Nova Peak and sailed to troy,

erzulie no longer doubted what her experienced figure had long been saying.
she was with child. wrapped in a veneer of relief and delight, the woman began to gather herbs. shells. things she brought back to the den shared with rosalyn, in preparation.
while erzulie was not a midwife, she had a working knowledge of worthwhile plants. it would be best if they procured someone with such wisdom. she was reminded of pretty, shy grimnisimal; wondering where the girl had gotten to, erzulie cut southward and approached the lone mountain.
strange to think that this place had been so contested. she climbed a low ledge, drinking in the air with its cold slice of taiga wind.

The day had found Imaq wandering away from the Glacier for a time, both anxious that her heat had not come as of yet and grateful that it had kept at bay. The cur wasn't sure what she would do when it struck. Wintersbane seemed rather lax regarding breeding but perhaps he was the only male to sire pups and this alone was why -- she had not spoken with Rye for several days and wondered if he had been swept up by the scent of heat coating the Glacier. The only thing the medicine woman was sure of, was that she needed a respite from the perfume of womens'-curse and the feeling of agitated inadequacy it inspired.

She wandered with no particular purpose, mapping the land idly until she decided to scale the lower heights of the Peak. When the dark form of the woman, unwittingly the mother of the girlish ambassador Imaq had spoken with only weeks ago, came into view, the she-dog stopped -- calling a soft, timid note of greeting towards her. Waiting, she wondered if she would be greeted warmly or with anger.  

erzulie regarded the approaching figure with interest. there was little wolf in the air of her, but the curiosity of this alone drew her own steps up. she let her two-toned gaze travel in observation, then swung her plume in a soft arc. the electricity of the season still cracked in the air, but inside the cage of her ribs she guarded a secret.
"do you be knowin' de pack dat once lived here?" she inquired. sagtannet had long been swept away, but the seawife was still wary and still careful, exploring every rock between her forepaws for even a hint of the aggressive mountainwolves.

Imaq's floppy ears twitched in a faint tic skywards, both surprised and joyous to meet another she-wolf who spoke in the melodic quality of @Chacal (reference). The Glacier Gamma dipped her gilded diadem, splotched tongue of pink and berry rasping along her creamy chops as she drifted to an uncertain stop. Full-bloods, especially those belonging to established packs, were not always receptive of her company. But this woman seemed amiable enough, in spite of the crease that fixed itself fretfully between her scarab gaze of polished gold and jade. 

"No. Imaq of the Glacier," the shepherd answered readily in a murmur that hinted at apology, flicking her freckled muzzle in the direction of the frozen cliffs she had come to call home. "Of Wintersbane's tribe." 

"You?" Selkie asked then, merely curious as evidenced by the slight tilt of her head. The woman smelt of something vaguely familiar, almost reminiscent of the shaman's home. Of seawater and salted brine, wild winds and the warmth of others. Still, Imaq hadn't quite pieced together that she was one of Sapphique's leaders yet.  

imaq of the glacier.
wintersbane.
the harlot only gave a practiced honeywine smile to the plushpelt maiden, but in her mind anger was rising. and then she halted herself. who truly minded if the king-for-a-day had come here, to ply leadership in frozen earth? so far as he stayed far from sapphique.
without the input of stoic rosalyn, erzulie was disinclined to send the pretty girl home with an olive branch. likewise, she expected none in return. "erzulie. my wife an' i be de leaders of sapphique." the words purled in her throat, and she swept imaq with a closer look. "have you heard de name sagtannet?" she inquired, seeking her first quest again.

Unaware of the tension her chieftain's name had inspired, the she-dog only smiled brightly in return -- recalling the names she had been given by the youthful shadeling. "Chacal's anânaks," she interjected in a quip of familiarity, tailless, splotched haunches giving a small wag. "Ah, mothers," she added in the common tongue. "Imaq meet Chacal when she comes to the Glacier, jah," she explained, knowing it was unlikely that the yearling had mentioned their brief encounter.

"Ah, no," and again the dove grimaced in apology. "Imaq of Ivory Rose before Wintersbane. Imaq of no one before that." 

"Sagtannet," she tested the word on her tongue of tribal flavors, "here before?" The cur asked, remembering what the woman had said a moment before. She could only imagine that the clan who claimed the Peak had been allies or rivals to capture the dark stranger's attention so. 

at the mention of chacal, erzulie softened, a proud curve attending her mouth. her girl had come so far? the obsidian was in approval of the yearling's scoutsent adventure, and credited her girl's exploration with this new information of wintersbane.
"sagtannet was once upon dis mountain," erzulie told imaq in a modulated tone. "we did not get along, an' dey had threatened our presence once we moved to de cliffside." an elegant shrug. "but now dey be gone, while sapphique remains."
ivory rose. she did not know that name either. "it seems you have traveled much," erzulie remarked. "do you feel dat you be home now, in de glacier?"

The cur's head tipped back slightly, lips parting in a silent sigh of understanding. "Ah," she mouthed, giving a tiny nod. "Is good thing then, jah? Cliffs all to Sapphique," the Waterwitch quipped lightly with a quirk of a smile, trying her best not to butcher the other clan's name in her thick accent. To the best of her knowledge, it seemed like an alliance might be possible between the gem-wolves and those who belonged to the mountain of ice and sunset -- she didn't see the harm in choosing sides between the victor of this spat and the ghost of a pack that had once claimed the Peak they stood on. 

"Aya," Imaq agreed with a light chuckle. "Imaq come all the way from Nunaat -- across Sedna's sea," she added, perhaps a bit too talkative in her excitement at meeting another wolf who seemed to tolerate her presence. 

"Glacier is good place to call home. Small pack but strong. Like Kalallit," the dove answered honestly. Her seaglass gaze glimmered then with a hint of girlish secret. "There is a boy. A girl too," she admitted, tones slightly more hushed -- shy. Her thoughts flickered to the spotted wren and the hawk-eyed guardian.

the girl amused erzulie, in a warm way. there was nothing left of dog in erzulie; it had burnt out long before she had formed her own identity. while she knew imaq was not only one of their own, the harlot experienced, now, none of the earlier prejudice.
perhaps wintersbane had become more intriguing with a wider range of subjects.
he should have known better than to stand against the saltwives. she was haughty, even now.
"you belong to de sea den, too," she smiled, listening. a boy and a girl, and imaq and wintersbane. "perhaps you all be warriors, holdin' de glacier. i suppose ice be like de sea: wild."
polite, her mintgold stare, wondering what else the pretty maiden might disclose of their packland.

Imaq tipped her head and shoulders in a so-so gesture. The Glacier seemed to be what most wolves would consider a standard pack. They were no militia or warband but their ranks were held by an array of individuals with their own talents -- as Imaq supposed most packs would be, though she was definitely no expert on the coalitions of these foreign lands. 

"Imaq spoke with Chacal about..ah, em.." the cur struggled for the right word for a moment. "Alliance," she chirped suddenly as it came to her, eyes bright with the same excitement the prospect had originally given her -- still in the dark about any past friction between Wintersbane and Sapphique's leaders.

alliance.
erzulie was careful not to allow her gaze to cool. it was not imaq's fault that she had not been told the first story. and who knew that they might be so well positioned near one another, enough for chacal to have given them away. it was also her fault, for not warning of the smoke-man. he had been there and then he had gone, and that had been enough for her.
pride causing another misstep. 
"i will share dis wid my wife," she said gently, neither taking nor giving.
"i be a medic. good in a battle."

Imaq nodded, satisfied and not guessing that anything was amiss. "This is good thing, jah," she praised gently, before offering a hint of herself: "Imaq is medicine woman, like Erzulie. And woman-who-hunts." There was no common term for the title of the arctic wolves. 

The shepherd cast a glance over her pale shoulder, thinking that she should return before the time got away from her -- and before the conversation died out awkwardly. "Imaq need go home. But is good to know Erzulie," she demurred with a shy smile as her aquamarines returned to Erzulie's bicolored gaze, hoping the she-wolf understood the sentiment she was trying to express. "Imaq hope to speak with gem-chief again."

She waited to catch any parting words the leader had before giving the shadowed femme a nod and turning to begin the trek back to Duskfire.

medicine woman. gem-chiefs. "it was good to meet you, imaq," erzulie said quietly, though a true grin lit her mismatched eyes. "perhaps i will be able to entertain you at de coas' one day."
with a little wink of goodwill, the seawolf relinquished their meeting in a fond way. good to know, she supposed, that wintersbane had made a place with better ambitions than before. she still did not enjoy the idea of him as leader, but if imaq was an example of duskfire, then erzulie might find herself more softened in the weeks to come.
the cinnamon-spice woman moved off grandly toward sapphique.