Moonsong Glacier say don’t go

@Dutch

Ariadne had nearly finished her scouting stint as the sun began to fall. She was starting to feel restless again as they drew nearer to the day they’d begin climbing the glacier, but she also knew she needed to rest, too. There was no way she would make it in her current condition, and she knew that with winter approaching, they needed to go to the caves as soon as possible.

Slowly, she made her way along the pack’s borders, savoring her last minutes of freedom for the day.

The male had come most recently from Round Valley, which sat deep in the Land of Long Nights. Outside of the valley, the tundra seemed to stretch on for a lifetime on every side. These were the elk hunting grounds, where Valiant told him he had first cut his teeth. Dutch had hunted them now, too, but it was not what he had grown up with.

On the Spine, with not yet a year behind him, his parents taught him to hunt the bighorn sheep that scaled the craggy mountainside.

And with mountains so close at hand, the panther could not help but gravitate toward them. Let Valiant dip his paws into the ocean — Dutch wanted to climb.

To his frustration, he ran into another border before he reached his goal. In the foothills he tarried, wondering if he dared cross over without his hunting partner for backup. He was still weighing the risks when he realized he was not quite alone. Not far off stood a woman whose pelt reminded him of his tiny aunt, Lavender. The resemblance, however, seemed more and more superficial as he drifted closer.

"Shaanti ho," he called to her. "Peace be. Is this your mountain, cloud woman?"

”Shaanti ho” a voice called. "Peace be. Is this your mountain, cloud woman?"

She turned towards him and was pleasantly surprised with what she saw; Sedna blessed her borders with beautiful beings. This woman greets you, she said in turn, wondering what language he’d used to greet her. Yes, this glacier belongs to village Moonsong, and I am their Head, Ariadne.

How can I help you? she asked.

A village! This seemed very grand — like something he might've been told in a story, once upon a time. The panther was duly impressed, especially to hear that such a small and young woman had become their head. He suspected that she'd been born into it, but it would be rude to ask such a question of a stranger.

Dutch moved closer still, led by the desire to measure himself again the smaller wolf.

"It cannot be helped," he told her, although his eyes still smiled. "Your palace makes me homesick. I set my claws to the mountain like I set my teeth to the bone. Jeevika. Sustenance. I am many moons hungry."

He lowered himself to his belly before he reached her, touching his nose to his forepaws in a show of respect.

"This man greets you," he said to the damp earth, echoing her words. "My name is Dutch, son of the White Spine."

Ariadne could sympathize with feeling homesick—it'd been why she'd returned to the Great Bear Wilderness, and why she'd decided to establish her village so close to home. This glacier is hard to tame, she admitted, motioning towards it with her casted leg. I haven't even been able to climb it yet, but I have been told that many uninhabited caves will provide homes for my village.

She smiled and nodded approvingly at his show of respect, granting him permission to rise again with a quick jut of her paw. It is nice to meet you, Dutch, son of the White Spine. It was a powerful title; she was intrigued. Tell me of the White Spine and why you wander.

The panther's fiery gaze followed the sweep of her paw and lingered there for a long moment. She wore strange medicine — he understood its purpose, but it wasn't something he'd encountered before. He lifted his eyes instead to the peak she'd indicated, trying to imagine what she'd described.

Small and young and injured, he thought to himself. The little cloud was quite the wonder.

"It is a mountain range," he replied. "It stretches like a hunting cat, each peak a bump on her spine. Some peaks are white all year, and others are green until winter. The peak where I was born wears pine needles fur — great lodgepole pines, Douglas firs, juniper trees. She is the soft breast of the living animal. We grew there until we could climb into the ever-winter ridges, where the rams leap across the bald faces of the range. On the spine, we leave our dens and sleep every night under the stars, just as soon as our pelts grow thick enough to keep us warm."

If he spoke of this place with such passion and tenderness, why then would he ever leave it?

It was the usual reasons, of course.

"But all the women on the spine are kin to me," he told her, and then, with a smile, "And besides — my legs had grown long. I wanted to use them."

He came as close as he dared, his nostrils flaring as he took in her scent.

"What about you?" he asked, his gaze intent — almost like a child asking for a bedtime story. "What place were you born? What people dwell there?"

Ariadne found the image Dutch created in her mind to be picturesque, and she wondered why he left until he disclosed two important details—his relation to the mountainwomen and a wanderlust that couldn't go ignored. Ah—I can understand all of that. My legs grew weary, too, when I was younger. I traveled for some time before returning home. She allowed him to get close, as she was interested in the scents upon his fur. She sniffed, taking in the fading smells of juniper, fir, pine, and the other smells he'd accumulated on his travels. It was intoxicating, and she lingered as she answered his question.

I was born not too far from here, in a village named Moonglow. My parents, sunman and moonwoman, lead the village. She looked across the fields that separated their territories and motioned to the quarry that loomed in the distance. There it is, not even a day's travel away. It is peaceful, and an ideal place to live, and the people are peaceful and kind, but I wanted a place of my own—just as my other sistraas did. There are now four moonvillages in total.

Right next to it is another village—village Moonspear, lead by my sistraa, Sialuk and then ... the last village, this was always the hardest for her to explain, but it was getting easier with time, Then there is one last village by the ocean—Moontide, currently led by my late sistraa's husband. She frowned and shook her head; Samani was taken from them too soon.

The panther suppressed a smile when she talked about what she'd done when she was younger — Ariadne seemed very young to him, still. But he was charmed by her spirit, and impressed that she had a history beneath her already at such an age.

Dutch was pleased to be investigated, and now much closer, he lowered himself again to place himself below her. His tail whisked over the ground behind him while he ghosted his nose over one pale foreleg. Her people seemed few, albeit not as few as he and Valiant, the only other wolfscent on Dutch's pelt. He thought he could smell some of the other villages as well, but perhaps he only imagined them as she told him of the surrounding area. He burned to visit these places as well, but not as much as he burned to seek the mountain peak.

"My parents and my grandparents stalked this land before I was born on the Spine. I travel with my hunting partner, Valiant. He hails from the Land of Long Nights. His village is called Round Valley, and they are also my kin. But they are many moon and many mountains away from the Spine. It is good that you have so many so close. Perhaps it makes the hard times more easily borne."

His tone was matter of fact, but there was sympathy in his lamplike eyes.

"How many are in your village?" he asked her. "Are they only blood to you? Or might a stranger make his bed in your palace, too?"

Her eyes grew wide as she took his words a little too literally. Here?! she gasped in disbelief; it was too good to be true. Is there a reason why they did not stay here? Was there something wrong? She glanced over her shoulder, studying the glacier for a moment, and wondered if the reason lay in the treacherous reaches. That there was something up there they hadn't discovered yet.

She smiled at his question, appreciating his forwardness. There are a pawful—but our base is strong, she said, stepping forward and meeting his lamp-like eyes intently. A stranger may make his bed here—welcome to village Moonsong, Dutch, son of the White Spine. I look forward to getting to know you more.

We bed on the ground for now, but some of my scouts have discovered caves higher up in the glacier, where we will make our home for the winter. We will make that move soon when my leg can make the climb.

The panther shook his head, once again trying to school the smile off his face; "There are many things to see in the world. They found the places that called their names. My mother likes to say that if wolves were meant to stay in one place all our lives, we would have roots instead of legs."

Dutch was not yet sure whether this peak called his name — but he liked the way that Ariadne said it. He stood once more, as if he had been knighted, and glanced past her at the far reaches of her claim. Then his tawny eyes dropped back to her pretty face.

"And I, you," he replied with a jaunty wag of his tail. "Will you tell me about the others who dwell here? And which of them I might ask to show me the best hunting?

Tags for reference!

Hah! she exclaimed, tickled by his mother’s saying. I am going to say that from now on. That is a good one!

He then asked about Moonsong’s roster, and she thought over his question before speaking. 

There’s @Fjall—one of my oldest friends. He is a kind soul who recently came back into my life. He is very loyal.

Then there’s @Tulugak—ravenwomen. She is brave, kind, very fashionable, though that tidbit didn’t necessarily matter.

There’s @Kilgitsuk. He is strong, kind, reliable, she had to stop herself from rambling on about him, and he would be the one to know about hunting grounds.

And lastly, there is silenthunter who does not speak, she is good at hunting and very strong, she said about @Towhee Jr

You might also see @Chakliux around here who smells of Moontide—he is practically a member. He helped me find the land, and often help us hunt. He would be another good resource.

She fell silent then, hoping the information sufficed.

The panther listened carefully to this account, logging away names where they were given and wondering after the one name that was not. And, when he was told of Kilgitsuk, he resisted the urge to make a smart comment  — He sounds dreamy, or, No, please, tell me more!

But he could not quite hide his amusement, at this. He hoped his smile only seemed good-natured.

"Then I will seek him," he said of Kilgitsuk, eager to meet the one that lit the little cloud woman's eyes. Eager to meet all of them, truth be told. "All of them, but your hunter, first."

But the panther remained until Ariadne would give him leave; he wanted to be sure that she made it to wherever she was going before parting from her company.