Saying Seiko felt out of her element here would be a vast understatement. Seeing the vast number of wolves here - most celebrating, some fighting amongst themselves - was overwhelming. Even as a young child, she hadn't really been one to play very much, preferring to wrestle with her siblings and try to best them over playing childish games. The upbringing she and her siblings had received hadn't given much room for.. well, things like this. Her eyes roved over the games and food that had been prepared, but Seiko wasn't interested. They had plenty of food of their own at home, and she was perfectly capable of feeding herself, anyway.

Trying to comprehend the pleasantries as she wandered a fair distance from the rest of the crowd, her eyes landed on a dark coated yearling. Most of the wolves here were unremarkable, at least to her - there were wolves of all colors, some even rainbow, and some weren't even wolves at all. But none of them really impressed her though, except for Wylan, who sported a pair of... wings. Seiko blinked, staring for a long time to blink the blurriness caused by the smoke's fire away. It took her a long while to be convinced she wasn't just seeing things, but even then she wasn't so sure. Wolves could have wings? Her jaw unhinged slightly, though she clamped it shut quickly when she realized the wolf had seen her staring. Well, shit.

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Wylan was moving through the crowd, enjoying the sheer number of strangers around him. Wylan loved people. He always had! Back in the Armada, he always tried to make friends with the new wolves that entered. But that didn’t happen very often, not really. Here… there were just so many people. He almost didn’t know what to do with himself. He had the vague urge to run up to each and every one of them. Just to give himself time to say ‘hi’ and nothing else to all these wonderful new faces. He had taken a short break from mingling to grab a bite to eat, and was heading back to the fire when he saw a wolf looking at him. That wasn’t really unusual, he’d garnered quite a few looks while wondering about this festival. But this wolf had the most stunning horns upon their head, and was only a pup. He grinned, and trotted over to the much younger wolf. His tail was already picking up speed behind. “Hi, I’m Wylan! Those horns are awesome!” He told the other wolf happily WC: 189 Total: 430 "Speech"

Of course wolves could have wings. They could have horns, talons; her own cat companion even had antlers. Why had she thought wings were out of the question? It was a reminder of just how secluded life was within Tojo-Kai. They were self-sufficient there, not relying on others to help support them, but at what expense? Not knowing much about the outside world? Seiko didn't necessarily think that was a bad thing, not at all, but she still had so much to learn of the world outside... The wolf she'd been staring at approached her, much to her displeasure. Looking a bit uncomfortable, though not willing to let a stranger get a bad impression of her or the rest of her family, she stopped gawking all at once and gave Wylan a deep, sweeping nod. Polite. Honorable. Just as Tojo-Kai always was. "Hattori Seiko," the pup introduced herself after a moment of thought. The compliment had her feeling slightly uneasy, though she wasn't sure why. "So are your... wings," she gestured with her muzzle to the wings he held at his side.  "You're from here?" Gesturing again all around them, and vaguely to the castle not far from here. Words: 199 Total: 629 (Note to self- Seiko hasn't come out as nonbinary to her dad yet, so using she/her pronouns here!)

When Wylan noticed that the other wolf looked a little uncomfortable, he tried not to let his excitement sweep him off his paws too much. Staying a respectful distance back, his tail taking only a sedate swing behind him. Friendly, but not too much. He could do that, right? “Pleasure to meet you, Hattori.” he said warmly, completely misunderstanding her name. But, in his world, first names were given first. He hadn’t even considered that it could be otherwise. “Thanks” He said warmly, a light grin peeking out from his features at her. He lifted his wings lightly, giving them a slight swish at his side so she could see them better. “Oh, no, I’m from the Armada. But Artorias is my Uncle in law” He explained easily. They were on friendly terms with the Hallows. But it seemed that it wasn’t just close allies that had come to attend this festival. Lots of wolves from all walks of life had turned up, and naturally Wylan wanted to meet all of them! He could spend weeks here, just taking a moment to introduce himself to everyone. WC: 192 Total: 821 "Speech"

Seiko herself was struggling with the opposite problem. Her instinct was to close herself off from this interaction, to shy away and dive into the shadows. To keep her expression neutral, revealing nothing about herself, or her intentions... but she'd come here to socialize, hadn't she? Somehow she had to seem less closed-up. Tried to relax her expression a little, to seem a little more relaxed. Not that she was one to really smile often - or at all - but the stranger's personality was just so warm and friendly that it wasn't all that hard to manage a tiny, barely-noticeable smile. It didn't last long, but it appeared, as plain as day - like a faint hint of sunlight peeking out from behind storm clouds.

His understanding of her name really wasn't all that far off. Regardless of which name he called her, she wouldn't be overly offended. She'd learned most wolves didn't use their usernames in the same way her family did. Seiko merely nodded. "Does all your family have wings?" Seiko blurted out, still apparently transfixed on that strange feature of his. It was hardly a polite question but it was hard to stop herself. Her time here, with Akito and her brother, would be brief and she was determined to learn as much as she could before they headed back home.

"The Armada? You live far north, right?" Seiko continued her line of questioning, hungry for answers that she wouldn't be quite so willing to give in return. All at once she realized that she was likely being overbearing, and she leaned back slightly, shifting her weight from one side to the other.

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He watched her, and saw the careful attempt at a smile. He could see she was trying! And he was so proud for her. He grinned warmly, and encouragingly, he hoped. “My dad does, but his parents didn’t, and none of my siblings do.” He explained. No one knew where the wings had come from. But that was the only mutation to crop up in their family, just perhaps the most showy. Considering her interest in his wings, Wylan brought one of his wings closer, hunting around with his muzzle until he found one loose enough to pick. He nipped it off, and handed it to the other wolf. “For you.” Almost a touch shyly. He never knew how others would handle such a personal gift. A part of him. “That’s right! The armada is really, really far North from here.” He agreed easily, but it was worth it to visit the Hallows and see the Castle! “What about you, where do you live?” "Speech"

This wolf was so different than the ones she knew from back home. He was so inviting and warm, friendly in a way that couldn't be taken as anything but genuine, and yet she couldn't help but be a little skeptical of his demeanor. Respect was always a given until someone gave a reason to not deserve it, but being so open and nice seemed a gift that ought to be reserved for few others. Maybe this was just how wolves of different cultures were? Her head tilted to the side as she continued to examine him, though she was wary of coming across as overly interested. Nosiness wasn't a good look on anyone.

"Interesting," Seiko mused softly. For a moment the young wolf found herself wondering just how inheriting those traits worked - might his children have wings, too? - but she let the thought go as quickly as it arrived, filing it away to ask someone wiser later.

She certainly hadn't expected a gift, especially not one so personal. She felt a sort of embarrassed heat rise to her cheeks, though it was covered by the splotchy dark markings around her face. "Thank you," she replied, carefully tucking the feather near her paw, ensuring it would make it back home safely with her. Though she wasn't exactly sure how she felt about the unprompted gesture, it did seem quite respectful and she wouldn't dare diminish the importance of that - she just wished she had something of her own to give him in exchange.

He explained further that the Armada was far, far north from these lands. His question did give her pause though. How much information was she to divulge? She knew most of the packs in these lands were at least aware of Tojo-Kai's existence, if little else. "My home is the bamboo maze, on Auster's southern coast." Maybe he knew of Tojo-Kai's existence? She'd wait and see.

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