Duskfire Glacier may these words be the first to find your ears

@Wintersbane but AW to anyone else wants to join in! ^^

She hadn't needed @Issorartuyok's scent trail to find her way to Duskfire Glacier.

Taktuq gazed up and up at the towering mountain, so much larger than the stones she had been born to, yet so dwarfed, in many ways, to mountains she had wandered in the North. The ice winds called her. She still wondered if she was doing right by coming here again. Issorartuyok had found favour with the Glacier. Had the Glacier found favour with him?

She would find out soon enough - and, she trusted, far more than that. With the purple hues of evening spreading well over the land, Taktuq tipped her head to the sky and let out a song for whoever might be present to attend her.

That voice, her call, it turned the large wolf’s head to the borders with interest. The earthen colors of the northerner’s gaze scoured his immediate surroundings before he set off at a swift trot and crossed the pack lands.

Issorartuyok was all but heaving from loss of breath, but he approached where the young girl stood at the edge of the glacier and barked a booming greeting to her. The northerner flagged his tail, welcoming, curious, pleased to know that she had found her way there. Issorartuyok wondered if she would have journeyed with him, if he had paid attention well enough to catch that she might wish to join the glacier for herself.

Taktuq, the large wolf called out to her. You are here. Issorartuyok smiled at her and chuckled warmly.

The arrival of her friend brought a smile to Taktuq's face, and she waved her tail in return. "Issorartuyok! Halu!" she called with genuine pleasure, and the greeting he had given her back on Moonsong. Her ears tingled at the sight of him, all the more that he, too, seemed genuinely pleased to see her.

"You are very observant," she afforded with a mischievous grin, "and are right in saying this. And you, too, are here." She wondered how he had been faring. He had still seemed uncertain to her when they had spoken upon Moonsong. She was pleased, however, to see that he had stayed. Her tail swayed by her hocks. "I had wondered if I still might find you here. Is Duskfire all you had hoped it would be?" A soft smile stayed on her face, hopeful for the answer of yes.

The large wolf did not sense the humor in her words and merely nodded his head proudly at being called observant. The northerner thrummed pleasantly at seeing a familiar face upon the edges of the glacier village. Issorartuyok was still working on making himself known to the wolves there, showing his worth to the wolf Wintersbane and the scout Meerkat.

It was good to see Taktuq, he thought and smiled to her as she spoke of his time and whether his new village was all he could hope for.

This village is quite suitable, yes. There are still many wolves to meet. Issorartuyok was still new. He did not fear that this would hinder his ability to be useful.

Issorartuyok looked at Taktuq curiously. As pleased as he was that she was there, he wondered what purpose was carried upon her tongue. Taktuq, have you come to join the glacier? he asked of her, leaning forward intently. She would correct his assumption if he was incorrect.

Taktuq's smile did not waver as she listened to her friend praise the home he had found. "There are always many wolves to meet, aren't there? Yet I am sure time will afford you many opportunities to meet them and make this village feel very much like home."

From her only encounters with Issarortuyok, this, of course, only being her second, Taktuq already took him to be an amicable wolf. Perhaps she was making too quick an assessment, but she trusted her instinct, and she thought him to be a good man. While not as breezy as some of the wolves she had met along her travels, he neither seemed too uptight. There was something comforting in his speech and in the respectable nature he carried himself with, and she thought that if any wolf made him feel not at home here, well, she would have a few hard things to say about them.

But she kept these things to herself, and focused, instead, on the question Issorartuyok raised. Observant, indeed! Her smile stole more broadly across her face, and she found herself tipping her nose again, as in their first encounter. In a very roundabout way, she answered, "on Moonsong you only asked if I would visit, yet you have stayed so forward on my mind that I, too, might like to see if this village might be suitable for me."

And so, trouble enters

The young pup had trailed off from her care sitters once again. One might accuse them of doing a horrid job, however Makatza was always looking for a way to escape the babysitters and her parents. Always looking for the next big entertainment, just for her. The world was her candy store, the puppets were the employees, ready to serve her every whim. When Makatza got an idea, or wanted something, she would most certainly try her hardest to get it. She always wanted things her way and her way only.

Today she had the marvelous idea of patrolling on her own by the borders. Not only was it charmingly dangerous, but it was right up her alley. She giggled to herself as she tiptoed quietly toward the border, and she went completely unnoticed. Pathetic! Who was watching the borders? No one it seemed, so she would have to do it all by herself, correct? Of course! The world was for her taking after all. She began sniffing the ground and follow a scent she did not know.

She was rewarded! Two strangers! One did smell of the pack, but she had never seen him before. He seemed very familiar with the female, whom certainly wasn’t from around here that was for sure. She hid herself slightly and listened in on their conversation and stayed downwind. She did not want to be found, not yet. She overheard them talking of joining and that brought a smile to her little devilish face. Now was her time to shine.

She did not announce herself, but came out of hiding and came toward the two adults, The young child had her head and tail raised high, and she smiled a very innocently smile at the two. ”Well hello~” No reason to be rude, was there? ”I am glad to see you two lovebirds are acquainted.” She went ahead to stand with her front toward their sides, watching them, glancing from one to the other.

Then the smile faded. ”We don’t let just, anyone in here you know.” She directed herself toward the female with a serious look. She had to prove herself, didn’t she? That was the only way, the way she wanted it and she always got her way. ”I am the princess of the Glacier and I command that you fight.” She smiled again – just not innocently anymore.

”Just a friendly spar. We want to see what you can do.” Oh friendly indeed. Until she interefered of course. No need to give away spoilers to the lovebirds though. For now she would sit and watch the show.

Her only regret being not having any snacks.

The large northerner was surprised at how easy he found speaking to Taktuq, how soft her words and smile were. Issorartuyok could not help but to think that she would make a fine wife, when the time had arrived for her to make such decisions. A warmth settled in the pit of his belly at the thought, but he brushed it away and listened intently to the silver woman speak of her reasons for venturing to the glacier village.

It was not until she had stated that Issorartuyok had remained on her mind that the northerner felt his body shift. A peculiar nervousness had swept through him, but he regarded her with warmth in his gaze and leaned toward her so that he might speak softer than he had before. This one is warm, to have been in your thoughts, Taktuq, he rumbled in a thick voice. Issorartuyok might have moved to close some of the space between them, but a child’s voice drew his dark ears back on his skull. The northerner swung around to see a dark figure with striking auburn markings.

The child claimed to be a princess and the princess wished for the two wolves to fight. Issorartuyok frowned deeply at this. He had not been asked to prove his worth, not to Wintersbane, not even to the scout Meerkat. It seemed a lie that this youthful figure could appear and make demands of that sort.

Hello, child of the glacier. This is Taktuq, he nodded gently toward the silver woman before fixing his sights on the pup again and frowning. I am called Issorartuyok. Your village leader Wintersbane did not demand a trial. Taktuq is good spirit, she is not deserving of this. Would a rational argument work against the desires of Duskfire’s princess?

trying to keep his unruly princess within the stern gaze of a glacial eye was proving to be most difficult. though a part of him is ( secretly ) pleased by her assertiveness ...knowing that she will need it in her life, he feels the weariness of a tired father with more cubs than he could truthfully handle. he feels it even more so like an ache in his temple as he approaches the borders, drawn by the scents — familiar and decidedly not familiar — and the snippets of conversation that he can hear.

the tundrian comes onto the scene with a firm urgency to his step and when makatza makes her demand. glacial gaze lingers upon his daughter for a moment before it snaps to issorartuyok, trying to plea with makatza in the woman — taktuq's — defense. though admittedly, the tundrian thinks it's a vein hope.

that is enough makatza, words that wintersbane feels like he's been repeating with increasing severity over the past week(s). perhaps, he thinks, he should take her hunting or spar with her so she might burn off some of her crueler tendencies. if you are going to intercept strangers at our borders making demands is not how we do it. not in the glacier. wolves prove themselves by contributing to the pack not by needless bloodsport. his stern tone demands his daughter's respect, chiding her with a paw that he means as guiding.

i am wintersbane, alpha of this glacier, he introduces himself to taktuq. so you seek to join our ranks? in his youth, the tundrain was wily and sneering and eager to pick a fight; even most recently when the other year he'd usurped rusalka's then-leader. life and age has tempered the worst of him; seemingly.