Bearclaw Valley so apropos,

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?