Blackfeather Woods So what do you want from me
Atâtak Atsanik
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#1
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In the days that followed their return, Kove was as vigilant as ever in maintaining the borders. On the day of the attack, he had been absent from his post, slow to realise and react to the intrusion—but that would not happen again. He travelled just behind the treeline, hidden from any prying eyes by the thick foliage, but he was always there. Waiting and watching, letting it be known to the pack’s inhabitants that his role as the forest’s guardian would not be stripped from him by age alone.

Kove was just finishing up his evening patrol of the northern border when he turned to delve deeper into the woods. He did not dare let his voice slice through the air, too soon to let it be known that they were returned to the flatlands, but was instead silent in his search for @Shivali.
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#2
It has been lonely since their return—though it had been lonely before the war—and she spends most of her time alone. She tends to the borders sometimes, or hunts, but most of the time she kind of… meanders through. She doesn’t go out of her way to find the other wolves. By the smell of it alone there seem to be fewer but she can’t give an accurate headcounts based on the time she’s spent here.
 
When she hears the soft footfalls of someone silent—the sound of crunching snow to a northern is easily detected—and she turns to see the pale form materialize against the snow. Shivali regards him for a moment with one brow arched curiously.
Nothern 
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i opened my mouth in the night and the night poured in
the night fit against the ridges behind my teeth
the night packed itself under my tongue and settled in, as if to sleep
Atâtak Atsanik
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It didn’t take long before he found her, his approach detected and her face seen. He slowed to a stop a few steps away from her, nodded his head, and said, “Salutitsinik.” It felt strange—pleasantly so—to use his mother tongue so freely and still be understood. Whilst he’d tried to share the language with his children, few had actually taken a liking to it, and he doubted that any of them still used it; it wasn’t necessary, not when the common tongue was the prime language of these southern lands. It was refreshing to use it again, however, especially with one not of his own blood; he was reminded of the north, of his extended family, and he wondered how they all were faring.

Lingering no longer on his own thoughts, he focused on her. ÂkKiven? he asked, glancing at her body. Searching for her gaze thereafter, he offered the full extent of his attention, genuinely interested in hearing her response; he hoped she was well.
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#4
She smiles at the greeting. While she has been separated from the north for a while, it does not compare for the length of time he has. Will she survive that long down here? Will she eventually face the facts and return to the north? Her first choice in a pack had been a blind decision for familiarity, warranting ugly granulated tissue on her front legs and broken bones in her foot to compromise her way of life. Nothing is terribly life threatening and she’s mostly on the other side of healing, but she is not appreciative of the wounds she wears.

I am well,” she says in their shared tongue. The satisfaction on his face widens her smile and she swishes her tail a little. You?”
Nothern 
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i opened my mouth in the night and the night poured in
the night fit against the ridges behind my teeth
the night packed itself under my tongue and settled in, as if to sleep
Atâtak Atsanik
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#5
Italics are in Inuttut because I’m too lazy to even open the dictionary

I am well.

Although the words registered in his mind with relative ease, they did not keep away his prying eyes. He gazed at her directly before turning his attention towards the rest of her body, trailing over every inch of her before landing on her forelimbs; though they were covered in blood no longer, the missing fur served as an ugly reminder of the battle she’d been dragged into. His jaw clenched as he stared, regretting having not done more to help her, and then deciding he was foolish to assume that a woman of the north needed his help—were his intentions to be laughed at and mocked by the souls of females that were to someday linger alongside his?

When she spoke again, he was snapped out of it redirected his staring upwards. A small, uneasy smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “I’m well,” he returned, expression relaxing. Tilting his muzzle, he invited her to walk with him; should she agree, he’d start moving northwards. “Do you like it here?” he had to ask, curious if she was as troubled as he often was. It was not easy being so far from the north, from the only place one had ever known—especially not when the language that now surrounded them was not their own.
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#6
She can feel him look her over, lifting her head a little and watches his eyes trail from one remnant of a wound to another and she waits. His motive isn’t clear on his face but she does not say anything, waiting for an answer, and he mimics her own. The only connection she has in Blackfeather is the one that stands before her and if he is compromised, so is she, and so she nods her head once, thankful he is as okay as she.
 
Where is the wolf we do not turn our back on,” she asks in a way that barely seems a question. Accusation in her tone? Perhaps. But she risked her life for wolves she does not know, for someone specific she has not even met.
Nothern 
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i opened my mouth in the night and the night poured in
the night fit against the ridges behind my teeth
the night packed itself under my tongue and settled in, as if to sleep
Atâtak Atsanik
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#7
His question was ignored, another topic brought up that he wasn’t yet sure he wanted to touch on—but now it was out and he had no choice but to do so, knowing well she deserved answers. Letting out a sigh, he gave her a single-worded response: “Gone.” To where, he wasn’t entirely sure; for all any of them knew, he could be chasing after a ghost, searching for someone that he would never find. And though these thoughts struck him now, he’d not brought them up to the male in question prior to his departure, he’d merely accepted things as they were. Something that he might someday regret, the absence of answers sure to be troubling as he ages, but as of now he hardly let it get to him.

“He left to find his sister,” he added. Whether or not that was still the case, he would never know; Vaati could die somewhere out there and he would never find out, nor would he bother with searching. For though he’d accepted things as they were, accepted that the child had decided to seek out his wayward sibling, he could not deny his own dislike of the boy or his choices; he’d abandoned the woods, essentially, after driving them into a war that would never have come about if not for his impulsiveness—and that recklessness could not be forgiven, not in full.
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#8
Gone.
 
Shivali snorts and looks away. They fought a war for him and he is gone. What kind of place is this? She closes her dark blue eyes and lowers her nose, the equivalent of pinching the bridge of her nose in thought. Even as Kove offers an explanation, that he has gone to find his sister, she isn’t so hard pressed to believe it. She knows so little about the wolves here, so little about the wolf in front of her—the one she stayed for—and doesn’t feel like she even belongs. But she has nowhere else to go and she’s already labeled an enemy to any wolf she meets outside of these borders.
 
The only acknowledgment to the statement is a few, short nods and leaving the conversation to silence.
Nothern 
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i opened my mouth in the night and the night poured in
the night fit against the ridges behind my teeth
the night packed itself under my tongue and settled in, as if to sleep
Atâtak Atsanik
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#9
As she fell silent he followed after, searching her expression for something that might make her thoughts obvious, but found nothing. He considered asking her directly, taking the silence as an opportunity to pry into things, only to think better of it before continuing. He took a step towards her instead, closing the distance without touching her, and offered what support he could. “He’s gone, but there are still others here that are not,” he told her. “And with his departure, this land has become mine.” Though, in a way, it had always been his. Not to lead, that was new, but to protect—and he would continue to do that, up until the day he died.

“There won’t be another war,” he continued, an attempt at reassuring her made. “And if there is, you can leave. No one will expect you to fight for those you do not know, not again.” He certainly wouldn’t.
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#10
Shivali doesn’t know what to make of this information. She’s understood he’d taken control, despite not knowing how. Knowing how doesn’t really make her feel any better. His closeness causes her head to lean back but she keeps her feet in place. The scent of the leader clouds her mind and she narrows her eyes, lifting one foot as if she were going to step back but keeps still.
 
“It is not war I am afraid of,” she tells him with a quirk of a brow. Why should she get special treatment? That is not the answer to any of this, and will likely continue a divide—is that what he wants? Shivali breaks then and shifts back, putting space between them and taking a few off to the side, away from him.
Nothern 
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i opened my mouth in the night and the night poured in
the night fit against the ridges behind my teeth
the night packed itself under my tongue and settled in, as if to sleep
Atâtak Atsanik
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#11
Even as she stepped away he did not move, remaining where he was as he watched. He did not know what the issue was, if not the threat of war, though his expression did not betray his confusion; his face appeared stoic, entirely neutral, for now. “If it’s not war, then what?” he asked. Was there truly even something to fear? As far as he could see, things were on the right path to returning to how they once were; before long, the woods would be as he remembered it, and was that not enough? Did that not take away everything that might cause worry or fear? It certainly did for him.
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#12
She turns her head around to watch him when he does not move, lifting one brow curiously. Her tail flicks behind her and she shrugs to the question. There isn’t anything in particular that she’s afraid of, it wasn’t the first war she’s been through and likely won’t be her last, but if there is not a cause to fight for, there is no reason for her to fight.
 
“That I am not meant to be here,” she tells him coolly, passing off daily information as if they’re nothing. Will she leave after this? Kove is the one thing she has connecting her to this place but she barely knows him and his promotion will reduce her time with him. What does she have once that’s taken out of the equation?
Nothern 
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i opened my mouth in the night and the night poured in
the night fit against the ridges behind my teeth
the night packed itself under my tongue and settled in, as if to sleep
Atâtak Atsanik
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#13
That which plagued her mind resonated within him, for he could recall several times during which he felt the same; that he was not meant to be here, that he was meant to return to the north. And, at times, he’d even listened to those nagging thoughts and seriously contemplated returning to TakKik Kunnâk—but he never had, he’d always remained there in the woods despite everything. “Do you want to leave?” he had to ask, turning his body towards her. “You wouldn’t be the first to think about it.” Or to do it, for that matter.

“This isn’t the north,” he noted. “Maybe neither of us are meant to be here, but that doesn’t mean either of us has to leave.” At this point, he wondered if he could, if he would be able to make such a great journey, even if he really wanted to. “If you have to leave, I understand,” he continued. “But I’d rather you didn’t.” It was a selfish request, he realised, but he didn’t feel terrible for making it. She was his only connection to the north, to his heritage, so he couldn’t not ask her to stay.
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#14
The question is harder to answer than a simple yes or no. She’d left the north for a reason, would she go back? Expecting another place will be like what she’s used to, based on the simple fact she has one connection, may have been foolish but the barrier between her and the other wolves have barely began to crumble. She struggles to understand their tongue and ways they communicate and the structure of their land is still much a mystery. But it has to be more than coincidence that she does find someone that has the same shared heritage. If she isn’t meant to be here, then maybe she isn’t meant to be anywhere and from there, she can only grab and direct it herself.
 
Slowly, she takes careful steps toward him, the sound of snow crunching beneath her paws. “Give me a reason to stay,” she dares him.
Nothern 
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i opened my mouth in the night and the night poured in
the night fit against the ridges behind my teeth
the night packed itself under my tongue and settled in, as if to sleep
Atâtak Atsanik
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#15
He kept his eyes on her, watching as she approached. He kept all of his limbs planted firmly on the ground, refraining from approaching, letting her decide just how much distance was lost between them. But then she spoke and he had to wonder to himself, did he have a non-selfish reason for wanting her to remain? He searched deep within himself, yet there was nothing to find; his selfishness was the only thing there, much to his displeasure. “We’re the only ones here connecting each other to the north,” he answered, allowing his limbs a single step in her direction. “I’ve lived here for so long without any connection to my homeland before you arrived, I’m sure you do not want to experience the same loss.” He considered adding how no one else in these lands would understand her, his son aside, but decided against it; he wanted her to stay, not point out what she was unable to do.
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#16
Her eyes dropped down the length of his muzzle as he steps closer. Thoughts are plucked from her mind and used against her, causing her to stare at some point at the end of his nose. Considering the words in someone else’s voice helps them make sense. Traveling isn’t something she’s fond of and where is she going to find another place with what he proposes? “No,” she answers after a long moment, closing the rest of the distance. Slowly, her muzzle touches the side of his and between the two of them they can make the southern reaches a little less lonely.
Nothern 
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i opened my mouth in the night and the night poured in
the night fit against the ridges behind my teeth
the night packed itself under my tongue and settled in, as if to sleep
Atâtak Atsanik
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#17
No.

Copper eyes focused on her, following her movements until they were touching. Though taken somewhat by surprise, he did not pull away, allowing his muzzle to linger there against her own. He knew he needed not say anything more, her decision clearly made. When the north called to him and those long-ago memories made his heart ache, he would have her there within his reach—a piece of the north to keep him grounded, remind him of where he’d come from, and speak with him in a language that few southerners could comprehend.