Duskfire Glacier these are all the harder words you have to know

Once again, tags for reference but all welcome :)

Iana had set out to see what she might find to help her healing endeavors. Granted most things were frozen beyond use or buried well underneath the snow.

She had spotted a few places where something nice might grow when the snow did not have such a strong hold on the land. Slowly then it dawned on her that she ought to have somewhere to place these things. A proper den. Maybe it would serve as storage and shelter. Somewhere to keep patients or...even herself. She could hide away from the heat season in a good, deep den.

So she set out to work somewhere sheltered in the forested part. Well aware that the elements of winter would work against her. It was not as though many set out to dig in the freezing conditions, but she did not have much option now it seemed.

If she was to provide the care that @Wintersbane needed, she would need a proper place. Along with anyone who might join them and find themselves injured as well.

Goodness. What a thought.

based loosely on IkKanattuk's description of the Greyfall Caverns

The shepherd had not been amongst their number long and the Glacier was a large domain that the bunting sought to make his kingdom, with the other unseen woman being the only other soul she could smell upon the floe, it only made sense that they had yet to cross each other's paths. But as the piebald set to familiarizing herself with the territory, thinking to garner a measure of its resources and determine where her skills might best be applied towards foundation, the opportunity presented itself. It was the scrape of her paws through the deep drifts that alerted the medicine woman to her presence, that and the flash of creamer swirled with coffee through the trees when she glanced up.

Her seaglass gaze would linger with open curiosity on the woman. She'd never seen anyone who looked anything at all like her -- more accustomed to the standard phases of agoutis she'd seen, ranging from blondes and silvers to soot and tar. Their shapes were entirely different, this girl a spritely fae of hummingbird bones where Imaq was short and stout. Enchanted, Imaq let out a soft noise of greeting, her hips giving a little wiggle in place of the missing tail she lacked.

Then, taking stock of what the woman was doing -- the she-dog gave a very canine cock of her head in a gesture of query. "What doing?" the healer asked in her heavy accent.

If the voice startled her, it did not show. She simply halted her work with alert ears up and a turn of her head. There was a woman she had not yet seen. Unique in every way. Wiggling hips instead of a tail, ears that did not stand, unusually proportioned.

Beautiful.

The accented words rattled in her brain as she realized she was staring and not answering. A sheepish look had swept over her face as Iana glanced back to her pitiful (so far) work.

I am...building a den. A medical den. Something private. Offered in her usually breathy, quiet voice.

Imaq nodded in understanding, stashing the less familiar words that she could only guess at for the time being to ask @Wintersbane (reference) of their meaning when she had a chance -- and he was not so busy with everything that went into the foundation of his Kalaallit. "Caves, that way," the buttery she-dog mentioned, meaning to suggest it as a solution as she gestured with her spotted muzzle in the direction she'd seen the cavern's entrance. She slept in ice dens herself but the medicine woman thought perhaps the snow might whet the herbs the other piebald was trying to stash. Then they might mold and spoil before they had a chance to be used. 

She'd not yet explored the passageways in the mountainside, thinking it might be more prudent to map out the Glacier itself, as well as its sub-territories before delving into the cave system. But now would be as good as time as any, and it might give her a chance to get to know her future packmate as well. "Might be good, jah?" 

"Imaq help look with..." the golden merle trailed off then, ears perking curiously as she hoped the willow would offer her own name in return. "Help look if want."

Iana had not considered the caves as an option for her medical space. Primarily because...well, she figured they would have done better as a public space. A den space for the community as a whole. Yet maybe she could find somewhere secluded in the network.

Which led her to nod her head softly. Yes, come look with me. She further invited with a soft warm smile. The woman spoke in an unfamiliar fashion but it did not deter Iana. If anything it intrigued her further.

I am Iana. You said you were...Imaq? The name was likely clunky and heavy on her untrained tongue.

The halfbreed dipped her head in a slow gesture of deference, naturally assuming the woman to be of higher rank, and fell in beside her as they began the trek back towards the caves Imaq had seen on her way. Floppy ears perked at the wisping question lilted in her direction, nodding as eyes of seawater met the woman's for but a second -- a twitch of a friendly smile tugging at the corners of her lips. 

"Jah, Imaq. Of Kalaallit Nunaat." The wolfdog was proud to have mastered this one string of sentence, a hint of some fiercer satisfaction hidden beneath that hinted at the wilderness running in the northron's veins not unlike the deep currents of a Yukon river. "Iana...of?" 

Apologies for wait. <3

It all sounded foreign to Iana. Unsure what exactly an, ah, well. Whatever the other woman had pronounced. She would not feel brave enough to try the words on her own tongue.

I suppose...Iana of Duskfire Glacier. Soft, hushed songbird laughter. I...previously belonged to Halcyon Empire. She informed the other woman with a soft smile. She doubted the name would mean much here. Far from the expanse that the joint packs shared.

Gently her head swayed to gesture towards a specific path. She felt drawn to it, as if she might find the ideal den along it. Perhaps somewhere to start, at the very least.

The titles of the wren's former homeland are as exotic and alien to Imaq's ears as the medicine woman's must surely be to Iana, her floppy, freckled auds bouncing as they pique with interest at the strange name. "Jah," she agrees softly, a sheepish warmth coloring her cheeks at the subconscious stumble. "Of PiKalujak ikumakunnuk now," the shaman murmured almost to herself. Then with a glance at Iana, she clarified, "Glacier of fire and...Siqiqniq's sleep." 

Mamik nodded in agreement to the piebald's gesture of suggestion, moving to pad after her as she followed along. Her tropical gaze flitted along the cavern walls, seeking. When she spotted a sizeable hole in the wall that seemed like it might be promising, Imaq would give a similar gesture with an inquisitive cock of her head. Wanna check this spot out?

Glacier of fire and...

Whose sleep?

She pondered the unusual names and the foreign way the woman spoke as they seemed to discover somewhere worthwhile. A hole in the cavern's walls that seemed that it might be good enough. For a start, at least. If they grew large then she might relocate but...for now? A perfect abode. So Iana nodded softly to the unique woman.

Then promptly sought to see just how big the hole was. Could it fit one or two wolves? Maybe more?

Fresh warmth suffused her wheaten cheeks beneath a downy cover of fur, embarrassed again that she was so deeply steeped in the essence of her former clan that she found it difficult to connect or communicate with those around her. "Siqiqniq," she answered, the word a thin feather caught on the tide of a spring gale -- soft and curling with some secret as it escaped her. The piebald, knowing no other way, gestured to the light that reached them from the cavern's maw: "Light. Siqiqniq sleeps when Taqqiq rises." 

The shepherd continued on in the sparrow's shadow, gilded dome twisting and swiveling from the room's entrance as she too surveyed the area they'd discovered before lagoon-water optics slid back to Iana with the barest hint of another unspoken question. Would this suffice for her purposes?

She felt steeped into a secret knowledge when the other woman spoke. Siqiqniq and Taqqiq. She knew not what they were but...her soft companion gave context clues. The light. Perhaps the darkness is the other in return.

Teach me more, sometime? A soft question. Sometime when they were not busy with another task on hand. Perhaps a patrol or sunbathing moment would be good for such.

Then a soft summons to the other. A nod as a beckon for the kind woman to see if she can fit in here with Iana. That would be the true test to if this would suffice as a medic den.

It surprises her that the other would take an interest in her tribe's beliefs but pleasantly so. Imaq allows a shy smile, nodding a little too quickly -- excited by the prospect of sharing her people's stories. 

She crept into the crevice as beckoned, easily able to straighten to her full, short height within. It was snug but spacious enough for the wren and the buttercream shepherd to move about in the close quarters. It had enough room for a patient to recline while a healer peddled about -- perhaps they could assemble a few stone cairns here to store herbs in or dig a cache for the medicines. 

Whatever would be done with the space, the Kalallit woman felt it would be best to defer to Iana since this seemed like it would be her domain. Perhaps she might welcome the medicine woman's aide as an acolyte of sorts, the thought bringing a joyful wag to the she-dog's wool-coated flanks of strawspun. 

Tag just for reference!

It is perfect.

She decided on easily when Imaq managed to comfortably fit within the confines of the cavern. Not to mention, for once, there seems to be a liveliness to her words instead of the sleepy lull that usually haunted her tone.

I will set up in here. Make it a proper medic den. Her tail excitedly whipped behind her, unable to contain her joy for such a discovery. She would need to do plenty of work still. Make a true cache for herbs, find soft things to line the den with, and make sure others knew of its location. She imagined @Wintersbane would be one of the first to learn, she tended to his injury after all.

Thank you.

Imaq hadn't quite taken note of the languishing lull to the willowbark's velvet tones but the spark of enthusiasm that wakes her companion's dulcets into something lively charges Imaq with an enthusiastic static. A wide grin lightened her features like sunlight breaking through cloud clover, her tailless rump giving a little shake of happiness -- as if she might truly have an appendage to wag with joy.

"Jah," the cur wisped quickly, shrugging a little as if to say it had been no big deal to help the rose brown piebald with her task. Then, the wolfdog glanced down demurely, swallowing down her shyness momentarily before returning her seaglass gaze to Iana's pale emeralds of spruce green. "Imaq help? Imaq...Angakkok. Medicine woman," she explained, pointing with her freckled muzzle towards Iana's chest before pointing back towards herself -- nose drifting half down towards her paws in gesture. I'm like you, a healer.  

Imaq help.

Imaq...Angakkok.

She was a...oh! A medicine woman as well. What a grand sort of thing this was. Her tail still eagerly whipped behind her lithe form.

Please, please! She chirped happily. I am always looking to learn more. Perhaps you will teach me of more than just your culture. A sheepish sort of smile as she felt a warmth in her face. Smitten with a smidge embarrassed.

Imaq nodded, gaze dipping bashfully at the other pied wolfess' glee despite the warmth curling at the corners of her lips. "Aya," she agreed readily. "Perhaps we teach each other." 

sorry for the wait, im currently dealing with covid and everything is very bleh lol. Also sorry for how short this is, we can go ahead and wrap up soon if you'd like.