For the first time in awhile, Kiela wasn't alone. As she wandered the sparse pine forest, someone trailed along after her - a unusually small yet clearly fully-grown reindeer, hooves kicking up dirt and vegetation where she scrambled along. At first her presence had been confusing, even a little irritating. Reindeer were not meant to follow, not like this, but as soon as she'd come across this little creature clearly rejected by her herd it had followed Kiela like a puppy following its mother. Not that it needed to be taken care of, as Kiela had quickly realized it was an adult and quite capable of taking care of itself, but still it followed her.

Over the last few weeks she'd grown accustomed to the company, though perhaps fortunately for her the creature was silent. If she could speak she hadn't yet, and in turn she rarely needed to communicate with it vocally either. It also didn't spend every waking moment with her, sliding in and out of her orbit easily enough that her company quickly became something she was growing used to.

Kiela's eyes scanned the horizon, watching as Bryndís - what she'd started calling the miniature reindeer - foraged near some tightly clustered pines. Luckily with summer having just arrived the vegetation in the north was more easily found and she swore she could sense her new companion's relief at finding another easy meal.

Art by Eightysichs & Code by Skelle 2022
It felt great being back up north even if the warm summer sun was melting away much of the snow and exposing the lush grass underneath. His little fox friend was having a fun time hopping from snow patch to snow patch, leaving the man smiling at the little thing. Atli's plus white coat was shedding to expose the thinner brown summer coat trapped underneath, much like the snow she played in. Finnur grunted from above, drawing his attention away from the little fox and up towards the puffin that appeared to be trying to tell him something.

Tilting his head up at the bird, his brows furrowed before he pressed on wondering what the bird was trying to say. Before he knew it, the tiniest reindeer was before him and he froze in his tracks. Of course Atli didn't notice, hopping from patch to patch and watching her paws sink into the snow each time. He wanted to call out to her  to stop, but didn't want to startle the reindeer and hadn't seen the familiar wolf nearby yet either. Atli was oblivious though, and pounced into a patch of snow that the reindeer was pushing out of the way to graze while Sverre watched and tried to take in at much of the mysteriously mini reindeer that he could.

"Speech!"

The reindeer seemed to notice the presence of someone else before Kiela did. She paused where she'd been picking at the vegetation beneath the pine trees, antlers lifting up as she searched her surroundings. If she was startled at Sverre's presence she made little sign of it, only shuffling slightly back toward where Kiela stood. Seeing her companion on high alert made the wolf's ears perk, listening for signs of someone nearby.

The smell that she found was familiar, albeit vaguely. Kiela came across many wolves in her travels, most passing through just briefly. Sverre was among those wolves. Finally she found him, somewhere up ahead. The sound of his companions came to her too but for now she focused on the wolf, aiming to close the distance between them just slightly. The distance kept was polite but not overly cautious - better to be safe than sorry though. "We met before, I believe," Kiela suggested. She didn't remember his name if she'd gotten it then. "I take it you noticed my friend here?" She gestured with her head toward the miniature reindeer, a rare flash of amusement shining in her eyes.

Art by Eightysichs & Code by Skelle 2022
Sighing as the reindeer only shuffled away instead of fleeing entirely, Sverre called the fox back and she begrudgingly obeyed. Something had caught her attention before she turned and returned, though once a familiar voice came from around the trees he wondered if the reindeer was theirs, and a moment later his thoughts were confirmed. He took a few quick steps to come into view, taking in the familiar woman and the small reindeer that stood near her.

"Yes, I have, and she's not afraid of you?" He asked with wonder, though it was a silly question. The reindeer back home weren't afraid of them either, but this was just one, tiny reindeer. Perhaps the woman was her mother, more or less?

"I don't think we exchanged names last time.. I am Sverre, and my friends here are Atli and Finnur," he said motioning to each the fox and the puffin.

"Speech!"

Kiela looked from the miniature reindeer to Sverre, looking vaguely amused. The expression she wore wasn't exactly typical of her, but she couldn't help it, not knowing what a strange sight her friend was. "For some reason, no. I've taken to calling her Bryndís," the woman explained thoughtfully. The herd knew not to fear her, but one lone reindeer - especially this small - should be afraid. This one however, was not. "I've never seen a full-grown one so small. Perhaps it has a deformity. But it seems healthy enough." Kiela mused aloud for a moment. She'd seen plenty of strange things so far in these lands, so this was just another drop in the bucket.

"And I am Kiela," she introduced herself, acknowledging his own name with a dip of her head. Her attention turned to his fox and puffin friends, giving another nod. Spending time with creatures of another species clearly did not read as strange to her, though her own non-wolf companion was a relationship still new to her. "I'm glad to see you again," she offered gently after a moment. The relationships she had were few and far between, and being genuine about them seemed to be a good idea, a lesson she was learning as she grew older.