Duskfire Glacier honkarr

for @Tuhin

faust moves steadily, his pace steady as he leads tuhin across the glacier’s expanse. the wind howls, biting through the stillness, but he does not falter. he does not look back.
the ice gives way to firmer ground, jagged ridges rising in the distance, marking the heart of darukaal. faust exhales, a plume of frost curling from his lips.
welcome to the glacier he gruffs, finally sparing the man a glance. this is blood talon’s land now.

the cold grew sharper. fiercer.

tuhin was born and built to withstand it, but even in memory of the frozen north, this was altogether less friendly; packed ice and jagged peaks, snowswept and cold. defensible, yes, in that tuhin imagined none would bother to venture this far, for it would only weaken them to do so.

but he had no reason to doubt faust's claimed hunting grounds; he was the scavenger here, after all, picking meat of stripped bone. he did not voice the thought.

"how fitting," he murmured, with a sidelong silvergreen glance that briefly met faust's own, diverted swiftly back to the vast snow-veiled expanse. stark, uncompromising...it did not surprise him that this would be the place a man such as he chose.

tuhin's mind yet lingered on other questions, though, and he was, as had happened so often, drawn away by his own curiosity. "is that the meaning, then? darukaal?" he pronounced the word as best as he could mirror faust's own voice, though it yet sat oddly upon his tongue.

"i confess, it is no language i am familiar with, though i was made to learn many."

faust’s ears twitched, catching the murmured curiosity in tuhin’s tone. he glanced toward him briefly before turning his gaze back across the glacier’s expanse.
yes, he confirmed, voice low and sure. darukaal means blood talon. the words carried weight, a name carved from something older than them both—something violent and enduring. a name that demanded respect.
he slowed his pace, letting tuhin walk alongside him. you’ll pick up our words in time, faust said, a rare note of patience in his voice. he knew the tongue of the glacier was harsh on foreign tongues, but those who stayed would learn—because they had to.
we are hunters. warriors. we speak with our teeth more often than our tongues. a faint scoff, not quite humor, but close. he glanced at tuhin again, measuring. but you seem the type to know the value of both.

sorry for the delay! was a busy weekend for me but should be good now :-) congrats on the pack forming btw!!

this, too, was equally fitting. blood talon... no warrior band had ever been complete without a name to match. that had always seemed a constant, across cultures and peoples - that among their kind, baring teeth was a warning. tuhin understood how the right words could serve the same purpose.

snow crunched under their paws as they caught back to his side, distracted by their own considerations.

"yes," they said, at last drawing level. "at one time, it was my job to know these things...i feel it only right to learn what i might of my new home." they gave a short tilt of their head, considering. "there are others here, i imagine? do they speak your tongue, or were they, too, wanderers?"

certainly they were warriors, though such a brush could be painted on anyone who required flesh to survive. tuhin had never known a wolf to subsist on only carrion.

"i was raised as a diplomat," they said, thoughtful, "but among my people, the label means many things - speaker, spy, tactician. it is not to say i have no experience in more physical matters. all were needed to provide, and to defend our home when other avenues failed. i know well words do not always suffice, and besides... the language of tooth and claw provides its own valuable insight."

no worries! thank you <3

he gave a short nod, eyes fixed ahead as they walked, his breath a steady plume in the cold.
others, he confirmed. iosef. my brother fenris. lousine. satori. he listed them like a roll call. each wandered here. each found a place.
his gaze flicked briefly to tuhin. they will teach you the tongue, in time. but what matters most is what you can do. your words, your claws—both are welcome.
there was a pause, a hint of something like approval in his gruff tone.
darukaal is not built only on muscle. i need minds, too. hunters, soldiers… but also those who see beyond the next battle.
he huffed lightly, a cold wind cutting through his fur.
you’ll do well here.

tuhin hummed, and let the wind take over their conversation for a time.

many, then. all strangers, too, aside from the brother. it was never simple to bring so many drifters together, even when the natural law of their kind herded them into packs, and tuhin suspected many would not be the sociable type. but he would discover that himself.

in the meanwhile, he felt faust's gaze turn to him, if only for a moment.

"that is my hope. some do not understand the purpose of anything that is not violence," he murmured once the man had finished. "i am glad to see you are not one of them."

he lifted his head, then, and looked again about the ice, considering.

"this glacier is darukaal's," tuhin said, "but what of the rest of this place? i had not run into any other claims while wandering the icefields...but neither was i the one to stumble into yours. "

faust listened, his gaze sweeping the icebound horizon, breath fogging in the frigid air.
the glacier is ours, he repeated, voice firm, as though the words themselves anchored it to their claim. the fields beyond—there are others. packs. but none so close they dare press upon our borders. not yet.
he shifted his weight, the crack of frost beneath his paw filling the brief lull.
the icefields can hide a man for a long time, he continued, almost as an afterthought. but they can swallow him just as quick.
his eyes flicked back to tuhin, a brief, appraising glance.
you'll learn them, in time. the faces. the names. but here, we hunt. we thrive. and if others come for what is ours—
he bared his teeth slightly, a subtle flash of white.
we break them.
he let the tension settle, then offered a faint, knowing smirk.

their words he may have accepted, but tuhin knew what faust's focus was.

it was understandable. the first priority must always be survival, and his soldiers and hunters must be strong to stake their claim upon this place, unforgiving as it was. they breathed white smoke into the wintry air and considered this, listening with ear tipped to his words.

the north was cruel. it took a certain sort of creature to choose to make its home amongst a place like this- and that too told tuhin many things about the man they had accepted as leader, the same things as his bared teeth and the knowing curve of his lip.

any further judgment they would yet reserve.

"there is much to be done, then," they commented. "what would you ask of me?"

there was no room for pride, for ambition, for anything that did not feed or protect their own.
small game caches, he said, voice firm, absolute. i want them filled. the herd will keep us strong, but we cannot rely on them alone. if the hunt is poor, if the snows bury us, our people will not starve.
he looked past tuhin, to the treeline where the wind howled through the pines. their land was harsh, but it would be theirs.
rabbits. hares. ptarmigan. whatever you can catch and store. no one goes without, not under my watch.

the prey could thin at any time. tuhin saw the wisdom in this, and accepted the command with a short nod. he was not yet well-versed in these lands- where the smaller game lingered, or the larger- but as with many things it would come with time.

he imagined, too, the pack would be summoned soon to chase the herds, and there was much he could do before then; many wolves he had yet to speak with in these icefields. to hunt with another was to trust in them, if only for a time. perhaps he might begin to make acquaintances.

he scented the air briefly, and found his gaze moving to follow faust's; towards the treeline, and out into the hazy distance. it would be, he decided, his first destination.

"they will be filled," he said, already moving into the thick snow, taking in a lungful of alpine air. despite the many long miles that had led him here, the exhaustion that had often dogged his steps, it felt good, too, to run.

but he turned his head before he had gone far. "thank you," he added, almost without thinking; it was nearly a surprise to, indeed, find himself thankful for this opportunity, no matter the hesitation he still approached it with. far safer to be a wolf in a pack than a wolf on one's own. "it is... good, to have purpose."

faust watched him, the quiet calculation in his movements, the way he accepted command with neither hesitation nor resentment. he saw wisdom in that. wolves like tuhin were useful—those who could think beyond the hunt, beyond the blade, beyond the immediate needs of tooth and claw.
his gaze flickered to the treeline once more, thoughtful.
there's more to purpose than filling caches. his voice was steady, cool as the air between them. you seem a diplomatic sort.
he let the words settle, weighing their meaning before continuing.
i want to know who else lingers in these lands. if there are others staking their claim, if there are those who might challenge darukaal’s rise.
he looked back at tuhin then, the faintest hint of expectation in his dark eyes.
learn what you can. who they are, where they settle, what they believe. a pause. see if they are friends or threats.
there was no doubt in faust’s mind that war would come eventually. it always did. but knowledge was power, and he would not lead his wolves into a blind fight.

there was, indeed.

tuhin smiled. they had meant to do this regardless of order, a justifiable distraction as they skirted the edges of the glacier- one which could be excused. but they had not known whether or not he would see it as priority, and were pleased to see it given the weight it deserved.

"yes. i had hoped to find some time as i filled the caches- but if this is to be an order, i am happy to give it my full attention."

and they were. though tuhin could not deny a certain interest of their own; he knew the value of such knowledge, that had become clear, but as to its application...

"is it your hope to conquer? or only to defend?" tuhin considered him curiously; they had wondered this almost since his invitation, and it was...difficult, to guess at the motives of those you did not know well. "i would not give such information to those i came across, of course- i am simply curious. "

we defend, he said, voice even, certain. darukaal has no need to conquer. the land is harsh enough without making enemies of those who might keep to themselves.
his eyes flickered past tuhin, out toward the ice, the treeline, the unseen forces that lingered beyond.
but if war comes to us, we will not kneel.
a pause, a slow exhale through his nose.
learn what you can. but we do not move unless we must.
he glanced back at tuhin then, a flicker of something unreadable in his gaze.
we are not wolves who fight without reason.

tuhin listened, wordless, and thought it reasonable.

his siblings had, at first, thought much the same, though it had...changed, over the years, from necessity to desire. perhaps it would again, tuhin knew not. if an application of violence was to be necessary here, he would not shy from applying it, even if often the number of pieces such an act would resound upon made his head spin.

but he knew nothing for the moment, and- overthinking again. he huffed a low breath. a weakness of his.

tuhin bowed his head.

"a fair stance. then i will call when i have news."

faust met tuhin’s bow with a slow nod, the weight of war settling upon his shoulders.
good luck, he said, voice steady, resolute. may the north favor you.
it was not just well wishes—it was an expectation. tuhin would return with news, and faust would be waiting.