The caves earned their names well. The whistling of the winds through the caves sang in her ears as the alabaster princess leapt and ran through the cave, listening to the whistles and the drops of water echo through the walls of the cave. Every now and then a bat would fly a little too close to her head for comfort, but it was nothing that startled her too much. The life of a wanderer was one without much reward, it got lonely, and boring, so Reiko found herself often looking for entertainment in the strangest of places - today was in this cave.

Rocks crumbled under her toes as she stopped at the top of a small inner cave hill, she had to adjust herself a little, shifting her weight and digging those ebony claws into the sides of the stone in order to reassure she wouldn't fall too. White plume swayed behind her, keeping balance on the stone as she took a look around. The sounds were entrancing, drip... drip... drip..., never missing a beat as she took a moment to listen in. Above, bats were flapping around, getting ready for their midnight shift in bug catching.

One however, got a little too close. "Eep!!" She tried dodging the thing that came to her head all too close, missing her footing and slipping down the slope, tumbling and catching dirt along the way down. The cave took an air of silence for a moment, not even a drop fell before her vision stopped turning. Her legs finally found the strength to stand up straight and shake off the dirt in a cloud of dust. All she could do was giggle through the sore bruises that would surely show tomorrow.

"speech!!"

The darkness of the cave was alluring to Áki. The familiar cold and starkness of winter had begun to slowly fade from the world, and with the arrival of warmer weather he found himself drawn to those lands which had retained the slight chill of winter. Large paws would collide with the earth as he paced near the cave's entrance, thoroughly intrigued. His nose would twitch as he tasted the scents that swirled about the opening. Someone had come by here recently, it seemed. And a stranger too.

Quietly the massive brute would slink into the near darkness, feeling the sounds of the world slip away as silence engulfed him. Only when he drew deeper into the cavern would the sounds shift. Here, he could hear the gentle patter of water falling from the cave's roof to the floor before, and the gentle shuffling of wind creeping through from behind him. Slowly his eyes adjusted to the darkness, and his pawsteps would grow a bit more certain as he found solid footing in the stone cavern.

What he didn't expect, though, was the soft cry of a stranger in the distance at the sound of rock and debris coming loose and falling to the ground. He had suspected another might be near him, for her scent had lingered but he didn't know she was quite so close. Brows furrowed in slight concern as he moved toward the sound, searching for her in the distance. "Hello? Are you okay?" his voice rang out, tinged with the hint of a northern accent, laced with gentle worry.

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Thankful that she wasn't limping, or that anything worse had happened other than just a slip and some bruises, she looked around sheepishly as though hoping no one was there to see her. She sighed happily, only to be surprised by a voice calling out in the darkness. The voice bounced off the walls, making it hard for her to pinpoint where the individual was. "Uh, eh, yeah, yeah I'm fine!" It took her a moment to find her words, it was quite uncomfortable to be calling out in the darkness to some voice. It felt as though she was talking to some imaginary friend.

"A bat startled me is all." She said in a lower tone, not really caring if the voice would hear her explanation or not. It just made her feel better about it, lying to herself to make her seem less pathetic - especially since someone else was here in the darkness with her. She tried sniffing through the air for a scent, but she received nothing. The air was too stagnant, no breeze was coming her way in order for her to pick out a scent. It was faint, she could smell they were around and real, but their location was tough... It was times like these that made her wish she was a better hunter and knew how to use her nose better than this.

"Are you okay?" She said in a slow, hesitant and awkward tone. There was no reason for her to ask it, she was the one who made a noise. But it was awkward, she felt the need to call out, reach out and offer assistance somehow. Even if it didn't make all that much sense.

"speech!!"

The darkness of the cavern was quite disorienting, though he found with his nose and paws he could navigate easily enough. He wondered if this was how Sabine felt much of the time, and figured it was much more difficult for her - and while he doesn't feel sorry for her, it is interesting to know how she might navigate the world without her sight. Still, the darkness lifts as he grows more accustomed to the cave, his vision growing clearer again, slowly but surely.  "Alright," he'd call out with a gentle laugh as he drew closer to the sound of the stranger's voice.

He was glad she was okay - the misfortune of others was not something that sat well with him, even if he wasn't always eager to help those in need.  "I'm glad." The last thing he wanted to do today was to drag an injured wolf out of this cavern. It would be both difficult, and a bit dangerous, but luckily she seemed like she was alright.

Finally, he caught a glimpse of her in the darkness, little more than a silhouette though it revealed itself to him as he approached.  "No, I'm not okay," he'd quip lately after a moment, grinning lightly as he tilted his tusked skull as he gazed upon her.  "I am Áki." He chuckled gently, hoping she understood his joke.  

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It didn't take too long before she could spot something in the darkness approaching. She could tell it was wolf, and her tail wagged a bit at the sight. She was excited to meet new people, so far everyone seemed pleasant and it was very exciting! The closer he got, the larger he was. A tad bit intimidating, but nothing that tripped her up all too much. The young woman was far too prideful to let something like her diminutive stature get the best of her. His markings were strange, but so far they weren't the only strange markings she had seen. Truth be told, everyone had odd markings on them. She was very plain in comparison, it made her a little self conscious, as if she had missed something.

Concern filled her eyes for a moment as he mentioned he wasn't okay, what could be wrong? Did he hurt himself? She didn't smell blood or see a limp as he came out from the darkness. Oh! It was those things coming out of his mouth! He must have injured his mouth or something! But just as she was about to approach and inspect the would be injury, she smiled as he continued, and giggled just a little. The sound echoed in the darkness of the cave for a moment before fading. Is that what she really sounded like? Weird.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Aki, I'm Reiko." She gave him a small bow, the young girl didn't care if he did the same or not, it was simply habit now. It gave a good impression apparently, and she liked that. Straightening herself out again, she looked up at him, straining her neck in order to eyeball those tusks of his. "Your teeth aren't bothering you?" Her attention was fully on those tusks coming out of his mouth, she had never seen such things before. They looked painful, but he seemed completely at ease... comfortable, free of pain even.

"speech!!"

His own tail would thump against his hindquarters in a pleased motion as the silhouette of the girl drew closer. She was significantly smaller than him - but he had met few larger - and quite dainty, at least from first appearance. His grin widened as she approached, his tusked head dipping to the earth in a greeting that very much mirrored her own. Her gentle voice echoed through the caverns, bouncing off one wall to the next, quite a pleasant sound to his ears - especially when he hadn't expected to find anyone in these caves.

"A pleasure indeed," he would agree readily. His head cocked slightly to the left as his eyes narrowed, to get a better look at the one who called herself Reiko. It came as little surprised when she fixated on his tusks, a fact that turned his smile into a tight frown as he scrunched his nose in distaste.  "No, they are not," he'd retort with a soft huff. His irritation, though genuine, was light and there was no hint of true malice in his voice.

"They don't hurt, and they've always been there. You can touch them if you feel inclined. Any other questions?" It was a question he'd been asked repeatedly, and that he quickly had grown tired of. And yet despite his irritation, he managed another grin as he regarded her. He didn't want to scare her off entirely, and yet he was still getting used to his tusks being talked about.. he couldn't help but wonder if Sabine had been suffering the same scrutiny about her lack of sight.

table by argent/neffs

The air about him had changed immediately the moment she asked her question, at his tone, her ears flattened onto her skull - she had said something she shouldn't have. It was a sensitive subject apparently, and she had just prodded it with a metaphorical stick. She shook her head "no" at the offer of touching them, not entirely sure if that would insult him further or not, but thought that maybe, touching them, would only make matter worse. Did he think of himself as some kind of freak because of them? If so, that gave a pain in her heart for him. She looked up at him after shaking her head with a bright sincere smile spreading across her angelic face. "They do look pretty cool however."

And that statement was true. Now that they weren't some kind of horrendous accident, something that caused him physical pain, she only saw them to be just as cool any his markings and everyone else's that she had seen so far. Strangers were full of surprises, they were all different in some special way - just like snow flakes. No two were exactly the same, they all had their own little special features that made them unique and beautiful. This man and his tusks just made his uniqueness stand out more than others - and perhaps that alone was giving him enough pain.

"I'm sorry for entering a touchy subject, it was wrong. It must be hard to stand out of the crowd, I cannot imagine. I kind of envy it to be honest." Unless she was surrounded by a bunch of dark colored pelts, Reiko never stood out of the crowd, especially since there were so many wolves out there with white pelts and different shades of blue for their eyes. She was just a part of the same crowd. She wouldn't compare her envy to his possible annoyance, but if she could switch places, she probably would.

"speech!!"

He hadn't meant to offend her, but he was too stubborn to contain even the most minor of annoyances. Though he could be polite at times, hit was not unlike him to be uncouth when offended or irritated. And yet this irritation was minor, though one he had dealt with many times before.

The weirdness of her reaction seemed to dull slightly when she noted they were cool. "Are they?" he'd retort, a slight grin tugging at the corner of his lip, only further revealing the tusks that protruded from his jaw. They weren't exactly useful; the questions and curious stares he received over them certainly outweighed their usefulness. But were they a blessing? He liked to think so. "I like to think they were given to me by my gods," the brute would explain lightly, shrugging his wide shoulders slowly. As far as he was concerned, his gods were the only gods, but he knew that beliefs could differ.. and he had no interest in trying to convince anyone otherwise unless they asked. "And, I like to consider myself part reindeer, though I'm sure my sisters would argue I am much more pig than reindeer." A soft, amused snort would leave his snout at the thought of those two.

"It is not touchy," he said finally. "I am just tired of speaking of it. It is like me asking you about your tail," came his simple explanation, but his tone had lightened considerably. Standing it, however, was no problem to him. "It is easy to not stand out when you are a rogue, as I am," he explained with a soft chuckle. Perhaps amongst a large group he might stand out, but when the most frequent company he had was his own, it was easy to feel as normal as anyone else. "Though it is nothing to envy. If anything, it makes cleaning certain areas much more difficult..." Another pleasant laugh would leave his lips. His eyes, now fully adjusted to the darkness, could now examine her more fully. Though she was perhaps plain in comparison to himself, she was quite lovely, and his eyes would shine with interest as he took her appearance in. "There is no point to envy. What more could a lady like yourself want?" Slowly he would lower himself to his hindquarters a bit closer to her, resting against the cool stone wall, marveling in the way his sound bounced from one cavern wall to the next.

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The way he spoke and his new air made her believe that all was good now, that she no longer was poking at a sore bruise with a stick - but instead, it was a light conversation, almost pleasant again. Uncomfortable maybe, just because she couldn't help but want to talk about them... but it didn't matter all that much to her to be honest. In fact, Reiko understood that somethings, people just don't want to talk about them. "They are!" She nodded.

Her eyes sparkled with wonder as he continued to speak about Gods and being part deer. Of course she wasn't all that naive to believe he truly was in genetic code, but it was still quite an interesting thought, a belief even that maybe one was more than just wolf. Immediately she wondered if she could be part dove or something... but the lack of wings would make that a terrible lie. "I believe you could be part deer, there is no proof otherwise." But even being part pig would be pretty cool to her, she always thought they were a little cute in their own way, especially the young ones. Their tails were adorable, all curly and cork screw like.

"Uh, hm?" She blinked a couple times, surprised, straightening herself off to look at her tail for a moment, smiled and giggled once more. "But why would you want to do that? You also have a tail." She smiled a silly grin. Now if she was a bit more interesting, he could pick something out on her to talk about, but so far, everything she had, he did too... except for the certain organs that separated their sexes. But that would be just... a strange conversation to have.

The thought of cleaning herself with tusks did make her cringe just a little; but then again, if you had it since birth, one would find a way around it and think nothing of it. Cleaning as a pup was always awkward at first anyways. "I imagine it would be. But perhaps useful in a fight? I wouldn't really know though... but they do look pretty fantastic aesthetically at least." But she had to agree, it would be more difficult if something was protruding out from your mouth.

"Uhm... maybe wings? Or, or maybe stripes, or beautiful rainbow of color that stands out like a peacock. Anything distinguishing would be nice. I mean, my whole family and I all look alike - and how many white wolves with blue eyes have you seen? I bet many."

"speech!!"

His mood could, at times, be unpredictable. While he was generally quite amiable, he was quick to the defense when he felt offended or threatened, despite his overall good nature. His annoyance faded quickly as she apologized, his muscles growing lax once again as his posture grew less guarded. And her acknowledgment that he could be part deer, even if she was only humoring him, brought another smile to his lips.  "If only I was so lucky," he commented with a happy sigh.  "Not just a deer, a reindeer. Have you ever seen them? They have much thicker coats and wide hooves, built for the snow and mountains."  There was certainly a difference, and he was happy to explain if she had any interest in listening.

The thought of using his tusks in a fight was not a new one to him.  "Hm," he mused gently. He grew more relaxed as he leaned against the cave wall, even letting his head fall slack on his shoulders.  "Perhaps they might me, if the opportunity presented himself." Briefly, the brute imagined impaling an enemy on one of them - certainly it could cause some injury if he managed to spear someone through the soft of their throat, but he wasn't going to voice his thoughts on this matter. Not right now. Still, her compliment elicited another soft laugh.

"I've seen quite a few, yes," Aki would admit with a slow nod. The quiet of the cavern with its stale, damp air was relaxing and he blinked slowly as he let his mind wander.  "I've never met a rainbow wolf. But besides these tusks, I look quite plain. Just like the rest of my family."  The Jarvela clan had never varied wildly in appearance. They sported dark coats with various red markings, and only when he'd ventured to Alacritia had he realized that things were not always quite the same as where he'd come from.  "And though you - perhaps blending in with others easily - your soul shines brightly through that pale coat and blue eyes, and it is a beautiful soul indeed. I have met many wolves, and of this I am certain." He was being honest, with no intent to flatter, and he would add a shrug to the end of his comment.

table by argent/neffs