Sunspire Mountains ivory cups

there was an unclaimed place of earth and field between the ridge and the vale, and muskrat had set about piling cairns of stone here and there in this place, flagrant with their scent.

but she did not hunt in this place; she did not mark it with her own scent nor strop her paws against the sparse trees there. the cairns were to say 'let us have peace here,' and soon she had completed one, with effort.

her intention was seven of these small pillars — if she was not interrupted.

the citrus eyes kept watch as at last muskrat lay to rest in the shadow of this first accomplishment.

His time thus far in the Vale had been uneventful. While the sheltered forest was peaceful and there was no shortage of small game to hunt, he found it quiet- too quiet. The constant beat and pull of the waves was what he missed, perhaps…Even the sound of his siblings’ voices he missed. The sound of…Well, anything would be welcome.

He left the borders and ranged out into the meadow, only to find himself surprised by the sound of stone clinking against stone. He lifted his head, and above the swaying grasses he saw piles of stones- neatly placed- and caught a glimpse of a wolf just as she placed another stone, and then lay to rest.

He approached, blinking his lavender eyes curiously. With a silken voice split between amusement and curiosity, he spoke. You be layin’ a curse?

not for long was muskrat alone; she grinned to hear such a thing said, surprised despite herself. slinking step drew her up to full small height; where the other was taller, she held muscles and he was hardly more than a boy, a new man with pretty eyes who watched her with humor.

"i want curse, i curse," muskrat intoned, teeth gleaming in one of her sharklike grins. "you know if i curse. so — not curse." paw gestured to her tower of stone, standing the height of her elbow for now. "speaking-place. for ridge. for vale."

Like a python she unfurled before him, to stand like a miniature panther. For some, it would take a great deal of straining to get their muscles to stand out as hers did; he admired her for the suit she donned, one where the seams were tight, and fabric pulled taught to flaunt her strength. He wondered, then, if perhaps she moved rocks just to exercise her muscles.

A curse it wasn’t- though he grinned to know she would not shy away from doing so if prompted. I imagine I would, Being a superstitious wolf, it always served him well to lead with flattery, especially when he meant what he said.

He was surprised to hear that the stones instead had a much more benign purpose. A speaking place, He repeated, nodding faintly. No doubt a place to settle disputes, if their packs were close together and found themselves becoming rivals. ’O do I ‘ave de pleasure of speaking to? He asked.

A bit of a shadow to Muskrat, Nutuyikruk planned to ask many things! There'd be an opening in time to get a good lunge in on the woman, and the girl thought ahead on what the flat could be. A sparring grounds! Teach me, teach me, she had been dying to ask, but there were stones being laid out. What were those for? A gathering place, maybe?

A boy came. Nutuyikruk pounced out of the bushes, splayed on the ground, and maybe had not been so hidden at all to the keen eye of Muskrat! A daring smile flared on her mouth, though playful in nature. Tossing eyes to Muskrat, she asked next, "Who's this?!"

"i muskrat," she purled proudly, caught off-guard by his respectful interest. it was recovered beneath a veneer of her own charm, and she found it achingly ironic that peace should arrive the day she built her first speaking-pillar.

nutu was close, and now she leapt forward, revealing her delight to the stranger. "he just about to say," muskrat answered, though her eyes had not left the features of this newcomer who spoke so smoothly to raiders from the ridge.

how would hex receive him? what of makono? her eyes were ashimmer.

The name, he supposed, suited her size- but not so much her spirit- though he would wonder then if perhaps he underestimated the bog-dwelling creatures. He’d seen them out on the ice in the winter, slick as rats, smaller than a beaver but with a fine, oily brown pelt. Her smile wasn’t terribly attractive, but welcome nonetheless.

The youngster who pounced into view seemed as vivacious as Muskrat, though with more wolfish features than the one who built the cairns. Her voice was charged; he replied as sweetly as a warm fiddle.

Tousaint. He tipped his head to them. I be ‘elpin’ Viskani found ‘er pack in de Vale- so I do not speak on ‘er behalf, but I can let ‘er know dis be a place where you be wantin’ words. He offered.

"Tousaint!" They'd be having neighbors. A good thing? It could be! Maybe they'd have some friends along with them that she could make, or they could teach her new things. Maybe they had somebody with them that could speak to the stars.

It would always be Muskrat who had Nutuyikruk's devoted attention and abiding ears, and through the woman's body and tone, a decision could be drawn on the intensity of the situation. It didn't seem so bad. Neighbors. How exciting! "I'm Nutu!" Unable to chime in to the conversation properly, the girl was amped with energy that came out only through a viciously wagging tail. 

The child looked between the two, trying to hold in the excitement while they spoke, and awfully rid of good sentences to say right now in the otherwise very important conversation..

It was as though the mention of her name had summoned her - Viskani's sixth sense, possibly.

The muscular she-wolf appeared from amongst the trees, her brow briefly furrowing at the sight of Tousaint with the strangers - though it soon smoothed over. It always did.

Her pace quickened as she approached the trio, eyes focused on her pledge. "Tousaint? What's going on here?" Her tone was gentle as it always was, though her gaze carried a sense of hostility as it shifted to the older woman in particular.

Their scents carried similar notes to that of the scarred woman on the ridge - with an encounter so unpleasant it was natural to be hostile.

nutuyikruk was far more affable than muskrat would have liked, but her own confidence had influenced this. why should the girl act with reticence or fear when warriors lined her back?

tousaint. muskrat sorted through the lyricism of the accent for what she wanted: the vale. a woman called viskani. "is this her?" muskrat inquired, the sharp sunflower eyes biting for the other. she was older though not in any situation of weakness.

viskani was a leader. in the absence of hex, muskrat had taken it upon herself to be the same. "why you choose so close to ridge?" she asked, voice sing-song as she inspected her claws for the black earth often caked under them these days.

In Nutu, he saw the cherub that his own sister had never been. An excited, and yet sweet thing; she earned from him a smile and a wink. It be nice to meet you, Nutu, He said, gently thumping his tail against the ground, at a much slower pace than hers and yet friendly all the same.

One of his ashen ears flicked back as he heard another wolf approaching from behind him- by scent, he recognized the wolf as being Viskani, who seemed to have been summoned by his words. 

He looked to her only when she drew even with him, and noted then the tension in her posture. Muskrat, he thought, had done little more than flex her muscles, and yet with light disdain he smelled what he thought was the light, but acrid scent of insecurity coming from her. 

Dis be ‘er, yes. He said first to Muskrat. Viskani questioned him, and he replied with calm assuredness. Dis be Muskrat an’ Nutu, of de Ridge. Dey be wantin’ to make a speakin’ place ‘ere, between us.

Something told him, however, that this meeting could very well end up as a pissing match between the two wolves; Muskrat had an obvious sense of humour- he wondered if it might rankle Viskani, or if she might remain calm. 

The discussion might leave both him and Nutu as bystanders- and like any other gossip, he was content to be a fly on the wall.

He winked! A joyful laugh followed quietly, "It's very nice to meet you." Their neighbors couldn't have been the worst thing ever if they were like Tousaint. They could benefit one another! Maybe they were trying to keep away from the sick people too, if they weren't sick themselves. Did foam come from the boys mouth? Maybe if he smiled wide enough drool would come out, but there were no crazy eyes there. Only the eyes of youth that the girl could spit out right back with a smile.

A mean woman came. Snippy eyes but a soft voice, Nutuyikruk knew that motherly aggression anywhere! Or maybe more of a passive-aggressive neighbor. Or was it not the new woman that came along to figure out the situation being sneaky, but instead Muskrat with her singing tone!

Troubleee.. Uhoh. Nutuyikruk had no place in the conversation, but her darting head would follow the trail of their voices to soak in their words like a sponge, and sometimes looking to Tousaint to figure out if he was hearing what she was hearing.

But maybe they could figure things out respectfully. They needed to have more impulse control than she had to have made it as long as they had.

She visibly relaxed as Tousaint told her the situation, a slight nod as he finished. "That's a lovely idea." The woman decided with a smile, Muskrat holding her gaze. If there was no hostile intentions, then Viskani had no real reason to be upset.

"And you, do you lead the ridge?" Now she addressed Muskrat.

With the ridge wolves so close, it made little sense to make enemies out of them. If they were willing to participate in some diplomacy, she would not be opposed.

sorry shes like this smh

viskani did not answer her question. given the nature of their meeting, given muskrat's own nature, she unfortunately chose to take this as a purposeful slight. now the warrior's citrus stare gleamed.

"ridge was first," she reminded them all, ignoring the question; she winked at nutu and let her eyes linger on tousaint before flicking them back to viskani. "this place, we keep peace. no hunting. killing."

chin lifted; "or we raid vale." muskrat shied away from no threat; holding it over these others satisfied her. and it was important for nutuyikruk to see that might must have words to hold it. "peace, unless you break."

diplomacy — this was the sum of it for muskrat. a boundary laid. a promise given. she wanted the upper hand for the ridge.

The tables turned quickly. 

Viskani became cool, welcoming of conversation when she was informed of the intended significance of the place. Tousaint was lightly impressed, and wondered if he'd been wrong to read her hesitance as insecurity. He shouldn't judge her too harshly, he told himself; she'd come all this way to establish a new pack with only a couple of her sons...

But Muskrat's intensity grew, something which caught Tousaint's eye like a shard of beachglass, green and shining, amid the earth tones of the rocky shore. She bartered for peace with a threat, which amused Tousaint. While he paused to think of the few little treasures he'd brought with him, he could think of nothing that would wound him terribly if it should be stolen in a raid. 

But what would Viskani think of such a bold statement? Of the demands that none hunt in the grasslands that lay between them? And of the woman's intense stare? 

He liked women who knew their own strength. He now stood among them; not a bad place to be.

Ooooooo..

Raiders. Nutuyikruk winced down. It wasn't the best title for a pack or clan or founding tribe, but it was what they'd made of themselves. What a raid looked like, when they'd choose to act, how one would end, all lingering questions to the girl that were not asked. Not because she did not trust Muskrat, Makono or Hex. It was only because it did not matter.

The ridge was home. She would listen to it.

Muskrat offered leadership that had otherwise been crushed out of life until her. Them.

That was enough to raise her head back up and feel warmth. Pride to the ridge.

The threats did little to break the woman's perfected demeanor, if anything at all. She knew better. "We have more than enough room to hunt in the vale, and no reason to kill your wolves."

"We will leave this area be, so long as the ridge wolves do." A simple request, yet her careful wording said more: 'do not make an enemy of me.'

A shared area could be of use. A place to discuss, to exchange. The mother pack never had such things, isolated from other's and aggressive in the face of intruders. This was not a tradition Viskani wished to carry on.

"If all goes well, maybe this could be beneficial to both of us." An allyship. This was something they would both need.

she approved of the stoic demeanour which met her hard words, and her eyes flashed with something like interest. there was no need to shed blood today, though she might have been amused to hear tousaint's interpretation of what raiding meant to the ridge. wealth was in flesh. and her own eyes shone at the suggestion that it was the raiders who might be killed, an answering light between women who were used to having their orders unquestioned.

"help us to finish building," muskrat offered after a moment; she released the tension of the second and gestured to the first pillar. "want seven. can have three."

with their combined efforts, this no-wolf's-land might hold their marks together, entwined, a spell for a warmer spring.

but muskrat had learned not to trust. her stare remained upon viskani, neither yielding nor offering more threat. what was said had been said, an oath between them.