+3
Her early days in the feral northern wilderness had been wordless, with no communication other than a nudge or a whine needed to get a point across to her clingy sister and detached mother. When words were spoken, they were direly important: usually warnings, her name cracking through the air like a two-syllable whip whenever she ventured somewhere unsafe. Even then that crutch was deemed unnecessary as the blue-eyed sister grew more independent, enough that she knew what could kill her and often had the strength to survive it.
This simple communication in the present moment was not quite the same, as there was a great deal more to tell and more warmth behind each action. She did not love her family as much as she loved X’yrin; her family was given only the basest, instinctual love yet marred by her opinions of them now. This near-silence was a gift, a return to feral roots that Vesper had almost missed.
The golden woman understood her message and tilted her head back, crying out in honor and blessing. Coyote-large ears tilted shyly back against an angular skull as the hybrid listened, not used to being praised this way. No one had really wished her anything special before; she’d hoped only for her own survival over the seasons. Slowly, she shook her head in wonder: acknowledging again how far she had come from the raggedy loner who’d boldly chased ungulates across this mountain and openly mocked the ways of pack wolves and luperci.
Distracted by her musing, she failed to notice the blatant signs of her friend’s intentions until a large body connected with her shoulder. Vesper toppled off her stone pedestal with a yip, squirming quickly to regain her purchase on the cold earth. She twisted her slender body away, grinning, and leaped at X’y’s face—trying to lick up the side of her cheek before capturing one of her stout ears. There had been no true celebration in Inferni, only the weight of respect and responsibility, and the Nomad’s song was enough to send her spirits soaring.
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