Duskfire Glacier Sunnguvuk

It was late in the evening and the sun had long since set behind the mountains. The glacier was crisp and chilly, winds rushed across the village territory with a sharp bite.

A thick-furred wolf stood at the edge of the territory, the scent of his marking on the border was strong in the air. Issorartuyok gazed out beyond the glacier and into the wilderness. In the distant west, the wolf could see the cut of the mountain’s shadow. The rock rose high into the night air and seemed to touch the stars overhead. It was a stunning sight, even for a man who had journeyed across the earth.

Issorartuyok hummed softly and continued along his path around the border, sniffing at each unfamiliar scent until he had determined there were no threats. There was a restlessness in his bones. The northerner desired work for the hours that he would not rest.

well. she'd done it.
heda had found dugfire glacier.
armed with only a sense of basic direction, mahler's rambling, and the skill that paisley had taught her, heda found herself in an incredibly cold place that smelled of nothing familiar.
the land rolled. there were stands of dark pine and taiga growth climbing the proud and rugged stone of the glacier's border. when heda had caught her breath she stood staring and mesmerized, looking out across the expansive views and unaware she had passed their boundary-line some sixteen feet ago.

The scent upon the air was unfamiliar, sharp, and Issorartuyok knew at once that it did not belong with the glacier people. The large wolf prowled in search of the individual who had left such a fragrance, his dark brown eyes scoured the terrain with the shrewdness of a hawk.

Were it not for the streak of auburn that ran down the stranger’s back, they might have been able to hide their pale figure in the glacial terrain. The northerner caught the movement and drew his large head upward, strong and assertive. Issorartuyok increased his pace and set off at a swift trot until he had closed the distance between where he had been and where the foreigner stalked. Upon drawing closer, he had realized that she was rather young.

You are a bold young wolf to cross into this village’s territory, Issorartuyok growled with some humor, eyeing the unfamiliar shape.

heda had just inhaled another breath of the glacier air when heavy footfalls sounded nearby. she whirled to face a wolf as large as mahler. he looked weirdly white-dusted, but his gaze was anything but unreadable.
instinctually the girl slunk down to the ground and pinned her ears back. "i'm sorry! i'm — i was!" she near hyperventilated in her attempts to control her flailing words.
heda shut her eyes hard and took a steadying draught of air.
"is this dugfire glacier?" her voice shot up embarrassingly at the end.

The young wolf shrunk in size, her ears pressed tightly to her head. Issorartuyok watched her carefully, holding his ground but keeping himself far enough that he would not alarm the young shape. The northerner could not help but wonder how far she might have journeyed to reach their village.

When the child spoke, she almost choked her words out. She spoke the name of the village, bringing the large wolf to an easy stance. The dark brown of his eyes studied her cautiously, but he took two steps forward and lowered his head to where she had shrunk. Issorartuyok sniffed her gently, recognizing the aroma of another village’s claim upon her coat. He wondered if they would be upset that one of their younger members had ventured so far.

This is Duskfire Glacier, the great northern wolf responded gently. What is your name, young spirit?

"heda. i live in r-rivenwood. that way." she lifted a paw back the way she had come. was it so far now? the smell of the man and the fragrance of the unknown place began to grow overwhelming. 
it was heartening in a way to hear confirmation she'd actually made it. this information softened the humiliation she currently felt from having trespassed.
little by little she raised her head, though did not dare to look him in the eye. "my leader mahler says we're allies." she didn't quite know what that was, and was not about to ask.

The young one was called Heda, and she originated from an allied village – Rivenwood. Issorartuyok lifted his head and searched the distant terrain, wondering if he could catch the borders of the other territory from where they stood.

Heda, I am called Issorartuyok and I am a protector of this village, he introduced after searching the distant terrain. The northerner did not want for the young wolf to feel she was in danger, for he had no intention of punishing her for overstepping into their territory. If the wolves of Rivenwood were allies to those in Duskfire Glacier, it would not be fitting to punish the wandering spirit.

Do you think you can show me where you entered? We will strengthen the scent so that no one else passes into our village. Issorartuyok nodded to the pale child and offered her a smile.

issorartuyok. heda again did not have the daring to say that aloud. she would practice it and practice it before she tried. the tense feeling in the air had dissipated. the guardian did not offer her punishment but a lesson. heda tilted her head to one side, revealing the silver around her softgold eyes. "yes."
the gangly child stood, stumbled the first step, pinned her ears back, and set off again.
"here. i remember the —" way that the earth had felt beneath her pawpads, how she had clutched it for a moment of wonder before passing on. "here."

Heda seemed to believe she could guide them back to where she had entered the territory. Issorartuyok nodded his head to her, encouraging the pale figure to move on. He was not upset, but he did believe it would grant them an opportunity to learn something new.

The northerner followed the pale spirit to where she had crossed the village line. When they had arrived, he bent and sniffed softly at the area she had indicated. It took him only a moment before he returned the warm brown of his eyes to the young wolf and smiled. Very good, you have a nose for finding the weakness in a village’s defense, Issorartuyok commended her in the deep rumble of his voice. The man did not want her to feel she was in trouble, but it should have been clear that the markings around a pack territory were important.

Issorartuyok left his scent in the area, making sure he was thorough.

Heda, would you like to join me in a patrol?

heda looked up sharply at issorartuyok. his voice was kind, figure commanding. he reminded her a good deal of mahler in bearing if not in looks. "yes," she said meekly, tail swaying to life. "i would like that."
she fell into step at his side, glancing toward the duskfire man again. "what would have happened to me if i was a grown-up and came over the markings?" the rivenwood girl asked despite the potential severity of the response.

The pale spirit agreed to join him. Issorartuyok nodded his head with encouragement, despite the circumstances of their meeting. She was only a child, a young wolf on the cusp of adulthood, and there was still time enough for her to learn.

I would have met you with my fangs before my words, the northerner answered her. It was a troubling thing to consider, but wolves knew the importance of their village claim. Their borders were not guarded tirelessly so that strangers could pass through.

Issorartuyok could not help but think that Heda was clever to have asked. It meant that she understood.

You would guard your home with your teeth and claws, would you not?

she thought, and nodded. "yes."
they had already defended their home once. druid had told her about the cat. 
heda pushed her nose against the earth and breathed. 
"when i'm big, i want to do that too. meet someone with my fangs."
she looked around her, still fully dazzled by the sheer mesmerizing spread of the glacier.

The large man chuckled at her response, pleased to hear that someone so young would have such aspirations. Issorartuyok had always valued the protectors and the young who strived to protect. He may not have shared a village with the red-streaked youth, but she was swiftly making a positive impression on him.

You have a protectors spirit. Have you a mentor in your home? Someone who might teach you the honorable ways to defend your village and its people? Issorartuyok inquired. The chocolate of his eyes was focused on their path, but he would occasionally glance down to search the young girl’s face. She was sleek and sharp. He felt she would make a formidable opponent, if that was the path she selected to follow.

heda shrugged. "well there's my nomi. and uhum, aunt willam. and mahler, i guess, but —" she drew a breath and frowned a bit, glancing at the northern wolf. "well. he's not super good. i guess. well. like — he coughs. a lot." 
it felt like a betrayal, talking about her graf like this. heda squared her slim shoulders. "maybe i could come back."
she found she also didn't care to feel like she was asking for anything. "or whatever," the girl amended, suddenly tight and cramped inside her own skin. "are you the leader here?"

The question he had offered her had unlocked the words from within her. Issorartuyok watched her carefully from the edge of his eyes as the young girl went on to talk about several members of her village who would be able to teach her the ways of a protector. She mentioned a few concerning features about a wolf named Mahler, but the northerner only nodded his head solemnly.

It can be a challenge to be a strong man if illness has its claim on you, he explained to the pale young woman carefully.

When Heda asked him if he was the leader of the glacier, Issorartuyok slowed his pace and turned his dark muzzle toward her. He chuckled warmly, unbothered by her questions, unbothered by the presence of such an adventurous spirit. It delighted him that she considered returning to the glacier to learn.

I am not the leader, no. I am a new member to this village. If you would like to learn, I will teach you the honor in defending your home.

an illness. heda was thankfully not as acquainted with this as she might be. she nodded thoughtfully at issorartuyok. "what makes a man strong?" a pause. "can't women be strong too?"
the thought of coming back here made her veins sing a bit. heda wondered if she was being unfair. rivenwood was her home. her sisters and mother and mahler were there.
but it did not make her feel this way.
he said that he was new. but to heda he felt settled, the way you might look at a large tree. "okay," she accepted, tail beginning to sway. "what do i have to do first?"

Issorartuyok nodded his head, solemn and thoughtful at her inquiry.

Stronger than men, the northerner told her. It was said plainly, as though that was how it would be, how it had always been. The women of his life had been savage, intelligent, fearsome in all things they tackled. The northerner had never doubted that women could not be powerful beasts. They had always proved beyond their worth, so his doubts had never found ways to take root.

Heda wanted to know where they would start. This was pleasing. Issorartuyok grinned at her and wavered his tail. The dark brown of his eyes searched ahead. A group of trees was clustered in the distance. The space between where the two wolves patrolled and where the trees sprouted would make for a perfect course.

First, you must show me your swiftness. Like a caribou, show me how you run to those trees and back. Let the wind carry your paws and fill you with power.

stronger than men.
she did not know what issorartuyok meant, but it lodged into her thoughts, a roughened pearl that would be polished in the months to come.
heda did not know her own lineage, and yet this northerner had somehow spoken to it.
her gold eyes with their below-dusting of silver looked toward the trees, and she stood tall and young and determined. 
heda leapt into a run. it felt like she had never begun so quickly. small-framed, her legs consumed most of her body's height, and it was with this swiftness meant for mountain passes and icy places that heda sped to the trees.
she was not winded; her claws cut the earth as she curved back toward the duskfire wolf.
but by the time she stopped there, heda was panting; her sides heaved but she was delighted, fiercely so. 
"maybe i'll come live here," she said impulsively, then clapped a paw over her mouth, eyes bulging.

The pale streak was swift, indeed. Issorartuyok watched as she was carried on fevered paws, to the line of trees and then in a swinging circle so that she could return. Her form was young, spirited, and remarkably agile. The wolf Heda would be a powerful being one day, he could not doubt it. There was a hungry yearning in her gaze as she raced back to where he walked.

The heaving of her lungs was met with an approving nod. The northerner lowered his head slightly and gazed into the pale wolf’s eyes.

You are swift like the wind, and your body will be strong as you continue to grow.

The remark she had made did not escape him. Issorartuyok chuckled and nodded, almost approving of her desire to abandon her roots and journey somewhere new, somewhere that she could learn things she had not learned before.

Would your nomi not miss you? The one called aunt Willam? he searched her features with understanding. You would be welcome here, if that was your true heart’s desire. But you mustn’t act without thinking of the outcome. He knew he would not deny her, that he could convince Wintersbane that he would watch out for her and help her grow into a valuable member of the village. The love of a mother care little for alliances, he knew. If the young Heda left, would they be faced with the lash of a mother’s fangs?

something about issoratuyok's praise reminded her of the way astraeus made her feel. in turn her cheeks responded with a flush. heda turned sharply away to face the view, though her ears swung to tell the other that she indeed was listening.
"yes. they would miss me. and my sisters too." she sighed. druid loved rivenwood. 
and heda did not.
the difference was suddenly and starkly apparent. she frowned. "i should probably get back to them, actually. but — could i really come back?" she asked, hesitant to depart for the bypass without a concrete answer in regards to the future.

The northerner eyed the young wolf as she turned to survey the distant terrain.

Heda confirmed that her family would miss her. Her voice was heavy when she spoke. Issorartuyok did not wish to disturb the thoughts that had found her. She seemed as though she had been battling inner turmoil. He could understand the desire to leave home, to make something else. The northerner wondered if this was what sparked her desire to leave Rivenwood.

You may return any time you wish, young Heda, Issorartuyok confirmed with her. I will teach you all that I can, if you will learn. Perhaps one day, you will find a way to your spirit’s home. The home that your heart desires.

I will journey with a member of my village soon. I will call for you when I return? We will learn something on that day. He thought it best to give her a real idea of what her returning would look like. It would give her something else to occupy her thoughts.

heda nodded. the way he spoke was organized and careful. it appealed to her sense of pragmatism, enforced by sequoia and mahler and wylla, and now by this man.
in her heart she knew that she would come back. "it was nice to meet you, issoratuyok," heda said finally, striped tail waving. she said his name slowly, stumbling only once. 
in time the girl turned and started her travel toward the bypass.
on the way back to rivenwood she would say it to herself until it was committed to memory. heda did not like to be incorrect.

The man smiled fondly at her, bowing his head.

The next time they would meet, he would be able to inform her that he had taken the place of the glacier’s leader, that he had risen to fill the role while the man of the glacier recovered. It would set a different tone.

Issorartuyok followed a short way behind the young wolf until she had faded from his sight. He wished that the winds would carry her home safely. When he had found himself at the borders of the glacier, he began a course to mark their terrain and check the security of the village.