Start Again

Walk | Talk | Think

To the big brown male's credit, he did not seem slightly offended by Arnporr's questions, or her manner of asking them. Her tone might have been flat, but even Bera could tell the note of defiance within it and it made her press slightly back against Eostre comfortingly. He named their home for them, calling it the Serpent Plains, and let them know they were on the eastern side of somewhere called Alacritis. It was all foreign and strange to the girl whose green eyes once again made another sweep of the snowy plain, wondering what reason there was for the place to be given the name "Serpent." They were instructed to be good, and informed that he was going to do his part to protect them. As much as Arnporr obviously wished Thor to be wrong somehow Bera found herself on the opposite end, hoping, and more importantly believing, that he might prove her sister wrong instead.

Their other brother Baldur excused himself quite suddenly, claiming he wished to find food for the lot of them - Bera's appetite had long gone, the events surrounding her being here having stolen it away - and then with a new serious turn the real instructions began. Bera listened wide eyed, startled and maybe even a little awed. She may have had rules to live by before, but there certainly seemed to be more weight placed on these. The first, no back talking, sounded simple enough, though an uncertain glance was sent discreetly Arnporr's way. The second caught and held Bera's attention in a surprising spark of hope. Training! Her jaw fell open slightly, sure she must have heard wrong, but he continued as if she had not, and by the time he mentioned self defense she was optimistic enough to try a tentative tail wag.

Her sister Arnporr, however, was having none of it. Bera glanced her way as she made a derisive sort of laugh, frowning while her other sister stayed pressed close to her side. That crazy girl, she was going to get herself in trouble if she was not careful. And she hardly seemed to care either, at least until someone else came bounding over to them, calling for Thor. Arnporr leaped quickly into action, throwing herself in front of her sisters as if to protect them. "Stand down, Arnporr!" Bera hissed in a whisper, willing the girl not to cause a stir. Who knew just what kind of punishments were dished out here! The boy seemed nonplussed, unconvinced that girls as young as they were could be his aunts.

But as soon as his eyes went her way he seemed to find something worth noting, and Bera felt the broken stubs of her ears turn back embarrassedly. "No I don't," she stubbornly answered, feeling self-conscious of the way she looked for the first time in a while. Her sisters never commented on them anymore; she had nearly forgotten. The mention of Eostre gave her something else to worry about though. "Eostre?" The brown, round pup turned to glance at her scared sibling with a look of concern. "We're gonna be okay," she promised, not quite sure how but hoping to convince them both that they would.