Cannival Confidence is key. Cannival reminded herself sternly, oversized paws carrying her to and fro, this way and back as she paced the Rustling Thicket. She had been placed here on a probationary period, and assuming she did not cause a ruckus or give the alphas any reason to kick her out, she might be allowed to stay. The lioness was taking every measure to ensure that she'd play her part here well and not make anyone uncomfortable, and so here she stood- rehearsing aloud. "Hi, I'm Cannival. Rhyme and Shaye are letting me stay here." No, that felt wrong. These wolves thrived off respect, she couldn't name-drop the alphas to ensure no wolf had issue with her presence. She tried again. "Hi, I'm Cannival. Yes I'm a lion but I don't want to eat you." No, no. That's coming off way too strong. Damnit, why was this so hard? Once more. "Hi, I'm Cannival. How are you?" Was that too casual? Cannival had no idea. The lioness' chest puffed out as she drew an inhale, brow furrowing in frustration as her pacing grew more frantic. Eventually she'd have to meet someone, have a conversation. That conversation absolutely could not end in the other running away in fear. What if someone tried to attack her? She couldn't risk having to defend herself and hurting someone. She exhaled, a low growl rumbling in her chest as she did so. Hopefully Shaye and Rhyme had informed Abaven she'd be living here, otherwise this might get awkward. "Speech"

Octave mostly kept to himself, he'd learned some things via osmosis; it was impossible to avoid the reality of his living situation. Some he'd learned from Allegro sharing important information with him, but in truth, he mostly stayed out of the way of the alpha's skirting them when he could tell they were coming near. He claimed it was because he didn't want to be in their way, Noko snorting every time he said that, but in truth, he just didn't want to have to deal with them one on one yet. He was already feeling a bit overwhelmed being in such close proximity to so many strangers and he couldn't help but feel even more shy around the alpha's, they just intimidated him so much.

For the time being Octave was sticking close to his den, which was fine by him since he'd picked a verdant spot that had a decent amount of herbs for him to gather and practice with. So maybe it was fate or rather bad luck that Abaven's newest face had been sequestered here. But Octave hadn't known she'd be here, though he hadn't failed to notice the strange scent.

Octave hadn't ever met a big cat so her unfamiliar scent didn't yet trigger any fear in the boy, though he made a point to avoid running into her, as he did everyone. Not that that was totally possible of course, he'd already be forced to literally face his fears. Today that'd be pushed to its breaking point. "So I'm stuck in this tree, the nest right in front of me and these birds swooping in on me and the troop hooting at me from the ground when-" Noko had been chattering away from her usual perch between his shoulder blades, stopping short only when she was jolted forwards by Octave's sudden stop. The lemur grumbled but at this point she was more than used to having her day disrupted by Octave's sudden bouts of fear, she climbed up to peer over his head a shocked expression on her face and she was suddenly as frozen as Octave. "Cat..." She muttered uselessly.

Octave & Noko

Cannival The large cat continued to murmur uselessly to the air, doing her best do give a self-pep talk. Her head was low to the ground as she paced, tail thrashing wildly behind her. "Hi I'm--" Oversize paws skidded to a halt as a new scent came into the air. It wasn't wolf, it wasn't bird. In fact, it wasn't something Cannival had ever smelled before- here in the Rustling Thicket nor anywhere else. Her fur bristled and she whirled around in shock. There before her stood a stunning white male adorned with a small creature peeking out from behind his head. Cannival stood frozen just as the stranger did, not wanting to move a muscle. Shit, shit, shit. "Hi..." She began in a soft and careful tone, doing her best not to spook him. "I'm Cannival… and I don't want to eat you." Maybe the emphasis was too much, but you could never be too careful. She was contorted somewhat awkwardly for casual conversation; her haphazard twirl had placed her body perpendicular to the way the wolf faced, though curved slightly toward with her head and rear closer to him. Cannival wasn't comfortable, but she sure as hell wasn't going to move and risk startling him. Who knew what his reaction would be? Maybe he'd try to fight her. No, no, she couldn't let that happen. "Speech"

Octave's own fear was mostly the same old nervousness he felt when suddenly faced with a total stranger, though the strangeness of the big cat was adding a whole new dimension to the situation. Not that it made his behavior any different, he was frozen, eyes wide and unfaltering from the cat's massive frame. On the other hand, while Noko had never been face to face with a lion she was filled with an instinctual fear of most predators, especially ones this gigantic. Something about the lionesses' face reminded her of the horrible little creature she and her family had been forced to hide from back in her homeland.

The Lemur eyed the big cat with open wariness, her cupped ears twitching when the cat gave them a name and a weak reassurance. "That's reassuring." Noko said sarcastically but allowed herself to relax somewhat, gently brushing her hand through the short fur along Octave's head as she felt his limbs begin to shake. She wasn't totally comfortable with Cannival but she'd also pretty easily realized that somehow the cat was allowed around here and she'd yet to have a reason to doubt Shaye's judgment... though maybe this was that reason.

"I'm Noko and this guy's Octave." The Lemur said gently patting Octave's head. "He's uh- like this with everyone else, don't take it personally."

Octave & Noko

Very blah post. I blame toddler who will not sleep. It is THREE IN THE MORNING, CHILD. I so tired.

Cannival The creature upon his back was speaking for the male now, and Cannival couldn't be more confused. She hadn't come across anything like this before and she couldn't help but to be just a little more frustrated that there was even more aspects of wolf culture that the lioness had never heard of. She wasn't sure who to address. What was polite in this situation? Was the tiny monkey.. thing, the dominant one? Large maw parted as if Cannival was about to speak, and then clamped shut again and instead her throat rumbled in a thoughtful hum. She took one step backwards, gaze traveling from both the companion and then again to the white wolf. "Octave.. Noko.. can he.. can you speak?" Her sentence was hard to follow as the lioness bounced back and forth between who to address. One oversized paw began to move, drug through the dirt before her in nervous and awkward circles. "Uhh.. Do you guys live here?" It may have been a stupid question, but Cannival was under the impression that wolf packs recruited for strength in battle- yet this wolf seemed as unsure of his place in Abaven as Cannival did. "Speech"