Qeya River three

probably happening simultaneously to the chaos to make sense of timelines!

Tikigâk neared the River with the man. She could smell the great number of wolves here, and cast a watchful eye over the territory they approached.

Nagruk. The man with her would know her scent, and take her there—but also, perhaps she already awaited them. Tikigâk’s senses worked as she searched.

nyehehhehehe

Chaos has Saatsine in her clutches, and at the centre lies Blackfell. Gjalla is there too, Chieftain and his wife - but all Nagruk can think of as she slips from the forest camp is the raven man's downfall.

Her lips twitch to form a smug smile, the scent of blood fading to obscurity as she enters the river lands, perhaps, to take advantage of the distraction.

Kukuvrak is already here, and with him another, a great bear of a woman though her gilded eyes betray a youthful apprehension. "Relax. The Clan camps west of here." Nagruk greets them both, before her gaze falls upon the newcomer.

he will seek an offering at another time. something to bind the land to them; something with which to curse One Eye if he was not already under the weight of such.

how had he lost the eye - plucked by an enemy, or given freely? chaos reigned.

nagruk met them at the river. kukuvrak did not want the women to mingle too much lest they band together, as often happens. he saw the way they surveyed one-another and let them alone.

Nagruk. 

She looks like a fierce woman, and that she is at ease causes her own instinctive tension to melt away. They are West, and the wind tells the truth of it—though then and there, Tikigâk did not think to question the woman. 

Tikigâk moves deeper into the territory, sniffing, inspecting. She sought to learn the true number of them, and discern their differentiations in the ways that she could with her nose. Sex, health, their number identified quickly. Nagruk is among the tangle of scents, older than that of the man with her whose scent was more recently added. 

And now it is Nagruk she approaches, a measure of respect maintained for the name that she had earned. 

One Eye ruled many. But it was not One Eye that concerned her most of all. Men fought until hierarchy could be won, but it was known that women often fought to kill. It was not a cruelty—not when it saved mothers from witnessing the potential fate of their children, should there be a reason to cull them. How much loyalty was there, to the family? Who would someday rear their head and rally against them for revenge? 

No loose ends. There was no wisdom in it. 

Nagruk knew the hierarchy. Knew which wolf would cause the instability in others that would inevitably force them to collapse with a bent knee. Tikigâk was not clever, nor bright—but she was singular minded, and tactical. 

That did not mean One Eye did not concern her. There was surely a reason so many ran with him—and he could command them to strike all at once. They were at a great disadvantage. An ear turned backward to the man that lingered. 

You are ready to strike? she asked, wondering if there was a plan in place—or even a wish to take over this land. Tikigâk did not prefer it, thinking mountains more advantageous. [/align]

Nagruk settles, her nub-tail stirring the snow at her rear as she watches the woman work the trails. Many here are stale now, but Saatsine still hunted the taiga freely. She, an outsider, is right to be cautious.

She speaks and Nagruk listens to the question that has often occupied her thoughts since her arrival. "That depends," a tilt of a dark muzzle betrays her confliction. "Sun Clan roams these lands as the caribou do. But much is changing. One-Eye's cubs will be born soon - and others too will join them," she explains, thinking of Sivaak. As far as she knew, Chieftain may well have sired her litter too.

"They have settled for now until their cubs grow strong. This is the time they will be most vulnerable... and most vigilant." There is opportunity here, as there is challenge. The three are not equipped to launch a full-scale invasion without themselves being torn to shreds by a slew of angry clanmen and women - and Nagruk is not convinced she wants to.

Her eyes glitter dangerously. "Our numbers are small. Even if we conquer, who will follow? There must be other ways."

women had their ways. tartok women were different from them too; he knew to listen when they spoke and wait for them to reach conclusions. women fought to death always, not like men—men maimed, tortured, bled others or themselves, but killed only as a final resort.

knowing this, and hearing nagruk, kukuvrak had his thoughts. he circled them both and came to a halt alongside nagruk, huffing. clan women have their work. we seek issitoq; turn him, turn clan.

watching tikigak now, he wonders how she will take this bloodless tactic; given how much disdain she held for kukuvrak's assertion from an earlier conversation.

regardless, he is eager to move.

Her ears prick and her eyes turn toward Kukuvrak. They had a like mind in that moment—she was a savage woman who was made for war, and crafted to win them. The singular braincell that occupied her mind had made this her purpose, her function. She was otherwise ruled by instinct, a primal beast. There was truly not much to her. 

Nagruk was conflicted, she could see—for good reason. Mothers were among the fiercest of fighters Tikigâk had ever encountered, even those not well-learned in battle. 

She did not see any good reason for this fight, when there was plenty land to take for themselves beyond this place—she thought it all a waste of time, but she was much more simple-minded. Tikigâk was incapable of “thinking big”—she simply saw the picture as it was presented. 

If he does not choose, we go, she rumbled conclusively—what else was for them here? Issitoq was no enemy of Tartok, and his children no threat. Tikigâk deduced that food must be plentiful in these Wilds, even within the Winter, if he allowed for two litters—all the more reason to range, to stake a claim of their own and continue to build their own legacy here. 

Nagruk would have killed him already if he was weak, she believed—and this would not be Sun Clan, but Tartok.

Kukuvrak, the crow, comes to feast on her information as he must. 

To turn Chieftain, a man married to his Lanzadoii ways, was a laughable strategy and she intends to let him know so. "You do not know this man," her breath snorts in twin plumes as she eyes Kukuvrak to the side. "It is unlikely he will turn." But Nagruk does not see a viable alternative.

It is Tikigak that makes the final call, and though Nagruk is not pleased with the outcome, she nods tersely in agreement. "I will lead you both to him to speak our piece. Then we will go." She is loyal to the family first, and though she wishes to allow more time with Chieftain, there will be other men to fit the role she needs.

he lifts his lip.
kukuvrak knew men; he knew warriors, he knew hunters. for him it was less about understanding issitoq and more, vetting him. he was chieftain—that required power of its own kind, and this inception in to tartok would come naturally for someone such as him.
he would not wait; he would not speak, either. they would go together to the chieftain and make their own power known.