The scent of
@Inkeri was strong by a particular stone.
It was not alone, though. There was a confusing scent (
@Ethan) that Sanja had noticed some days ago, which was stronger here than anywhere. It reminded her of the pale woman she had driven off days ago. A ripple of tension bunched in the woman's taut shoulders as she remembered.
The woman moved slowly towards the large stone protruding from the hillside, and came to settle beneath its shadow. Her eyes peered across the undulating grassland towards the meadow, where the horizon had begun to blush with plum shades. She wondered about Bjarna, but most importantly about herself and her heavy belly.
It became more and more apparent that Sanja was pregnant, and from what Taktuq could see, without a husband to guard or tend her.
Not to mention, little Bjarna, as she now knew her, had found her way here, too. And there were others here, too. Others who made their home around the solace of the standing stones. Extra paws - yet still so many young mouths to feed.
Taktuq carried a rabbit in her jaws, and thought to bring the prey to Sanja before she thought of caching it away.
She found the woman beneath one of stones in the circle itself - a usual haunt for her, or so she had observed - and for a moment Taktuq could have convinced herself the woman’s shadow was that of her mother, or her aunt.
But Taktuq blinked the vision away - her mother was dead, and her aunt, well, she tried not to think on that - and chuffed around the rabbit in her mouth to alert Sanja to her approach.
Ethan noticed 2 wolves approaching the area where he and Inkeri had built a den. He usually didn't mind others, but being quite pregnant, and with their presence so close to his den, he got a little defensive. Rising, Ethan padded over tensely towards them, not getting too close though
"Hello, is there a reason you're here?" He asked. Perhaps they were friends of Inkeri and were looking for her.
Sanja was content to lay beside the stone for as long as her body allowed. It was becoming increasingly hard for her to find comfort; whatever grew inside of her was very much alive, and would move or kick at all hours.
The smell of a fresh kill made her stomach rumble. Sanja did not know how long her appetite would be in her favor so when she spotted Taktuq with the rabbit, she was almost entirely focused on the offered food.
Her tail wagged, and she looked appreciatively to Taktuq - until she noticed a figure just off the path behind them, near some trees. They were not familiar; and as they got closer, Sanja looked to Taktuq, then back.
The stranger's voice held a demand; their body was weighted, bulky in all the same places as Sanja's; and their scent, it was the same one that the woman had noticed twinning around Inkeri's trail! How many secret mothers lived upon her land?
How could Inkeri betray her like this?
Sanja’s eyes went to the prey, and it pleased Taktuq to bring the rabbit nearer. Yet she saw a shift in her companion’s gaze - a distraction on the path behind her. A question in Sanja’s eyes.
Taktuq turned.
The stranger’s voice lifted then, in common tongue. Taktuq had yet to know how much Sanja could speak and understand, and though not a mother herself, the sterling woman felt the urge to protect her new companion. She held her ground between Sanja and the stranger. Grounded, despite the gentleness in her voice.
This is our heim, our home. Has been mine, for many generations, has been Sanja’s for far fewer, but it is hers now, as much as it is mine,
she did not wish to drive the stranger out, for Taktuq saw that they were pregnant, and she recognized faint traces of the other’s scent… though seemingly, the stranger did not recognize theirs. So if they had not come into the Circle through Sanja, then who had brought them here?
"I was not aware of that." Ethan replied. "I met a wolf here, Inkeri, who was not in a good state. She was frantic, searching for her sister who seems to be gone. I offered to help her but she found no point. So I asked her to stay with me, asking her to help with as I am expecting pups, but the real reason I asked this is so I can keep an eye on her and make sure she is ok." Ethan explained. "I am not sure why she would allow us to settle here if she knew you resided here, though the scent of your companion is often on her pelt, so I believe the 2 know each other." He told the wolf who was speaking to him. "My name is Ethan." He added.
Taktuq noticed the stranger and moved to be a defensive buffer for Sanja's sake, which the mother-to-be greatly appreciated.
The stranger spoke - and of the many things they capitulated, Sanja understood very little; she looked to Taktuq and back a few times, as if to seek clarity.
Inkeri, home, name - Ethan? She gleaned the basics but that did not assuage the instinctual feeling to drive out this rival woman who would only be a burden to their group.
Sanja was tense through the entire exchange; her fur bristling, tail low, while she watched the stranger. Sanja heim, and Taktuq, and Inkeri.
This stranger was not one of them. E-tan, where heim?
Not here, certainly - not if Sanja wanted her children to thrive themselves.
She remained a buffer - steadfast, unmoving - even as the wolf Ethan spoke. Taktuq felt Sanja's eyes shifting back and forth, back and forth, resting on her only to flit to the stranger again. Tense. Unbreaking.
A misunderstanding.
Inkeri,
she repeated, and looked to Sanja, assuming the name, out of the rush of Ethan's words, were something that her companion would have understood. And she had. Asking of heim, as she had asked of Taktuq before - yet so different, in the way her voice delivered.
Inkeri is one of us. Kvarsheim, the wolves of Stone Circle,
Taktuq thought a moment, having caught Sanja's question to the other mother. Somewhere along the way, Inkeri had not told her that Ethan was one of them, too. But perhaps this was forgivable. Much could be missed, when ranks were unsettled and land was only freshly established. I am Taktuq. Sanja leads us. She asks you, where is your home? If you stay, Kvarsheim will be Ethan's heim.
She aimed this at Ethan, but looked to Sanja, as though only speaking to her. Heeding her reaction. She had compassion but understood the need for order. And as order dictated, Taktuq still stood below Sanja. Yet Ethan was in clear need of help. If the other mother disagreed that Ethan could stay, would she have any other option but to submit?
"I have talked to Inkeri about this and if everything is ok with the two of you I would appreciate if this could be my home, or heim, as you call it. I assume I'd need to somewhat learn the language your companion speaks if I do join though." Ethan said.
"I need a place, I don't really have one, and my pups are expected in a few days, if even that." He added
if it were up to Sanja alone, as her life had been until this point, she would have left this strange woman out in the wilderness to deal with the ramifications of their own decisions; alone, unsupported, the same way she felt with her swollen belly.
where would Sanja be if not for her found family? the women she had welcomed, the daughter she had adopted? lonely and in need, like this wolf. it did not change the fact that this was her land, or that Inkeri had brought this stranger so deep within it; neither did it warm Sanja's heart to see a rival for resources expecting the people of the Circle to sacrifice for the sake of the unborn.
she knew it was not a decision she could make alone, either. she looked to Taktuq and saw a warmth there within the other woman that was lacking in herself. Kvarsheim could use more bodies - more hunters - and what would motivate this one to stay and do their part? family.
stay, make heim.
Sanja answered after her many thoughts. she would reflect on this decision later - or so she told herself, unaware of the troubles her own birthing process would undergo. for now she accepted what this wolf could do for them; granted it would be an investment in the future that Sanja didn't entirely agree with.
feeling uncomfortable in her own skin, Sanja turned to Tatktuq and murmured quietly - I go, need... Bjarna, need sleeping.
As a way to dismiss herself, leaving the rest up to the other wolf, if there was more to be said.