Northstar Vale don't you know that i'm trying?

the inland territories were devastatingly stagnant. there was nothing here for a coastal wolf, no entertainment for a siren. kalika huffed as she dragged herself through the territory in a desperate search for company. 

were it earlier in the day, she might sniffed out her consort for a romp. it was getting late, though; if left without success, she would soon retreat to find rest.

yeah so i know we just had one but 

i can delete if not okay <3

you never liked men, the spirit spoke to kukutux, and the girl rocked back upon her haunches, stunned.

the day was empty. she did not know where agana had gone, and it seemed everyone else still slept beneath the pallor of snow that had coloured courtfall.

not so for kukutux. much was to be done for the upcoming season. it stood to reason there would be children arriving, and so she must lay back her stores of cherrybark and willow, comfrey, some the little yellow flower that grows in dark places.

today she chewed leather, rolling the edges of the stoat skin between tooth and jaw to soften it. slow going, and soon her face began to hurt. she slung it over her shoulders and began to pad down the slopes to find a flatter place where she might stretch the hide.

kalika is going to make a nereid out of her

the strange woman, the timid girl from the sylph; kalika watched as kukutux started toward her, seemingly on a hunt. not for something to catch — she already had her prize locked between to jaws — but for a place to settle, perhaps? she'd never seen someone carry an animal hide, but she imagined it would be quite heavy.

maybe not. πουλάκι μου! she called out. the siren waved her tail high behind her as greeting, a flag to draw tut's attention. where are you going? she didn't wait for a response, rather trotting forward to further investigate.

:o

she argued with herself that it was untrue. how had she come to be mated if she did not like men? because he paid your father's bride-price. because you knew him first as a kind boy, then as a kind man.

kukutux' brow knitted; she would have sought more discourse with herself had not the elegant voice of the before-woman rang out. the girl looked up, a strange burn attending her cheeks beneath the short pale fur. 

the first words she had not understood; the second she would rather not answer. but the duck was mannerly; she paused and gave kalika a respectful look. "i am working this hide into leather, for puppies to chew. i must stretch it now." 

this close, the colour of kalika's eyes seemed to swell, seemed to engulf kukutux. she dropped her own gaze soon thereafter.

the tension between them was almost palpable. kalika smiled, lifting her head to brush her cheek against tut's. whose puppies? she asked, then taking a step back. their leader would surely whelp, as was the custom, but would their be more? the siren did not count her own progeny; their fate had already been decided.

the siren took a step back, settling down near the hide. can you show me how to do it? she asked. it was the first she'd ever heard of such a thing, leather chew toys. it sounds.. soothing.

at the touch, kukutux stiffened, confused. such gestures were for female family to exchange, and only outside the company of men. kalika was a stranger. 

but she was not, came her next thought. they were andraste's followers, bonded in a different way. this was normal, then; her tension fell away. "puppies always come in spring." it did not matter who bore them. they had come to her aunts and to her mother, to her cousins. they had come to the keep. the duck would be prepared. 

it seemed that the she-wolf sought to mend whatever she had broken at their last meet. kukutux saw it, softened somewhat. "yes," she murmured. "will you help me find three stones?"

they would be placed at either end of the skin, and at its middle. she and kalika might settle at opposite sides then, stretching it between them into a softer piece of leather.

kukutux lay down the skin and began to smooth it flat with her muzzle. she could not understand why kalika would want to help her with such a monotonous task.

kalika's brow furrowed with confusion as kukutux spoke. puppies do come, she chirped, but only to women who mate. she gave the girl a once over, finding her feminine frame to be indicative of good genes; strong genes. do you have a man to mate with? the siren wondered who their leader would breed with, come season start. 

she nodded her head and looked around for a few stones, ears perked while she listened for a response. who taught you this? the siren asked, mimicking her friend's movements. we don't have this where i'm from.

as she began to search for stones, kukutux felt the weight of what she assumed was scorn in kalika's eyes. she set her jaw. babies always came in the spring, and it had nothing to do with men. a woman swallowed a spirit. that was all.

but she was not about to argue with kalika; she settled on her side of the half-chewed pelt. it was at that moment the strange woman asked after a man for the duck, and she was unable to hide her horrified gasp.

did kalika insinuate that she would lie with a man who was not her husband? ears burned, splayed backward, and the girl found she had no words.

mortified, she skipped it altogether, heart thudding with the shock of such an inquiry. "the amik —  hide," kukutux corrected swiftly, flushing now with shame, "is meant to be used as any other part of the animal. that is what my mother and her sisters taught me, and what their grandmothers taught them."

kalika lifted her brow, a teasing smile growing steadily across her maw. does everything that i say offend you? she asked. it was entertaining to watch the girl squirm, but disheartening all the same. who taught tux to be so meek, and why was she so keen on remaining that way? i'll try to be nicer. she stood and took a few steps closer to her companion, moving her paw just close enough to brush against her arm.

it's a nice tradition, kalika added with a sigh. where do your people come from? she wondered if learning more about their history would help her to understand kukutux's strange demeanor.

she did it understand kalika. 

untangling the forming leather from her jaws, kukutux raised her eyes in consternation at the elegant woman who had moved closer. "i am only surprised," the duck revealed warily.  

she would not say that kalika had not offended, simply not in this moment. the strange she-wolf asked after her people; jadestone gaze closed for a moment as kukutux fought against the dull ache that always arose at words like the ones now spoken.

"the north. the dark ice," she murmured, head bowing over her task. "seal-hunters."

what about me surprises you? kalika stopped preening the hide, instead turning her attention fully to the little bird. she was unfamiliar with the north; it would be too difficult to make any assumptions based on what little information was given. 

the siren chirped, a small sound meant to convey interest. she would not pry, but anything additional would have been welcomed. my people come from the coast. would kukutux be interested in learning more? kalika was eager to teach, if so.

she was unsure of what more she might say, without a further rush of pain to her heart. the coast; kukutux had not been for some time, and all at once was weary of their conversation upon the past.

"i am surprised because you are a woman, and yet so different than what i know." self-assured, impolitely direct; some might have even called kalika brash. she would have no husband with a tongue like the one in her mouth.

"do your people hunt the seals also?" kukutux asked curiously. she knew that the large sea beasts could live in warm places as well, though she herself had only known the deep ice of glacial waters.

what kind of woman is that?

kalika wanted to ask but stopped herself. a timid woman, kukutux would say; a woman afraid of her own potential. the beliefs seemed so ingrained in the little bird's mind that she doubted they could ever be changed. she didn't want to argue, instead sighing to say, i am a happy woman.

the topic changed. we do, the siren replied. it had been so long since her last visit to themiscyra.. i was never any good at hunting. kalika took too much pride in her appearance to engage in such activities; that's what the consorts were for.

could she say that she was happy? kukutux did not like the implication she had begun to assume in kalika's tone. her mother had certainly seemed happy; she had done her tasks and raised her chilren with a smile, and constant singing, humming to wake them and to lull slumber. she had been content with her lot, and that was all kukutux would wish. "i am happy also," the girl responded, an edge to her tone daring the other woman to deny it.

"my husband hunted them," kukutux remembered aloud, tone turning wistful. she dropped the leather in folds across her forepaws, resting a moment. "he brought one to my father."

there was more to kukutux than had once been thought. kalika lifted a brow, genuine intrigue appearing as concern writ across her expression. you have a husband? she asked, wondering, where is he now? the shortage of males in the pack would lead her to believe that the answer was, not here.

if unwilling to share, the siren did not want to force her. she knew just as well as any what it felt like to lose someone. don't tell me if you don't want to. i get it. one of the few times she would ever sympathize with the little bird.

kukutux glanced up in surprise at kalika's offer. it was rather unspeakable that she not answer a direct inquiry, and the idea of having a choice caused an unfamiliar flush of relief.

"he is dead, with everyone else," kukutux said all the same, lowering jaws to chew the pelt a moment before she added, "gone to the dancing lights."

silence descended then; the duck nursed her pain wordlessly and went on with her task.

gone to the dancing lights, kukutux explained. kalika managed to refrain from laughing at the absurd notion. a pity, she sighed, you have my condolences. the siren was growing bored of their conversation. she'd hoped for more information, but since it didn't seem she would be getting any...

turning away from the pelt, she chirped a goodbye to her friend before heading toward her perch.

she did not look up when kalika departed, but a long sweep of silent emptiness soon descended with the siren's absence.

finishing her task solemnly, the duck gathered the hide up and lay it in the nearby stream, to soak, all the while fighting back the sting of tears.