Nova Peak they want the drip, they want the glow

wolves near the tangle.
the twisting place was not a hunting ground for sapphique. running backward, it opened into a pleasant clearing punctuated by fresh water, and it was this direction that chani took.
she had found the tracks by accident, hunting the mountain on a mission for her mother and new siblings, she had only explored them briefly and then gone home.
but now she was back, slithering out of the tangle and emerging soon after into the coldlands of a mountain. 
wolves. two? they crossed with tracks of the rise. that scent she did know, but chani didn't understand the story. she moved to and fro freely, hyperfocused on trying to figure out how long the others had been around, driven mostly by pure curiosity.

Someone approached the northern reaches of Dragonspine. Masquerade sat on a ledge far above, watching the figure cutting closer and closer. She pondered the merits of going to greet them. Perhaps they could be recruited. But as the she-wolf came to skulk at the foot of the peak, Masque realized she knew this young woman.

She called out to Chani from her perch, requesting patience as she navigated her way down to meet the yearling. Masque moved carefully, ever mindful of her rounded middle and the way it changed her center of gravity. Every now and again, a cramp bladed through her, though it was the dull edge of a butter knife.

Chani! she shouted when she came within proper earshot, loping steadily toward her guest with a confident but easygoing bearing. Have you come to investigate the new neighbors? she guessed with a slight smile.

masque? chani waved her own tail, a bit slowly if only in confusion. her warm response was a genuine smile however, greeting the — former? — redtail with a cursory sniff to the other's shoulder.
"you are not wid dem?" the girl asked, opting for the directness of her family. her ears flicked toward the rise, but her eyes did not leave the other.
why wasn't masque there? hadn't they been a leader? there were pups on the way? what happened!? she wanted to hear everything, but felt compelled to stuff all anticipation behind a cool mask.
what would maman think of this?

The befuddled look on Chani’s face manifested in a question Masquerade fully anticipated. She dipped her head as the younger woman glanced off toward the rise, happy to field this line of inquiry.

I’m making my own way now, she said, deciding against getting into the nitty gritty details, at least for now. My mate, Riley, and I are starting a pack here. We call it Dragonspine. It’s just the two of us, though not for much longer.

She stopped short of calling them sister packs, though Masque knew there was an opportunity here. She thought about her attempts to forge alliances out west—poor Rodyn, she should’ve left word with him—and wondered if Sapphique might consider an affiliation.

She thought about Redd making deals with the pack by the river. It seemed her sister valued these tangible exchanges of assets over token concordats. Masquerade could get behind that. She knew they had little to offer anybody just yet, however.

I hope Sapphique is still flourishing? she said instead.

something was different. not about masque, not about the rise. not about scents or vision or 
chani didn't know. their friendliness was no different. it just — "yes. lots of babies," chani said, though somehow she was now experiencing the need to be vague.
finally her nose twitched. "why here? an' not closer to de rise?" it wasn't quite their backyard, but she knew her aunts and mother might have a different idea. perhaps that was why she felt uncomfortable now. masque being unaffiliated with the rise made her a stranger — didn't it?

She smiled at the mention of many babies, a sure sign that a pack was doing well. Before Masque could ask for details, Chani posed another probing question. Masque didn’t mind it, though genuine puzzlement knitted her brow.

Closer? she repeated, tone politely quizzical. There’s only the grotto between us.

Its trees touched the feet of both mounts, in fact, though Masquerade didn’t point this out. Instead, she wondered at the nature of the question. “Why here?” Why not here? Chani couldn’t know the Redtail’s long history with Dragon’s Back Ridge.

I’ve wanted to found a sister pack here for as long as I can remember, she revealed, tail waving gently. I’m glad it’s finally becoming a reality.

suspicion was pouring into chani as if a river had opened up inside the girl. it bewildered her to experience such a sensation and still have no fear response or even one of anger toward masque at all.
she wasn't sure what to say. part of chani wanted to warn the burgeoning pack away from the tangle, and the other wanted to congratulate her, excited at the prospect of even more puppies nearby.
and maybe they'd all get along like the young hunters of the sea and the rise did now.
"uhum, do you see de tangle, dat way?" she said quietly, gesturing to the sprawl of thorns massed between redtail and sapphique. "my tante hunts t'ere. or, something. but —" and chani bunched her shoulders with visible unsurety, "i do not t'ink she would care to come across someone who was not us or de rise." the location of dragonspine would block the seawolves against the sea, especially as hunting grounds expanded. and she had no way of saying that or even conveying what was in essence an instinctual need to avoid conflict with her own kind. she sought peace and a good arrangement.
her tone was apologetic, wary of any negative response from masque, the girl's gaze wishing very much to be shut of this feeling, ready to resume their friendly relations.

Chani’s next question stirred a sudden feeling of trepidation. Of course she knew of The Tangle. She’d hunted there on occasion, though the terrain made it difficult. She glanced that way, then returned her gaze to the younger woman’s face, assessing her expression and tone as she conveyed a concern about her tante.

If the rise was welcome to hunt there, then perhaps Dragonspine could be too. But they were not yet allies. Masquerade wished to propose such a thing, though she reminded herself they had nothing to offer yet. If nothing else, she could put forth her goodwill.

We won’t hunt there, she said decisively. We want to keep the peace with all our neighbors. Perhaps once we’re more established, we might even become allies. In the meantime, the mountain sustains us.

They also did a lot of hunting in the valley to the east. Masquerade gave the unwelcoming thicket another look. It was a small ask, truly, to avoid it in the name of preserving fellowships among the packs in the area. Hopefully it would ease Chani’s and her family’s concern, as the cliffs were distant enough to be invisible from here, the air absent of salt this far inland.

chani exhaled with visible relief and a reflective sweep of her tail, as if to dispel even the tension of a single moment. "sorry. we know de rise be huntin' west of us, an' cross paths often, and hunt tog'eter. but we have always had de option of huntin' east, too." and she did not think that her family wanted to surrender those grounds just beyond the tangle with their small pools of inland freshwater.
"i would like dat. i cannot speak for everyone but i t'ink it would be easier," chani stated with a wry grin. 
the tangle could be a second rendezvous for the older pups of the three packs, she realized, and then she wondered aloud, "do it be hard to start your own pack?"

Chani apologized, visibly relaxing. Masquerade shook her head and tried to reassure her further with a smile. She liked to think she understood where that line of inquiry had come from and just hoped she’d truly put the girl’s—and, by proxy, her pack’s—mind at ease, as far as Dragonspine’s intentions went.

It’s been very difficult, actually, she answered the next question, glad of the change of topic and happy to continue the conversation. It’s been complicated too, which is different. We have to work very hard every day just to sustain ourselves. Riley and I keep ourselves fed pretty well, though we have no outside support. Finding that is the hardest part of all.

Stealing members of the rise wasn’t an option, for myriad reasons. And though that might’ve made things easier, Masque actually embraced the challenge of it all. It would’ve been one thing to inherit Avicus’s legacy. It was an entirely different beast, forging her own.

Keeping her focus on her guest, she wondered, Why do you ask? Do you think you may give it a try someday?