There was only so much that Unatsi could learn from staring at the fields alone—but, oddly enough, he was more confident than he had been. His spirit guide had pointed out that he was a quick learner when it came to remembering facts and processes, and while that had been useless in battle (knowing which moves disarmed an opponent was useless when your body failed to execute them), it would be a much greater asset in simply cultivating plants. He would need to learn all he could from others in the Tribe, including those who’d chosen the crops for this field, but he was nervously hopeful that he’d be able to piece it all together from their accounts.
The doe swiveled her ears suddenly, and the red wolf could feel his nerves bunching again. He twisted around too quickly, jerking his neck and releasing a hot pain up the side, under the skin. He rubbed the afflicted area, grimaced, twitched, and finally swung around the rest of the way to see an ash-colored wolf sprinkled with black. Above the wolf perched an eagle, which another luperci might have gawked at; the former Great Tribe member only took this in stride as a familiar sight, recognizing the spirit for what it was.
Udanvti pushed a flicker of thought at him, softly urging him to make introductions, and Unatsikanogeni awkwardly straightened his shoulders and walked toward the other AniWayan. His nerves came through in small things, such as fingers that fidgeted at his sides and a tail-tip that flickered like a trapped creature behind him, but it formed a greater impression of weakness that he was used to his old Tribesmates scoffing at—which only increased his nerves more. With the deer trailing placidly after him, however, he knew he couldn’t run and hide like he desired, and he made a tragic effort to smile.
“Osiyo,” Unatsi greeted, the Cherokee leaping instinctually to his tongue before he remembered that not every member here was versed in the culture. Quickly, he scrambled to amend himself. “Uh—that means ‘hello,’ which I guess you might’ve already picked up on, so never mind…” He fell into his rambling mode as usual, intimidated by the other’s vibrant green eyes. “I’m—I’m new, to this sect of the Tribe, I mean; I came from the old one. And I’m—my name’s Unatskanogeni, but you can call me Unatsi, or Una, or anything; I know it’s dreadfully long, longer than I can stand sometimes, so I won’t be offended if you had a nickname.”
And then, at last, he fell silent—although his thoughts continued to rush around his mind like a jackrabbit turning circles: such as whether he should ask “what’s your name” or “gadodetsa do,” or maybe even just shut up and wait for the other to say his name anyway, even though this silence was becoming dreadfully awkward.
Udanvti snorted in amusement behind him.
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