a night so black that the darkness hummed

AW for DB, but tagging @meldresi

Winter had proved cruel to the tunnels Caiaphas frequented -- the graft of frost and heave had swelled the soil's walls and sharply laced the ground with its jagged presence. Dragging her clutch through the shrunken burrow proved most burdensome -- many times the Siren Queen had been tempted to pitch away her bloodied dowry. She steeled her weak resolve then by recalling to mind the reason for her departure from the sand -- there was logic in why she sought the spiritually-endowed dark she-wolf.

Once the rangy reprobate had dragged forth her narrow frame from the pit's opening and sullied the snow with her transported carcass she paused, her feral eyes upon the cavernous and ominous forest. She then threw back her slender skull and issued a howl towards the inhabitants -- and she waited as the silence closed thunderously about her.

Hello! PP-ing Potema

At two months old, she saw that her pups were beginning to develop their own personalities and interests. Damien, naturally aggressive as he was born, was gravitating towards the art of war. Potema had begun following her around, poking her nose into the herb store, and watching wide-eyed when her mother mixed together a poultice. She had no idea what Cicero was interest in yet. He had plenty of time.

Meldresi was out and about in the woods, followed closely by a white little bush, speckled lightly on her back with gray. At the moment, the priestess was gathering basic herbs for battle kits. With the fights with Swiftcurrent, and the infighting between the horny males of her pack, the herb store was running low. Potema clasped a partially full fern wrap under her chin, leaving her mouth open to ask many a question. She was in the process of asking another when an unfamiliar howl caught the queen and the princess' attention. Meldresi was wary at first, and was ready to send Potema home, but she recognized the voice. The female from the sea, who frequently poked her head close to Blackfeather borders, but never crossing. Her daughter would be safe, but at a distance.

"Stay close, Potema." She ordered the young girl, who squeaked a muffled response, before heading towards the border. A few moments passed, and she soon saw light and a silhouette in the distance. She turned again and snapped an order at her daughter to stay in the bushes, knowing she would blend in easily with the snow, while she strode forward to greet the black-headed coywolf. Her dark blue eyes quickly observed the bloody carcass at her feet, before she spoke. "Why did you call?" She said without mentioning the carcass.

The last time Caiaphas had beheld the dread forest, Meldresi had been ripe with child, her slab-sided flank swollen with their presence. But now her belly supplicated them no longer, for behind the dark queen was a singular and most striking suckling concealed in the tussocks.

The Queen was as spectral as Caiaphas remembered, her pelt illuminant with the ghoulish spread of tribal branding. The waif smiled a bland smile, pushing her atonement to the dark sister. "Has the little one had seal before?" The sea-witch inquired airily, her feral gaze resting almost hungrily upon the bush that hid Potema. Yet the answer did not matter -- the smile that fell upon her muzzle was soon replaced by a stark expression of coldness not even a crow's haggard beak could rival.

"The last we spoke, your pack intrigued me. You seem a woman capable of all manner of strange and deviating things. A rare talent, one would say." The salted wretch paused, her gaze upon the woman with purpose. "As a mother, I am sure you know we go to any means to protect those we love." But she said nothing else, awaiting any curious inquiry from the spectral she-wolf before continuing.

Potema mimicked the new word, seal, softly. Meldresi's ears swiveled back as she heard the little peep, but her eyes kept on the sea-woman. "No, she has not." Meldresi murmured just as jauntily as Caiaphas. The queen studied the unidentifiable carcass with curiosity. She had never tried seal herself, preferring the strange creatures alive rather than dead. It would be an interesting treat, but its meaning did not go over her head as the coywolf further spoke. She wanted something of her.

"It is in our nature, of course." Meldresi drawled, knowing that her comment did not have any real value besides furthering the comment along. " 'A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.' " She quoted. It was true, she would do anything to defend her children. She would even disband her pack if it meant saving them somehow. But that was a requirement of being a mother. At the moment, Caiaphas' presence intrigued her more, as Potema slowly crept forward, showing herself and pressing herself against her mother's side, blinking at the new wolf curiously.

Caiaphas listened attentively, her triangular ears cupped forth to sip from the wisdom of Meldresi's judicious words. She was right of course -- but what pleased Caiaphas more was to know she had found a sympathetic audience in the beautifully adorned and dark queen -- she had found a thread in which the two shared that was more powerful even than wickedness. And that was maternity.

The salted Siren Queen remained silent for a time, allowing a respectful pause to ruminate over the shrewd nature of the Alpha's words. Potema had come from the shadows then, though Caiaphas' gaze did not linger on the whelp for long. "In times of peril, often the unexpected strike is what wins the war." She pushed the bloodied section of sealmeat towards the two. "A wolf with no motive is a wolf none would suspect behind the unexpected blow." She allowed a moment, reconstructing her thoughts. "My child was stolen from me, by a neighboring pack. Surely as a newly found mother to your own, you can understand my grief. I wish to crush them and take back what they have stolen from me. Have I come to the right place?"

Potema took a tentative step forward towards the seal carcass as it was moved forward, but was stopped in her tracks from Meldresi's thick tail. The small white pup whimpered up at her mother, but obediently stayed, noticing the looks that the visitor was sending her occasionally. Meldresi kept her eyes trained on Caiaphas, drinking in her words.

The seaside-dwelling coywolf was hiring her Dark Brotherhood to enter a war, dealing an unexpected strike. Meldresi smirked softly at that. Her wolves would thoroughly enjoy breaking through the borders of another pack in a blitzkrieg style. The reasoning, as she expected, was the theft of a child. She briefly wondered who Caiaphas' mate would be, but the thought disappeared in an instant. It was not Dark Brotherhood protocol to delve into those matters, unless it helped in the mission.

Meldresi stepped forward, and with one paw, dragged the sealmeat closer to her, accepting the mission and the payment. "Indeed you have." The dark queen flashed a brief smile at her new client. "Of course, I require information." She looked down for a moment as Potema sniffed the carcass, not daring to take a bite just yet. "The name and location of the pack, obviously, and the name and description of your child. As well as anything specific about the pack in question."

respectfully the thin woman bowed backwards as meldresi came forth to claim caiaphas' supplication. she waited as the female restrained her child, and listened with ears cupped forward in interest as the dark forest-queen spoke.

"duskfire glacier. directly northwest of you. utterly unmistakable as a landmark. you will know it when you see it." caiaphas was certain, for the prominent rise that the duskfire wolves called their hearth was a brilliant chunk of landscape bright with coruscating ice that gleamed like shard-glass for miles.

"the pup is young, grey agouti with a golden face." again, caiaphas was certain meldresi's men would know the child when they saw it. "the pack is in direct competition with mine, and i wish any survivors assimilated or removed. my pack will bring you the rest of this seal shortly as a token of our good faith and gratitude."

The priestess mulled over the information. Duskfire Glacier. The last part, Glacier, sounded familiar. She remembered a certain conversation with a young albino female who came from such a place. A pity if she was there during the attack. Besides Scarlett, Meldresi did not know any other wolves from that pack, which made it harder for her to assess their strength.

Meldresi would be there during the attack, only to monitor the fight and personally take the pup with her. Her other wolves would manhandle such a young child, even if they meant well. It would be risky, but the priestess was confident she could survive, win or lose.

"Do you know how strong the pack is in numbers alone?" She prodded Caiaphas for all of the information she could muster. "And what is the child's name?" All the while, Potema shifted impatiently beside her, eager to sink her teeth into the seal flesh, but not willing to leave her mother's side in the presence of a stranger.

sorry for the wait!

the sylph blinked as meldresi asked two appropriate questions -- how stupid of caiaphas to forget. "larus." she spoke, her voice hoarse as the name rung painfully from her triangular muzzle. it had been a long time since she had uttered his name, and she was cowed by the incantation of memories that flooded her psyche.

"they are small -- we have been watching them, though we have not yet launched a strike. i believe they have under a dozen members - i have met a few." she afforded a bland smile. "i will come back in a week's time with supplication. as always, a pleasure to see you again."

with that the siren canted her muzzle lavishly, casting one last glance at potema before she strode to make her leave.

Meldresi absorbed the name, committing it to memory. It would be important for the pup to hear his own voice, of course. The sound of his name would calm him to make it easier for the wolves to steal him away back to Blackfeather before they took him to Ankrya Sound.

Caiaphas also revealed another interesting fact: her pack would attack Duskfire Glacier, greatly reducing their strength, making her infiltration plan a lot easier. She would keep a close eye on the Glacier to see when the raid had been completed, so that her Dark Brotherhood could slip in through enemy lines and have a better chance at achieving their goals.

Meldresi nodded, agreeing to the term. From what she knew from seals, they would be hard pressed to bring their payment to Blackfeather. But the priestess would appreciate the gift. A young seal could feed them for weeks, perhaps a month or two. The dark woman watched as the coywolf returned to her seaside pack, then picked up the meaty offering and disappeared into the darkness of her wolf, her white fluffball of her daughter at her heels.