her thanks, feeling suddenly a bit embarrassed. "Oh, it's no problem at all! I'm just glad to help. A name is an important part of ones identity, you should have one that speaks to you." His gaze turned to the sun that was beginning to lower on the horizon and he got to his feet, peering down at the other side. "I suppose we have to go down now, huh?" He chuckled and winked at her. "Ladies first, eh? Miss Mercy Guerrero."

The view up here was something that amazed her to no end. She was stunned into silence, forgetting about the words that Hare had spoken. It was just so... clear from up here. She could see the very tops of trees that were so tall, she could never hope to see it from the ground. Birds circled over head in the clear sky, and up here Mercy could easily forget all of her woes. Everything seemed to just wash away, and felt like they were all so small. Her breath seemed to rush from her lungs under the impact of it all, and she blinked her purple eyes steadily. But everything was shattered when their conversation carried on, her pale head shaking as she tried to focus once again. This could have been a very romantic experience with the two of them, the view, the breathless climb. Heat rushed to her face, but she kept her thoughts shoved down. She really cared for Hárekr, even if they had only met today. She could see him becoming a good friend, and for once didn't want to just jump his bones. For once in a very long time she actually craved the aspect of friendship, something that she didn't even think that she was capable of. It was enough to stun her into silence again, even though Hárekr had spoken a few moments before.

Clearing her throat, shaking herself to really get down and focus, she grinned at Hare. "Honestly, I wouldn't have even thought about it without your suggestion." She nodded at the rest of his words, suddenly feeling really touched by what this complete stranger had done for her. No one had suggested changing her hated last name, or even gone to far but to make some up for her to choose from. Grinning even wider, she made her way to the path down when the black and white wolf suggested it, elongated tail aiming to flick against his chest. "Only if you promise to keep me from falling!" she teased. Mercy Guerrero. Yes, that would do just fine. Carefully picking her way down, she set and even slower pace than they had going up. It was a lot easier to slip from this angle, and her heart pounded in her chest. One misstep and it was all over. But it was okay, because she was no longer Mercy Destruction. No longer did she carry around a burden and a reminder of a last name, but her very own legacy.

"Speech"
'thoughts'

ooc:  think I'll go ahead and wrap this up if that's alright

GOT AN ANGEL ON MY SHOULDER But the devil always won... Hárekr laughed. "I'll do my best but I may have to grab onto your tail if you start tipping."  He grinned at the amusing mental image before the pair began to work their way down back to the base of the fjord.  It was rough going, leaving little time for talk.  Each minute the sun sunk lower until finally just as night fell they made it to the bottom.  Háre didn't even care about putting on a front as he panted, limbs quivering just slightly from the exertion of the day but he was all smiles.  He'd had a great time!  He turned to Mercy.  "Whew!  That was something, eh?  Alas, though, it is time I get back to my pack.  It was a true pleasure to meet you Mercy and I wish you luck in your future.  In Norwegian we say goodbye as 'Ha det bra'!  Have it good!" He dipped his head and turned, melting into the shadowy embrace of the night. -exit-

At last they made it back down to the bottom, and Mercy felt like she could fall over and just take a nap right then and there. It had been a long ass trip all the way up to the top, and coming back down had put even more strain on her tired muscles. She panted along with Hare, not caring to try and act like a lady, or a strong ass warrior. She was damn tired and that was that. So when the black and white brute made an exiting statement, she did not protest. While she had had a lot of fun, and didn't want this day to end, she felt like she was going to pass the eff out. She nodded her head, an easy smile on her maw. "Ha det bra to you too!" she said with an easy laugh. Not feeling like she could quite make the trip home just yet, she sat on her rump and watched the male vanish, needing to rest before the trek home. She really did hope that this wasn't the last time that her and Hárekr met, he was always going to be the male that gave her her new identity, her new start. Grinning to herself she finally got up and turned back towards home as well, excited to tell Valentine and Revenge about her name change.

-exit, end thread-

"Speech"
'thoughts'