words: 419
I've got soul but I'm not a soldier
If not for her one eye of silver-steel, she might as well be Aniketos... The thought of his younger cousin made him smile, albeit sadly. When he had run away from his home as an adolescent, he had to leave his relative behind as well, despite their sibling-like relationship. Seeing the bonds of family all across this land sometimes made him miss her, wonder if she had succeeded in running away as well, mused whether she had settled down or if she was as strong-willed as she used to be when they were young together. Well. It wasn't fair to compare young Catalyst to his Ani, resemblances notwithstanding. The ghosts of one's past might never catch up to the present again...
"Heh heheh, were you trying to eat flowers? That's rabbit food," he chuckled in amusement. Her crinkled expression was filled with such disdain for the colourful petals she had stamped into the ground. He was in a fine mood, after hearing her greet him with his own language. He had no intention of erasing their foreign heritage, but it was difficult to stand about as an outsider listening to the siblings chattering away in German. There was no way to determine who started which fight, or who said what insult, or any of the other moderating that good parents were supposed to handle. They needed an interpreter, not a pupsitter... "You should be careful around all these flowers, though - you might meet a honeybee!" It was no real concern that she was squishing the offending plant, but he smiled and poked his nose towards one of the bumbling insects buzzing past him. The fuzzy yellow bee had been attracted by the petals, but he did not want the white pup to get stung.
She seemed to light up with an inquisitive energy at the mention of food. At first he thought she might still be hungry, but he realized with no small amount of pride that it was the word itself she was curious about. "Grapes? Grapes are food, they're fruit! They grow out here on these vines... Do you know any kinds of fruit? Apples, raspberries, blueberries...?" The more vocabulary he covered, the more likely Catalyst might know some of them. Perhaps he had odd tastes for a wolf, but Slay liked sampling the colourful berries, as well as his favourite prey, fish. As the Head Hunter, he had to snag a lot of rabbits and deer, but springtime meant he could go fishing again...! Joy!
