Blackfeather Woods creates the only emotion

@Rowan for reference (and feel free to join in if you'd like to at any point) also maybe @Takiyok if you're available, Hela, since they might be able to communicate with each other? (No worries if you're busy/swamped with threads though.) :)

 

The gilded dove was never very far from the ruddied yearling's side -- for the wolfdog found herself somewhat intimidated by the thought of wandering amongst his southron pack mates, lost as their woven tongue flew sharply around her. Rowan still couldn't understand much of what she said but the cur had made some progress, plying him frequently with soft "That?"s and "This?"s as she tried to learn his world and his vocabulary.

After a few days of settling in, the shepherd parted reluctantly from the familiar safety of the leader's earth-kissed side to pad through the forest. Keen eyes of tropical waters drank in the gnarled and crooked trees, a soft smile finding her lips as the sudden cry of a raven reached her. 

Before too long, the piebald happened across the scent trail of what seemed to be a hare -- even game was different in these temperate climates -- and shifted into a low and stalking crouch as she trotted along. 

When the critter came into view, long ears relaxed but still held aloft alertly as it nibbled on budding clover, the Waterwitch lowered herself to her pale belly and hunkered in wait for the perfect opportunity to pounce. 

-invades- I apologize for him :|

The Woods were an unwelcome place to be. The darkness loomed overhead, and the crows sang their gnarled songs. Taikon had never liked the animals. One of the things he most resented about this dreary place was the feathered creatures, who often stared at him as he traversed the terrain. None of it was comfortable. He wondered if they loomed about more because of his poor health. Gaining weight took time, and his injury and subsequent illness had rendered him almost unrecognizable from the fit specimen he had once been.
It was as he walked the forest that he spotted something very unusual. A dog.
A dog in their woods.
Unable to catch the scent of the small beast from his vantage point, he saw her crouched, and Taikon did not wait to find out what animal she had decided to try for. These were not her woods, and no dog of man could enter here. It surprised him that none of their Ivory had thrown her out yet, or worse. Perhaps it was him who had this job today, even in his decrepit state.
Taikon flared, fur rising along his spine as he growled and pushed his way toward her. The hare she was chasing leapt away hurriedly, leaving an angrily and poor excuse for a wolf before her. Who are you? he demanded. He should have chased her out, but perhaps she had some explanation for her trespass.

0.0 it's all good! thank you for joining!

Imaq was just deciding to strike when suddenly, the rabbit was dashing away -- a man pelted in faded golds and hazy sunshine, though he seemed anything but cheerful at present, storming up to her. 

He was very clearly upset about something, his nape and spine bristled with spikes of angry fur. Imaq almost imagined she could smell the anger rolling off him. Anxiety burst to life in the cage of her chest and she fought to keep her limbs from trembling, supressing an agitated whine as her head bowed instinctively -- uncertain if she should look him in the eyes. 

Her mind raced to come up with some explanation or taboo she might have broken unwittingly but she had rarely strayed from Rowan for fear of this very situation. Still, she answered him readily when he demanded: "Who - you?" 

"Imaq," she whispered in Taikon's direction, discreetly lowering herself towards the ground -- where she would tuck in on herself protectively, not unlike an armadillo, should he press forward and attack. Kalallit women were forbidden to train as warriors, and even if she knew how to fight, it was still considered taboo to strike back against a male of higher rank. 

She fell silent then, mottled tongue flicking out to rasp along her chops nervously as she did her best to seem smaller and nonthreatening. 

The dog was curiously coloured. It had floppy ears and fluffy fur, and all of the dog-like things that he didn't trust. All of his knowledge and training had taught him to avoid dogs, or kill them on site, for they were animals of man. Though Taikon had only ever seen a human once, he had heard many gunshots, smelled many strange things from them, and found many of their kill sites. They were monsters he had no desire to ever meet with again, and thus far in the Teekons he had been lucky not to. This one though, this one threatened to unravel all of that. He would not allow it.
Yet...
She lowered herself. She did not challenge him, for to do so might have been a detriment due to her small size. He moved in closer, ignoring any semblance of grace he might have had for one of their own, and instead glared at her. His eyes were sharp, jaded with an edge that few had witnessed in him.
As she spoke, her words were rough, foreign. The she-dog answered with a sound that he presumed was her name, and this relaxed him just enough to let his nose inhale her scent. Rowan. The forest. She had been here for longer than just today, and it was clear that Rowan had either marked her or been quite near to her.
Taikon inhaled lengthily through his nose, and sighed in a frustrated exasperation. He looked away from her, making a disgusted face, contemplating what to do. Why would Rowan bring a dog here? Why? These boy leaders had all lost their minds. Perhaps they had never had any in the first place. Imaq, he repeated back to her, his voice tense. He assumed (wrongly, naturally) from her poor use of words and that she indeed had the feeble mind of a dog, and thus had trouble with language. Because of this, he spoke very slowly, though at the same volume. His voice remained strained. Taikon, he introduced, and did not bow formally. This was as close to an insult as he would likely get.
Why - are - you - here? He asked bluntly. Had Rowan actually had the audacity to allow a dog into their ranks?

The gilded merle had hunkered so low by this point that her creamed underbelly was flush with the patchy, snow-covered earth -- legs tucked beneath her like a domestic cat, as if this would protect her if the sunlit icebear did strike. 

She withheld a flinch as her name left his lips, ground out between angry teeth that were still slightly bared in her direction. Her speckled crown dipped jerkily in affirmation, even though it didn't seem to be phrased as a question. His own was quick to follow and recklessly, Imaq chanced a glance upwards without thinking. Thankfully, his face was turned away so that he missed the blip of oceanic blue in her cursed gaze -- but Imaq just so happened to glance up in time to catch the abhorrent expression on his face. 

Oh. She blinked in realization as it settled heavily over her, like a pile of snowmelt slipping from the trees to whack her right between the shoulder blades icily. It was nothing Imaq had done; it was just...her.

Imaq knew well that she was different -- her parents had never lied about that and she had seen her own reflection in still water. But she knew very little about her mother's kind and Eelisi had been the first domesticated canine that anyone in her Kalaallit had ever seen. Salik had said that her dam was beautiful and that Imaq was too, a spitting image of the golden piebald who'd birthed her. But in her own experience, this had proven untrue thus far. Taikon's face was one she had seen etched into the hard lines of every northron male she'd approached with hopes of joining his Kalaallit.

Abomination. Cur. Mutt. 

These were all words synonymous to Imaq. 

Suddenly withdrawn, something seemed to sag in her shoulders and her chin drifted slowly to rest upon her paws -- eyes averted once more. The buttercream shepherd suddenly becoming the perfect picture of dejection, defeat. So absorbed was she in the sudden whirlwind of shame and despair that had gripped her -- the Waterwitch almost didn't hear his next question. 

"I don't have the words to explain myself to you," she murmured to him, hushed tones only slightly louder than before as she switched to northern though she doubted he would understand. "Imaq...look," she tried again after a moment, her ingrained training to answer him too strong to ignore. 

"Rowan find. Rowan...Rowan, home." She told him, as best she could, lilt breaking on the last word. For all that she had wilted under the weight of his prejudice, a new flame of panic flickered to life in her heart. 

Would his disgust only deepen when he pried the rest of the answers from her? Would it look the same as the other mens', when their gazes had fallen upon the swollen bump of her belly -- or later, on the son she carried in her jaws? 

"I-Imaq...go? Leave?" The halfbreed dared to question him, breathy words catching in her throat. She half hoped that Rowan -- or anyone who might come to her defense -- would draw from the shadows and prevent this bully of a pack mate from answering her. 

How unfair of the inua to keep her alive through everything, even when she begged for a true death, and give her a home, budding friendship too, only for it to be ripped away again so soon. 

She had been patrolling when she caught his scent on the breeze. It wasn't often that she wasn't somewhere near Taikon, hovering, making sure he was okay. She tried to be silent about it, not wanting to make him feel like he was a child, but she was usually nearby, just in case. She made sure they ate as often as she could manage, and she had followed whatever directions the healer had given to ensure that Taikon healed properly. He was still so thin, and she worried about his hardiness throughout the rest of the winter. She had decided when she thought he might die, that if he managed to survive, she would not let him get to so close to death ever again. She refused to live her life without Taikon.

She followed his scent through the forest, shaking off the shiver of unease that always came when she glanced into the far away shadows. She always felt like she was being watched here, for some reason. 

As she got closer to wherever he was, she stopped and inspected the air; his scent mixed with an unfamiliar one. She picked up her speed, breaking into a sprint when she heard his booming, angry words: Why are you here?

She slowed as she arrived, her gaze falling to the woman hunched on the ground, whispering broken common. Taki stopped at Taikon's side, her eyes moving up to his face, a frown forming on her own. What is going on? she asked him. Was this woman some kind of threat, despite her clear submission?

She cowered. She was small. He could run her off easily. Would she bring her master? Did she have a master?
Words. Foreign. Yet, she could speak in whatever weird way she could. Was this a language among dog-folk, or was it some strange thing that only she knew? Was it invented? It was too complex to be such. The syllables each reminded him of the way Taktuq and Takiyok spoke to one another sometimes, or at least did before she had run away. His heart was torn. He was angry. This dog-creature was of no good use to them. What had possessed Rowan to think that bringing her here would be good for any of them? She might very well seal their doom.
Imaq tried to explain in her poor, pathetic, dog-creature way. Taikon owed Rowan everything, but that did not mean he would let the boy-leader make judgments that could get all of them fucking killed. He was naive. He was playing with fire. He did not know the potential he had unleashed, but the prince knew better.
What if... Had Taktuq been found by Men?
His anger seethed, but he knew that he could not harm her. He opened his mouth to say something when she asked vaguely if she should leave. And then Takiyok.

Taikon whipped around to find her there. He did not soften. His eyes were bold, serious, and in them was written fear of a pure and terrible form. Rowan led a dog here. He said bluntly, licking his lips nervously and shifting his weight to one side. It can't stay. It probably has an owner nearby, he sneered as he looked upon her crumpled form again. Normally, it was Taikon who took in the small and the needy. Normally, it was he who dragged home the strays. But he suspected that she was no stray, and if any followed her here, they would all die.
He remembered.

For once, luck was on her side -- or maybe it was the inua who set the other northerner upon the scene. "What - going -?"

"Rowan - a dog here. - - stay. - - - - - -." 

The words were mostly intelligible to Imaq but that did not mean she did not listen. Her eyes longed to seek out the features of this newest company -- wondering if she was friend or foe -- but wisely, she kept her oceanic orbs focused on the eight paws before her. The lagoon optics flickered occasionally, scanning their surroundings for more wolves, filled with fear that was akin to Taikon's own. She watched them carefully for signs that they might lunge towards her, even if the male didn't seem inclined to violence. 

There was an itch under her skin to flee, to find Rowan (and probably never, ever, stray from him again), but they were too close. Mayhaps the angered man would give chase if she ran -- perhaps that would be what pushed him to attack. 

Instead she remained silent as the southerners conversed, watching them warily from her peripherals. Regardless of consequences, if they moved too quickly in her direction, the shepherd would be gone. 

Taikon's answer was peculiar. She failed see the issue that he apparently did, but maybe she was missing something. The other woman seemed compliant enough; she kept her gaze down, her body language showed no aggression. So whatever threat he thought might be there, she did not see the same. She was confused. The word he used—owner—was unfamiliar to her in the context he was using it. What do you mean? she asked. An owner? She shook her head, her expression showing the confusion she felt. 

She seems harmless to me, Taikon. She can barely even look at us. Plus, she wasn't sure how well it would go over if he ran off a new pack member because of some weird biased he had. If this, dog, as he had put it, was of any danger to them, she would gladly fight at his side. But she wasn't the type to blindly run into a situation with teeth bared; she would need more information.

He sighed, visibly relaxing in a type of anguish he had shown her before when he'd spoken about his past. Takiyok was right. She was terrified. Taikon looked at the dog, sneering, but made no move closer to her.
It was clear then to him that Takiyok had never encountered humans nor known their terror. The wilds of Canada had not been so lucky to be so sheltered as her homeland, apparently. He had learned early to avoid them at all costs. Whatever the reason Imaq was among them, it was not her fault that she could lead one of those monsters to their hidden forest. Taikon had never seen humans anywhere near the area, but the fear held him fast.
It's... she isn't a wolf, Taki, look at her, he said bluntly. He shook his head, already knowing he had lost the argument. She had no idea what dangers could await them. She had never known that terror. There are monsters that follow her kind, and if they come here, we're dead. He stepped away from both of them. We're all fucking dead.

The northerner's lips part for a moment, thinking to ask again if she should leave, before she closes them -- wisely. She continues to listen as their words, fast and sharp and angry, buzz back and forth over her head like a swarm of angry hornets. She no longer pays much attention to what is said, most of it is beyond her limited understanding of their language anyhow. 

She hears a new tone in their voices -- confusion in the woman's and defeat in the male's, Taikon's. Thinking this might mean she's scolded him for...for whatever it was he was doing to Imaq.. the shepherd began to edge backwards on slow steps. Her flanks ruffled with a hint of trepidation as she continued to slink backwards from them -- keeping a close eye on them without meeting their gazes, afraid of what she might find there.