[center][h1][color=Goldenrod] Noah Griffin [/color][/h1][/center]
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Noah’s right eyebrow arched in question. His lips frowned, pressing tightly and observed her reaction. The mixture of English and native tongue didn’t help much. He decided to apply his school education into translating their meanings. His brows tightened in thought as he analyzed her words one by one. He used clues to determine their meaning. 

Neniwa… a dirty name or his gender. Considering how much he was angering her, he learned to some dirty name. He wouldn’t put it past her. 

Nepi… a drink name or glass? The way she used it indicated fragile or lacking in strength, but he wasn’t confident in his assumption. 

Ki·šeswa… Could've been an animal or a bird? She used the world fly after all. 

Ihkwêwa… he assumed that likely meant woman or female. Noah doubted she would ever call herself anything dirty or insulting. She was too confident.  

Anemôha… last one on the list. The sentence gave little to no clue about its meaning so he didn’t even really try. 

[color=goldenrod] “If I could trust you not to steal my tools, I’d let you walk behind me. After your little stunt, I don’t trust you…”[/color] Noah scoffed under his breath.  

His palm continued to gently nudge her toward the group. He was mindful not to get too rough because he didn’t want to hurt her, just make a point she stayed in front. 

Meanwhile, Noah continued to march in silence. Stiffness developed in his neck thanks to extreme efforts to avoid eye contact. The less attention he gained, the better. At least, that’s what he kept telling himself. 

Things seemed to be tolerable until their ‘shepherd’ had decided to maim one of his flock.  

Though gaps in the collected bodies, Noah caught sight of Yin snatching a woman from the group. The creature held her jaw open as his claw raked across her tongue. Coloring it red. Muffled screams could be heard while she failed to get free, struggling a bit in his grasp. 

The whole display disgusted Noah. His fingers tightened into a fist. He had no way of knowing the woman had been emotionally torturing another. If he had, his reaction would’ve different. At least less angry. Deep down, some instinct cautioned him against acting stupid. 

It forced him to relax. His hands rested at his sides, his posture once more submissive. For how long, it depended on when things escalated again. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could just stand and watch individuals become victims. From behind him, a shout broke the air. 

Noah’s head whipped about for the source. 

His eyes recognized the hot-headed woman as she sifted through the ‘flock’. She then vanished toward the front. While he wouldn’t likely be able to hear the exchange from his position in the back, his gut had a raw, black feeling in it. Things went bad fast. 

These…things were easily provoked. Even one wrong look and someone might end up tossed across the bridge and disappear into the pits.  

[color=goldenrod] ‘What made her decide to…’[/color] Noah’s thoughts trailed off. 

Bodil’s words hit him like a sledgehammer to the gut. 

His eyes shifted from one human to another, his lips mouthed numbers as he counted heads. The woman was right, someone was missing. He thought for a moment and tried to determine who it was. Erin's face rose to his attention when he couldn't find her in the group.   

[color=goldenrod] “Where… did she go?”[/color] Noah whispered to himself. 

He was ignorant of the rising tensions ahead between Bodil and Yin. The mistake would shortly be resolved. 

The sound of a body bashed against stonework caught his attention. His head to turned back to the present. He was nearing his tolerance’s breaking point now and his caution seemed to flirt away. Without thinking, his arm reached out and pushed Vae to the side. He began to walk to the front. 

He didn’t know the fox wouldn’t kill the woman or that she would’ve been whisked away to elsewhere. 

All those happened beyond his sight as he felt someone’s hand grip his arm. Noah tensed and paused. His facial expression scrunched up in confusion as he turned to face the individual.