Urna's head tilted at his mention of the other pack; although the motion by itself would not have frightened him normally, a cold uneasiness wormed its way through his belly as her eyes narrowed. Delta focused on the cool water lapping at his paws, grounding himself with its presence as he swallowed a lump rising in his throat and listened to her speak. At the mention of Verdantis' size, the little cat's eyes widened. Two hundred? That was far more than he'd anticipated, and he shuddered at the thought of just how crowded a place like that could be.
"Wow," Delta muttered, flicking his gaze away from Urna to leer anxiously into the horizon where the distant shapes of mountains and woodland loomed above the flowers. He nearly didn't catch her uncertainty on the numbers--too preoccupied imagining the vast amount of unseen lives tangled within the kingdom borders. He blinked, anxiety momentarily forgotten as he looked back towards Urna and mirrored her, awkwardly tilting his own head.
"Seeing yourself? Are you new as well, Urna?" He didn't specify which new, whether it be to the land or to the kingdom itself. He supposed both questions applied, especially since she'd mentioned having a previous pack; or clan, as she'd called it. Perhaps the word was just far enough removed from wolf-kind to make him less nervous, but Delta found himself preferring the term. Clan. It rolled off the tongue nicely. Slowly, perhaps due to the soothing pull of water around him, he untensed and allowed his fur to flatten.
"Yes! Yes," Delta started, snapping from his thoughts at the stranger's next question. "They who follow our Goddess. I met one, and he came from the sea also. I never knew wolves could."
He nodded, half to himself before continuing. "But you are of land, not water. Is Verdantis land as well?"
"Wow," Delta muttered, flicking his gaze away from Urna to leer anxiously into the horizon where the distant shapes of mountains and woodland loomed above the flowers. He nearly didn't catch her uncertainty on the numbers--too preoccupied imagining the vast amount of unseen lives tangled within the kingdom borders. He blinked, anxiety momentarily forgotten as he looked back towards Urna and mirrored her, awkwardly tilting his own head.
"Seeing yourself? Are you new as well, Urna?" He didn't specify which new, whether it be to the land or to the kingdom itself. He supposed both questions applied, especially since she'd mentioned having a previous pack; or clan, as she'd called it. Perhaps the word was just far enough removed from wolf-kind to make him less nervous, but Delta found himself preferring the term. Clan. It rolled off the tongue nicely. Slowly, perhaps due to the soothing pull of water around him, he untensed and allowed his fur to flatten.
"Yes! Yes," Delta started, snapping from his thoughts at the stranger's next question. "They who follow our Goddess. I met one, and he came from the sea also. I never knew wolves could."
He nodded, half to himself before continuing. "But you are of land, not water. Is Verdantis land as well?"