strawberry blonde ✿ newcomer

[arcy]

✿
trying to hold the wind

Moomin doesn't think he's been so lonely in his life.
Ever since he was little, his parents had been a constant. And so had his friends, after his first season in the valley. Why, oh why, had he thought that leaving was a good idea? Surely there were better ways to combat his loneliness during the winter months than leaving to wander. It was hibernation months, and he could've woken anyone in the valley. Surely they wouldn't have minded. But look at him now. He's been gone for months and he definitely missed Snufkin's return.
He's never felt so defeated in his life. All problems had solutions, but Moomin couldn't find the key to fixing this. The valley was an obscure location -- not even on any map he could find. Moomin was not one to admit defeat, but ... he'd given up.
The young polar bear pants as he rests. He'd never been overly athletic. Only enough to accommodate for his adventures, never for ... for climbing mountains. He's regretting his descision already. It smells funny. Moomin sniffles and lifts a dirty paw to wipe his nose. He can smell the sea here -- it reminds him of home. It's awfully distressing, because all he can think about is his mama and papa and Snufkin and -- and Snorkmaiden and --. He stops himself there. Lays his head on his paws. And waits.
He's not sure what he's waiting for. But he does.

elysium - polar bear - 2 years

[Straw]

  [font=trebuchet ms]Loneliness stifled even the strongest people, even more so if it was self-inflicted. It was easy to get lost in this region, and if you did you might never find your way out. Straw had come here of her own volition, seeking an intangible and ill-defined goal, so she had known she might be here for a while if not forever. It wasn't so bad here; the Elysites were kind, and even if they weren't, she was under no obligation to interact with people. She could, if she wanted, just tend to the garden in the greenhouse and climb mountains all day, and the mere presence of others besides herself would be enough.

  Still, everyone had different definitions of loneliness, and people came to the border for all different kinds of reasons.

  Straw had spotted a polar bear lying down on the trail, looking dirty and dejected, and quickly made her way over. She couldn't be sure what he wanted, she wasn't even sure he knew what he wanted, but maybe she could help. She wasn't the best at talking to people, but she might as well try and do some good. "Lost?" she asked softly as she approached him, tilting her head slightly. "Need help?"

[arcy]

✿
trying to hold the wind

Moomin knew what he wanted, but it wasn't exactly ... achievable, which was the problem. Which, ultimately, meant that no, he didn't know what he wanted. Moomin sniffles, looking up with wide blue eyes at the stranger. She was so small ....  Moomin hadn't met many people that small before. She had a weird, kind of scary mask, but Moomin wasn't inclined to be scared or question it at the moment. She was talking, she was probably real, and that's all that mattered to him.
"H - Hello" He says, eyes still watery but unable to wipe the tears away because of the dirt on his paws. He slowly pushes himself up into a sitting position. Here, outside of the valley, he would probably be acknowledged as an adult. Moomin found this to be a scary thought. He was just old enough to be considered one, but that didn't mean he'd ever been treated like one, or even expected to act like one. Even so, he desperately tries to remember his manners, and offers a wobbly smile. "Y - Yes. I, um," He says. He hadn't interacted with people for a long time -- how had Snufkin done this? His best friend had frequently gone out to wander or travel, or, or --.
"I, um, don't think I'll have much luck getting back, though. Um, who are you?" These were the only mountains he could see, after all, and that was the only landmark Moomin could think of anyone else would recognize. What was she doing here, anyways? Moomin was having trouble wrapping his head around why somebody would be living in mountains like these, unless -- oh. "Do other people live here?" He asks, alarmed. He hadn't realized that was what the scent was. Which he found to be a bit ridiculous, in hindsight. But Moomin wasn't the most perceptive even at the best of times, so it was really just par for the course.

elysium - polar bear - 2 years

[Tena M.]

[div style="width: 527px; line-height: 1.4; text-align: justify; font-family: constantia; font-size: 11px;"]Tena Moonspinner —
The loneliness that pierced the petite Demdji's soul happened to be nearly entirely self-inflected.  She'd been separated from family just a little before she even knew how to walk.  Everyone but her elder brother.  She'd made childhood friends of course, but just like her brother, she left them behind, although the latter found her later.  Living a life constantly glancing behind her, Tena had avoided opening up too much.  She still avoided it.  Perhaps for different reasons now.

As such, the little sand cat learned well what loneliness felt like, how empty and sad she felt fairly often.  How lost.  Tena certainly did not like the feeling, but she didn't want to risk the heartbreak of losing someone should she grow truly attached.  Life had a way of taking things away.

Even though she resolved never to let anyone closer than necessary, her face lit up with friendly light.  A small smile for the lost polar bear.  Tena had not seen a polar bear since... No matter.  "Elysium lives here," she offered softly, her tail twitching.  "My name's Tena, and if you need a place to stay, you're welcome here."

"What's your name?"
[align=right]— I tell you this story, save your life, set you free

[Cosmic]

The sight of the polar bear just laying on the ground with seemingly no parent or guardian that should have taken much better care of the poor thing tugged at the mutated alabaster feline’s heartstrings. She experienced for herself the suffering caused by another’s neglect and abuse, and she would never wish that on anyone.

Fika paused in front of Moomin, feeling empathetic towards him and wished that there was something that she could do to make things better. But... perhaps she was just making assumptions? Maybe he had accidentally wandered into the warm parts of the territory and was overheated with his thick fur coat.

Wishing to speak up, at least offer her assistance, she opened her jaws to speak. The problem was that Fika was still used to communicating with others in Swedish. She didn’t believe it was even remotely possible that any of these creatures knew of the language, but she tried anyway;

“Hej, jag heter Fika Blomgren. Vad heter du?”

There was a short deliberate pause as she waited for a response, should he be able to. Once there was a sign of acknowledgment or him responding back in Swedish, the feline would ask a few questions, her tone soft as she tried to be as comforting as possible.

“Hur mår du? Need food? Vatten?”

Oh... oh no. She should have asked if he knew how to speak Swedish beforehand. Ah, helvete.

“Vad talar du för språk?”

[arcy]

✿
trying to hold the wind

Oh, and here were the others. Moomin perks up, eyes going wide. Ever-optimistic, his hope overrides his nervousness. Even so, he seems almost tenative. All of them were awfully small, too ... He'd only known a few people as small as them. He'd never been nervous about their resilience -- his small friends made up for their size in ... everything else, really. He was less sure about these ones, though.
"El ... is-e-um," He echoes back to Tena, brows furrowed in concentration as he does so. What a strange word! It sounded rather nice, though. Moomin smiles, and then he grins. "Really? I can?" He doesn't want to impose on other people, but Moomin can't hold the facade for long, desperate as he is. With a burst of energy, Moomin scrambles to his paws. Before he can answer Tena's question, however, his attention is diverted by Fika. Luckily, she's asked the same question, so Moomin, before even registering the language, responds.
"Moomin," He chirps, gaze roving between the trio. "I'm Moomin," He repeats, just to feel more grounded. He seems to have livened up rather quickly as people arrived. It wasn't that he wasn't tired, it was just ... that all fell to the wayside when there were actual, living people here.
"Ja, tack! He chirps. English seems to be the main language, here, but he isn't quite sure how common other ones are. Conspicuously, he avoids answering how he is -- not because of any ulterior motive, he just isn't sure. He's hungry, and tired, and he misses his family and friends so much, but he's also absolutely delighted by the current ongoings. Which leads to a jumbled mess of an emotions, and a feeling that everything is going to be alright soon. Not as much as it was when he was home, but it's a start.
"Ah, massor! Finsk, svenska, engelsk." Moomin rattles off, a little proud smile on his maw. He's not a particularly skilled individual, but he'd always been happy to learn new languages. Of course ... most of the languages he'd learned weren't rare in the valley, but nobody really bothered to learn all of them as thoroughly as he had.
Oh ... right! "Trevligt att träffas - nice to meet you!" He says, gaze first lingering on Fisk, and then wandering to the others as he repeats himself in English. "I, um, think I'd like to stay, yes," He tells Tena, feeling both relieved and like he's suffocating. It feels sort of like giving up. Like accepting that .. he's not going home. But Moomin knows that this is what's best for him, at least right now, so he simply grins and hopes for the best.

//sorry if the swedish is a little messy, im super rusty sdfhsdf

elysium - polar bear - 2 years

[Cosmic]

A large smile formed on Fika’s maw as she heard the young’n speak in her language, and was amazed to hear that he had learned all those languages. Where on earth did he go to school? Or more importantly, who taught him? This caught her attention and she kept her warm smile and asked,

“Välkommen till Elysium, Moomin! Varifrån kommer du?”

The bear had to have travelled so far away from his home. He must need a place to stay, nice food and rest. Well, she did have those things, but Fika herself was a terrible chef.

Feeling comfortable speaking a small bit of English, she looked back up at Moomin with her intense, bright green eyes. Some said that they were entranced by them, others seeing her high intelligence and sensitive nature through them. They do say that the eyes are the windows to the soul. Perhaps it had truth to it?

Now... her voice changed ever so slightly as she nervously asked Moomin-

“Ah... you look like you could use some rest... I have a room where we both can fit until you feel okay enough to step out into the crowd? I, uh, well... ja?”

She began shuffling her paws awkwardly, self-conscious of her voice and vocabulary. Fika began to drift away into her anxiety ridden thoughts, her body tense and her limbs restless.

[arcy]

✿
trying to hold the wind

To be entirely honest, Moomin mostly learned all the other languages to make communicating easier. It was so much easier to make friends when you had a better chance of understanding them! He couldn't do stuff like math well though .. ... he'd been told that it didn't really matter, though. "you know enough to be happy" is what Snufkin had said, and, well, if that meant he was bad at math and exceedingly good with languages, then so be it.
"Tack!" He chirps, his long tail giving a little cheerful wave. However, it quickly droops with the rest of him as soon as she continues her question. Home. "Bara en dal. Det var trevligt." Though somewhat distressed, he forces his ears to perk back up as he smiles at her. It was a sore topic, still fresh in his mind despite the time.
Her continuing was a relief. He hadn't suspected she could speak English, what with her not initially speaking it despite everyone around her doing so. His tail waves, and he smiles brightly once more. It'd be nice to be in close quarters with somebody for a while. "Yes! That'd be great! Tack!" The polar bear, swiftly recovering, beams at the feline. He doesn't seem to notice her anxiety -- he probably wouldn't understand it even if he did, however. There was something endearing about people still in the process of learning everything, in Moomin's own opinion.

elysium - polar bear - 2 years

[Straw]

  [font=trebuchet ms]She thought she could see tears in his eyes, but maybe it was just the light- or allergies. It was almost allergy season, what with all the pollen in the air. She didn't tend to have a problem with that, but some people back home had had sneezing fits at the slightest gust of wind.

  Either way, though, he was lost. He wanted to know who she was and if anyone else lived here. Maybe he could stay here for a bit until they could help him get home; it wasn't the first such deal they'd worked out, and it probably wouldn't be the last. They were always happy to help.

  Straw opened her mouth to answer, but before she could, two other people had already approached- Tena and Fika. As the three started conversing, partially in a language she did not understand, she cautiously stepped back behind the other two and listened in. His name was Moomin, and he did want to stay; that was probably for the best. Her eyes drifted back to Fika, noting that she was shuffling her paws awkwardly. Neither of them were very comfortable in these situations, it seemed.

  When a small break in the conversation came up, Straw looked back at Moomin and adjusted her mask with one paw. "I'm Straw," she said, one ear twitching. "Nice to meet you."