Duskfire Glacier I don't know, man.

set at Meltwater Lake :)

The water level was lower than when they arrived, if only fractionally, which spoke of the seasons soon to turn. On this particular morning, anaktok would not be patrolling the boundaries or replenishing caches - she would be in worship. She passed by the Lake, glancing at the lowered level, and continued on.

For too long she had let the conflicts of daily life burden her heart, it was time to return to her gods and let them heal her. 

The confines of the dark conifer forest swallowed the tundrian's pale form as she followed a path that she herself had worn into the ground. It stopped in the heart of the forest, in a semi-circle of fallen trees - their trunks long covered with fuzzy green moss. A few trinkets lined the trunks, rudimentary offerings - the skull of a fox she'd caught, a chunk of rose quartz she'd found by a stream, the rotten remains of the psychedelic mushrooms she'd cast aside. 

The girl rested her latest token, the horn of a deer, with the rest - settling on her haunches amongst the fallen sentinels and allowing her silvery eyes to fall shut. 

"Nunarjuk," she addressed the earth, the forest surrounding her, the glacier beneath her feet, "take this offering. Heal the sickness in me."

Her words were soft, northern, meant for the gods alone.

Stay in the territory, Currituck, @Takiyok warned her earlier that day when she’d gotten too close to the borders. Have they taken up to following her, or is it coincidence they’d ended up at the same place? Of course, @Tahani had given her warning before she even left the den and of course she didn’t listen. As the girl retreats back into the territory, settling to exploring what she is familiar with (if only to appease the boring adults), she finds a scent of one of the northern women. She is family but not family but she hasn’t bothered to ask—she isn’t like Tahani or Shivali but she can’t pull any older memories that don’t include Uki in some form.
 
There’s a fond memory of a juicy, fatty beaver tail.
 
Her mouth waters.
 
Currituck licks her lips, lowers her nose, and follows the scent until she locates the travel worn path. Olive eyes narrow a little, having never noticed it before, and not-so-quietly does she follow the trail. Large ears cup forward but they’re not so large to catch the prayer. “UKIIIIIIIIIIII!” she shouts, picking up speed when the pale woman finally comes into view.

Tapeesa is lost in silent meditation, nor does she expect anyone to know that this small corner of the forest is her temple. It's for these reasons that she doesn't hear the youngster's approach. 

"UKIIIIII!"

The shout is enough to startle anaktok almost out of her skin, jumping with fright. She recognizes the voice of a child and turns with a small shake of her head and a chuckle. She's more familiar with Shivali's children - particularly Tunerk - but recognizes Currituck instantly. 

Uki may not have been spent much time caring for the pups - the Ateneq sisters preferred caring for each other's children as a group rather than leave them with a baby sitter, not that the tundrian blamed them. Despite this, she spent the majority of their travels patrolling and chasing off possible threats, searching for food for the little mouths, or watching them play. Uki feels she's watched them grow and is already familiar with them. 

Currituck she remembers as a playful, fearless child that never failed to draw smiles from the adults. It appears she's still as fearless, as she comes pounding into the forest. The pup only picks up speed as she nears Uki and Tapeesa braces herself for impact. 

The pup isn't enough to knock her over though she does make a soft oomph noise. 

"Hi, Curri," she greets with a fond smile, feathery tail wagging.

Currituck doesn’t notice the start of the other, hopping and skipping along until she’s close enough to even thinking about putting on the brakes. Her paws struggle to slow down enough and she crashes into the large wolf’s chest, a giggle slipping playfully out of her muzzle. When she’s able to get her feet under control, they split out beneath her and she stumbles to the ground, rolling over and peering longingly at the woman.
 
“What’cha doin’?” she asks, pawing at the air between them.

"I was bringing a gift for the gods," Uki answers without thinking. She doesn't consider the fact that the Ateneq family might not hold to any one religion or its teachings, nor that Tahani night not want her speaking of her own in front of Currituck. 

"I have brought them an antler to show them I honor them, so that perhaps they will honor me in life," she explained further, smiling softly as she glanced to her rudimentary altar. In a few weeks, she would have this place looking like a home to the gods themselves. 

"What are you doing, nutara?" She teased gently, pawing at Curri in much the same fashion.

Currituck’s brows knit together and her head cocks slightly, ears flopping in momentum. She spends a lot of time by herself because the other puppies don’t seem to want to spend time with her (perhaps causing a lot of pent up energy to burn off, and the subsequent trouble she gets into). The adults aren’t all that exciting either so they’re only of so much use after all.
 
“Gods?” she ventures to ask, watching her with interest. “I’m doin’ nothin’,” she tells her with a swish of her tail thumping against the ground.

Oops.

Uki grimaces slightly at the innocent question. Would Tahani be angered if she tried to explain her religion to the child? Or perhaps it would be a good idea to educate the pups on northern religion?

"The northern gods, from my homeland. The earth, sun, and moon: Nunarjuk, Siqiqniq, and Tiqqaq. They created all the spirits and brought forth life," she explained as simply as she could. 

"Well, you're welcome to join me if you'd like. I could teach you about the gods," she offers, unsure if it's an activity that would entertain Currituck who always seems so energized. She figures if any of the Ateneqs have a problem with it, she'll hear about it later from them. 

Currituck listens with interest as she explains the earth, sun, and moon each have respective names and that they’d created everything. She’d never really thought about where she’d come from or anything else, for that matter, but suddenly she has a lot more questions. Her smile turns into something contemplative, slowly rolling out from beneath the pale wolf and sits up proper.
 
Her eyes narrow as she thinks about it, slowly nodding that she wants to learn more. Beings existing outside wolves and prey fall hard to grasp and she lifts her head a little. “Are they wolves, too?” she asks as she tries to wrap her little brain around it.

She shakes her head gently, a smile turning up her lips. 

"The gods are unseen. They are in everything. They are the spirits that give life to the prey animals, to the birds, to the insects. They are the life within the trees and plants, the spirits within the rivers and rocks and stars. They live in everyone, even you and I," she explained.

"You cannot see their bodies but they are life itself. They are emotions - the excitement of a hunt, the love of your mother Tahani, the pain of injury." She waited patiently, unsure if Currituck was following. 

Her brows knit together as Uki explains. Currituck takes a deep breath of contemplative thought, looking around her at the first tree she trees, then searches for the rest of the list but they don’t help answer anything. “Trees and rocks and stuff are alive?” she decides to ask first, having never considered much from her surroundings. Trees and rocks and stuff were just… there. They didn’t do much except sometimes get in the way or something.
 
“They live inside us?” she questions with a slight tilt of her head.

"They have spirits, they're essentially alive. They may not eat or breathe or speak like us but they are a part of the land." She could not help but crack a small smile at the counterargument questions that Currituck kept throwing at her. Uki didn't have all the answers but she would do her best to answer. 

"Some places feel alive, truly alive. Places that make you feel at home, places where things have occurred," Uki murmured. "It's why your family chose this place for their home. Because it's similar to our homelands, the places we knew. It sang to them you might say," she mused.

"Not literally within you, nutara," she chuckled softly. "That was an expression. I meant that they are a part of us, these spirits," she attempted to clarify.

Uki continues to explain things and Currituck finds herself more interested. She enjoys the attention. The other three puppies get a lot from Shivali and Tahani and the others and while Tahani spends a lot of time with her, she doesn’t feel the same as the pale children. Her nose wrinkles a little at the thought but she brushes it off and looks up at Uki with soft eyes, absorbing what she can.
 
For the moment, however, she does not have any more questions when it comes to the gods but she is so smart and seems to know a lot that, she can’t help the saddening of her voice as she asks, “why don’t I look like the others? Or you?”

She smiles softly at the child, something warm stirring in her heart.

She'd never considered having children of her own, she wasn't mentally prepared for raising pups for she had much healing and growth ahead, but that was not to say that she had no maternal feelings. She'd adored the younglings from afar upon joining and she found she preferred spending time with them rather than many of the older wolves in their pack. Perhaps it was because they were warm where the Ateneqs were so frigid or because children are so much more honest than many grown ups.

The next question is unexpected and it wrenches her heart.

"Oh, Curri," she murmurs softly, brushing her muzzle across the girl's crown gently. "You may be a different color than the others but that's only because we're from the north. Snow covers the ground much of the time so many wolves in the arctic are pale. The gods made us that way, so that we might blend in and hunt, so we might survive."

"Your color makes you unique, nutara. It does not make you any less a member of the family," she reassured, hoping she had put the pup's worries to rest.

Uki explains the reason why her fur is different but it doesn’t really explain anything. Still, she has questions, and she opens her mouth to try and ask them but they do not formulate properly. She snaps her teeth together and takes a breath, considering what to ask first. She had not considered she might be all that different, or any less family, until then, and her ears droop a little and suddenly she doesn’t care to know the answers. At least not yet. So, instead of speaking up she offers a smile and shrugs, standing up and moving on to something else.
 
“Les’go to the water,” she says, leaving little room for objection as she takes off down the way.

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Uki had hoped her words would put the girl's worries to rest but Tapeesa can't tell if she's helper or hurt the situation. Her lips part as Curri turns, headed for the water, wanting to say something to alleviate Currituck's hurt feelings but nothing comes. 

"Alright. You know it's probably rather cold," she joked as she padded alongside the earthy pup. "Were you planning a swim for today?"

Uki shouts after her, announcing the cold water. She knows. She’s foolishly tried, but she’s thirsty and needs a distraction and she’d love to get in the water but the woman is right. It’s… too cold. Whatever! Currituck skids to a stop as she approaches the lake, the ground softer the closer she gets. “I bet there’s water somewhere I can swim in,” she tells her, turning her head to peer up at the adult.

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She chuckles as she follows alongside, amused. "Far be it from me to stop you," she murmured to the determined child. She'd be there to warm Curri up and take her home if it was indeed too cold, lest the girl fall ill. 

"I believe it's too cold for me though. I hope you don't mind if I just watch, nutara." A frigid dip didn't sound very appealing to Tapeesa as of the moment.

Thanks for the thread!

She turns and looks over her shoulder when Uki speaks. Her brows knit together but she brushes it off. She knows this water is cold and she avoids getting too close. When it starts to lap at the bank, she lowers her head for a chilly drink and feels it move all the way down and take a few seconds before she feels normal again.
 
Eventually, the girl becomes bored of what she’d wanted to do and she flings herself back while completely changing gears.
 
“I’mma go find mama,” she blurts before darting off into the woods.