VK - Pendra, Gareth, The Shadow, Takara, Khael and Sophia

Great paws slowed as the two human women approached, both of their magicks comforting her against the plain - or not so plain - and distinct human feeling of them. Her ears cocked forward, listening to the sounds of their footsteps, nearly silent on the grass, just as clearly as her spirit listened to the smell of the fade that surrounded them both. For a moment, she let herself become lost in the feeling of being so near another so closely tied to the world of dreams and life songs and death, human though they might be, before forcing herself to focus on the more pressing matters at hand.

They spoke to her, asked her a question. She might answer with a bark, or reach out to them, as a spirit of the fade and forest to touch the veil of magic that resided within them both, but she risked being unintelligible in the one way and misunderstood in the other. She could become human again, to speak to them in the tongue that humans understood, but that would defeat the purpose of her taking on this disguise in the first place. Would they trust her if she took on human form, assume her to be some common form-shifter, or would they be able to see the transformation for what it really was, the replacing of one mask for another? Human beings, she had decided long ago and remembered now, were exceedingly difficult to deal with. The elves, at least, could walk among the oaks and birches of the forest like friends, and could speak with beats and wolves on familiar terms.

She thought hard about it, and finally came to her decision. These girls were mages both, and they should be able to understand if she combined a physical, wolfish response with a touch of her fade to theirs. Her eyes, not merely 'old and wise' but 'ancient and understanding', watched the girl who felt of a song so strong it reverberated through the haze of magic around her - she, at least, would be able to understand her, and she had high hopes for the other - the one who had hung back, unsure - as well.

Canine teeth and tongue moved together, and a deep bark and growl came out of her throat, and with the sound, her spirit moved to touch to both of theirs. A friend, she answered of the question posed to her in human tongue, and a companion, if you will have me. She said nothing of who she was, precisely - afraid, perhaps, that her white-haired sister might be right, that the humans might reject her if they understood what she really was - but some essence of her true self carried over with the voice-feeling that reached out to them. She could not hide that little bit, and she hoped, for her own sake, that it would not be approached with fear on their part.

"Redcliffe? So are you a surface dwarf then as I am? Or did you leave Orzammar for some reason? You don't have to tell me the reason if you left, I know many dwarves don't like to talk about it. My own parents never would say why they left. Guess I'll never know now."

Surface dwarves usually ended up above due to some sort of problem so Pendra could understand why Khael's parents did not wish for him to know why they were living above ground. The difference was the ones born on the surface didn't care so much about under ground which was just fine, "I have no problems telling others of what brought me to the surface. I was of warrior caste, noble born but my family decided that I had dishonoured them by falling for a castless. I was exiled and warned that if I returned they would kill me."

"Us dwarves are often underestimated due to our size but we can be a mighty terror on the battlefield. I would love to see the Commander in action, it must really be a sight. I sure wouldn't want to be her enemy!"

"That is very often the case. It makes life easier sometimes when you have others underestimate you. And some day I'm sure you will see the Commander in action. Sooner or later, if you become a warden especially, you're likely to help her in combat." Pendra rolled her shoulders and glanced at Gareth for a moment with a wink.

"Yes I believe the men that kidnapped my sister and I did have tattooes of some sort under their ears. I don't remember clearly what of though. I hadn't slept or ate in days so my mind was not very clear. They took us to a market and sold us very quickly. The men who bought me did not have tattooes, but men fitting that description did often attend the fights. Are they the ones that captured you?"

Her eyes narrowed in thought, "That would mean this group has been around for a couple years at least. Interesting. Yes they did capture me and they are hurting for the mistake of not killing me right off. They will hurt more." The wicked grin she got on her lips told that she was more than willing to be the one hurting them.

"And what about you Ser Gareth? What brings you out on this fine day to march against evil?"

Now it was to Gareth. Pendra glanced back at her lover to see what he would say.

"Eh? Oh... Uh, I'm just following the Warden-Commander around for a bit before I return back to Umoja. Also, Pendra's got a great ass. Among other things."

Pendra laughed and winked back at the human, "Quite saucy you are. Just wait until later and you won't regret those words.

Then there was the sound of someone getting off their horse and Pendra turned to see Sophia going towards a wolf. Her horse shifted as she moved the reigns and watched as the two met and seemed to be conversing in some form. The dwarf waited, watching carefully to see what was going on, waiting for a sign to tell whether this wolf was friend or foe.

Takara continued to watch the wolf, still unable to figure out how to get off her horse. Suddenly the wolf barked and Takara knew she should be scared and yet... she was not. Something seemed to be talking to her through the wolf and she knew it was a friend. She had no idea how she knew, it was the strangest feeling she had ever experianced, but she trusted it. She knew it the same way she knew how to heal someone, the knowledge was just... there.

As soon as the wolf barked Khael turned his mount and was instantly at her side, axe in hand, but Takara put out a hand to stop him. "She is a friend. Trust me brother." She said almost absentmindedly. And then she turned to him and smiled. "How do I get off this thing?"

Khael was at first afraid when Takara seemed so absent in the face of danger, but her smile and question about the horse reassured him. He put away his weapon and dismounted before helping her do the same, showing her how it was done.

As soon as she was out of the saddle Takara held her hands up to show they were empty and walked slowly toward the wolf. She stopped just out of arms reach and knelt in the grass. "We won't hurt you pretty one." She said calmly and quietly. "My brother and I would never allow anyone to harm a pretty one like you. Are you going to travel with us?"

"She is a friend."

"Yes, I think so too."

Sophia's response was automatic, for all that it was sincere.

It's something new. A new story... an ancient story.

She had to know more. But now was not the time. Whoever wore the emerald wolf as a mask obviously had her reasons for doing so. But as soon as she had the chance...
Aria was still rustling, the soft singing of the snowy folds echoing the shivers still dancing goosebumps across Sophia's skin. Ancient. There were few who actually comprehended the true meaning of the word, mistaking it for a simple signifier of age. Ancient ones. Elders. Storytellers. Those who had lived for countless years, dancing to the song of the world for longer then most mortals could remember. But that definition was a perversion at best. Those 'ancients' were simply old. They had their stories to tell, but they would always be nothing more then mortal at their core. Someday, they would wither and die. Sophia couldn't help but giggle as she remembered Fremelda's brief tales of the so-called First Keeper, Kraven. For all his power and wisdom, his story had still rung with the unmistakable note of mortality. An ancient in name, but not in truth.

But in the brief kiss of understanding between herself and the wolf, she had sensed something far more then that. Ancient...

Sophia returned to her horse, flipping back into her saddle with a grace she no longer had to think about.

There were other words she had almost forgotten the meaning of.

Wonder. Doubt. Unknown.

Fear.

Serethiel watched the Symphony move away, back to her horse, the Fade within her quivering with . . . what? Anticipation? Fear? The human names for the emotions escaped her now, but the feelings were understood, known to her, and had she been wearing her human skin, she would have half-smiled. She had lived a very long time, had been, before most of these children here had been thought up, before their parents and their parents' parents had set their first wailing breaths to the sky. Before before before, until memory itself could not have remembered just when and where she'd come from. Fear, anticipation, excitement, wonder, awe - she knew all of these things more deeply than most humans could ever hope, though she was an admitted novice when it came to expressing them in physical form. But she was nothing to be feared - perhaps awed, she thought, not in any vanity but in recognition of what she was - and she would make it known here that she was a friend. The Symphony was as much a mystery to her as it seemed she was to the Symphony, but if she could only look within that tightly guarded Dream, explore the fields of sound that she knew must be there, she suspected that she would find a kindred soul. A kindred spirit. She very much wanted to meet that vibrant chorus.

But it would wait, and the harp before her twanged with such a pretty note that she couldn't help but moved forward to lick the young mage's face. As a wolf, the move might have been considered hostile and, indeed, the male human hovering over the harp-mage seemed the protective sort, but her wagging tale and lolling tongue made it obvious that she was no threat. She only wanted to say hello - I'm here - I'm a friend.

Are you going to travel with us, she was asked. A yap, a 'yes', the physical reaction that was expected, and with it, she sent the feeling of 'yes' through the vibrations of magic surrounding them both, so that the young mage would understand wholly. Yes, she was going to travel with them.

Then she moved away, circling around once before looking to the harp's horse. I'm here, her Spirit said, but now is the time for moving. I will run with you. Let's go.