This is right after the end of Old Friends, when everyone's said their goodbyes and gone home.
---
Wolf took a long, deep breath as she stepped through the portal back to the Land of the North. The air was cooler and crisper here than in Alaunus, although still full of the rich smell of trees and earth.
She stood by her new den, formed just outside of the rowan grove and dug out of a ridge once again. The set up was almost identical inside as before, no need to change something that already worked perfectly.
Wolf exhaled slowly, feeling weariness seep into her bones. The last week or so had been exhausting, she hadn’t been around that many people at once in many, many years, and the quest had had many highs and lows.
Wolf was happy to turn to hibernation at this point.
“You have returned. How disappointing.”
Wolf was moving before she had a real chance to think, pointing her staff at the trees where the voice had come from.
“Who goes there?!” she demanded.
“I should be asking you such a question,” the voice had moved to the other side, and Wolf swung her staff around to face them. Frustratingly, there was no scent.
“I have been here for many years!”
“That you have, and I have been here many more,” the voice moved again. There was no scent, no sound of them moving. It was as if they were a ghost.
“Then you would do me a great honour by revealing yourself to me,” Wolf attempted to be diplomatic.
“If you wish to start friendly relations,” the voice was right behind her, and as Wolf spun to face, a finger pushed the wolf topped staff to one side. “Then you can stop pointing your weapon at me.”
The figure in front was a taller woman with a mane of black hair, woven with feathers and bark. Dark eyes that could have been holes in the earth peered from a tanned, weather-beaten face. She wore thick hide and furs, and on the back of her hands were the runes for fire and water.
“…Very well,” Wolf drew back her staff, but did not relax. “May I ask who you are, and why you are here?”
The stranger clicked her tongue. “I am here because I assumed that you, Wolf who is not a wolf, had left for good. But instead you have returned.”
“I had always intended to return here.”
“That as may be, but perhaps if you had been open with your intentions with someone other than the Giants, this assumption could have been avoided?”
“How can I tell someone of my intent if I do not know that they exist?!” Wolf snapped. “If you do not mind, I wish to return to my den for the night. We can continue this discussion at first light.”
“I beg to differ,” the woman blocked Wolf’s path. “We shall continue this discussion now.”
“What is the purpose of this?” Wolf sighed. “And you still have not told me your name!”
“I am Riimu, since you have finally asked,” Riimu frowned. “And we are finally introducing ourselves. It took long enough.”
“Again, how was I to know to introduce myself to someone I did not know exist?”
“If you had bothered to the take the time to make yourself known to the people here, we would have met. Instead you hid among the trees and wolves, like a coward.”
“You know not of what you speak,” Wolf bristled.
“I know exactly of what I speak. You came here to hide, and hide you did.”
“I was exiled here!” Wolf snapped. “It is easier to explain to a wolf pack than it is to humans! There was no guarantee we even spoke the same tongue!”
“And if you had bothered to investigate, you would have found an answer.”
“Do you derive pleasure from this?”
“Some,” Riimu smirked, and vanished from in front of Wolf.
Wolf cast around, and jumped as Riimu’s voice spoke in her ear.
“You would do well to familiarise yourself with them, should you remain in this land.”
“I do not see how any of this is your business,” Wolf’s hackles were up now as she spun to face.
“You are a foreign immortal in my land,” Riimu responded. “Your presence has been tolerated, but now you return, and you have been awfully rude.”
“It was not my intent-”
“I care not if it was your intent, it is your actions that concern me. I thank you of course, for your intervention with the rot, although I do wonder if it would have occurred if you had been exiled elsewhere?”
“Nevar did not know I was here until he already arrived, I am certain of it.”
Riimu huffed. “If you insist.”
“Aye. I do.”
Riimu shook her head. “So, to make myself clear, if you are to remain in this land you are to stop hiding in the woods like a coward.”
“Forgive me, but I fail to see the point.”
“The mortals here, the people, deserve to know if strangers are running around in their home,” Riimu squared her shoulders. “I will tell their elders of you, and if you do not meet with them, then I will feel no guilt of chasing you from this land.”
“What right do you have to-?!”
“Far more than you!” a rune flashed on Riimu’s face and the area grew dark, as though night had fallen. Riimu vanished and her voice began to come from all directions. “I am Protector of this Land, I am One with the Runes, as old as speech and language. You, child, are a stranger to me and these lands.”
Wolf turned in place, Riimu’s voice echoing throughout the sudden darkness. She couldn’t even see her own hand in front of her face.
“The least you can offer,” Riimu’s face was suddenly in Wolf’s and she took a step back. Riimu’s face was lined with thick black paint, runes drawn onto her skin and eyes as black as ink, “is basic curtesy.”
“You have made your point!” Wolf cried, louder than she intended as her heartbeat thundered in her ears. She gripped her staff in both hands, and tried to make it look like she wasn’t terrified.
The darkness faded and Riimu appeared, visage free of runes.
“Excellent. I will inform the elders this evening. I will give you seven days from now to perform this most basic of courtesies,” Riimu’s face twisted into what might have been a smile, but it was so forced it looked more like she was baring her teeth. “A pleasure to finally meet you, Wolf.”
---
Wolf spend the next full day asleep, curled up on her furs with no nightmares. It took another three days from then to find these people.
Wolf left the forest entirely to find them, following a scent out into a plains area, sheltered in a valley. Reindeer were everywhere. Scattered throughout the valley and out of it, with a few people in heavy hide and furs accompanying them with dogs.
A few reindeer were tethered outside the village, although it did not truly resemble a village that Wolf would find on Alaunus. Not all of the structures appeared permanent, there were a couple of wooden structures, but there were many more tents, easily enough to comfortably house a village or town.
Tents, why did it have to be tents?
People dressed in the same style of hide and fur as Riimu were going about their lives, talking around campfires, woodcraft, playing and training with dogs. Their words were unfamiliar to Wolf’s ear, which tightened the knot of dread in her belly.
She was hiding, no, not hiding. She was observing, from a collection of rocks and scrub higher up the valley. She needed some sort of plan, maybe if she could just identify where the elders were, she could just jump in and out and get this over with quickly.
The sun rose higher in the sky, and Wolf had not seen much. Some older folks did appear and drift around, going about their day. Yet it didn’t add much to where Wolf should go.
With a huff Wolf stepped out from her hiding/observation spot in wolf from, and slipped down the slope, trying not to draw attention to herself.
She immediately attracted the attention of the dogs, who began barking in her general direction. The reindeer, startled by the dogs, tried to take flight. This got the attention of everyone near them, trying to calm their animals while everyone else looked up to see a wolf near their village.
Anyone cooking or curing meat began to move them away, hiding food in tents in case that’s why a wolf was here. Wolf herself skittered back a little bit, watching warily.
Taking a deep breath, she shifted.
The attitude changed instantly. There was still mistrust, but it moved from ‘get this wild animal away from our food’ to ‘stranger in the camp. Stranger in the camp with magic’. The dogs and reindeer calmed somewhat, but were clearly still on edge.
Wolf could feel the hairs on the back of her neck bristling. She did not want to be here, but frankly Riimu had been terrifying and she would just have to do this once, and then never again.
Some of the dogs continued to bark, but people were shushing them now. More than one person darted deeper into the village, towards one of the wooden buildings.
Wolf hovered, both hands gripping her Staff of Power. She tried to look like she was patiently waiting, and not desperate to start pacing up and down. Her fingers started tapping the wood of her staff though.
An older woman strode up through the centre of the village, hat protecting her head and ears from the cold. Whisps of grey hair escaped her hat and deep dark eyes, not dissimilar to Riimu’s, analysed her. A rune in dark ink had been drawn on her throat, which Wolf vaguely recognised as the symbol for ‘knowledge’ or ‘understanding’.
“Riimu told us you would be coming,” the woman said. There was an odd disconnect with her speaking. The words Wolf were hearing were not the same as what was being mouthed. “Let us talk in private.”
The woman turned to walk back into the village, and Wolf followed. She tried not to notice that everyone was staring, or maybe she was over thinking it and not as many people were staring as she thought?
She followed the woman to a tent. A pyramid of hide and cloth. The woman stepped up to the front of it and pushed open the flap, stepping through and holding it for Wolf.
She strode up and took the flap, peering inside. Already the air felt hot and stuffy, candles burned in the corners and the floor was thick with rugs and hide. Wolf tightened her grip on the tent flap, trying not to think too hard about it.
It’s just a tent, just material on sticks to the keep the cold out.
Still, as she stepped in she felt her throat tighten.
“You are uncomfortable,” the woman noticed.
“I will cope,” Wolf lied.
The woman tilted her head, and nodded. From this angle Wolf could see the same rune on her ear.
“Sit. Let us talk,” the woman gestured to the rugs before sitting down herself.
Wolf gingerly sat opposite, making sure that she was not resting on her knees. If this took too long she’d probably change position, just not to resting on her knees, not in here.
“You have been residing within the Heart Forest for some time,” the woman said, getting right to the point. “An exile so we’re told, and yet all you have done is hide.”
“Forgive me, but I do not understand why you are concerned by this,” Wolf, shifted uncomfortably. “I have not seen your people near the forest, I am not encroaching upon you.”
“That is true in a physical aspect, none of my people would go near the forest. It is home of giants and spirits and magical trees. Important, to be respected, but not ventured within.”
“I see, and I have broken these rules?”
“You are immortal from what Riimu has told me, those rules do not necessarily apply,” the woman narrowed her eyes. “What is curious is that you did not seek out human company, were you ashamed?”
“…Aye.”
“Even immortals seem to be subject to mortal pain,” the woman shuffled and shifted position as well. “On a more formal note, we are to introduce ourselves. I am Taika, and with these runes my people’s name would translate to ‘Reindeer People’. And you would prefer to be known as?”
“I am simply Wolf.”
“Now, I do not believe an immortal such as yourself can be ‘simply’ anything.”
“…I was once a Warlord and Protector of the Island of Alaunus, although I no longer hold these titles.”
Taika nodded in understanding. “You have runes in Alaunus?”
Wolf tilted her head at the change in subject. “Aye, but it is not the same. They are not the same language and do not hold the same power.”
“But you know our runes, Riimu seemed under that impression.”
“Aye,” Wolf gently lifted her Staff of Power. “My Staff is my primary source of magic, but for much of my time here I did not have it. The Giants told me of the rune magic endemic to this land and I learned a little from them.”
Taika appraised her. “Your immortality, were you born immortal?”
“Aye.”
“Good,” Taika stood up and moved to a bag in the tent, drawing out slate and charcoal. “In my lifetime, my people and practices will live, our magic will live. The future is less certain, and you will live to see it.”
“I am a stranger,” Wolf thought she understood was Taika was suggesting. “Would Riimu not be a preferred option to keep this alive?”
“Riimu is the embodiment of rune magic, if rune magic is not practiced, she may cease to be,” Taika spoke bluntly. “You are immortal not tied to such a thing and have eternity to learn,” She strode back over. “You will learn,” it sounded less like an assurance and more like a demand.
Wolf looked at the slate that was being handed to her. “I do not believe that Riimu will be impressed if she is to learn that her existence may eventually tie to my own.”
“You have an eternity to learn, and to teach. You were a Warlord, you trained others to fight in your name. This will be no different.”
Wolf still did not take the slate. “If I am to learn, may I make a request?”
“Very well.”
“Can it be done anywhere except a tent?”
---
Wolf next found Riimu several days later, nearly back at the forest, or the Heart Forest as Taika called it. Riimu was crouched by a fire, looking up as Wolf entered the clearing in her wolf form.
“So you did go meet the elders. I did not truly expect you to do so,” Riimu drew herself up to her full height.
Wolf shifted to stand to her full height, but still shorter than Riimu. “You made your point perfectly clear. I had assumed it would be a simple task.”
“It was not?”
“I appear to have been drafted in to learning rune craft in greater detail. I do not envy them; I will admit that I am not the most patient of students.”
Riimu sighed. “Of course Taika would try to engage you in such learning. I fear that she looked too far into the future, saw glimpses of things that she should not.”
“That is possible?”
“It can be with enough preparation and skill, but not recommended,” Riimu clenched her hand and the fire rune glowed for a second, causing the fire to go out. “I would assume that you would attempt to use such abilities to aid against this enemy of yours.”
“The thought had crossed my mind.”
“Then you should know that what you will see will be indistinct and incomplete, and only applies to the current path you walk. If the path changes then so does the future.”
“Then what is the purpose? And how does reading a handful of runes grant such a vision?”
“That is something you will learn, in time,” Riimu smirked. “Since you did what I asked then I will not be chasing you from this land. Do as you will.”
“I thank you.”
“Spare me your gratitude,” Riimu glanced at her as she walked away. “Nothing will change for you. I do not expect to see you often.”
Wolf opened her mouth to respond, but by that time Riimu had vanished.
---
When Wolf says she has responsibilities in the North, this is partially what she means. Not that she's told anyone about this, yet.
Riimu is the immortal of the Lands of the North! How her magic works is that she is covered with runes, usually invisible, and only lighting up when needed or in use. If you've ever read Skulduggery Pleasant, then like China Sorrows.
The people of the Lands to the North are very, very loosely based on the Sami, and I wanted Riimu and Taika to have Sami names, but the translators I found online weren't great. So their names are Finnish instead. Not ideal, but that's what I have. Riimu means Rune, and Taika means Magic (at least according to Google Translate). The whole area's a bit of a mish mash of stuff really.
Riimu's whole thing is just; Wolf's been there for a while, not really done much, helped out a little bit actually, but hasn't done the polite thing of introducing herself. Then she disappears and Riimu thinks 'Thank the giants she's gone!', only for Wolf to show up again! At this point in Riimu's mind Wolf's just taking the mick.As for Taika, Riimu's right, she did see too far into the future, seeing that her culture might be gone many, many years in the future. So when an unaffiliated born immortal appears in front of her, well she's not going to turn that down.
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy, when skies are grey. You'll never know dear how much I love you. Please don't take my sunshine away. Send this to ten people you love and always follow ♡
AAAAH THANK YOU RIIMU.TBQH THIS MADE MY DAY THE FIRST TIME I READ IT WW. Thank you~!
Once you get this you have to say 5 things you like about yourself publicly then send this to your 10 favorite followers.
Ahhhh thank you Riimu! (๑•͈ᴗ•͈)1) I draw stuff better than I did before.2) I can adapt to different situations fairly well. 3) I'm somewhat optimistic.4) I can make people laugh easily?5) Somewhat socially intelligent?
