Lyn
*She rubbed behind her ears bashfully, simpering at the thought of armoured wolves bounding into a battlefield. Resting her arms on the sack, she waited for Terrel to sufficiently calm them down instead of intervening - they knew him better, and listened to him.*
"Sometimes I wonder which of us is the half-wolf..."
Robert
*Terrel peered over at the Kemonomimi and offered her a teasing smile.*"I'm fluent in a lot of languages. Wolf isn't one of them, but by creating a strong bond and giving them a leader they can look up to, it teaches them to listen. Not too different from most people, hm?"*He asked her. Once the wolves had settled down, he grabbed the sack and gestured for the Kemonomimi to assist in setting it down.*
Lyn
"True enough. Maybe I'll find a pack that'll listen to me like these lot do."
*She returned the smile twofold, baring her canine teeth and shrugging. Assistance was rendered readily, moving it to the proposed position and stepping back as she knew what came next.*
"Just... Let them have it? Might have to share out with any who get missed..."
Robert
*He chuckled.*"I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for that with all the traveling."*The Silnari said to her. He placed the the bag on the ground which in turn caused some of the wolves to stand up in anticipation, only for the Silnari to direct them to sit once again.*"How about you try directing them."*He said to her.*"You've learned some of their names by now. Grab a piece for one of them, call out their name, followed by 'Cara'."*The Elf carefully pronounced the Kirigic word, knowing full well it'll turn some heads in the wolves knowing it meant to eat.*"Be direct. Let them come and retrieve their food."
Lyn
*After a moment's consideration she relented to the request, returning to his side and fishing out a cut sliver of venison. Her ears flattened as she made eye contact with the first row, scanning along slowly until she recognised one...*
"Zenith. *Cara."
She repeated, unable to erase her Runran accent fully as she leant forwards. Keeping eye contact with her chosen wolf, she made sure not to move too much.*
Robert
*A large brown wolf's ears perked up as his name was said. Quickly, the animal made his way forwards and grabbed at the venison she took out before quickly scuttling off to find a place for him to settle down and eat. By now, all the other wolves' attention were on her, seeing that she currently had all the food. Terrel gave a nod to her and soon mimicked her action. Fishing out two pieces of the deer, he called out:*"Yami, Zander. Cara."*A black and brownish colored wolf excitedly approached them. Each taking a piece of the venison and darting off like Zenith had. As they took off, Terrel looked back at Ikehara and tilted his head towards the back for her to continue.*
Lyn
"Oak, Dart. Cara. *Meshia-gare."
She flashed a smile at the next set, getting into a rhythm with each new wolf that approached. Every now and then she would glance to Terrel, gesturing with her ears and head to give her the name of the nearest next wolf if she'd forgotten - there were a lot of them.*
Robert
*The Elf continued as another pair of wolves approached and took their share of the food. Each time, he increased the amount he named which assisted in lowering the number of wolves they had gathered as they quickly approached. For each of the ones Ikehara did name correctly, Terrel began calling out names that were less familiar. Definitely weren't the wolves they traveled with anyways. Overtime, the group of wolves lessened and soon enough each of them were distracted with a meal. Terrel went to retrieve the bag off of Fiery before approaching the Kemonomimi and holding it out to her.*"Not bad. This your first time commanding a bunch of wolves?"*He questioned her in a joking tone.*
Lyn
"No, actually." *She returned flatly, her ears wiggling deliberately as a wide smirk drew at her lips.* "One of our winter campaigns took us through Runra, a detachment from the empire joined us - all okamimi. Thought themselves too good for the rest of the division, so they only listened to me as a commanding officer."
*She shook her head at the thought, recalling the haughty expressions those beautifully-armoured soldiers wore; then how obediently they watched her during engagements.* "I was only a First Lieutenant. But even the Major was ignored. Damned imperials! Hah..."
*A tinge of sadness ended the story, Ikehara bouncing her shoulders once as her smile turned brusque.*
Robert
*Terrel handed her the bag of remaining venison before coming to stand next to her as he gazed out at the feasting wolves.*"I can tell."*He said simply, listening to her as she finished her brief story.*"You know with the way you speak of your time as an officer, one moment it seems like you enjoyed it, the next not so much. Sometimes hard to tell if you were fond of it or hated it."*He said aloud, only glancing back to her as he finished. Terrel remembered a time when walking away from home seemed hard from her. Perhaps that still was the case to some degree, but even then she seemed to enjoy the world as it was beyond it.*
Lyn
"You're the same with home, aren't you? There's good and bad parts of it all, but it was yours. Can't help but miss it."
*Her tone was as flat as she could manage it, refusing to let it develop lest she choked. Her eyes deadened slightly, reminiscing to herself briefly.* "Soldiering's a routine. Someone tells you what to do, and you tell your subordinates what they do. Feedback up and down, every day. Freedom's scary when you take it."