ᴜsᴇʀɴᴀᴍᴇ: ʜᴜɴᴛsᴍᴀɴ (VIDEO)

[dishearten]

( graham doesn't like using the video feature much, so mostly he avoids it. people might recognize his username, though, he hasn't been silent on the network that connects members of ALISTAIR. in fact now that he's a fugitive he has a bit too much time to flip through messages, though that's neither here nor there.

still, the fact he's using it means he does so with a purpose. after Sakura encountered him in the woods, he doesn't see a better way to get his message to everyone that needs to hear it. hopefully the townsfolk themselves will just stay away, and his brother is clever enough to stay clear of people that might hurt him. he's smart and wary of humans, it doesn't seem impossible he'll manage on it's own. it just feels dangerous to leave him out on his own without trying to assure people the wolf is not a threat. )

A friend of mine came from home. I hear that happens on occasion.

( Graham tilts his pendant enough to capture the wolf in the feed, just long enough for the details to be picked up. a vibrant red eye, white and gray fur. a little too friendly with a human, one could argue, as the wolf is looking up at him with an open-mouth grin, much like a dog. )

He's not a threat to humans. He'll more than likely run if you get too close to him, but all the same. If you see him, don't hurt him. He won't hurt you unless you threaten him.

( the wolf still has instincts enough that he will fight if he feels he has to for survival. being so close to a human has tempered many of his wilder instincts, yet the wolf is still and will always be a wolf. )

If you hurt him despite this message I promise you'll regret it.

( there's a steel edge to that threat that is very sincere. Graham was a better man than the Hunstman ever claimed to boast, and the wolf is about all the family he's ever had. if someone is bold enough to try and harm him (or worse), they'll have a dedicated hunter after them, and a ruthless one at that.

with that the video feed closes. if there are questions, they'll likely be answered via text. )

Comments

[dishearten]

( he has some understanding of that, though Graham is not keen to admit it. he's fictional, according to many people, and the story isn't even right as far as common understanding goes.

...getting him to admit that, is the hard part. )

I imagine they must seem very strange to you, having never seen them before. Most wolves are not like mine, he is too used to humans and I fear it might make him too bold.

( which could be very dangerous for him. )

[adlantisag]

You think he will be in danger for his boldness.

[ He's not small, but he's small enough that she can imagine it. ]

Are wolves often hunted?

[dishearten]

I've seen entire packs slaughtered. They're seen as threats, and they could be, but only if they must be.

( mostly, wolves just want to survive, same as humans. )

I don't know how people think of wolves here. It simply reminds me too keenly of the forest to ignore the possibility.

[adlantisag]

I will protect your friend if I see him, you have my word.

[ She's intensely curious. Everything is so different from what she knows. Even though the idea of a forest, of being in a forest, is old hat to her now, the first she walked beneath a full canopy of trees it was a bit awe-inspiring. ]

You lived in a forest?

[dishearten]

Thank you. ( that means a lot to him, more than he can actually show. he didn't expect anyone to protect his brother, he just hoped that he could convince people not to harm him. ) If you protect him, he might return the favor.

Yes. I did. ( it's a little cagey, if only because there's much of his past he's not sure he wants to talk about. still, it's not so odd to have lived in a forest. )

[adlantisag]

[ His answer is curt enough that she doesn't press. She might ask another time. ]

I have my own companion. She does not need protecting, but I would be upset were anything to happen to her.

[dishearten]

Ah, you do?

( much easier conversation to keep. thanks, Kida. )

What sort of companion is that?

[adlantisag]

[ She looks away from the jewelry a moment, makes a soft clicking nose. Something makes an answering whuff. ]

Ni-nu, geneb.

[ 'Ni-nu, come.' A big face leans over, the head alone as big as Kida's entire torso. Ninat looks at Graham with a calm expression, though it might simply be a lack of mobility in her facial muscles due to the hard plating across her nose. ]

Her name is Ninat. [ Kida pats her neck, the skin leathery like a shark's. ] ALASTAIR gave her to me. She is more like what you would find in Atlantis.

[dishearten]

( that is quite a companion, isn't it? it rather looks like something out of Jurassic Park, yet it does not take fur to garner the huntsman's fondness. animals of all sorts were simpler. more honorable. )

She's quite something. ( he's surprised but not doubtful. he's just never seen anything like her before. he manages a smile, though, because Ninat is quite a remarkable creature, and one he's pleased to have seen. )

Ninat... what is she? If you don't mind my asking.

[adlantisag]

Min-altirak.

[ Quite literally, 'feline-shark'. Kida accompanies that with a shrug, though. ]

I do not know if what she is has a proper name.

[ She turns her head up to Ninat's, explaining that Graham is a friend. Whether Ninat entirely grasps the words isn't certain, but the bio-luminescent spots on her head do glow in a bright pattern. ]

The light from her body attracts fish in deep waters. Her belly is reflective, so she may avoid attacks from below.

[ Kida sounds quite proud of all of this, and scratches Ninat's chin. There's no purr, but more flickering of her spots. Her mouth opens, revealing a set of white, serrated teeth, also like a shark's. ]

I have told her you are a friend. If you need her aid, she will defend you.

[ And Ninat is certainly big enough to offer it. ]

[dishearten]

Min-altirak.

( her language might sound a bit odd off an irish accent, but as far as Graham is concerned, the name in her language is proper enough for him. )

She looks reptilian. Almost like a dinosaur, but not like one I've ever heard of.

( he's definitely never seen one. they're extinct in the land without magic and he isn't sure they ever existed in misthaven. they had dragons instead of dinosaurs. )

Ninat is quite remarkable. And that's very kind of you. ( he's decent at defending himself, it's his wolf that he's worried about. ) My brother does not take straight orders as well. Though if he comes to trust you he would be an ally, I am sure.

[adlantisag]

[ Kida looks pleased with Graham's attempt at her language: with so many people failing at grasping her name, it's appreciated.

Ninat understands basic ideas--come, go, protect, no, yes, gentle, take it and the like. It's doubtful she truly grasps higher concepts, but she understands her lady's moods and knows friend from foe. It's enough. It's likely that if Graham's brother walks by the river or the docks, he'll find himself in good company. ]

A 'dinosaur'?

[ It's a word she doesn't know. Atlantis also has what some might call dragons, or wyverns--but they're also a throwback to an earlier age, descended from pterodactylus. Kida would be unable to describe that to Graham, however. She has no knowledge of prehistory, or any history at all. ]

[dishearten]

( if Ninat and his brother take a liking to each other, nothing would likely please him more. as far as he knows, the wolf is the only one of his kind here... companionship was important, even to an animal. )

Ah, it's... ( he pauses to figure out how to properly explain. he's never had to before. ) When the Earth was young, there were very large animals that roamed it. They were called dinosaurs, and they were much like Ninat, though more lizard-like, I think.

( he's not really an expert on dinosaurs... just what the curse told him, and that's not a lot. )

[adlantisag]

I see.

[ But does she really? ]

How do you know so much about the ancient past?

[ That science has evolved enough to tell humans about time immemorial would be incredibly exciting for Kida. By now she's settling down to listen more, using Ninat's curled-up form as a kind of large pillow to recline against. ]

[dishearten]

( he's very much not an expert on this sort of thing, but she looks so enraptured he's not sure he can skip out on answering. )

They've found remnants of past ages buried in the ground. Bones, fossils... even the chemical makeup of the earth itself, I suppose, tells them about what the world used to be like.

[adlantisag]

[ She is indeed fascinated, but even as she wants to ask more, she recognizes that this is probably a topic Graham himself only know peripherally; it's something she's noticed with many she's spoken to, knowing what works but not how it works. ]

The scholars of your world are truly accomplished.

[ It's delivered like a compliment. ]

[dishearten]

( he wishes he could tell her more. perhaps if he'd lived these things instead of having the information beamed into his head via curse, he'd know more. )

It is remarkable, how they can make sense of the past with science.

[adlantisag]

[ Another question appears on the tip of her tongue--before she closes it, almost sheepish when she realizes. ]

Forgive me! I did not even ask for your name, wolf-brother.

[dishearten]

It's Graham.

( he manages a smile at that, because he's forgotten introductions a time or two himself. )

It's all right. There were other more pressing matters. And yours?

[adlantisag]

Kidagakash.

[ She's fully expecting him to flub it, by now, given the amount of people who've failed to say it. ]

[dishearten]

Kidagakash.

( anything sounds funny off an Irish accent but he doesn't stumble as much as he could. he's from the Enchanted Forest, there are some weird names over there. if he gets it wrong he will just keep practicing. )

[adlantisag]

[ His accent doesn't sound funny to her at all--well, alright, it does sound a bit funny!--she just appreciates the effort. ]

I should teach you Atlantean. You would learn quickly.

[dishearten]

You think so?

( he's never tried to learn a language other than the one he already knows. he's not sure if he'd take it up quickly, but still... he might like to learn. there's so much he never got a chance to do. now that he has those chances, he's determined to take them. )

If you'd teach me, I'd learn. I'm sure I could teach you something in return.

[adlantisag]

I do. You already do better than most.

[ Goodness knows she's been thrust into a world completely foreign, one where she's had to learn everything. Willingness is, in her opinion and experience, the first and most important step. ]

What skills do you possess?

[dishearten]

I'm quite gifted at Archery, if you've ever heard of that. And living off the land, the sort of animals you'll find in the woods. I learned a few things as a sheriff but I'm not sure how helpful they are here.

( it's an entirely different world than Maine was, and he can't tell if he misses it or not. )