Eshalu nodded her assent. "We are of one mind," she told Aeryn, the human words still alien and laborious on her lips, "the situation requires caution and I have no interest in partaking of their petty struggles for dominance. They are more unruly and dangerous than a leaderless dire wolf pack."<br/><br/>Eshalu took comfort in the human's presence. Aeryn was like a guide to an unknown  and insidious land. For an instant, she found herself wondering why Aeryn had grazed her hand. She then decided that humans must have different courtship customs, of which fleeting touch was an element. Eshalu had endured a keen frustration in the attention and suspicion her physical closeness with Aeryn had drawn. Everything on the rickety giant human kayak they called "ship" had seemed to suggest that humans placed little importance in privacy.<br/><br/>Then there was the human custom to sleep clothed in shelter, which was wholly alien to her. Aeryn had dissuaded her from disrobing, even when she had insisted that she would keep her crescent shortsword and knife by her side. The human preoccupation with nudity, which they seemed to find instantly titillating, not to mention their fixation with "orders" - which Aeryn had explained, unconvincingly, as compulsory advice from a social superior - and hierarchies made them troubling people indeed.<br/><br/>"Your clan - this Manga Sophia - are you a leader amongst them and will they offer us assistance? I would much rather be the guest of a friendly clan than be thrown amongst these ones here, who seem to have no allegiance. I would sharpen my blades, bathe and invoke the Mother Spirit of this land. Then perhaps we can share a blanket in peace."