The two of them begged Asta to explain what she meant by being able to read the weather on the winds, but she kept brushing them off with her explanations being short. For once, they had her stammering, their excitement and rapid fire questions making it hard for her to slow them down and concentrate on an answer.
"It's just something I've always been able to do, I swear! Even when I was child, so I don't know what it's like to NOT be able to read the weather."
"Is it called reading the WIND or reading the WEATHER?" Saba asked, raising both her eyebrows.
"Both? We call it both? It's more reading the winds when a big change is coming. Like that massive storm two summers ago, I assume it hit here?"
Molaki growled under his breath. "Yes, of course. We aren't that far, remember you walked here. We lost almost all our farm animals in the flooding. We were able to set some free to save themselves but others got trapped and drowned. We lost so much in homes too, if people weren't able to move everything to a second story."
"Right," Asta looked at him sympathetically. "So, I knew that was coming twenty days prior. We were able to pull up our roots and move what we could of our homes, we actually stripped them down and moved to higher ground. We even pulled up what we could of our crops prematurely if we knew they would die underwater. If we hadn't done that, we would have lost all our homes. At least we salvaged all the materials of our roofs and didn't lose anything inside our homes. We just had to go and put them back together once the ground dried out. I can't... I can't always sense that far in advance, it just hits me sometimes."
Molaki almost felt he saw an in to ask her finally what the hell they used as houses, now envisioning something like sticks on top of each other. However, they had made it to the main courtyard, and Saba had grabbed Asta's opposite wrist, pulling her to the garment vendor at a trot. Asta let out a small squeak at first, looking back at Molaki, but the male had a smile on his face, letting go of her hand. The doe gave in, running along with Saba, hiking up her borrowed dress so she wouldn't trip over it.
"Hello Lena!" Saba waved, keeping the conversation breezy. Lena was a wolf woman, older than the girls by probably twenty years, possibly older than Molaki's mother. Her face was weathered with crows feet around her eyes, which were green and piercing. She used those eyes to look the deer woman up and down, immediately making Asta start to shrink back, but suddenly, Lena let a smile creep up on her face.
"So you like her, Sab?"
Saba grumbled a small growl, a lighter, more nasal tone than what the wolves made. Much like when Prim and her brother were heckling each other, Asta was beginning to understand that these little chirps, growls, and barks, were very rarely violent, and the noise that Saba was making wasn't any different.
"Yes, mother Lena, I like her. We're getting her an entire wardrobe today, since the boys so rudely ruined the one item of clothes she came with by rolling her around in the mud."
Asta looked at Saba slack jawed. "Oh! Is this your mother?"
Both the women laughed lightly, Lena shaking her head. "No child, I'm sorry. It's just a term of endearment. You Like Saba too, right? So she's your sister now. Since she's known me since she was a child, she calls me mother sometimes. You'll get used to it."
Asta's cheeks felt heated, but even if she was embarrased by not knowing the customs here, the willingness of the older wolf to talk to her with ease elated her. Lena showed her all the dresses she had already made. Luckily, not all the wolf families were as tall as Prim, but they also really weren't as slightly built, so what fit the doe the best were the dresses that were made for teens.
It was only a little embarrassing, but both Lena and Saba hushed her, explaining that it wasn't like the cut and style was any different, just the size. Nobody would think about it. All the dresses Lena had out for offering were for the autumn, and a few for the winter. Asta picked out a flowing off white garment that was simply just an undyed linen, with dark green detailing.
Lena immediately handed her a second dress, made of dark green dyed fool, with both knitted and felted elements. "It matches your hair, and it'll get cold very soon," she reasoned. Asta almost corrected her that it was going to be abnormally warm for the next to weeks, but stopped herself, instead thanking her.
The third was a wildcard that Saba threw at her.
"Asta," she said sternly, crossing her arms. "You're going to freeze to death if you don't wear furs."
"I won't probably," Asta protested, but thought back to her last winter, which was abnormally cold. The deer spent the majority of the worst parts of winter huddled together under woolen blankets. Often they slept as their deer, curled up tightly, as it was a fair deal warmer than being furless humans.
"No, really, just look at this one. I know you're people don't like furs, but consider it - it's, look. It's wolf."
Asta's eyes grew wide, her mouth agape for a moment as she sucked in a breath.
"Its, oh come on. I mention it because that means you know it wasn't a shifter. That's the issue, right? That you think they're shifters? You know this wasn't. It's wolf fur. It was a wild wolf. The whole animal was used. This fur dress will keep you warm for so many winters, you'll be able to pass it down to your children."
Asta tried her best not to wrinkle her nose. She didn't want to offend Lena, who had worked so hard on all the garments. It was a leather dress, with fur on the inside, to insulate, except for the fur trimmings on the oversized collar and sleeves. It was more of a long jacket than a dress, with bone buttons up the front to close it. Reluctantly, the doe agreed, the two predators high fiving each other.
"We'll make you a Lyko native yet," Lena said with a wink.
----
Molaki had hung back away from the tent, letting the girls do their thing. He was almost aghast that Saba had gotten Asta to accept a fur garment, wanting to press Asta if she had been uncomfortable about it, but he could immediately scent that she was light and joyful. She hadn't been really pressured, and she wasn't mad or afraid. He was confused, but quickly used the opportunity to get her to pick up several pairs of pants and blouses, without pressing her on what they were made of. They were almost all a mix of natural fibers and leather, but she had amazingly seemed to have given up on being precious about it. The only thing she would do is ask what they were made out of, and as long as it wasn't deer hide, Asta allowed it.
By the end of the spree, both Molaki and Asta were holding an armful of garments. Neither had calculated how much clothing it would be to try and put together a whole wardrobe for an adult in one outing. With Saba holding more shirts, they scampered back to their home, throwing the clothes onto the couch.
At first, Asta was going to just leave again in Prims dress, but at the prodding of Lena, she hastily changed into one of the pants and blouse sets. Nobody had seen her out of one of those airy, flowing gowns. Molaki's jaw was almost on the floor seeing her hurry back down the staircase in clothes that were entirely Lyko. Her emerald hair had been tied back in a ponytail, the only thing out of place bring her doe ears.
Saba snorted, jabbing her friend in the ribs. "Don't look at her so stupid, brother," she hissed.
The trio left the house again quickly, wanting to go back to the village center for lunch, and to show Asta what else she could bring home. The cider stand would definitely be open, and Molaki wanted to show her the jeweler. He was sure given everything else he was finding out about the deer herd, that Asta wouldn't have had frivolous things like necklaces and rings.
As they were walking easily and chatting, both Molaki and Asta's hair stood up at the same time. Molaki noticed his mate go silent first, her demeanor suddenly back to how she had been prior; wide eyed, ears flicking while she looked around for a threat and an exit. It was then the scent hit him, his hackles raising as he pinned his white ears, spinning to the right while growling.
He threw an arm out in front of Asta instinctively, Saba taking cue and pulling the girl to her chest so that she was away from the threat.
There, in the brush, a white wolf padded towards them, knowing he had been spotted. Asta would have noticed his scent as a predator way earlier, if she wasn't surrounded by predators now. They were all the same to her. It was his piercing glare that caught her intuitions attention.
And it was the scent of his father, his actual biological father, that made Molaki want to shift and strangle him.