Wapun Meadow Slow down you crazy child

To the west, thunderheads gathered. The air grew thick and warm, the breeze hunted restlessly through the valley. Ameline could smell water on the wind, a downpour that threatened to fall and flatten the grasses but she felt no fear. Even as the first distant rumble spread, and the dark clouds flickered, she simply shut her eyes, and listened. 

She moved through the grasses which had begun to dry and turn yellow. Autumn flowers poked up, red and orange, while the fair white flowers of summer had gone to seed. She meandered this way and that, tracking the scent of prey that had passed through since her last trip out of the Valley. 

Deer. Bird. Rabbit. It was the scent of a weasel that caught her attention, as it had been some time since she'd seen one in these parts. Ever protective of the hunting in the meadow, she set about following the musky scent trail it had left behind, hoping it would lead to a burrow.

She did not roam far from the reaches of the meadow, almost always stopping at its edge, an invisible barrier kept her within. Etephyr had come to know the meadow well, hunting, sleeping and bathing in it. It provided all she had craved in her traveling months, the safety of the flowers and the certainty of something to nourish herself. Eteph even found a modicum of comfort in the pack that lay southeast, although she did not ponder those emotions much, unwilling to give into the idea she was fond of a pack. 

It was then that an unfamiliar wolf caught her attention, first through smell and then sight. Etephs ears pinned to her skull, brows furrowing, a strange possessiveness coiling in her belly. It diminished as quickly as it formed, a realization the stranger may be from the valley. She needed to remind herself, this was not her land. Hesitantly, Etephyr stood and took the first few tentative steps towards the stranger, still undecided in her intent. It could be chosen on the way.

She loped, flowers caving to her wake as she moved. It wasn't until Etephyr neared the stranger did she chuff, full stopping as soon as it left her maw. An instinctual guarded stature visually stiffening her body as she stood. Her tail tall, as well the fur on her nape, while her muscles tensed, poised for action.

"Are you of Bearclaw decent?" She asked, a near demand. Etephyr took notice of the healing wounds and scars on the female, they reminded her of Ancelin. She wondered if his mate was much like he. 

The weasel's path led on, zig-zagging this way and that, though it veered quite suddenly in the direction of a small stream and was laced as well with the scent of another wolf. Ameline licked her lips and breathed in, catching the aroma of a female wolf- a stranger, and one who did not smell of another pack. 

She had to steady her ambition; the pack was not in full force. She could not simply barrel down this woman's trail and chase her out of the meadow simply for the thrill of it; one injury, and the pack would be compromised even further. 

Still- she was worth investigating and coincidentally, she was in the area. 

Ameline lifted her tail and bristled at the sight of the woman; she was thin, but had a clever, focused look in her expression. She tilted her head expectantly, drawing her chin back slightly when she was addressed. 

Ancelin was the one who was of Bearclaw descent- but it was a name she too claimed.

"I am Bearclaw," She stated, proudly. "Ameline Bearclaw. You have heard of our name?" She asked, then.

The woman confirmed who she was, the queen of the valley. Her figure was detailed, she was precise with muscle but still holding a feminine glow. Gold crested her ears, following along her neck and through to her chest before circling back to encompass just behind her shoulders and finishing at the belly. Pastel glaciers for eyes, they encumbered Etephyrs own. Undeniably a queen, she thought daringly. She would respect the title like she had when she was young, with a strong dip of her head and chest. 

"Your mate, Ancelin, told me who you are." Etephyr explained, finally returning from her bow. "The queen of this valley." A nostalgic wave rushed over Etephyr. She could feel it snaking its way up her chest, wrapping tightly around her throat. The grief constricting her airway, wanting to squeeze every ounce of air from her chest. It burned her eyes but Etephyr quickly blinked it away, swallowing hard against the constrictor. 

"I am Etephyr," A quiver in her voice, quickly disputed with a nimble cough. "I am the huntress your mate has temporarily recruited. I leave when the first snow sticks." She informed plainly, finding a seat where she stood. 

Ameline regarded the woman levelly for a moment, and found herself likening Etephyr’s face to that of an owl- pale, with intelligent eyes. As the woman bowed her head, Ameline noticed the patches of fur missing from her legs. Whether the damage was self-inflicted or caused by another creature she couldn’t tell. She was appeased with the show of deference and decided not to judge.

The title felt like a plastic toy then a crown, currently. The pack was hardly a realm or a community, and was little more than a family settlement. Still- small as her castle was, she was still its queen.

”Yeth, that’th me,” She acknowledged warmly. ”You can call me Ameline,” After all- she had some amount of modesty. 

Ameline sat as Etephyr did, but raised an eyebrow. Only until winter? Motht come to join a pack when winter cometh, not leave it. She said. Why tho short a timeline?

The strong lisp caught Eteph off guard but it was quickly deemed inconsequential to conversation and she moved on to finding her words. How could she express the fear pack life placed in her, the near constant anxiety of being enough. The terror of being betrayed. Solitude was her only way of safeguarding from those inevitabilities. Etephyr wasn't dull, she saw all the benefits of pack life, they tempted her every hunt, every unguarded night and every encounter with an unknown. 

Etephyr shrugged, "I suppose it is not rational of someone to venture out on their own in the winter." She looked away, out in the great expanse, searching the last familiar land she laid eyes upon. The glacier, with Omnium. Her teeth clenched, a subtle burst of anger burning her heart for her own stupidity. Running from a good thing, like she always had. Eteph forced him from her thoughts, dragging her eyes back to the queen. Clearing her throat before continuing.

"But I have grown accustomed to fending for myself. I have made it this far, who is to say I won't make it farther? I accepted Ancelins offer due to my condition, it was a harsh winter. I have yet to recover. I will live up to being a huntress, I assure you that." Etephyr wanted to quash any doubts, she would not be a burden on their lands.

In the clench of her jaw, Ameline saw tension, thoughts that brought emotion to the surface. The choice to go off into the winter, alone, was ill-advised- and apparently, she had barely made it through the past winter. If it took her until August to recover, and even then only with the aid of a temporary home, Ameline had to wonder why she’d even bother to head out again.

Well, if my huthband hath made you an offuh to thtay with uth until then, then tho be it. But jutht tho you know, She said, with a slight shrug of her shoulder. You should keep yuh mind open to the idea of thtaying through the winter, too. Pluth- She said, gesturing for the woman to follow her, Fendin’ for yourthelf the one thing, but if you athk me…It’th a lot more gratifying to help take care of otherth.

Apologies for the wait! Thank you for having patience with me <3

Etephyr thought the woman spoke as if unknowing of the deal made with Ancelin, she thought it curious the man did not inform his wife of a stranger inhabiting their lands. Although Etephyr was hardly impartial to forgetting things, so she largely let it go. Favoring the queens next words to truly contemplate. It caught Eteph off guard, her features reflected her internal dialogue. Brows knitting together with her gaze averting to the horizon, a brief quiet contemplation occupying her head before returning to catch up with the queen. What did she mean?

Etephyr followed, gathering her words for a moment before speaking. "I have never been one to favor packs, they did not provide me that which I could not provide myself." As soon as the words left her mouth she saw their irony, her lanky appearance was testimony against her reasoning. Of course, Eteph knew outliers were always given the exception but she doubted the queen was one to accept that. 

Etephyr quickly followed with a question. "Is your home threatened by some sort of disease? Be it famine, illness, or conflict?" She asked. Eteph thought no other reasoning for the queen to bring up helping others, than for her own persuasive gain. 

no worries! <3

What could a pack provide that she couldn't get for herself? Ameline's brow quirked, and her gaze raked over the woman's lean frame, and smiled slightly. "You haven't gone on many pack hunth then, have you?" She asked. She licked her lips. 

When she was asked about the state of her pack, she tossed her head back and laughed. Etephyr seemed as though she was looking for a little bit of a juicier story- a bit of entertainment, perhaps. 

"No, no- god, nothin' like that," She said, her laughter quieting. "My mate an' I left our birth pack latht Fall, tho we could thtart one of our own. If you want thome gothip, then sure- we left that pack becauthe it'th matriarch wath a real piethe of work. Ditched on her kidth an' the pack a couple timeth, alwayth came back thtarvin, injured, whatevuh...Tho I took ovuh. I claimed it, I fought for it, I proved mythelf in the eyeth of the whole pack. But when she thaw that Anthuhlin an' I were leadin' an' her kidth weren't, she got all pithy an' dethided to bathically call a mutiny an' kick out the oneth that'd raithed her children an' led her pack for her." She said, with a shrug of her scarred shoulder. "We didn't want bloodshed, or to have to fight the kidth we'd theen grow up, tho we left." 

That might suffice, she thought, for a bit of history of Bearclaw's formation, as well as satisfy her need for an interesting story. "We came to the valley, an' thettled down. Jutht the two of uth at firtht, an' then we found two girlth who needed parent-th." Amneris and Athalia; the beginning of the Bearclaw legacy regardless of whether they shared blood with the Rex and Regina. "Then in the thpring, we had four girlth of our own." She said. "A couple other wolveth joined uth, but jutht temporarily. Gueth they liked bein' hungry, or wanderin' around more'n hunting with a pack, thtartin' a family, 'n havin' a good plathe to live."