Mount Apikuni dark vine

suliya stood in quiet resolve, the tension thickening around them like the frost in the air. her ears tipped forward, catching every scorn-laden word from the red-painted woman, though she gave no outward sign of reaction. instead, she moved closer to sun eater, the faint crunch of snow beneath her paws the only sound she made.

it was a deliberate motion, subtle yet pointed, as if her alignment was spoken through the rhythm of her body rather than the sound of her voice. her snowlit gaze settled briefly on the woman, not with malice, but with the cool indifference of someone who had already made up her mind. the lanzadoii way did not require words to assert itself; her loyalty to the hunt, to the cycle, was evident in the steps that carried her to sun eater’s side.

the sharp glint of sun eater’s fangs refracted in her peripheral vision, but suliya did not flinch. she stood still, a calm counterbalance to his bullish snort, her presence quiet yet steadfast. in this moment, her silence spoke louder than red woman's disdainful growls. it was not cruelty that rooted her here, but the ancient understanding of balance—a harmony that those tied too deeply to themselves could never grasp.

her breath rose in steady plumes against the cold, her figure unyielding as she cast her gaze once more toward the horizon, where the caribou roamed eternal.