Something was... off. Slightly, but still off. At first it was just a feeling, more instinctual than anything. Perhaps it was the deep chill in the autumn air, which had arrived much more aggressively this year, or maybe it was something else. Either way she knew deep in her soul that something was amiss, and with that worry came worry for her herd, for the very creatures who would support Heiðinn in the years to come. She hoped it was something minor, but she couldn't be so sure yet.

She stood not more than a few yards from the strange stone formations that stood in the center of the Stone Steppe. There were other times these last few weeks that she thought she'd felt a low rumble deep in the earth, but suddenly she felt it again as the ground began to quake. The feeling was subtle but noticeable, and concerning nonetheless. So far she hadn't been able to decipher if there was any pattern to the phenomena; she wondered if her packmates had any clues.

Even stranger yet was something new she'd just noticed, a strange flickering light near the peaks of Fenrir's Maw. Though the skies were slowly beginning to darken, it clearly was not a star - no star moved like that, moving slowly across the late afternoon sky and occasionally flickering in and out of sight, again with no apparent pattern.

Words: 235

It had been a long time since Sverre had been a part of a pack, since he had felt any worth, and since he hadn't felt lonely. Of course, gaining a traveling companion had cured his loneliness before Heiðinn had given him purpose again, but things finally started to feel like they were falling into place. His sixth birthday was around the corner, and he was always reminded of it when the snow came. It wasn't here yet, but he knew it was coming. What he wasn't used to marking with his birthday, however, were tremors. He wasn't exactly new to this land, but he hadn't just arrived yesterday either. He'd never felt the earth shake here before and it concerned him.

Leaving his companions at home to be safe, Sverre set out from his den and ventured towards the circular collection of upright rocks. He thought he overheard someone calling it the Stone Steppe before, but he couldn't be certain nor did he particularly care. He wasn't particularly sure why he was headed in this direction instead of another, but since it was part of the packs territory, he figured it was as good of a place as any to start.

His ears perked when he saw Kiela, however, and he trotted over with a slow wag to his tail. She seemed to be looking at something off in the distance, a fire perhaps, on a mountain. He didn't think anything of it, fires were normal right? Someone was probably just trying to keep warm. "Did you feel the tremors, too?" he asked, though he figured she was out here for some other reason.

"Speech!"

275 + 235 = 510

Art by Siarczek at dA & Code by Skelle 2023

Kiela had yet to really get to know the wolves of Heiðinn in any meaningful way, but surely Víðarr knew as well as she did that her presence here would never be a terribly loud one. She was inclined to keep to herself more often than not, though she knew with time she'd get to know her new packmates. At least Sverre was familiar to her and his company was refreshing, yet another like-minded wolf that reminded her of those she'd grown up alongside. She was grateful he'd joined her here, both in the pack in general and here today.

She greeted him with the faintest of smiles, her own tail slowly waving behind her where she stood. There were no needless pleasantries, something she appreciated, as he cut right to the point - wondering too about the odd happenings that she'd been noticing. "I did," she replied with a sigh. If these things meant a catastrophic winter, she feared what it would mean for her herd and for Heiðinn, but she'd never quite experienced anything exactly like this before. Perhaps she'd felt the earth tremor in such a way when accompanied by storms, but there seemed to be no such storm on the horizon.

"That doesn't look like any star I've ever seen. What do you think?" Kiela was genuine curious, her expression imploring as she studied Sverre to see what he made of all this.

Words: 237
Total: 747

The ground had shook in a way that had reminded him of an avalanche, but without any of the noise or destruction of one. He'd even heard before that volcanoes could shake the earth before eruption, but he'd never experienced that before. Although he was aware of the volcano here, he hadn't considered until now the possibility of it's involvement. He didn't know much about them though, and kept the brief though to himself as Kiela questioned about the flickering light. His gaze followed hers with a soft questioning hmm? sound as he squinted to focus on the changing light.

Until now he had thought it was simply just a campfire, something easily explainable, but now he wasn't sure. Was it even on the mountain, or was it in the sky? It was really too far for him to tell, so he frowned and looked back towards her before slowly relaxing on his haunches with a soft sigh. "I'm not sure," he said, the corners of his mouth pulling down as he spoke. "Where I'm from, there would be stars that dart across the sky at night all the time. Some of the older wolves spoke of slower moving ones, that took many nights to move across the sky. I don't remember what they called them, but maybe?" He asked, tilting his head slightly.

"Maybe we should go somewhere higher?" he suggested, though with the way the ground had been shaking he knew immediately that it probably wasn't the best idea, especially if it started the herd.

"Speech!"

747 + 257 = 1004

Art by Siarczek at dA & Code by Skelle 2023

Sometimes it was the quiet, subtle threats that were the most dangerous. Kiela knew not to underestimate the slight tremors coming from within the earth, even if she didn't necessarily know exactly what they meant. When it came to mother nature it was always best to be cautious at the very least, Kiela had learned that from a young age. Learning that nature was often chaotic and unpredictable was just about the only reason she had of relating to other wolves, who often felt quite foreign to the independent woman.

She too spent a long moment studying the light. It was only growing more visible with each passing moment, the sky slowly but steadily beginning to darken. Regardless it was hard to tell exactly where it was in relation to the mountain itself - things at such a distance simply were a lot harder to discern. "I'm familiar," she mused softly as Sverre explained he'd seen stars that would shoot across the sky at night. The stars were important to her family, since so often in the midst of winter they were the only things that could be used to reliably navigate. "My father used to tell me those stars - shooting stars, I suppose you'd say in this tongue - were proof that the stars were as alive as you and I." A faint smile touched her lips as she thought of him, a fond memory even among the strange happenings around them.

"Though I'm not sure this is the same thing. But maybe." She couldn't say for sure either way, but maybe Sverre was right, that they should go higher to see if they could get a better look. Perhaps it was a dangerous idea if the ground continued to quake, but if they mapped out a way down they could ensure they were being as safe as possible. She nodded agreement to his idea, moving to begin their ascent up the closest slope.

Words: 323
Total: 1327

For the majority of the year, the stars were all his people had to navigate by. That and the mountain peaks, anyway. Few land forms remained visible under multiple feet of snow, but the mountains and the stars were always there. The mountains never moved though, and navigating with the stars changed with the seasons. Honestly, that was how he ended up here. He seldom used the stars now, considering far less snow blanketed Boreas as a whole. Even now, the steppe was free from the snow that loomed atop the mountains, though for how long he didn't know. Winter was soon.

The corners of his mouth turned upwards slightly as she spoke of her father and the stars proving their life through what the locals call shooting stars. "Ah, yes, shooting stars," he nodded, making note of the english term for stjörnuhrap. Whether or not he'd remember was something else entirely, but he'd done well learning english in his time away from his group. There was still plenty he didn't know, though.

"We will see, maybe. How long have you noticed it?" he asked as he moved to follow her up the nearest slope. He scanned up ahead for optimal routes down if they needed to make an emergency decline, however he let Kiela lead the way up and followed close to her flank.

327 / 1552

"Speech!"

Art by Siarczek at dA & Code by Skelle 2023

The stars were owned as much reverence as anything else in this world - except maybe the reindeer, who were the most sacred of all. Kiela had been raised to view each and every part of nature as integral and as sacred as the next; the flowers could not bloom without the sun rising, and likewise the stars in the sky were just as vital as the moon and the sun, and just as important as she and Sverre, if not even more so. The interconnected nature of everything was something she knew in her heart was true, and she operated as such. That was exactly why something that seemed so out of place was concerning. It wasn't just about the stars, but about everything else too. If something strange was happening in the sky she had no doubt it could effect them as well.

She found herself grinning for a moment longer, not just as thinking of her father but of Sverre's testing the word on his tongue. Though she'd been in these lands for a long while now, she found herself sometimes struggling to recall words not used often like that one, so she could easily relate. "The stars? Just a little while ago. Though something has felt... strange for a few weeks now. I am not used to the earth shaking like that, but perhaps that is more normal here?" She knew of earthquakes, at least she'd heard of them, but they weren't common in the far north. She was much less certain about what was normal here, still figuring out these lands. She mulled over it as they began their ascent, keeping an eye out for Sverre behind her as she went.