Large hoof prints were left in Codrin’s wake as the pair walked along the sandy beach. He knew where they were. But he also didn’t care. He wanted, or needed, a change of scenery but he wouldn’t wander too far from the wilds. And so, on horseback, he rode along the beach in slight apprehension. Adventure never really deterred the wolf man, but he seemed to always be on trouble’s tail end, so he was careful. Or tried to be.

This was new. The area wasn’t for him, and while he wasn’t exactly welcomed, he tried to keep to himself. He just wanted a change of scenery, and so the coastline brought him here. A large hand reached to pat Codrin on the stallion’s thick neck, to which it coaxed a nicker from the beast. A grunt from Vali calmed the steed, but the werewolf was quickly distracted by the sight of a hut in the small distance. He raised his large hand to place over his eyebrows in order to block out the sun, to better see the dwelling.

Vali nudged Codrin on, a brisk walking pace taking over the shire stallion, as ocean eyes scanned the area for movement. He had always heard that curiosity killed the cat, but he wasn’t a cat. So what did that mean for him?

For Hani

The sun was high on the horizon still, basking the peaceful stretch of coast line in its warm, affectionate glow. Despite the evenings becoming slightly chillier than they were afew weeks prior, the daytime hours themselves had not suffered the oncoming of fall in the slightest. The severe ocean also was found wanting for trees whos boughs grew darker and canopies became guilded with the shed of their emerald mantles. So it was that the high afternoon glide of Apollo's chariot found Naza stringing up her laundry beyond the back steps of her modest home. Her voice hummed, loud in her assumed solitude, an upbeat tune that tangled with the beams of golden illumination. She barely caught the movement from the corner of her eyes as the man and horse approached the small cottage. She was hasty to draw herself behind the careful cover of her String drawn coverlets. Her heart raced with alarm. With sharp biting fear as she peeked cautiously from around the sheet's hem. While Fin had been a welcome face, she could only too vividly recall the last unknown visage she had had darken her doorstep.

Jahi

Vali slowed Codrin to a halt a few yards from the dwelling. He swung a leg over the back of his shire and dismounted from his bareback ride with a thud, sand particles flying upward, patting Codrin on his shoulder and letting the creature explore. The great, ebony horse perked his ears at the water and began to sniff at a clump of seaweed.

With Codrin settled, Vali turned back toward the house. He stood where he was in the sand for a few moments, watching for signs of life. He began to make his way toward the front, taking the liberty to peek in one of the windows. Was it abandoned? No, couldn’t be. Much too kept for it to have been abandoned. Unless it was recent. He sniffed at the air. No - a feminine perfume was evident, and fresh. Was she around, he wondered?

The wolf man then began to trek around the house, moving slowly yet deliberately. Laundry hung, the soft ocean breeze cradling the lenin in small wafts. Steely eyes squinted as he thought he saw someone, behind a sheet highlighted by the sun. A low growl was emitted from the primitive man, but he didn’t make any more moves toward her. What if she had a knife in one hand? Brows furrowed slightly, his hands hung loosely - poised - at his sides. He was ready if she were to attack. But his sentence structure lacked the ability to coax her from around the sheet. He’d long given up on trying to use his words so instead, he kept silent, but took a few more steps toward her, wondering what kind of reaction he’d get from the advancement.

Bright eyes watched the lumbering giant of a man as he sat still upon his steed for a moment, allowing the creature to come to a halt and pause for a long moment. Her fingers ensnared the sheet that shielded her from view tautly, her hand wavering with the vexation of anxious nerves that seemed to almost hum with electricity. No, no. It's daylight out, she would try to comfort herself, to stop the violent flashes of that horrible night. The innocent invitation that had almost turned her home into her tomb. A foolish assumption that had nearly cost her her life, a very painful lesson that certainly kept her from initially greeting the stranger, though tentatively narrowing that he was perhaps not one of the undead. She watched as he smoothly departed the back of the horse, and while her vision lingered upon him until he departed her line of sight, it did swiftly fly back to the stallion. She had only ever been close to the beasts when they traversed the street upon which she was a bystander. The sound of their hooves prancing as they drew carriages along the cobbled roads of Lavalles when she had lived in the city. In truth, it had been years since she had- He'd seen her! The thought ricocheted through her thoughts as she noticed too late that the man had made his way around the back of her little driftwood and ship debris cottage. Wholly unbeknownst to her that the sun had long given away her presence, her shadow stark against the sheet as she crouched next to the earth. She heard the faint growl, her eyes widening, her hands clasping over her lips to smother the gasp that threatened to depart her. It didn't stop there, however, as the sound of his footfalls crinkled the grass, and every fiber within her being was wound viciously tight, adrenaline begging her to run. Yet her fear slithered through her muscles, tense, but unmoving. "Please! I don't want any trouble!" Finally came her words, a breathless almost cry from her lips as she forced herself to rise, to nervously peak at the stranger from just barely above the clothesline. She had to brace herself, to be fleet to make it to the water's edge.

Jahi

The fear radiated from the woman. It tainted her aura, giving it a vibrant, electrifying hue. It caused him to squint slightly, her voice calling out that she didn’t want any trouble.

Great! He didn’t either.

But he could tell that he was frightening her. He raised his hands, showing her his palms. Eyes remained glued but his chin did tilt downward. He wanted to kneel, but then he would totally be defenseless, more vulnerable. So he kept upright, a gruff voice attempting to calm the situation.
"No trouble,"
But he took another step, curious as to why she was so afraid. Did the shirtless, rough looking man seem so terrible? Scars did litter his finely chiseled torso, his trousers did hang in tattered shreds. His hair needed a brushing, perhaps a good swim in a fresh water spring. But was he so scary? Ocean eyes looked down at his own body. Brows furrowed together, still unsure, but maybe she’d been through something traumatizing.
"Vali,”
One of his raised hands came to place on his bare chest, signaling that his name was Vali and by golly he meant no harm. Maybe human introductions would help. He still tried to put his brief -and previous- matron’s teachings into practice. His hand then swung and gestured to his steed.
"Codrin,"
Growling tones introduced his shire stallion, who was still rather distracted by seaweed and the salty water nearby.
"No trouble,"
He reiterated, nodding, and if he knew how to smile he might’ve. But in wolf language, showing teeth was aggressive, and so he didn’t. His matron used to smile, and it was a gesture of kindness or patience, or mercy. He wasn’t sure what she would take it as, and so he kept his visage with a rather neutral expression.

"No trouble," came the promise of roughly crafted words. His voice was a gravely tenor, whispering what seemed to be an awkward misuse of words. Though the vow was made, she could not help the hesitance that still lingered. Her white knuckle grip upon the sway and tremble of the line had loosened, allowing the pinned clothing to dance freely upon the light breath of the breeze. His hand pet against the breadth of his chest, one marred by the cruelties of the world and seeming to have taken the brunt of the sun's temperamental glower. "Vali,” he informed, and a slight smile would form her mouth. In truth, perhaps it was just the absence of most folk being around her, a lack of social skills that she had developed. An anxious sense that maybe she would misspeak, or offend him in some manner blending with the innate fear that swelled within her breast and paced her rabbit heart. Much to the dismay of her mother, she had never been the lion, only ever its prey. "Codrin," in hindsight, she probably ought not to have misplaced her stare to the horse at his introduction, but to her relief and to validate his former promise, he did not suddenly lunge towards her in the moment of distraction. "No trouble," he would repeat again. She sucked in a deep breath through parted lips, allowing her gentle beaming simper to flourish in full, hoping that he indeed would hold true to his word. She took the few steps around the billowing sheet slowly until she stood before him. Mirroring his introductions, she would raise a palm to softly touch the apron covering her chest, it and her simple dress following the lead of the gentle wind as he fanned the checkered skirts. "Naza" she introduced, before her empty hands would move to clasp one another behind her back as she abandoned her laundry basket for the moment. "A pleasure to meet you, Vali. Forgive my rudeness," she added, "I don't get many guests here."

Jahi

And just like that, things switched from total trepidation and hesitation to normalized introductions. But Vali was not remiss about it, he found it quite curious she was so frightened then took his word so easily. Her trust was easy to obtain. Luckily for this Naza, Vali wasn’t one to disrupt the trust once it was given, at least not intentionally. He could not smile well enough, so he tried to lighten his eyes as he watched her aura shift from the fear to the warm welcome she offered him. Naza went on to admit she never got many guests, and the lad could assume the guests she did happen to get weren’t so kind. He dipped his head in regards to that.
“Live in Vufrien, wolf.”
His large hand patted against his well defined chest again. But surely she could already smell that on him.
“Nice…to…meet,”
He attempted to mimic her good manners and go off of the little training he did receive from his brief matron. Why was he trying to uphold her teachings if she had abandoned him? It stung him, burned deeply within each fiber and the core of his heart and soul, but he tried to be light about all of it. Much too sad lately for violence, the kind of sort he usually flocked to. He winced as he realized his speech patterns were lacking compared to hers, but he felt that she wouldn’t hold judgement against him, so he continued as best as he could. Visibly struggling, he swallowed hard and finally let those ocean eyes fall to the soft ground beneath his bare feet.
“How…” a rough voice cut off abruptly, his mind racing, words hardly forming. So he just gestured with a hand toward her, hoping she would understand that he was trying to carry conversation, and ask how she was fairing. Well enough, for obvious reasons, but he was hoping his efforts would not be in vain.

He didn't speak much, but in some ways, he didn't have to. If there were things she knew well, it was the signs of aggression and violence. She had been surrounded by them ever since she could recall and while she assumed him more than capable of such things - based wholly on his appearance and the finely etched network of scars that littered the skin she could see - he didn't belie such intentions now. Maybe that's why it was easy enough to trust him. Maybe it was because he was still far enough away that she could race to the arms of the sea should he show the slightest shift. There it was, that ugly sensation and mistrust that had formed in recent times since her last unknown guest. “Live in Vufrien, wolf.” She would blink at that. A wolf? A slight hm would leave her. She'd never met a lycan before, and knowing that he was not someone bound to the undead served to relax her if but just a little more. Hopefully, he was less likely to try and eat her, though she had also heard tales that they often lost their minds and were feral creatures. In this way, she would believe the two sides simply one coin. "I'm..." She frowned slightly, her words tripping as to what she should call herself now. Recalling what she'd seen in her favorite story book as a child, she would once again brighten. "I'm a mermaid!" She would nod. She would listen to his rough articulation, once again taking in his ragged clothes and sun crafted skin. “How…” He would vaguely gesture at her and she would tilt her head, rocking back and forth slightly upon her heels as she mulled over what he meant. "I'm well. How are you?" She would hope she guessed right. "Would you like something to eat or drink? I have some tea and a few sweets, but besides that I'm afraid it's mostly seafood, if you're hungry." She offered, deciding to treat him as she would a visit from Fin or Naga, at least for now. Perhaps it would also help him some as well too, to ease any nerves he may have. "Oh..." She bit her lip in realization, fingers cupping her cheek gently, "I'm afraid I don't have any treats or anything for Codrin to eat."

Jahi