Blacktail Deer Plateau lxii. i'm just a shell of who i was before

@Cerulean :) (tags for reference)

The mother dove had broken her fast with a scattering of their growing children and rounded the borders with @Shikoba before donning her favorite shawl of deerhide. It helped to trap the warmth of the rising sun against her skin as she loped beyond the village's borders and across the plains of Kintla. 

The herd of blacktail deer that resided here was a bit too far from home to hunt, especially on her own. But perhaps the herd might move closer to Moonglow in the near future, they seemed to frequent the hot springs in the hart of the steppes. The herd-stalker thought to recruit @Inutsuk or @Aiolos, perhaps some of the others for a pack hunt. It would be easier to transport their kill if they could target the grazers early one morning, as they foraged along the hot springs. 

For now, Lótë crested the blunt face of the Plateau, her leg tugging uncomfortably with the strain, and edged along the boundaries of the deer's domain -- hesitant to spook the ungulates with her presence as she sought them out.

toootally understand if you wanna present-date this.  sorry for the delay

sometimes, when she wanted to feel like she was in control of things, she would scope out the highest point she could find and spend hours there in pursuit of peace.  she found herself on the plateau today.  a little further down the mountain, she might've been able to see the pharoh's domain.

she walked vaguely in his direction, staying close to the plateau's edge.  something made itself clear coming towards her at a distance, with a long, injured lope.  she perked as what was now clearly a wolf came closer, and emit a chuff to get her attention.

Lótë's pallid emeralds had drifted to where her paws cut prints into the light smattering of snow -- dangerously assuming herself to be alone. Her head jerked up at the distant call, heart settling as she realized it was a seemingly friendly she-wolf. A low, amicable note trailed from her throat in return as she continued on her course towards the stranger. 

The doe did not recognize the girl -- having spent the majority of the late winter healing when the sisters resided in the Spine. A soft hum of welcome escaped her as she drew near the slight russet figure, reminded of the husband she shared with Kukutux -- save for the wisp's seaglass eyes. 

"I greet you," the cloudberry demurred in the customary greeting of her village.  "I am Lótë of clan Nuiruk, of village Moonglow."

the woman's howl reminds her of someone.  her grasp on the silhouetted memory disappears the closer the other woman got.  before she even had a chance to introduce herself, cerulean's blood had run cold.  she knew that smell anywhere.  she would never forget.

moonglow.

the woman kept her fangs sheathed, and though a ripple of fear coursed through cerulean, she kept herself tidy.  she would not show fear.  but she was not certain how to handle this.

good day, miss lótë.  i am marina, of the druids.  she bows her head in deep respect.  it is good to meet you.  she swept a nervous paw against the slush.  i have been to moonglow.  you have a good home.  a protected one.

The dove bowed her head in a slow movement of respect, cordiality. "A pleasure to meet you, miss Marina." A gentle smile quirked her lips. She was not accustomed to the title but returned it all the same. 

"Oh?" she chirped in surprise, brow lifting curiously. "I'm afraid I spent much of the season recovering from an encounter with a bear. I do not believe we've met. But I thank you for your kind words."

"Did you enjoy Moonglow? I have found it to be a good home, as you said. I am second wife to sunman there, alongside our moonwoman, Kukutux. You likely met them and some of our many children." Unaware of the conflict brewing or that the girl was one of the sisters Kukutux had mentioned in passing, Lótë offered this information freely -- thinking the willow girl of fire to be an ally of sorts. 

i must apologize, she admits, i did not make the best impression.  politely, she bowed her head again, to make it clear she held no ill will.  from the way she had been attacked, she assumed she must speak quickly, lest she find herself running for the hills once again.

i passed through your land with my sisters one night.  we had just lost our home.  the borders weren't marked.  they were grieving.  they found the caches and destroyed them.  i didn't partake.  but i didn't stop them, either.  we thought nobody lived there.  otherwise, they would not have been so rude to you and your good folk.

if she were not to be stopped before she could say more, she would offer, i want to extend my formal apologies.  she casts a long glance down at the ungulates below.  i would like to make it up to you.  perhaps this way, she could redeem herself — if not in moonglow's eyes, than in her own.  and maybe it would mean something to the listener that she had tried.

Lótë tilted her head, concerned to see the abashment on the sylph's warm features but remained silent and allowed the woman to speak without interruption. "I see," she lilted softly when the girl's words had died off. 

"I cannot speak for the others. But it is my belief that you seem truly contrite and that you're not to condemn for what your sisters have done," the mother murmured, dipping her head to catch the aquamarines of Marina's gaze reassuringly. "And I think it is telling of your character that you wish to make amends." 

Unaware of how the russet femme intended to do this thing, Lótë went on. "It is my hope to build a new village next to Moonglow soon. You would be welcome there if you are in need of a home -- or if ever you feel the need to provide restitution for what your kin took from our village." 

No fangs came to meet and rend her flesh from bone, no hackles raised, no atonement forced. 

Lótë's reaction was so unexpected that it nearly sent her reeling.  Why was this woman being so accommodating to her feelings, when those she lived with hadn't taken a moment to regard them?  But her look was so reassuring, in a way that Cerulean had never experienced.  It relieved her.

Thank you, she choked, unable to stop herself from releasing a sob.  Embarrassed, her ears flattened and her tail sank low.  I will return to you what has been taken.  I will make you whole.

wasn't entirely sure what Cerulean's status with Blackwater was or if this meant Lótë had successfully recruited her for Winterglade. We can always play it out by ear if that'd be better for you. But just lmk if anything needs to be edited. :)

You don't need to thank me for being kind," Lótë lilted, daring to reach out and touch her nose to the ginger she-wolf's cheek comfortingly -- much as she would one of her sisters or children. "We will be waiting for you." 

"I thought to scout the herds here for my village if you'd like to join me?" Lótë offered, smiling slightly, hoping to take the girl's mind off the burden of her guilt. It was a great thing for a young woman to carry, especially when what seemed to have happened was a great misunderstanding. 

i am dumb, i can't believe i didn't respond to that part of the post.  i'll blame it on her being so shaken.  she is still in bw, she just fell inactive and hasn't been added back into ranks.  nothing needs to be edited!

the woman's touch startled her for a moment, and she responded by blinking rapidly.  it was almost maternal, though the women were nearly the same size and age. 

they would be waiting for her.  she looks again at the ground.  she did not believe she would be walking into a trap, for lótë had proven herself with these gestures, but ... i must tell you something.

she shifted her weight, then met the woman's eyes again.  i am not welcome.  i tried to come again, to apologize, but two women attacked me before i could explain.  i did not fight back, but they made it clear i was never to return.

she thought there must be a way around this.  i still want to make good on my promise.  i can bring it to your sister village, if you would promise my safety.  she would just come to the far border.

that out of the way, she finally acknowledges the last question.  i would like that, she says, have you been tracking them long?

Lótë's brow flickered with a hint of surprise. She had never known her family to be unforgiving. Nor had she known them to be violent. But the village at large was, admittedly, fiercely protective and close-knit. "We were not always so. My people have given much to many. Often, our kindness was repaid with betrayal. Our village has learned to guard the borders and each other closely." It was not an excuse or an apology for the Nuiruk stood with moonwoman and sunman. She trusted that their leaders would always do what was best for Moonglow. The Naturalist only hoped that Marina would understand. 

"You would be welcome in the Forest -- where I intend to start the new village. Perhaps in time the members of my pack might grow to see that you are no threat to them. I promise you would be safe in Winterglade, you would be our guest." This was all Lótë could promise, a chance to mend the wounds left with her village and forge bonds with the new one. 

Her attention was directed back to the deer, the cloudberry turning in the direction their scent billowed from -- sniffing at the wind lightly. "I have not but they do seem to favor the hot springs in the Flatlands. I thought perhaps Moonglow and Winterglade might take advantage of that in the future."

what lote offered was the only thing she could ask, and she was relieved to hear it.  both women seemed wont to drop the subject; cerulean was glad to let it go.  she offered only a nod in response before she surveyed the herd below.

cerulean had completely circumvented the hot springs on her trip south.  she had circled the forest instead.  she squinted to realize she could scarcely see the heat rising in the distance, and made a mental note of it.  i am a lousy hunter, she admits, but to me that seems pragmatic.  if they frequently inhabited an area, it completely cut out the work of tracking them down.  it seems quite far, though, i don't know much about large game.

Lótë's lips quirked in amusement. "I have no great talent in it myself but I am a herd-stalker -- tuttuk-taliak -- for Moonglow. I watch them and plan when hunting would be most successful," she revealed. Her expression was one of encouragement. "It is something you can improve with time. Or you might find yourself better suited to observing and aiding hunters as I do." 

"Aya," the doe agreed softly. Coming to the Plateau for the blacktails was a feat that would prove difficult. But if her people could strike in the early morn while the herd broke their fast in the Flatlands, the grazers could prove a valuable resource. "They are much like us. They do not stay in one place. They roam just as we do and cover much territory in their hunt for grass." Another smile, full of humor to think that the deer hunted as they were hunted themselves. 

"My village has come to rely on the large game since the illness swept through the burrowing creatures in our region. That is what led me here -- I do not want to overhunt the elk herds that share our land. I fear they may relocate if we draw from their numbers too much."

"It is good to learn about different prey -- one never knows when a certain kind is no longer safe to hunt," she advised, not unkindly. With a jerk of her head in gesture, Lótë began to lead the way towards the heart of the Plateau. "We might watch them, if you wish. One can learn much from simply studying the herds and prey animals in their environment." 

she realized now what a grave mistake her sisters had made, and why moonglow had sought out their flesh as penance.  the thought of food scarcity cast fear deep into her bones, the surprise of it written clear upon her face.  no longer would she blame them for viridian's condition. i am thankful that you and yours have found a solution that meets your needs.

what she said made sense, but cerulean had little to offer by way of advice.  she could only learn.  that sounds like a reasonable concern. she didn't know the kind of intelligence deer had, but she knew if her wolves were getting slaughtered left and right she'd be looking for a new home, too.

she followed lote across the plateau.  is there enough, then? for both moonglow and winterglade?  blackwater had fields near their home, and rarely were they hunted.

Lótë dipped her head in appreciation, offering the younger woman a gentle smile. Turning back to the trail she cut for them, the painter pondered this question. "I should think so. The village I am building will be founded by myself and my children. There are a few wolves outside our family clan who will also join us but they are already members of Moonglow. Our numbers will remain the same, it's just a matter of relocation. We will still be family -- just in two villages instead of one. But perhaps that will change in time. If Winterglade and Moonglow grow too large in the coming years, I would like to think all our children might forge paths of their own and build new villages to the east and south." 

The cloudberry smiled to think of this. Moonspear had been Kukutux's legacy and its ruin had birthed Moonglow. But that same ruin had birthed a new legacy, one their collective children might someday expand upon. 

the explanation made sense and put her mind at ease.  it's a lovely thought.  her heart stirred at the thought, and felt the budding desire to have children of her own.  but now was not the time.  even if it were, she had no husband to bear them to, raise them with.

what is it like at moonglow?  every pack she visited was different from the next.

• sorry for the weird layout, my phone keeps glitching things up when I post for some reason

• Had Lótë known Marina's trail of thought, perhaps she might've shared the pain last year's fever had brought with it -- and the joy that had come with raising her children, even though their father had cast them all aside. "It is..." the doe began, only to trail off as she tried to think how best to word the village. "It is a spiritual place. The spirits talk. Moonwoman interprets and some of our children have become spirit-speakers themselves." "The village is a place of family and motherhood is quite special there." Here, the cloudberry smiled. "It is a place where traditions are passed down and kept sacred. A place where things of the heart often seem to be left unspoken but live in every action of every member." 

it sounds lovely, she said.  the place she had come from was not so spiritual, but she had great respect for tradition and sacred spaces.  they came upon the herd, and she turned to the woman once more.  there are so many of them, she said in awe.  much larger than any wolf pack she had seen.

"I think so too," Lótë smiled, a small secret smile of great joy. She had not expected to find a family and home with the northern women when she was first found wandering the moonlit glacier by @Sialuk -- nor to find herself. She'd only hoped to help them, having experienced quite a bit of loss in her young life as well. But it seemed the spirits had led her to Moonglow for a reason; something for which the cloudberry would be eternally grateful. 

At last, they located the herd, which was quite plentiful. It seemed it had been some time since they had been hunted regularly which boded well for second wife and her village. They would be less wary, some of the younger deer may not have been hunted in the past. And they would be able to cull the group's population for some time before they would need to source other prey. 

"Aya," the wood-woman murmured softly, though she did not bother to lower herself or hide. Two wolves wouldn't prove much threat to the large herd, though they might make any elders or injured blacktails nervous. "You see how they graze when relaxed?" Lótë pointed out. "They take a few paces before dipping to eat. And they will occasionally swing their antlers, the males anyhow, to keep the insects from pestering them. It is repetitive, almost timed -- a dance of deer." 

just wrapping up some old threads! I hope you're feeling better! <3

Lótë and Marina watched the herd for some time, the Naturalist occasionally pointing out some habit or trait to the younger woman as they quietly conversed. Eventually, as brother sun continued on his arc across the heavens, time beckoned her back to the Spine and her loved ones. The duo parted ways amicably, Lótë again extending an invitation to come and visit Winterglade in the near future and see if a truce could be bridged between the abashed sister and Moonglow.