Duck Lake You'd better have good aim

@Alessia

She had wandered far from their lake this morning, wanting a distraction from constantly feeling like shit. She was pretty much nauseous all the time, and the list of things that needed to stay the fuck away from her had started to grow. Luckily, rabbits had remained safe so far, and one caught her eye as she made her way to the water. She considered briefly attempting to chase it down, but even just the thought was immediately exhausting. Plus, she felt too sick today to really feel like eating much. 

She continued making her way to the lake, stopping a few feet from the edge. She scanned her surroundings, eyes moving over the mountains to her left and the valley on her right before finally deciding to take a seat. She appeared to be alone, which was honestly how she preferred it. As her pregnancy progressed, her family dominated her thoughts; she missed them more than she liked to think about, and she had pretty much accepted the fact that she would never see either of her sisters ever again. She would still return to the glacier every so often just to make sure, but at this point, it seemed obvious that they had not made it safely from the storm. And god, she hated Sia so much. The resentment that had formed after his departure back home had slowly morphed into a burning hate. He left her here to deal with everything, and now she was alone and grieving and he was where? Back home with their asshole father. She hoped she never saw him again. 

She swallowed the hatred and sadness that had formed a lump in her throat as she allowed her thoughts to drift somewhere dark and depressing. Her fiery eyes settled over the partially frozen lake and she released a soft sigh as she attempted to steer her mind into a more positive direction.

stayin sorta vague

She's been reluctant to depart Swiftcurrent since @Jean-Pierre's sudden arrival, but today she feels inexplicably restless. Her energy has seemed to wane as her belly continues to swell, and she's been far more content lately with staying within the territory — so it feels odd, now, to have another taste of the wanderlust that has plagued her for much of her life. The strangeness of it seems to fade with each step away from the territory, and after a time she realizes she feels lighter than she has in awhile. For the first time in a long time, things have settled, at least enough that she can comfortably forget her worries with the Creek behind her. Kavik, for all the grief he has brought her, is a stable presence, and her brother turning up at the borders has only solidified her newfound sense of security.
Which only makes it more strange that she would want to leave it behind. Introspective as she's always been, these and similar thoughts occupy her mind as she comes to the edge of the lake, distracting her so thoroughly that she fails to notice the pale form seated several yards away. Her gaze drifts along the frozen surface of the lake as she halts near the edge, lost a million miles away from where she stands. Pregnancy, she thinks, has made her soft; overly emotional, indecisive, weak-willed and volatile. She knows she has never been the most stable of wolves, but the woman she has been these last weeks is not her, and the strangeness of revisiting the most valued aspect of her previous lifestyle has caused this thought to resurface. She has never needed security or stability, not in the way she feels she needs it now. Perhaps she could brush it off as concern for the children — but there is little point in lying to herself. She settles back on her haunches after a few beats, sighing softly as she decides she'll chalk it up to hormones for now. Maybe she isn't becoming someone else; maybe pregnancy just really sucks.

Her thoughts were interrupted by the approach of another, and irritation flashed through her. Taki was not in the mood for company, and this wolf didn't even seem to realize she was intruding, so she was probably stupid on top of ruining her attempt to find some peace. Upon further inspection, she noticed the woman seemed familiar in some way. Taki took in her scent, noting the smell of the creek on her, and then it clicked. Myrren, she said, a hint of contempt in her voice. Yes, she remembered her well; her deserter brother's deserter recruit. The one who had just taken off one day like loyalty meant nothing to her. She looked pregnant too; great, just what they needed--her deserter offspring going out into the world and polluting it. For some reason she felt overwhelmingly angry just then, more than her normal dislike for pretty much everyone. She glared at the other woman, wishing she would just leave. The last thing she needed was more memories of her fallen pack and her stupid, unreliable brother.

The sound of her name in strangely familiar tones draws her attention from her thoughts, expression already a little sour at the contempt she detects in the other's voice. Her ears fall against her skull as she looks up and realizes that it's Takiyok, the prickly second-in-command of the northern pack, far from Duskfire Glacier, cloaked in a scent entirely unfamiliar to her, and apparently pregnant — and staring at her like she's disgusting.
And maybe she is. Maybe she deserves it for all that she's done, though Takiyok does not even know half of it. Maybe it's just another part of her punishment. But the expression sends a prickling through her anyway, a restless stir that quickly bubbles into white-hot anger as she considers the woman before her, rising to her feet slowly. Takiyok. Is there a problem? Her tone dares the other to say yes, to give her some reason for the irrational surge of anger lighting her veins and quickening her pulse. The possibility of a fight doesn't occur to her yet, not consciously, even as her body prepares for it — but she knows that she isn't backing down from this.

Was there a problem? Yeah, there were a few, and Taki had no problem at all informing her of each one of them. Her glare deepened and she too rose to her feet, turning fully to face the other woman. I don't usually spend my time with deserters, she said first, glare intensifying. So, I'd say my biggest problem is you. Her ears flattened as the last word came out as a growl. She just suddenly felt so angry, and she wanted this reminder of her past to disappear. The last thing she wanted was to get into a fight while delicate life grew inside her but right now, she was finding it difficult to think past her growing rage. She couldn't even think of something snarky to add right now; she just felt overwhelmingly angry and if Myrren didn't excuse herself from her sight soon, she wasn't sure what would happen.

As infuriating as it is, there's something so strangely satisfying in seeing how easily she seems to have gotten under the woman's skin. She's hardly said a word, and it's clear already that Takiyok can hardly control herself. Her lips curve upward faintly, expression smug, and her next words are accompanied by a lift of her tail and a disdainful upward tip of her muzzle. It isn't my fault your idiot brother can't hold a pack together, She pauses a beat, hesitating only a moment before she continues a little viciously: Or his own family, apparently. None of the scents she'd grown familiar with in IkKanattuk surround Takiyok now, but the absence of Siarut's is most glaring — and in a way, it feels like vindication. It doesn't occur to her that he might be dead, or that something might have happened; to her, it means that Takiyok is either a deserter herself, or that she has lived her life in the shadow of one. She can't decide which would be more satisfying.

Taki was holding on to quite a bit of anger and resentment where Sia was concerned, but she would be damned before she let some little bitch speak I'll of him. She wasn't sure if it was her grief or her hormones making her lose her grip on her temper right now, but she felt like maybe it was a mixture of both. She would have been unfriendly to the woman regardless, but she wouldn't have normally lost her composure so easily. But it was like a switch flipped in her mind and before she knew it, she was lunging for Myrren, teeth aimed right for her neck and her body begging for the satisfaction that she knew would come from her teeth sinking into flesh.

They fought and Alessia went home. The end.