After dropping Vidarr and the fighters off at God's Garden to camp, Tenshi continued on with one miniature donkey pulling a cart full of puppies. To be exact, they are her puppies and though there is a specific reason why she is taking them away from their father's encampment, she doesn't tell them the truth. No, she explains (over and over and over) that they are going to visit friends. Go to the place their mother used to live before she moved north with their father. As much as they were suspicious of other motives (there was, but it's a secret!), Tenshi stood her ground and continued to batter them with her own questions.

Who's hungry? Who's stronger? Who's smarter? Who's faster than the donkey? Anything to keep them occupied and exhausted until they were at the edge of The Ancient Oaks. As she approaches, Tenshi pauses for a minute for a quick lesson. "We do not enter another's territory with out permission," her steel blue eyes linger on Bjorn and Hall the longest. "If you trespass, they are allowed to do whatever they want with you," Tenshi warns them, raising a brow until she makes sure all six little heathens understand what's she implicating.

Then she turns to Aino, addressing the egret to go and alert Hattori Hanzo that they have arrived. He would understand why she was on his... exterior doorstep. After that is settled, she nudges the miniature donkey into the wooded area. Tenshi takes them far enough in until a large clearing opens up. Sunlight shines down from the open canopy and the massive trees allow coverage from the chilly wind that beats at the surrounding territory. "We will be camping here until your father comes to fetch us. Do not leave this clearing. Leave my sight and you'll be ground," once more, her stern gaze lingers on Bjorn and Hall before she opens the cart and unleashes the puppies. In the meantime, Tenshi takes out multiple skin rugs, food, and fire starter for some tea while she waits for Hanzo to arrive.

"Speech"

Restless and ready as she was to leave the very full cart of puppies, Lumine remained patient. She didn't whine, didn't complain, didn't argue with their mother the whole way to the oaks. She did ask a lot of questions though. After her siblings fired off with a round of this and that, Lumine was there to follow up with a barrage of more. What color is this? What animal is that? Do they have water? Are there puppies where we're going? Does Bjorn have to sit on me? Why does Steig snore? Isn't that what papa does? Relentless, but always appreciative when she receives a dutiful answer, the bright eyed girl settles in until they arrive. When Tenshi stops, Lumine perks up. She stands up on the front edge of the cart, ears alert and tail wagging excitedly. Listening to her mother's stern warning, Lumine commits it to memory. Don't trespass. Got it. Eager to explore, Lumine notices how tall the trees are. They stretch on for what appear to be miles. Tree after tree after tree that is almost as tall as mountain itself. At least, that's how it feels as they continue on into the forest. Moss covers nearly ever surface. Water drips from the leaves after a recent rain. She can hear, if she tries hard enough, the animals rustling through the underbrush. Leaves have fallen for winter, but the canopy remains thick and full. Light doesn't reach the bottom except in certain spots where it shines down brightly. The place is beautiful! Distracted, Lumine almost falls from the cart as the donkey lurches to a halt. A little oof exhales from her lips as she turns and follows her siblings out into the clearing. Once her paws are upon the soft grass, she notices how dewy it is. Her fur is damp and her toes feel almost slimy. It's as if the forest retained all the water that ever fell there. Testing out the spongey floor, Lumine pounces forward, nearly tripping on a rock and having to catch herserlf. Darn legs! LUMINE TRYGG

table coding by bunni ♥

although the cart is a bustle of activity, Styrmir maintains his usual silence, too transfixed by his new surroundings to summon much in the ways of speech. this is his first time outside of Viking territory, after all, and the sheer difference between his mountainous home and the expansive height of these trees is so marked it makes his head spin. he hadn't known trees could get this big! for a moment he is overcome with boyish delight, all other concerns falling away so that for this singular heartbeat, he is as much an excitable child as the rest of his siblings. of course, this doesn't stop him from heeding Mother's warnings, nodding along seriously while anxiety churns in his gut. other packs could do whatever they wanted to trespassers? Styrmir glances at each of his littermates, checking to see if they're listening. Bjorn and Hall could be risk-takers, but they wouldn't tresspass...right?

fortunately, he's too wrapped up in this new territory to work himself up, and as Lumi spills out of the cart, the boy eagerly follows his sister - though more subdued in his excitement, of course. padding across the spongey grass, his eyes widen in surprise, poking experimentally at the ground to test its durability. it's like nothing he's ever seen before! just what kind of wolves live in such a strange place? as uncertain as he is about strangers, he's equally as curious to see what these new wolves are like. his young mind conjures up children with flippers for paws, churning through the wet grass like a school of fish.

Throughout the entirety of the trip, Björn⁢'s most asked question has been are we there yet? Over and over it comes. Walking with the raiding party had been fun at least. Oki had stories. The yearlings were fun, at least for as long as they could tolerate him. There were things to do and others to pester that weren't his siblings. By the time he'd run the gamut of people to pester, the ones he'd started with were less annoyed. Now? It was just his mom and his siblings to ask the same things, over and over, in all the languages he knows and then-- all the languages his mother can teach him, too. While he may not be the fastest of them to grasp it, by the end he manages okay. As they finally make their arrival, Björn⁢ cracks a grin. Right, right, rules... though Tenshi's gaze settles on his face he returns only the sweetest smile he could muster. Surely he wouldn't... do anything too bad. No, if it was too bad, maybe he could con Stieg into doing it for him. Björn⁢'s tail wagged, and he's quick to stumble out of the cart among his siblings. "What is this place, mamma?" Gazing around at the stately trees, strangely drawn to them. Though starkly different from home, Björn⁢ couldn't dislike it. Pretty neat, actually. BJÖRN Ragnarök awaits.