<style>
#ulilohi {width:90%; margin:10px auto; border:0; font-family: arial, sans-serif;}
#ulilohi p {padding:0; text-indent:0;}
#ulilohi p.wc {text-align:right;}
</style>
Sorry for the wall-o-text, I hit a bump of inspiration, there.
They exchanged greetings, and Ulilohi found pleasure in listening to his accent: it was long since she had not been the only one to speak the language so fluently, and though she was quite used to hearing her own accented speech, it was refreshing to share it with someone. In the Great Tribe, she spoke mostly AniWayan, and she was sure of the same for Aranck. "I am well, thank you," she lied with a curtsy. Luckily, the conversation quickly moved on, and she bobbed her head in greeting towards the female standing quietly by. The Ajila family was not unknown to her, perhaps that was why she seemed vaguely familiar. His purpose was expressed in the same sentence, and Ulilohi was pleasantly surprised. Ears perking and with a sweeping gesture in the direction of the Village, she quickly asked for her new friends to accompany her back home. "There are available huts and food back at the Village." She said it simply. There was really no question about whether these two were welcome. "Which ranks did you hold in the Great Tribe, or seek to hold here?" They smelled of home, too.
Aranck brought news and Ulilohi at once ignited with interest. It was fortunate that Dawali had been given a justice that he could carry out with pride. Light labor in the fields was likely the type he would have preferred. She was certain that Chief Aatu had recognised the injustice it would have been to sentence Dawali to anything else; it was Maska who was the main culprit, and Dawali had been oppressed alongside the rest of the members of AniWaya. This, she felt with relief, but the other news darkened her face at once. "That is ill news, Aranck. He escaped en-route to home? What a vile creature he must be to flee from justice like that. I worry that these news might strike fear into the other tribesmembers here; it is perhaps best not to tell them of it." The councilwoman looked at the two with a face asking for their confirmation that they would keep silent about it. She did not enjoy keeping secrets, but it could be necessary, at least until they knew more of his whereabouts. When he asked his next question, Ulilohi was more than happy to shift the conversation's focus. "The wolves here are brought up different than the Great Tribe, but superficially things are mostly the same, though you will find that they are ingrained in the culture on various depths, and not as deeply as you are used to. The region is not conflict-free, either." Matteo's exile came to mind. "The different packs have different standards and morals, but nothing the Great Tribe has not seen before. Things are mostly peaceful here in the southern regions, now that Maska has been removed." After coming here, it was hard to understand how Maska had found the neighboring packs dangerous. Savina and Vigilante had been nothing but courteous to her since her arrival, despite her obviously lower place in the hierarchy between them.
#513