Bearclaw Valley so apropos,

hoping to have rala meet some wolves she hasn't met yet !!
.. maybe an @Ameline ? <3

hare was soft, settled in her jaw as the huntress returned to the valley as dawn graced the lands with its sweeping, golden light. long, dark shadows hung in every corner, around every bend, but as the sun begun to rise above the horizon, they ebbed, hidden away until night would fall once more. multi-coloured clouds graced the gradient skies, pink and blue, some even orange, yellow. a beautiful scene overhead as the woman walked.

nanuralaaq would find somewhere quiet to eat, though her tail swayed against the snowed grasses and her ears twitched every now and then at the sound of chirping birds, singing their morning songs. snowwoman would be more than happy to entertain conversation, even to share her hare if somebody was hungry. for now, though, she simply sat, pale head scanning the packland, eyes the same hue as the peachy clouds above. watching, as if waiting for something - someone.

there were many she had yet to meet.

yesssss I’ve been hoping for a thread <3

She flirted with her husband as he described a couple of their newest pack members, pride flooding through her at their recent population boom; no doubt it might be echoed again in the Spring with the arrival of children within the Valley. 

She had roved out to the meadow to begin searching for prey trails, toying with the plot to make a big kill that might bring the growing pack together and develop their bond. She noted the tracks left there, stopping to sniff at a spot of blood in the snow that suggested a kill had been made. Fresh tracks led back into the valley. Ameline knew the scent to belong to one of their newest additions and with her curiosity piqued, she began to follow, easily scouting out the successful hunter by the tracks she left behind.

Early bird catcheth the hare, She greeted with a chuckle.

it was the woman who she assumed to be regina who approached her, and so rala sat a little taller, kept her tail wrapped by her legs, though it continued to sway as typical. under the watchful eyes of a leader, nanuralaaq felt she must be perfect, for if one was not perfect, if one failed to make the right jump, to attack at the right moment, to be careful on the ice, the lights went out. the bloodstone fields would beckon and call.

and still, she met her leaders greeting with humour: does this bird wish to share? she rhymed, a curious tilt of her head as she pushed the rabbit towards her. the woman wore a smile upon her pale features as she spoke. i am ... rala, she would spare the woman of her given name, though it pained her to push aside the title that she had earned, that she had worked for. it signified her survival, though was that so important, here?

returning to topic, polar-cub continued: it was cole that recruited me. i hear that he has been a major part of populating the valley? playful in the way she said it, and yet partially curious, for that meant that cole was often wandering.

a hobby she shared, for the most part.

How stately the woman of winter furs made herself to be, seated properly as one might in the presence of royalty. Others might cower but in a queen’s court, her ladies were expected to be dignified, poised. Rala showed promise, not only as a hunter but as a member of polite society as well.

No, keep it, She said. After all, she had caches and a husband who could help feed her, and she was keen for her new members to feel that they earned the meat they caught.

It seemed strange that Cole would be mentioned first, not Ancelin- who would have been the one to give her a proper acceptance. But Cole was a striking man, and Ancelin was taken. In part, yeth. She said. Thinthe he joined he hath been making himthelf known ath an ekthellent thcout an’ guardian. My huthband, Anthuhlin- he and I claimed and populated the Valley latht year. She said. Cole did well, but he would not be thrown too much favour, not when she felt Ancelin was due his credit.

After all- they had brought two daughters with them, and had then brought four more into the world; the first daughters of Bearclaw Valley. 

I’m Ameline Bearclaw. It’th nithe to meet you, Rala.

and so she would push the hare back towards herself, though she would not eat yet. in part, the woman had responded to her comment about cole, and it was then that she explained that it had been her and her husband, ancelin, who had claimed and populated the valley. nanuralaaq gave a nod. what was it like, claiming the valley? for she had been raised in a home where there was no claiming, you simply held on to the lands you were given due to where you were born or who had birthed you and that was that!

ameline bearclaw, she seemed to smile the words. it's nice to finally meet the chieftess of the valley, arnaq nanuq, meaning, 'woman of bears', a chuckle left her black lips, then. and she would gaze at the black and amber woman curiously. she did look like she could be part bear, with her colouration. shades of ebony; honey-browns.

Rala’s curiosity was refreshing, though her question was one Ameline had never been asked before. She thought for a moment, recalling the establishment of the pack that had come following exile.

It wath harder than we thought it’d be, I think. It’th one thing to find a plathe an’ dethide to thtay there, but another to find wolveth who’ll thettle down an’ make a pack. She admitted. We had a few come and go, and we let ‘em. We had our girlth, an’ we got by with the help of our eldetht daughter, but it took month after month of waitin’, recruiting an’ defending the plathe for it to become the home it ith today. 

There was no short-form answer to Rala’s question, so she answered it as well as she could. It was flattering, being asked almost an interview-style question for once- it was usually she who asked the questions of newcomers.

Arnak Nanuq, She repeated softly. I like that. Where do thothe wordth come from?

and though there was no short form, nanuralaaq would listen intently, ears pricked, gaze attentive. a tilt of her head when she had said that it had taken months. the valley seems to be full with wolves, she joked, now, brows raising as she took in a breath that was thick with the scents of many. quite a few replicants of the scents that ameline and ancelin wore ; their children. coming here, it felt like there had been many for a long, long time, as that was how it had been when she was growing up.

decades worth of tribes, of lineages. she had left when many of them had begun changing ; now, she carried such traditions with her, wherever she went. her very coat a testament to the wolves that had come before her ; that had taught her the ox hunt.

a breath left her lips. much north, she answered, then, willingly informing her of a past that she had since departed from, though not without some amount of sorrow. ox hunter peoples ; my ataata's side, at least. he wedded panik of the seal hunters, and so i, alongside my siblings, were born, speaking of them was almost painful, though the memory of them warmed her spirit. i am only one of eight.

would her mother have more? she wondered, then, if she had moved on from her fathers death. was she pregnant now? a wash of guilt flooded over her, for a moment, and a part of nanuralaaq wished she had stayed with her anaanak. she drew in a breath.

and you? she redirected, then. were you born here?

Rala's first impression of the Valley made Ameline grin proudly. She had hoped that their reputation might be so esteemed, though she would not build such an important thing upon a bed of lies. I'm glad it theemth that way, She said. It meanth we're findin' the right company. Wolves that settled in quickly, wolves that bonded fast- wolves who made the place seem as though it had been a home for them, for years. 

She reflected momentarily on the valley's history. Wolves had indeed lived here before, though she doubted very much that Rala would have knowledge of the pack, given that she seemed to have travelled some distance to get here. Anthuhlin'th family uthed to claim thith valley, but that wath long ago. Thtill- it feelth thometimeth like they're thtill here. She eyed Rala for a moment, wondering if she might be sensitive enough to have felt it as well. 

Ghosts, some might call them. They hovered about the valley, lingered in bones and remains. 

Rala seemed to come from an established culture of wolves as well- ox hunters, seal hunters...Ameline's brow lifted at the mention of animals she had only ever heard of. You come from a big family, then, She said, a note of longing in her voice. 

Ameline thought of the one sister she had recovered, after being orphaned- though they had become estranged yet again, following Ameline's departure from the Rise. 

She wished that she could answer yes to Rala's question. It would have solidified her claim to the valley- though she supposed Ancelin's heritage was enough. Not here. Don't know where, ekthactly, I wath orphaned...Got taken in by a pack, patht that mountain range, She said, though her tone darkened at the mention of her former home. Anthuhlin' an' I grew up there together, but...It wathn't run well. It wath ruled by wolveth who put blood before bond, and eventually...Well, we were forthed to leave. 

She paused, to see what Rala might make of her queen now- an orphan, and an exile.

tw for implied thoughts of incest

for a moment, snowwoman found herself hoping that she could find herself under the term that was coined 'the right company', having thought herself to be good at reaching out, opening up, forming connections. nonetheless, the thought was quickly swept aside as the regina begun to recite the past, and so nanuralaaq would listen in silence, eyes watchful and ears perked, as if she were but a whelp listening to the wise tales of elders, though rala was the older out of the pair! orphaned, she said. forced to leave.

forced ... because you were not of their blood? came careful, curious questions. inquisitive in every manner of the word ; polar cub gave a tilt of your head. that is ridiculous, came a chiding snort, a shake of her head. blood is too thick, suffocating. needs to be thinned out, every now and then, or else you drown in it, for she had seen, known, just how important loners and vagabonds were to the health of the future clan children. the thinning oceans waves always delivered when the veins of blood grew close to entanglement. such ... risks were to be avoided at all times.

with a final decision, nanuralaaq gave a hefty breath, and said: you are strong, regina. woman of bears, but also, angajuqqaaq, chieftess. nanurnut kuin, queen of bears, though the latter came with light chuckle, for though she did not underestimate ameline's ability to dominate even the might of bears, the image of a woman commanding such brutes came humorous to the snowwomans mind. you like the words?

Getting the chance to spill her history endeared her toward Rala; having a captivated listener for her tale of betrayal and woe, and her rise to success always empowered her. The woman seemed to understand the value of having outsiders strengthen the pack through marrying and diversifying the genetics- and it sounded as though she spoke from experience. 

"Abtholutely. Out-thiderth bring thtrength, an' detherve equal opportunity. She said. While she was attracted to the notion of having an heir, she knew any true heir for the role of Regina would be earned, and it would not be something that blood would influence. That pack we grew up in? She intoned, We went back, a couple month-th ago. Gone. Perhaps it was not what Rala had meant by a pack suffocating within their own bloodlines- but their choices had not led to success. 

Names, absolutely, pleased the proud woman. The words rolled like smoothe stones, lightly percussive in nature, and with the absence of sibilance, she was indeed enticed to learn them. Desire showed in the pricking of her ears, and light tilt of her head. Enraptured, she gestured with a jut of her chin. Thay that one again for me? She invited. Queen of bearth?