He knew she didn't get along with her family, but he never knew quite what to say about it. His own parents had been loving, if a little distant, but they had both been dead for years now. He and his sisters argued and fought sometimes, but they were still close and he couldn't imagine life without them, or being on bad terms with any of them for more than a few days. He cleared his throat awkwardly, but luckily Caido saved him from having to come up with some impractical platitudes in the moment.
He caught the scent the same time Alys did, and the courier straightened imperceptibly as survival instincts kicked in. He hadn't spent six years of solo runs on the Tundra without having good instincts when it came to danger, and the last several years had only honed them sharper. Alys was in the lead on this adventure, but Tal ghosted close behind her, boots silent over the crust of the snow.
Red. White. White on white. And the familiar musk of the great tusked bears of Halo. Pale eyes swept the clearing as Boreal's instincts bled into his own, the dragon perched in one of the metal trees above him and overlooking the clearing. Blood: overwhelming and fresh, burning copper in their shared sinuses. Fur: each strand picked out in uncanny clarity by the dragon's superior vision, ruffling slightly in a light breeze. Creaking: of footsteps on snow, too light to break the crust but deafeningly loud in scaly ears when all also around them was silence.
Alys, stepping out into the open to approach the motionless creature.
Tal shook off the intoxicating sharing of senses and began to pace around the outside of the clearing, intending to get around to the other side of the beast. Ursur weren't known for laying traps, so it was probably safe, but just in case Boreal was crouched and ready to streak down upon anything that lurched towards Alys without warning.
He caught the scent the same time Alys did, and the courier straightened imperceptibly as survival instincts kicked in. He hadn't spent six years of solo runs on the Tundra without having good instincts when it came to danger, and the last several years had only honed them sharper. Alys was in the lead on this adventure, but Tal ghosted close behind her, boots silent over the crust of the snow.
Red. White. White on white. And the familiar musk of the great tusked bears of Halo. Pale eyes swept the clearing as Boreal's instincts bled into his own, the dragon perched in one of the metal trees above him and overlooking the clearing. Blood: overwhelming and fresh, burning copper in their shared sinuses. Fur: each strand picked out in uncanny clarity by the dragon's superior vision, ruffling slightly in a light breeze. Creaking: of footsteps on snow, too light to break the crust but deafeningly loud in scaly ears when all also around them was silence.
Alys, stepping out into the open to approach the motionless creature.
Tal shook off the intoxicating sharing of senses and began to pace around the outside of the clearing, intending to get around to the other side of the beast. Ursur weren't known for laying traps, so it was probably safe, but just in case Boreal was crouched and ready to streak down upon anything that lurched towards Alys without warning.
