Duskfire Glacier ice feeds through our veins

@Mirabelle but also anyone else that wants to explore!

@Tahani has the children for a little while. They’ve spent several days resting and eating and sleeping and taking care of the children. Doing it in one spot, knowing they don’t have to move, makes all the difference in the world. Even if they move, it’s from here to over there and only if she finds something she really likes. They don’t have to travel endlessly to some place they don’t know. Any exploration they have now is their home.
 
Having some time to herself, to explore on her own and get herself familiarized is a chance she’ll snack up easily. She has several more weeks before the children don’t have to be glued to her side and everyone will already be miles ahead and she’ll be starting out on her own. What she can get used to now, the better, and so she quietly moves through the caverns—away from the particular cave that houses her children—and deeper through the chilly corridors.

the northerners had been exhausted upon arrival.  mirabelle had taken care of them the best she could, between hunting and preparing things for the children (of which she was still unsure if she was allowed to interact with).  

she knew most of the caverns by heart but had steered clear of the ones that lay near the mother's den — not so much because she was a mother but to give her the space she deserved to rest.  she was passing by when she saw shivali ahead and surprised, she did a double take... but offered a friendly chuff anyway, because surely it would be a good time to get to know one another.

A chuff draws her attention and her nose scents the air, turning her head just a fraction to see another opposite her. Footsteps abruptly halt and she stares ahead, tense but does not bristle, watching how the other reacts. Her posture is lax and she clearly means no harm, having been one of the ones to secure their home. Shivali and her family swoop back in and she’s not so ready to allow them in.
 
She forces herself to take a deep breath and step forward, allowing them to come together. Her head nods once in acknowledgment. “Hello,” she calls, closing the distance a little more.

The woman is cautious.  She wonders what has caused this; Mirabelle was one the same, and although she had grown since then she is capable of remaining sensitive to the way others feel.  She does not understand the language the sister speaks, so she opens her mouth to reply and shuts it once more, shaking her head.  She thinks she understands — a greeting — but she can't be sure.  Hello?

Oh. Right.
 
Shivali starts to frown, licking her lips and nodding her head. It’s not just her family anymore. They have more to sustain than their own and she has to remember that. The wolves that stayed here during their travel played a big role, too.
 
“Y-yes, hello,” she says with a slight smile, taking a step closer. “I am sorry.”

She shakes her head.  No, it's fine.  What was it that you said?  She tried to repeat what Shivali had said, slow and halting.  Hello?  She'd heard many languages in her time but she had traveled south instead of north, and she had never head of this language before meeting the wolves of IkKannattuk.  I am Mirabelle.  She would allow Shivali to come closer if she want, tail swaying gently behind her as she tried her best to give off a welcoming demeanor.

The woman—Mirabelle—tries to mimic the word she’d spoken and Shivali offers a smile. She repeats the greeting once more, correcting the slight difference in pronunciation. She hadn’t considered the wolves speaking their language, learning and practicing with those familiar with the tongue. Drowned in a world that does not understand, it had simply been the default, and she feels herself much more eager to involve herself.
 
“I am Shivali,” the mother says with a smile and wave of her tail. She is not the monster the journey painted her to be and she frowns at the thought. Other wolves turn from her when she nears and she is thankful for the ones that don’t, now that she feels up to doing anything other than running.

Shivali, as the northern mother introduces herself, seems to open up.  It brings a light smile to Mirabelle's gentle face, and she repeats the greeting one more time to solidify it in her mind.  

It is nice to meet you, Shivali.  Would you care to teach me more of your language?  She reclines onto her haunches and curls her tail around her rear limbs. 

Mirabelle repeats the word once more, much closer to the actual pronunciation. Should the other want to learn more, hopefully it will not be too difficult. Teaching a full grown adult is different than talking at her puppies, which seem to absorb the language easily. The common tongue isn’t spoken around them very often and she wonders if she should change that—if she needs to change it.
 
The woman asks for lessons in the language. @Maegi had been willing to help her learn, and vice versa, but it has been a long time since she’s seen the girl. She remembers a few key words from their very first lesson and she supposes it’ll be the same. “Naumani,” she chirps and, a beat later, “yes, of course.”

It does not take much for the Northern woman to come around.  Her eyes crinkle at the corners, air escapes from her nostrils.  Nomani, she says, but shakes her head just after and corrects herself.  Naumani, she repeats again, ticking off a little check mark in her mind.  When she beds down for the night, she'll be sure to go back over these phrases... her adult brain did not have the same plasticity as Shivali's children.