WC:: 584 - 29/06/12. Just outside Jordheim. Optime form. Ciarans about!

Niernans little scouting trip hadn't kept him away from the pack for too long, but it seemed that in the time he had been gone there had been an influx of joiners and he was sorely behind when it came to greetings and getting to know his pack. He was trying to remedy that, but it seemed that, just like before, he was constantly distracted by something new. He thought back to the meeting he had had with the dark stranger, Toby, at the borders of the pack. That interaction had also come on a day when he had only thought of meeting new pack members, but after then he had gone scouting, returning with a few tidbits for Saul, Lilin, Coli and a few others. So it wasn't strange that he was now wandering through the woods around Jordheim, not sure if he should re-enter the village or if he should explore the woods a little more.

The familiar weight of his large breed cat brought him back to the waking world as Ciaran thudded onto his shoulders. In the month that had just flown by the Maine coon hybrid, now 9 months old, had grown exponentially. His fur had lengthened and his lanky kitten body was filling out. He thought back to his and Colibri's chat about his fuzzy companion, he looked at the dark tabby cat and raised his eyebrows at how accurate her guess of 'Bobcat like' had been. Yes, the tomcat was going to be very close to that size, just not so bulky and with more of a tail. He hefted the cat off of his shoulders and into his large, calloused hand-paws. He chucked the cat away playfully, Oooof. Odin's eye-patch Ciaran, you're getting heavy! His Irish accent clashing slightly with the Norse curse, but Nier was getting used to his new beliefs and the phrase's that one could make up.

Ciaran looked playfully offended, his own Irish High speech lilting into the air between them I'll have you know that I have lost weight, you big bully! Niernan laughed loudly, the black and tan man throwing back his head and raising his muddy coloured muzzle to the sky. His laughter, and Cirans purring variant, echoed through the trees. He was sure someone would have heard that, not that laughter was foreign to Vinattans, not with himself and Bran around to spread the joy. With the thought on joy he sidetracked himself again, his mind wandering to the enticing golden female that he had met not long ago. It had seemed ages since he had seen Grace, the last time being when he had returned the injured Turnip. He was still distracting himself with thoughts of his crush when a pungent, catty smell assaulted his nose. He knew instinctively that it wasn't Ciaran. He had become attuned to his cats scent, especially after the time Ciaran had run away. This was new and it made his hackles raise. He had not been informed of any other pack members who owned a cat, but then he hadn't really seen anyone since his return.

He moved forward warily, knowing that this strange feline could be anybody. He knew that Lynx and Bobcat sometimes came out this far, but he hadn't known any to approach Jordheim. He also wasn't sure what he would do if he did find a strange cat... Could he 'dispose' of it. He doubted it, he was much too soft when it came to cats. Nevertheless, he stalked forwards.

WC:: 344 -Excitable Nier is Excitable!

It seemed that he had wandered close to one of the border houses of Jordheim, the catty smell mingling with two unfamiliar but Vinattan tinged canine scents. He straightened and shook out his shoulders, relaxing a little, figuring that the cat smell would be tied up with them and they could explain. It was then that a soft and female voice caught his attention. His ears stood erect and swivelled in the direction of the voice. His mind automatically flicked to Grace, even though he knew the timbre of her voice, and was confident that it wasn't her, it seemed he couldn't stop thinking of her. He realised then that he had obsessive stalker potential. He shook himself again and stepped forwards, replying to the soft call. "Hello. Sorry for intruding."

He continued to move forwards slowly, cyan eyes scanning for the owner of the voice. They fell upon a dark furred female, and they automatically scanned her form. He was not being a lecher, as much as it may look that way, but only scanning for the Frithr necklace that all Vinattans were given upon joining the pack. He fingered his own carved symbol, the little hammer of Thor worn smooth on one side already from his habit of fiddling with it. It clicked against his otter charm, reminding him of what he was doing. He inclined his head politely, "Forgive my poor manners. I am Niernan Stormbringer, Saul and Lilin are my cousins. I am a Hollr within the pack." It was then that he spotted the wooden hammer charm hanging from her belt. He grinned broadly, "It's nice to finally meet other pack members. I have been away a short while and have missed all the fun." He explained.

A meow from the region of his footpaws made him glance downwards. He scooped Ciaran up and placed him around his broad shoulders in his usual perch. The Stormbringer looked into the females green eyes for a brief moment, before respectfully flicking them just to the side, "This is Ciaran. My trusty feline companion."

WC:: 311 - bloooooooooooop!

Niers eyes darted to and fixed on the Lynx, now identified as Omitil. She was a rather pretty little lynx, and Nier knew he was staring. He couldn't help it, being just a wee bit obsessed with felines, "A pleasure to meet you Nahyt." He gave the dark female a friendly smile, before crouching and mewling a greeting to Omitil in Low Speech, his experiences and lessons with Ciaran apparently paying off.

He straightened again, longing to pet the pretty Lynx, but not wishing to be rude. "I would be honoured to go with you. It may give me the chance to meet, even see, some of our other newcomers." He moved aside, allowing Nahyt to proceed. Nier was usually one to make small talk and get to know others, but for some reason his brief time away from the pack and his lack of knowledge about the new members had made him shy. He struggled to find suitable conversation topics, running through many in his mind and discarding all of them. He was becoming increasingly aware of the awkward silence between them as they strolled towards the village centre.

Ciaran leaped from Niernans shoulders, landing with a light thud on the loamy floor of the forest. The dark tabby padded over to Omitil, obviously hoping to befriend the Lynx queen. Nier smiled at Ciaran, proud of his companion. His mind finally fixed on a topic then, one of the things they had in common. "You said you live with your brother? You must be close." He glanced over at her, "My brother lives in the pack too. Bran and I used to share a hut, but we have separate homes now." He waited for her response, unsure of where this strain of conversation would take them. He thought that if the brother chat failed he could try and talk about the cats.

WC:: 380 - Daft Niernan!

The dark furred female had a steady pace, her bag now tied off to her belt, leaving her hand-paws free to draw out a slightly crumpled piece of paper and a pencil from a pocket. She seemed a little distracted as Niernan babbled on, and he became aware that Nahyt was not the type for idle chit chat. He let his lips pull into a wry smile; it seemed just his luck to always encounter the canines that favoured silence over speech. He was aware he was chatty and over-friendly, it was part of his joker personality, but he could easily fall into the minimalistic approach if needed. It was also evident that the brother conversation had failed as she was now more immersed in her map than anything.

He happily remained silent, watching the cats socialise, Ciaran much more confident than Omitl. Ironic really, as Omitl could probably easily take Ciaran out with one swipe. The dark tabby Maine coon seemed to be rather taken with Omitl and they had struck up a quiet and somewhat tentative conversation in their own, feline language. Nier didn't know enough and wasn't that fluent to follow everything passing between them, not that he was prying at all.

He looked up as Nahyt asked him a question concerning her map. He furrowed his dark brow for a moment, bringing his long fingers up to his chin where they found his short goatee. He 'hmmmed' quietly, looking from the sketch to the hillock. He nodded once, "I think an issue of size." He pointed to the tree that stood next to the house, "You see how the branches overhang the house, but shield the trunk at the same time? Yeah, it's deceptive. The tree is closer to the house in real life than there." He said, pointing to the sketch. He raised his eyes to hers, hoping he hadn't offended her. "So, uh. I think if you make the house on the map bigger it'll be in proportion." He finished.

He shrugged then, "I dunno if that makes sense, I'm no artist, I'm more Scout than anything." He said quietly. Realising that despite his resolve to fall quiet he had still chatted away like he had something worthwhile to say. He mentally smacked himself over his slip.

WC::153 - Lordy, these posts are getting crapper!

Cerulean eyes watched with interest as the dark furred woman sat on the floor, paper rolled out before her, pencil flying across the white surface, sketching out a new map. He was fascinated by her skill, he had never deemed himself much of an artist, despite others, even his brother, telling him how good his wildlife sketches were, but he recognised skill in this girl. His eyes followed the traceries of lines, glancing up every now and then to look at the area in question. After she re-lined the map and held it up he nodded, "Much better." He rumbled.

Her attention switched to the cats then, she commented on the friendliness of the felines and Nier smiled, it seemed Ciaran's easy going nature had won over the skittish lynx. "That's good. It'll be great for Ciaran to have a feline companion, he's only ever met one cat before and that was very briefly."