dated after her heat!
Ikkalrok patrolled, her mind solely on protecting the borders and establishing their scent there. It seemed well maintained, but Ikkalrok was a woman who understood that sometimes numbers did matter. In this lot, she was not sure; she had yet to meet the entirety of the pack. If there were more wolves like her mate, likely not. But she was not a lazy woman, and would not pretend to be for the sake of getting by. No, Ikkalrok was a working woman.
Broad paws left their mark on the borders muddied from the rain. They were difficult to distinguish from that of a bears in size, but were different in plenty of other regard that foretold she was solely wolf. Mutely she lumbered, round ears pricked as she sniffled at the stale waters at her feet. Nothing new or troublesome, and so she moved on.
After the news of Astara's pregnancy, and her impending due date, Galena began to hunt and strategically cache carcasses near the center of the territory. In the damp, spring soil the bodies wouldn't last for very long -- but it was a habit most wolves couldn't break. The instinct to horde food was too strong. Galena pondered searching for bigger game... rally up a crew, perhaps. The concealed oasis that was Bearclaw Valley could not the support the amount of prey that larger, more open, expanses could. Would they have to leave the safety of Ursus to find bison and elk?
As she pondered, a very distinct scent arrived knocking at her nose. A wolf she had not met... a woman. Intrigued, Galena picked up her pace towards the stranger and their borders, turning the corner to see the dark woman a league away.
Ikkalrok's eyes fell upon Galena when the woman came within her path. This being a wolf, Ikkalrok had no qualms with their company or presence. A social beast (though not wordy, certainly), the mountain of a wolf lengthened her stride to meet the other halfway with an affable sway of her tail. To this one, here and now, she was no threat. She was quite interested in getting to know her packmates, and this wolf was one of them by the scent of her.
If permitted, Ikkalrok would draw to the others side and inhale deeply to get a good grasp on the company this one kept within their ranks. Ikkalrok knew very few, but intended to change this. Ikkalrok offered her own self to be sniffed at as well, if the other felt so inclined.
tags for reference... mwahaha
so sorry for my delay!! let me know if Galena's findings are overstepping!
This woman was mighty and strong. Galena admired the fine making of such a sturdy titan, but held no fear in her breast. Galena did not fear women, for she viewed them all as sisters as designed by Reverend Mother Superior.
Her new pack mate approached with an open expression and neutral body language, preening Galena for scents. She would find the rich and piney smell of Bearclaw Valley mingling with the perfume of blood (a fresh kill), but nothing more exciting.
The stormcloud did the same, though she stood a good few hands smaller her company. Her keen nose raked the aroma's from Ikkalrok's wiry midnight pelt and was somewhat astonished by what she found. Though the scent of heat had gone, Revui's musk doggedly clung to his lover. Galena was innately familiar with fertility and sex and understood, at once, that this woman had been covered by the gargoyle.
Her Mothers would have approved of such a coupling (though perhaps with a woman of finer proportions). However, this was not her homeland. Astara and Merrick ruled here. Which begged the question to be asked... did they know of this? Galena's moon-colored eyes appraised her sister's rugged face, "It is nice to meet you, sister. I am Galena. What is your name?"
The other introduced themselves. Ikkalrok regarded her with a rather dumb looking expression, though the name registered. Social niceties were things the bear of a wolf could comprehend, but not in turn deliver. Not that anyone knew, anyway. Rounded ears flickered in open regard, body language revealing she had heard the other... but she answered the question with a grunt of her own. Her dull gaze searched around them for a way to demonstrate her name, given they were the first to even think to ask. But there was no rough sea, and there was no ice-shelves atop it nearby. Ikkalrok's tongue felt too heavy to form the syllable's that were her true name. Reclusive by nature, this was a family by choice through her mate.
But she would learn to trust.
Galena was a strange name. But Ikkalrok had no other word for them, yet, in not knowing who she was. Still, open in disposition to the interaction, the she-wolf shook out her furs and gestured beyond Galena to a lumbering bear in the far distance. Children were coming, and perhaps her own. Bears displaced wolf packs from time to time, but... no one seemed bothered by the scents. For her own part, Ikkalrok adhered to her instinct. She knew what one mighty swipe could do to even the strongest of them.
Galena appraised the mute woman as she searched for clues to reveal her name. The storm cloud had met many like her before — those who did not, or could not, speak... either by nature or nurture. She had once heard of a clan of nuns in the misty mountains who had taken of vow of silence to better communicate with their ancestors. This quite juxtaposed Galena's heritage, where Mothers and Sisters became well versed in speech and the manipulation of the tongue. They would became truthsayers and diplomats, crafting their intonation to better command those beneath them. Words, words, words... it was quite exhausting, really. There was something magickal about the silent, feral nature that Ikkalrok and Astara possessed... and Galena was transfixed by it.
With a cock of her head, a gentle expression overcame a curious one. Galena understood. "Silence is underappreciated," she said with a hint of admiration. Suddenly, the woman's focus racked towards a bear in the distance. Galena's gaze followed.
"A bear!" she whispered, hushed. Galena recalled Merrick speaking about them. Though she had seen signs of their kind, this was the first time one made an appearance. She turned to Ikkalrok. "Merrick says we're supposed to live in peace with the bears..." her voice trailed off as she watched the beast, growing a bit uncomfortable with what she had just repeated. "He told me the progenitor of Bearclaw Valley sacrificed flesh to appease them." Galena's moon-colored eyes shifted back to her companion, wondering what she thought about that.
Had Ikkalrok the words, she might have agreed; she was hardly smart enough, socially, to understand that doing so would undermine the sentiment behind the words. As it were, the dark she wolf said nothing even still. For the better, even if she did not know it. Galena spoke a word Ikkalrok had heard in that tongue before, though she knew it differently.
Nanuk.
Few things managed to translate. Ikkalrok had needed to come to be the muscle on many occassion for ambassadors, which were underutilized things in their culture. Truth be told, she and her ilk were more likely to kill whoever came to them for any parlay, firm and unyielding. But Tartok had also come to find that sometimes, before this was done—it was inevitable, after all—there could be more that was gained firstly.
Understanding it was one thing, but responding was another. And unfortunately for herself, and for others too, Ikkalrok seemed to comprehend only the bare minimum. As Galena explained, Ikkalrok listened while watching the ursine. Peace with bears; unheard of, for her ilk. Tartok displaced the beasts before the beasts could displace them. Sharing was a foreign thing; they walked the same earth, but they did not share the lands they claimed with one another. Peace with bears was had once the bears were gone.
Whatever else was said was not understood at all; too big of words, too confusing a concept to even grasp. Understanding the first thing that was said, though, Ikkalrok looked to Galena and snorted brutishly.
Ikkalrok had yet to meet a nanuk who shared in Merrick's sentiment. What would he do, when the bruin struck? Her head turned back to look to the bear, who sniffed at the air and lumbered on. For now, it was oblivious to their presence. The furs along Ikkalroks nape prickled.