A peaceful night ..?

[Heartfrost]

Hyoite.

The frozen vastness of the tundra. The shrieking wind and the sinking sun.

To some it was a nightmare. To Adda it was home, and she would not rather be anywhere else. Right know she was kneeling on the hard frozen ground. The permafrost would never go away, not even during the summer. Only the hardiest plant grew and their roots could not stretch deep. Some thought the tundra was dead because of this. Adda would not agree. During said summer the tundra would explode with colors from the different herbs and reindeers and elks would graze from the plants. Predators hunted the grass eaters and the humans hunted them all, for meat, bones, hide and trophies. Few things was so desirable as the fangs of wolfs or the fur of bears.

Adda smiled with satisfaction as her campfire started glowing. It wouldn't be long now until she could make herself a pot of stew. The redhead looked above her shoulder. Her tent was up and secured with poles in the ground. The fire was in front of the opening so she had shelter from the wind.

When the fire burned steadily, Adda pulled forth a kettle. She filled it with snow and put beside the fire and begun to slice the meat she had carried into ribbons.
Any who would pass by wouldn't have a hard time spotting the fire. After all it was going dark and there were miles to the next camp. Adda pulled her grey fur coat closer around herself and shook her bangs from her face. They were almost always in the way.

[Anonymous]

Silva pulled her cloak closer to her tawny fur as she watched the intruder. Her front paws turned to hands as she held on to a staff. It was her only weapon to speak of at the moment, all her knives had been thrown at animals and all of them had by some freak of nature all missed. She preferred to have something to defend herself with.
She pulled her cloak over her head, which was identical with that of a lioness. She was an anthro lioness, and could not see why she had left her warm, sunny home for this iceberg. She had felt drawn to this place. Silva drew in her breath and sprinted over to the girl. "You think you're pretty good, don't you? Think you're some hot stuff, you can just waltz over on my territory that I claimed for the night and sleep here? News flash! You see that line over there? That's my boundary line. So explain yourself, and do it fast." She hoped the girl didn't notice her fur coat.

[Heartfrost]

Adda jumped and her hand flew to her side where her spear should be laying. It wasn't. Adda swallowed. A mistake like this could kill her. It would have killed her, if the person in front of her had been an animal, bent on having a meal tonight. It wouldn't have begun talking. Now she at least knew from what direction an eventual attack would come from.
The creature in front of her spoke. Adda couldn't see the girl's face (For from the sound of the voice, she was certain it was a woman in front of her) as it was hidden by a hood. It was a second later that Adda understood what had been said to her. Adda opened her mouth to talk back, but no sound came out. She was dumbstruck. Claim a territory? Can you do that?
"I ... I didn't know. Why did you not say anything when I put up my tent?" Adda looked around.
"Where is your tent? You should know that without a tent and fire the bitter wind of the tundra will kill you in mere heartbeats."
That the girl in front of her had a lot of fur - and probably would survive far better without tent and fire than Adda would – was still a fact that was hidden from the Winterborn.

[Anonymous]

Silva clutched her tail. "I didn't see you setting up." The more she looked at the woman the more she was starting to believe that maybe she had chosen the wrong person to demand her land back from. On closer inspection she looked more dangerous. The woman asked about her tent and fire. The lioness shrugged. "Don't have one." She mumbled. "Don't need one either, an' I don't need anybody."

[Heartfrost]

Don't have one

"You do not have a fire? Girl, I must say to you; either you're majorly stupid and know nothing about living on the tundra. It is cold and dry, with little water to be found other than what you can melt from the snow. Either that, or you are not human".
Adda rose slowly from her sitting position while she talked. Now they were even more even. Attacking from a sitting position was often not favorable. The other woman still had a staff and so could benefit from its reach. Adda knew she was in the worst position should a fight break out. Her only real advantage it seemed was that she knew how to survive on this cold wasteland.
Adda saw how the girl clutched something. What she did not know. The red-head was growing more and more suspicious.
"So what will it be? Are you dumb and have a deathwish or are you not human like me?"
Adda looked at her side. Several feet away lay her own spear. She put its position to memory. Just in case things turned unfriendly.

[Anonymous]

"It's cold and dry with almost no water? You don't say. I sure didn't notice." Silva snapped.
Either that, or you're not human like me. Silva's shoulders slumped. People always freaked out when she took her hood off. Her type wasn't common anywhere. "You have to promise that you won't freak out." She reached up and took hold of her hood. The woman would probably notice the fact that her hands were extremely hairy and would begin to clue in. Slowly she pulled the hood back and revealed her face. Silva braced herself. Surely the woman would hate her even more.

[Heartfrost]

The words put Adda on edge. "You must promise that you won't freak out". The red-haired woman braced herself for what would come. This girl was either heavily disfigured or not a girl at all. Adda's eyes went to the hands of the other woman. They didn't look like hands at all. They looked like wolf paws, but the fur was totally different. The hood was pulled back and Adda gasped.

   Now, there were many ways to react. The first and most probable reaction would have been aggression. Something along the lines of "You're not like me!" and great hostility. There could have been curiosity involved. "Wow! What are you?". Adda's reaction was ... Totally reasonable for her, but probably not for Silva.

Adda threw herself to the ground, her forehead touching the frost.
"I adore you, Great Spirit of the Wilds".
Adda was the shaman of her clan. Her whole life circulated around communicating with the Spirits of the Wild, making them offers and sacrifices. Adda had never in her whole life seen a lion or anything resembling it. Now when she saw Silva, a hairy beast straight out of legend she thought it was a spirit who had taken shape in a vessel of flesh and blood.
"I beg you for forgiveness, for intruding upon your lands great Spirit. I will give you anything in exchange for my trespassing, tell me what you require". It made sense to Adda. A spirit didn't need fire or a tent to survive.