[Tuesday]

Positive she could hear the officer chuckling at her misfortune of multiple sneezes, she scrunched up her nose and looked at him in frustration. Out of all the wolves to be stuck with it had to be him, as he had been watching her since she was claimed by Ink so long ago. Never would the dark creature speak to her, he would only ever bite at her if she stepped a paw out of line. Thankfully those instances had been few in count, but just sitting around was so boring. The brindle girl hated to stay in once place for long, and despised trying to get the guard to listen to her even more so.
 
He took pleasure in watching her fumble over herself as she would try to tell them that she needed a drink. This time though, she would try and search out Valefor’s scent; just because she hadn’t smelled him around Ink’s place, didn’t mean that the other didn’t walk other places. She walked with her head and tail lowered, as customary for someone of her low social standing, didn’t want to wander with too much confidence, that could be taken wrongly.
 
The cold air that descended upon the valley a reminder of the coming snow, for the ground was already hardening. Twitching her ear, Tuesday tried to pretend that the closely following guard wasn’t staring at her the entire time, he was a tad creepy for her tastes, but she didn’t have the power to tell him to bugger off.
 
She stopped for a moment as wind danced along her curly fur, enjoying the feeling of just being alive. While being at the bottom of the food chain, she had made a promise to make a name for herself, and she would do her best to see that come to fruition.

[Crux]

CRUX

thorn in your side

It was only a week past when the officer known as Garrison had snapped him up and swept him into his house. That had been the last day he'd seen his betrothed, which in itself was nothing new. She'd vanished during the War and had resumed her observation of him with a vengeance. Somehow, though, he felt that this time it was different. He had wanted to find her to tell her the good news, that he had been claimed by a new house... but she was nowhere.

So he went on with his life, sure that one day he would see her again and be able to tell her all that had happened. His confidence was misguided.

Today, he was near the Pitts, highly aware that his bonder was an Officer and that was indeed the track he wanted to follow, at least for now. The boy walked, ears pricked and eyes scanning as he caught sight of a stranger, among the chill of winter. He looked at her pelt first, observing the colours of browns that grew in streaks along her sides.  Her face was dark and she had bright patches on her chest and tail.

He'd never seen her before, so he walked towards her. He recognized that the guard was present and gave him an amicable nod, before turning his fiery eyes to the slave. Tell me about yourself, he began, cautious that too friendly a greeting would come off as heretic to the guard and whomever else might approach. How did you come to be here? Here, of all places? Her rank was clear, but her purpose was not.

[Tuesday]

With the appearance of the newcomer, Tuesday faced towards him with the respect due, but shot a questioning glance to the guard. Upon seeing the smirk on his face, he was going to let this little introduction continue, perhaps relishing in the idea of watching her fumble over herself again. That seemed to be the only thing he got out of her company. Turning her gaze back towards the white and blue wolf, she nodded to acknowledge his question, raising a paw to gently touch her throat, and with a flustered shake of her head accompanied with a short whine she hoped to convey that she could not speak.

Although she probably should have been used to telling others this, it was the principle of playing this never-ending game of charades, she had no one to speak for her, and with every gesture she could only hope that they understood, and didn’t take her motions as insubordination. Indeed, there were possibly a handful of others who knew she was mute, and an even greater number whom did not. Tuesday shot a quick glance at the scenery around her, a thoughtful hum rumbling in her chest. Losing her moment of self-consciousness, she came up with an idea.

With one paw she drew a line in the dirt to signify the border, placing indents on one side, it was the maze. Walking a couple feet away, she picked up two stones, one for her, and one for Valefor, and placed them in their respective zones. She cared little with how odd it must be to see her do this, but it was the only way that she could think of to demonstrate her odd circumstances. Hopping to the side of the line with the maze, she pointed at one stone, and then to herself “This is me.”  Then she pretended to look beyond it, hopefully displaying the curiosity she had at that time.

The hopped to the other side and pointed at the stone she had, “Valefor.” Tuesday stood a tad straighter for him, and walked in place for a short moment before stopping. She pointed to the open air, and opened her mouth to pretend to talk, before giving the expression like she had been struck with an idea. Tuesday stepped forward over the line she had made earlier, before opening her mouth to snap at the open air to grab at her imaginary representation, and then proceeding to act like she was dragging along her poor unsuspecting self past the borders and into the land that she now lived.

At the end of her little performance, if uninterrupted, she would turn and gave him a sheepish smile, hoping to whatever gods there possibly could be that he understood. Otherwise, this was about to get rather awkward very fast.

[Crux]

CRUX

thorn in your side

The slave looked at her guard, who smirked at her, then she returned her gaze to the youngling. He focused on her as she brought a paw up to her throat and shook her head - she couldn't speak. He gave a nod, understanding, before looking to the guard - What is her name? Regardless of whether the guard answered him or not, he would return his attention to the mute girl, curious about what she was going to do. She was looking about her, humming and rumbling to herself as she clearly was thinking of what to do.

Then began the act.

She drew a line in the earth and brought stones, likely to symbolize something. After a moment, he understood that the stones were meant to be wolves, something that was solidified by her game of charades as she indicated to rock and to self and then rock and to self but with posture changed. While he had no way of telling who she was referring to, he understood that it was a wolf of the Valley just by the way she was acting. He approved, watching as she pretended to speak and then made an expression that would have made him giggle had he been younger. As it was, he smiled slightly, amused.

He watched as she continued her story, crossing the line that he understood as the border, and acted out the action of the enslaving. It was all very interesting, as he'd never been near the border and hadn't any clue about the difference between an enslaving and an acceptance. What was the factor that swapped one to the other? Was it the physical attributes of the stranger? Perhaps they took in weaker wolves as slaves because they would not be worth much as fighters until they were trained. Was it their personalities? She didn't seem all too hostile, so perhaps the meeker the wolf, the more likely to be taken in like this. When she stopped and looked at him with her sheepish smile, he returned it with a smile of his own.

He considered her for a long moment before continuing with his questioning, giving plenty of time between questions for her to react. Did your slaver make you mute? If she shook her head, he would follow up with, or were you born mute? If she also indicated a no to that, he would raise his brows, wondering if she would act it out. Nevertheless, he would continue. Has anyone told you about the gods? He was sure they had, someone somewhere, but he was curious. Perhaps they thought a mute would not be able to understand or be worthwhile, but who knew. Maybe she was a snake of a tactician hiding under that sheepish smile.

Besides, he knew his moms would be pleased to know he'd asked. Regardless that he had no plans at all to become a priest, he found himself doing what a priest might.

[Tuesday]

”What is her name?”

The stranger had asked, and the guard merely shrugged his shoulders. No one really knew what her name was, most of the guards had just referred to her as "you" or some other version of barely acknowledging her existence.  

When she had completed her awkward charade, he returned her shyness with a smile. This was progress, he understood her! Or at least an idea of what she was trying to get across.

”Did your slaver make you mute?”

Tuesday shook her head fast, no! Valefor had never taken such aggressive acts towards her person. In fact, aside from the brief dragging across the borders, he had been quite gentle with her. He always displayed patience with her, even if he had no idea what she tried to communicate.

Then he had asked if she was born that way, with a low whine she nodded her head as she sat. It truly was the base of her frustrations, but she had made do so far, she would continue to do so. Thankfully she had only met others who had been patient in the face of her silence, from the way the slave guards had acted when the bridle wolf had arrived, she was certain the rest of the pack acted the same way. Maybe they did, but it didn’t appear all of them worked the same way, and this could work in her favor.

”Has anyone ever told you about the gods?”

Tuesday pursed her lips and furrowed her brow in thought, she certainly had been here long enough, but she couldn’t recall a time where she had been sat down and expressly told about the culture that she had been dragged into. Brief words sure, but not an in-depth explanation. Maybe she just wasn’t in a position to be told about these things yet.

Making eye contact once more she shook her head again, to indicate that no, no one has. And once again she felt like she had failed, she hadn’t sought out the knowledge of this strange place. But hope was rising in her chest, perhaps this was a perfect opportunity to learn. She had a promise to fulfill.