Jade Fern Grove We mean it, but I promise we're not mean.

Aw, of course, but preferably any of the new IKT recruits who haven't met Taki yet. :)

It was a few hours before the sun set, the hottest part of the day, unfortunately, but Taki couldn't sleep much as usual. The group would be moving tonight, and she needed to make sure she had the route down to the very last detail. They had made it this far without much trouble, and they were so close. Taki could feel the anticipation of reaching the glacier grow with every day they came closer to their new home. 

The stress had taken its toll on Taki; she was edgy and quiet and had mostly kept to herself. She had avoided most of the new recruits for this reason, but also because she wasn't very friendly on good days, and less so when she was bogged down with stress and self-doubt. As their travels progressed, she often found she had trouble controlling her temper, which was something she thought she had nipped in the bud as a yearling in training with Sia. The safety of the pups was a huge sensitive spot for her, so being on the move and without the proper safety needed for young ones, she was having trouble controlling her protective anger where they were concerned.

As they got closer to their new home, she found her stress had only increased, and she could rarely quiet her tumultuous mind. That was why she found herself on patrol again instead of resting in preparation for the continuance of their journey.

Keeping this vague! Assuming it's set for the 18th - let me know if you had different intentions (:

She'd stolen away from where the family was gathered shortly after Siarut had led her there, and hadn't yet returned. Instead for the past few hours, she had simply wandered the Grove in a fruitless effort to chill her fired nerves. Anxiety wormed through her clouded thoughts and made her skin crawl with the restless want to run, and so Nanook turned her antsy walk to a fleet-footed lope through the shade of the tall, thin trees for as long as the heat would allow. Prey scent surrounded her, and here and there she struck out to see if she could channel her energy into something productive, but every time she found her efforts futile, and even now found she wandered as empty-pawed as she'd come in.

Midday turned to the wake of evening with a gruelling slowness, but finally, the sun began her descent. But the heat still gripped her, and so Nanook spent her final hours here splashing through one of the fern-covered streams that ran the course of the territory. The cool water clung to her like beads of morning dew, and she lowered herself to let the shallow river course around her and cover her completely. The run had done much to physically calm her, but her mind still hummed with a constant replay of all that had gone down short hours before. She had to get a grip on this, to reign in the darkening sense of fear and dread, because if she didn't she knew that by the time the pack chose to move, she would only remain in a single track of fading scent leading out and away from this place.

You're fine! Thanks for joining! :)

The heat was better under the coverage of the trees, but it was still enough to make her uncomfortable under her thick arctic coat. Even after she had shed a good amount of it in the late spring, there was still plenty left to make the summer nice and miserable. So, wanting some relief, she had sought out one of the creeks she had visited many times on her various patrols. She knew there was one near where she currently was, so she started off in that direction.

When she came close enough to scent the water, she was irritated to pick up the scent of the female her brother had brought to the den earlier. God, what had he been thinking? Anger and hurt shot through her at the reminder of how he had snapped at her, but she just as quickly pushed it from her mind for now, not really wanting to revisit that moment currently. 

If she was being honest, it really wasn't the woman's fault that Sia had lead her into a less than ideal situation. Taki didn't really blame her, but she had avoided her all the same, not wanting to apologize for how things had gone. She didn't usually apologize for her actions, especially when she was protecting their vulnerable, and she wasn't sure if this new wolf was expecting one. 

She continued to the water anyway. The female had probably scented her, and Taki wasn't one to avoid confrontation. When she reached the creek, she saw that the other wolf was in the water, probably taking refuge from the summer heat. She didn't say anything to the new female; she just studied her for a minute before finally lowering her head to the water to take a drink.

A new scent mingled through the refreshing churn of the creek, and Nanook quickly located its source. The inuit's fur glowed like an alabaster scar between the sentry of trees, and the greyscale girl watched her approach through wary eyes. This was the one who had been first to step up to the mother's side, and Nanook remembered the strength of her ire. She considered backpedalling before the sister could reach her, but she simply swished her tail through the waters and stayed.

Nanook fixed her eyes as the snow-clad woman seemed to study her in turn - a shrewd glance the Apaata herself had offered many times to many others, but had rarely received. But the tension of the moment simmered out, for the stream, and not her, seemed to be the white woman's ultimate destination.

Any right way to go about the silence slipped the Apaata's mind. In other times, she would have just remained quiet until the other left - but here she found herself fishing for words. There were surely a great number of smooth and easy ways to break the introduction, but Nanook was no ambassador, and words came just as difficult as ever. Perhaps even more.

So she watched the stranger drink, until she finally worked the courage to say something, regardless of how meagre or dead-end the words would prove. "You're... Siarut's sister?"  She edged in a tight and soft-spoken voice. If the woman had offered a moniker before, Nanook couldn't remember what it was. She had been too preoccupied then.

At the other's words, Taki stopped drinking and lifted her head to look at the female. She licked the excess water from her muzzle and a gave a curt nod in response. Takiyok, she added as she walked a few step into the water and sat down. It was hot and the water was inviting, and she finally succumbed to its draw. Taki couldn't wait to be at the glacier where it was cold. She had spent almost a month traveling in the summer heat, and she was looking forward to living in a place that was cold again. 

Once she had settled in the water, she took a quick scan of the area before allowing herself to relax a little. Finally, she looked at their newest recruit and asked, How long have you known Sia? Taki had never even heard of this wolf before, yet Sia seemed to trust her enough to bring her to their sister's den.

Takiyok. The name was fitting. As the Inuit joined her in the water, Nanook found her eyes tracking her movements, watching for any signs of hidden hostility and ready to book it if the snow maiden turned. Yet Takiyok settled, and after a moment, simply relaxed. Nanook felt the tightness of her own tension remain, not yet certain if she could let herself rest - but she wanted to trust the sister, and Takiyok showed no signs she shouldn't. The Apaata let her own muscles ease, if only a little.

Nanook considered Takiyok's question with a quick glance at the sun-streaked trees. In truth, she hadn't known him that long at all - but she somehow trusted him, and that made very little sense to her. "I met him a couple months ago, at the start of the summer - " and she stopped, squinted, before she turned a curious gaze back to the larger wolf, relaxing more as curiosity took hold. "He was looking for his sister. Was that you?"  He had given her names, but she couldn't remember Takiyok's being one of them.

Love snow maiden! :D

Only a few months, huh? That didn't seem like very long; definitely not long enough to justify Sia bringing her near the pups when no one else knew her. Again, that wasn't really the female's fault, but Taki had a hard time not associating her with the incident. Taki only offered her a couple quick nods in response to her answer. 

No, he was looking for Shivali, she replied with a shake of her head. That must have been when he first arrived in Teekon, which was before Taki had reunited with them. I left home a little later on my own and tracked them down, she added a second later. She would always regret her decision to not leave with Sia, Tom, and Tahani initially, but she had misplaced faith in their father that she realized too late he didn't deserve. She was grateful that none of her siblings seemed to hold it against her; it was apparent Taki was the only one who gave herself a hard time about it. 

Taki swept her gaze across the border of trees around them, checking for any signs of danger again. The need to always be aware of her surrounding was much harder to ignore while they were on the move, and it had become habit to constantly check and double check her immediate area. Taki's orange gaze finally settled back on the other wolf, but she remained silent, not having anything else to add but giving the female a chance to ask something else if she wished.

<3

Shivali. Her mind scrambled over every white sister she'd been acquainted with. Was she the mother? Siarut hadn't specified, or maybe that too had been lost in translation. But Shivali, hers was a name Nanook had heard before.

She gave a simple nod, not at all surprised that the snow maiden had chosen to follow her brother out, yet curious to know what had made her wait. An unspoken tension stretched the length of Takiyok's words that Nanook couldn't decipher, but the sister said no more on the matter and simply fell quiet again.

The Apaata twitched her ear and eased a touch lower in the waters, shifting her watch outward at the turn of Takiyok's gaze. A steady stream of inner thoughts filtered through her - questions she might ask, statements she could make, but none seemed fitting nor suitable, so she let them simmer as she eased into the presence of her company, letting some take root and discarding others as she found enjoyment in the peace of their surroundings and in the quiet rest.

"I don't know much about you, or your family," she finally admitted, and the water rippled with the pendulating stir of her tail. "But I would like to know. I would like to learn, that I might find something of a family in yours." And even if Takiyok refused her that, Nanook would stay with the Northerners and earn their respect, one way or another.

Taki thought about Nanook's words for a minute. Despite her initial meeting of her and her siblings and Taki's subsequent coldness towards her, she still wanted to be a part of their family. She didn't know much about the female, but she seemed persistent and maybe even loyal. It was hard for Taki to tell right now, as her innate distrust of others clouded her ability to see such qualities in strangers. Part of it was her pragmatic, soldier-like mind, but their father was also partially responsible for her reluctance to trust others; when it came down to it, he had cast her aside at the first sign of discord between them. Trusting only her siblings was safe and kept her from being let down; not to mention it kept potentially dangerous strangers away from their vulnerable in case they had less than genuine intentions. 

Finally, she settled her gaze on the female draped in shades of grey. I won't lie to you and tell you that will be an easy task, Taki answered. Their family was close-knit, but that didn't mean they wouldn't let anyone else in; it just took a long time for an outsider to work their way to being trusted, especially with Taki. But, the fact that you stuck around after the events surrounding your introduction speaks volumes of your persistence, she added with a raise of her eyebrow. She had to admit, it showed strength that Nanook hadn't just taken off the first chance she got but instead, was here asking to know more about their family.

Fade with your next post? Unless you have another idea, I'm down for anything (:

Takiyok met her with initial silence, but patience trained the stormy girl, and she allowed the quiet to settle upon them as her company seemed to consider her blunt and perhaps brazen remark. Nanook couldn't read the other woman's face, but she knew this meeting could go at least three different ways - acceptance, neutrality, or immediate rejection. She wished for the first, banked for the second, and expected the third. Even still, none of those endings really mattered, because whatever happened, Nanook would become a part of this. She had made up her mind on that, and Takiyok's answer would merely guide her how.

The Northerner's decision exceeded her expectations, and the Apaata's eyes reflected this, yet glinted with knowing at her words. "It would seem persistence is a thing I've always known," she said with the slightest crook of a grin, "Perhaps I'm too stubborn to give it up." It had led her astray at many times, and into many griefs, but she had grown since then. Her mind was firm and steady now, capable to part the emotion that had often clouded her judgment as a youth and see with clarity the path she wished to take. With the Northerners here, she saw it as clear as the noon-day sun. "I don't expect the task to be easy; the right path is never easy. But I will take it." For she was convinced that theirs was a path that was worthy to strive for.

You're always welcome to tag Taki in a new thread! :)

Good, Taki thought, she would need to be stubborn to find a place in their family as that was an Ateneq family trait. She studied the other female curiously. She was intrigued by the other wolf now, and was interested to see what the future held. 

She nodded at Nonook's last statement. I look forward to seeing what you have to offer to our family, she finally replied. She stood up from the water then and with a polite bow, said, I'll see you around, Nanook. Taki walked from the water, stopping at the shore to shake the water from her snowy coat. Without looking back, she trotted back into the forest to continue her patrol.