02-12-2020, 09:30 PM
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Everything about this land was unfamiliar to the youngest horseman, from its sand to its heat to even its people and their tongue. Even his body seemed uncannily new; Nikolai lazed in the shade of a tree with no known name to him, holding a furred paw before him as though he were a scientist examining an undiscovered specimen. The appendage not quite his own, although he could flex its crampon-like claws and splay its padded digits like a snowshoe, looked like it once belonged to a miniature bear. Certainly built more for trudging through the snow of tundra and permafrost, but he supposed dunes weren't all too different.
He softly clucked a scarred tongue behind his obscuring mask, its lenses glinting in the light as he turned his head this way and that to view his paw in better detail. Yet a repetitive skritch skritch skritch-ing fell upon rounded ears, prompting the wolverine to tear his tinted gaze from his study. Exotic undergrowth rustled -- he scrambled to sit upright, licking his jowls in anticipation. Maybe, maybe he could get a bite of whatever disturbed the foliage, punish it for such a clumsy mistake. Then a whispered reminder pinched his thoughts. Пройдіть непомітно. Не завойовуйте їх уваги. Ти тут дивишся, а не їсти. Свиня. Nikolai winced, frowning in the private dark beneath his gas mask. He couldn't disobey, even if he wanted to.
Pushing himself to his feet, he plodded to the source of skritching, nosing aside ferns to blink in bewilderment at what he assumed to be a giant insect, next to the translucent remains of one. This realm continued to get weirder with every discovery. A light huff sounded through the mask's filter, one of curiosity. Perhaps... "Що це за річ?" he murmured, nudging the shed husk with his paw, although he doubted this creature was any different from the others in terms of comprehending his speech.
He softly clucked a scarred tongue behind his obscuring mask, its lenses glinting in the light as he turned his head this way and that to view his paw in better detail. Yet a repetitive skritch skritch skritch-ing fell upon rounded ears, prompting the wolverine to tear his tinted gaze from his study. Exotic undergrowth rustled -- he scrambled to sit upright, licking his jowls in anticipation. Maybe, maybe he could get a bite of whatever disturbed the foliage, punish it for such a clumsy mistake. Then a whispered reminder pinched his thoughts. Пройдіть непомітно. Не завойовуйте їх уваги. Ти тут дивишся, а не їсти. Свиня. Nikolai winced, frowning in the private dark beneath his gas mask. He couldn't disobey, even if he wanted to.
Pushing himself to his feet, he plodded to the source of skritching, nosing aside ferns to blink in bewilderment at what he assumed to be a giant insect, next to the translucent remains of one. This realm continued to get weirder with every discovery. A light huff sounded through the mask's filter, one of curiosity. Perhaps... "Що це за річ?" he murmured, nudging the shed husk with his paw, although he doubted this creature was any different from the others in terms of comprehending his speech.