The Tangle gymnopédie no.1

a gnarled bit of territory juts out from the Rise's northwest border; she'd seen it on patrols but only today thinks to penetrate the unappealing land. it separates her land from Erzulie's, and she thinks the two packs can perhaps use it as a mutual hunting ground.

no deer could thrive here, she thinks, but small game could flourish in warmer conditions: groundhogs, hares, and the like. whatever lived here, though, is underground, burrowed away from the cold.

she's walked for a long while before the scent of wolf reaches her nose—and not Sapphique.

a woman, pelt reminiscent of her own but much darker, digging. Avicus barks in her direction and strides closer, her posture wary but not yet confrontational. sure enough, no familiar sea-smell clings to the wolf; not Erzulie, not Rosalyn, nor anyone else.

who're you? why you dig? she fires off, jerking her chin toward the hole in the snow.