it is the way

He laughed softly at her amazement. It seemed her past hadn’t been as full of innovation as far as armor and ornamentation had gone. “I’d say it’s a relatively new innovation for wolves, but from what I’ve heard, humans were way, way more advanced.”

At her question, his head cocked. “Humans were predators, according to Enito, but also prey. If it weren’t for their brains and ability to wield weapons, they’d have been much weaker than us wolves, and utterly helpless against such creatures as bears and big cats. They were primates, like monkeys and apes, but much more advanced. If you passed through the wall up north on the way here, that’s probably left behind by them. There’s a castle in Auster. But they just… disappeared a generation or more ago. No one knows what happened to them, but their mark remains, and we’ve adopted much of their ways, I think. Like Valhalla’s wall.”

At her next question, he nodded, picking up a bag that clinked and setting it by the small pile in the alcove doorway. “Yep. And my new armor has metal between two layers of leather in each segment.”

He studied the pile of hides and furs, then grinned, holding up a paw to study the toes of his bracer before removing it to offer to Rhaegara to examine. With these I drilled a hole in the base of each bear claw and used sinew laces to attach them to the toe grips, each loop wraps under my toes so it can flex individually.”

Walk ---- "Speak" ---- "Hear" ---- Think