Set near Hanna's cabin in Ethereal Eclipse. "Hanna speaks."
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What was happening to her? Hanna's emotions had been so out of whack these past few weeks. Nothing was quite as it should be, nothing quite fit into place, and it irked the female to no end. So she did the only thing that seemed to taste of normal: traveling. She had returned to her cabin after touring Phoenix Valley with her nephew, whom she'd not seen in a couple years now. That was the most recent of the things "ailing" her.
She took stock as she looked around for a rock to pound the note she'd made into the door. She'd figured that Svara couldn't read, and she didn't want to go the opposite direction to tell her personally, so she'd merely marked an arrow pointing southwest on a paper, hoping the pup would understand that.
So. First she'd made an ass of herself in front of her pupil, who'd made the situation worse by ridiculing her. Then she'd gone and told the man she loved -- yes, loved! -- that this was the case, knowing full well that he was already mated, to her ex-leader, no less. Who she'd then gone to next to confess to her. The happenings swirled around in her mind, and she missed the nail, striking her finger instead. A string of rarely-used expletives flowed from her mouth until she stuck her thumb in it, sucking on the injured finger. Ugh. Drama.
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Things were going so smoothly for him. Lubomir couldn't quite understand his luck. He had a mate he was crazy about, a position in the pack which allowed him to be what he most desired to be, a mediator and a pacifist; finally, he'd started serious work on the Wolfville Library and was hoping to open it to the wolves of Dahlia come April. An ambitious plan, really, but completely worth it, as he would love nothing more than to see the looks on their faces. Today the cold bit more than he remembered, probably because he'd become so used to spending time in the warm building, but he needed to stretch his legs a bit.
The grey male had thought about visiting Crimson Dreams again. He missed Savina and Simon had amused him enough that he thought he'd like to find out more about the pack as a whole. He could never consider leaving Dahlia. It wasn't just Mew that kept him there, but also his devotion to the place which had taken him in indiscriminately when he'd been cold, weak and nearly dying. He was making his way through the forests of Ethereal Eclipse when the noise caught his attention. He'd never known that there was anyone living here.
Following the sound of the swearing, Lubomir came to a small cabin. Obviously inhabited. His nose told him very little about the inhabitant. Who in the world lived here? It was close enough to Dahlia, so why not join the pack? Coming closer, he called out, "Is anyone here? Hello?" It wouldn't make much of a difference to a hostile wolf, but perhaps Lubomir had chanced upon a peaceful one.
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I am eternally sorry for the wait.
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When she heard the male voice call out, her heart skipped a beat for a moment. Then she realized that it could not be Slay; he'd already told her that she was just a friend, and, since hers was the only cabin she'd stumbled on so far in the immediate area, he'd know she was there. The swearing ceased completely, the heat rising to Hanna's cheeks, and she stepped down off the porch, tossing the rock to one side. She followed the voice around the house coming face to face with a grey colored male.
She nodded her head in greeting and, putting the pain aside, spoke out loud to him. "Hello. Can I help you?" He smelled of Dahlia, now she was closer to him and could smell him, and since Dahlia had no formal medic, perhaps he'd been sent to her by someone of the pack. If not, she'd invite him in and visit with him for a bit, and perhaps eat a bit of lunch with him, if he had time to chat.
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Lubomir had not expected the cabin to be inhabited, for all that the place clearly smelled of wolf. When the female emerged, he gave her a wide smile. She didn't seem to carry any one particular scent, though he caught faint whiffs of Dahlia on her. He wondered if she'd been a former member of the pack. With their numbers growing so much since he'd returned, it was hard to tell if he'd seen her around or not. Perhaps she was only there for a few days? Or maybe she had relatives in the pack and often came to see them. Whatever the reason, he could find no motive to be rude or inconsiderate. "I apologise for trespassing on your property, my lady. I was merely walking around. My name is Lubomir, I'm from Dahlia. May I enquire as to who you are?"
The grey male looked around. It seemed like a nice place to live. Good for meditation and certainly a welcome retreat from the hustle and bustle of the pack. He could spend some time with her, see what she did. He wasn't really needed in the pack right now, otherwise he would feel as though he were neglecting his duties, something which he did not want to do. The last thing in the world right now would be to come across as someone who had risen to this position simply through his mateship to Mew. That would not only be preposterous, it would also be somewhat insulting. Lubomir never wanted anything but love from his mate. Her position, his, they were ephemeral things.
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Okay. I'm back now, and can get my rump in gear. This rambled just a bit. And was just a little unreasonable time-wise. But that's okay. 
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The male was very polite as he studied her cabin, and apologized for trespassing. He identified himself as Lubomir, and was, as she'd thought, a Dahlian member. He also inadvertently showed her that he was not in need of her medical help, and so she stowed the 'professional' stance and relaxed into a more friendly one. "It's good to meet you, Lubomir. My name's Hanna. I used to be a Dahlia member myself. She frowned as her stomach rumbled loudly. Excuse me for a moment."
She looked back toward the cabin, just in time to see Tobias launch himself from the window. He swooped up to perch on a branch above them, eyeing the new person, and then took off again after a few moments of burbling from Hanna. To Lubomir's eye (unless, of course, he knew Low Speech) it would appear that nothing special had occurred between Hanna and the red-tailed hawk. She had, however, requested he please find a pair of hares or something for her to prepare for lunch.
Inside of 10 minutes, the hawk had returned with a fat pair of rabbits clutched in his talons. He dropped them at Hanna's feet, then circled around to find his own meal. She picked them up, and then smiled at Lubomir. Shall we go inside? I'll fix lunch, and we can talk.
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OOC: Endless sorry for the delay here D:
She seemed to relax a little once he introduced himself and a smile settled on his face. It came as somewhat of a surprise when she said that she, too, had once been part of Dahlia. Why had she left? Something between her and Haku? That seemed much more plausible than a fight between her and Cercelee. The Rosea could do no wrong, as far as Lubomir was concerned. She was a nice, caring woman who loved every single member of her pack. Haku, on the other hand... "It's a pleasure to meet you, Hanna. I am always pleased to meet such amazing women. If you don't mind my forwardness, why did you leave Dahlia? Didn't you like it there?"
Lubomir was surprised to see her and the hawk. She made some strange noises which he could not understand and for a moment panicked, thinking she had some kind of a seizure. But within minutes the hawk was back, carrying rabbits and Hanna was inviting him in to have lunch. She could... no! It was unheard of. Sure, some claimed the Low Speech but Lubomir had never actually seen it in action. How fascinating! This was certainly something completely unexpected and Lubomir was more than intrigued. He wanted to know with a savage kind of hunger. "Thank you, I would love to enjoy a meal with you. Tell me, lady Hanna, you can speak Low Speech?" There was a glint of hunger in his yellow eyes, one he struggled to hide as he stepped inside.
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It's quite alright, did you have funnnz? PS: If Emwe and Conor existed in this thread... she doesn't know about them, lol.
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Hanna smiled at the compliment, thinking for a moment on how best to answer the first question she'd been asked. "I left Dahlia because it was feeling altogether too cramped for my liking. Not," she clarified, "because of too many members, but because I have alot of family in that pack. I was one of the founding five, along with Colibri Soul, Cercelee, Slay, and Mew Sadira. Colibri was Mew's mother.. and my sister. Haku is my nephew, and Mew my niece. Who knows if there's since been any additions to the family?"
Hanna turned toward the door, figuring Lubomir would follow, and drew one of her knives, making a clean slice at each rabbit's throat, down the belly to the tail, and at each elbow and thigh to skin it. Her ears showed she was listening to him, and once she'd stopped, she pulled the skins from the rabbit and then addressed him again: "Would you prefer your meat cooked, or raw, my friend?" She'd eat hers the way he chose to eat his, and to preserve the cleanliness of her cabin, if they were going to eat raw they'd best have a picnic.
He asked about the Low Speech she'd used, or rather, seemed amazed that she knew it. This Lubomir was a learnéd fellow, it seemed, for she'd barely known about Low Speech before Pilot had taught her. The occasion brought a fond smile to her lips. "Yes, I know Low Speech, though I'm constantly learning from Tobias, the hawk you saw. I found Tobias while traveling through the old Shadowed Sun territory, with a broken wing. After being spoken to by Pilot Haddon, Toby allowed me to bind his wing, and he's stuck close to me ever since. Luna only knows why.. he's obviously strong enough to make his own way in the world.
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OOC: Berlin was awesome and as always, it's great to go home And now back to the slushy pile of threads requiring delayed replies DD: 400+
Lubomir listened and it occurred to him that he knew next to nothing of the pack life. How had Dahlia come to be? He'd never asked Cercelee or Mew about it, simply taking it in stride. He'd been with Shadowed Sun since the beginning and had seen it through to its untimely demise. He could no longer see himself as part of that pack, for all the respect he still carried for Tayui and Pilot. They had been mentors to him and Skoll would forever be a part of him, but those times were long gone. Dahlia seemed a lot more like a family. It was a concept that Lubomir was not unfamiliar with, considering the kind of pack he had grown up in. But to find out just how inter-related everyone in Dahlia was was a bit of a shock. He'd hardly considered the pack to be such a close family, considering how different Haku and Mew were. "That would depend a lot on how you define family, I guess. I'm mated to Mew now." His words felt strange and he lowered his gaze, almost ashamed to admit it.
He watched her deftly skin the rabbit, a skill he had yet to properly acquire. She asked about his preferred choice of meat and his memory jumped back to the time he had spent with Bane. While he normally had raw meat, to remind himself of his animal side, there were times like this when he enjoyed pretending to be something somewhat more sophisticated. "I think cooked would be appropriate, but do let me know what you would like yourself." If there was one thing that he hated, it was being in the way of others.
Her explanation of Low Speech made him look towards the hawk again. Pilot had taught her, back in the days of Shadowed Sun. How long ago had all that been? Too long, it seemed. Far too long. Lubomir shook his head. There were times like this when he wished he could go back to his old life. "Life is all about learning. Or it was to me. That was why I joined Shadowed Sun. They gave me a chance to do that, to get over my old life. But that was not to be, it seems. I wasn't aware that you were ever in Shadowed Sun and I must apologise for this. I had become too engrossed in myself." The grey wolf shook his head again. "Please accept my most humble apologies, lady."
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Practiced fingers scooped out the entrails of the rabbits, still standing there outside the house. When Lubomir announced his mateship to Mew, Hanna very nearly clapped him on the back before looking down at her hands. They were more than a little bit messy, so she turned the motion into a thumbs up, giggling, "Congratulations, Lubomir. Welcome to the family. There are no doubts in my mind you'll be good to Mew." She grinned genuinely at him. Cramped she might have felt, but her family was still family, no matter whether by blood or otherwise.
Nodding at his choice of cooked meat, Hanna turned toward the door, this time climbing the steps to enter the doorway, taking the rabbits to the sink. It was a miracle that the water still ran, but it was definitely a help to her. The dark femme washed her bloodied hands, then turned to start a fire going with her flint and freshly-cleaned knife, the sparks catching within a few strikes. As the newborn flame began to eat at the small twigs, she turned away to find her satchel, moving about the little cabin as one familiar with their dwelling does, pulling a chair from the table out for Lubomir to sit upon if he wished. She found her cooking herbs and took them to the counter, and began washing the blood away from the meat. She then patted the meat with the herbs and spitted it to hang above the fire to roast, cleaned her hands, and went to sit at the table.
As she worked, she'd been listening to Lubomir as he spoke of his time in Shadowed Sun, sitting as he concluded with an apology. "Life is about learning, you're right on the mark with that. But there's no need for an apology. I was never a member of Shadowed Sun. I knew Pilot from the old lands; in fact, I inked the Storm tattoo on his wrist. I'd gone to the pack lands because I'd heard of the library and wanted to check it out. I visited perhaps twice.." Now her hands were clean, Hanna clasped his shoulder gently, then got up to turn the meat so it would cook evenly.
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OOC: 400+
For all his usual stoic attitude and rather calm approach to life, Lubomir had to find himself blushing when Hanna welcomed him to the family. It had been a long time since he'd heard the title and longer than it really needed to be. He couldn't yet think of it in those terms himself, but that was because he seemed to be so old-fashioned. He preferred to receive the blessing from high ranking family members, like Hanna herself, before he thought of it in those terms. He wondered what his mate would think of him if he decided to act in this manner. She might giggle and be surprised. "Thank you, my lady. I hope to make Mew as happy as possible. She has long been my friend and companion and in my mind, there is no doubt that I have made the right choice. For her and for myself." It was just like him, too, to put her above his own needs.
He watched her prepare the meat with an odd sort of curiosity, for he had never seen anyone take such great pride in it. He himself did not much care for it and his meeting with the wolf Bane had only served to consolidate this idea in his mind. Meat was good raw or cooked and really, to Lubomir it mattered little just how much time was spent on something like this. Still, he had to give credit where it was due and she certainly knew what she was doing. Soon, the rabbit was cooking and the smell of meat and herbs would fill the cabin and the male's nostrils, accentuating his hunger.
Lubomir felt better when she explained that her connection to Pilot had little to do with the Shadowed Sun pack and more to do with a friendship between the two. "You are an artist, then," he pointed out matter of factly. He had never himself thought about getting a tattoo, although now she mentioned inking one for Pilot, he thought that perhaps it would not be such a bad idea. He had read a little bit on tribal arts and it seemed like a ritual of passing. "So if I would ask for one, would you do it for me? I cannot say it is something I have thought about for very long, mostly because of my solitary nature. Ever since I left the Old Country, I have only belonged to two packs: Tayui and Pilot's and Dahlia de Mai. So really, if I were to get one, it would be something that connects me to both packs but also to my own self. Something like the dahlia flower and the word for knowledge in my native tongue. What do you think, Hanna? " It was perhaps a more personal question than most, but he was genuinely curious. It might amount to nothing, but there had never been any harm in trying, had there?
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