Out of the fox hunt came meat and fur, but from the broken skull Raimo had plucked away the lower jaw and worked to strip it of skin. It would take time to fully render the piece clean, longer still for the bone to bleach, but he had a start on it. It was not something Raimo was well versed in.
He hoped that one of the women would know how best to prepare it; with this in mind he went prowling for
@Sialuk, the jawbone held carefully between his teeth, while scraps of fox-felt and bloody skin hung from it garishly.
The crow Sixsix clenched her shoulder, then took flight into the sky, and this was how Sialuk knew somebody was coming. He could not tell her who, but the black fur was quick to put a name in her mind: Raimo. He had been near them near seven days, since the first day she had found anaa here, but it was not enough time to trust him. He held some piece of animal as he came near, and her tongue slipped out without her noticing at the smell.
She was still hungry, missing the stability of the spear's constant stores. I greet you, Raimo,
she said, reminding herself of anaa's words and how he had gone to look for survivors. Trust would come with time, so long as he did nothing to revoke it.
When finally his path crossed the pale daughter's, Raimo dipped his head to her. She spoke a greeting but his teeth were filled with fox-felt, so he placed the unhinged jaw upon the snow. I greet you,
he offered in return, although it was with a stilted cadence. It was not something he was used to saying.
He worked his tongue against a knot of flesh between his teeth, then swallowed the lump when it dislodged. After this briefest of pauses Raimo chuffs softly and motions to the jawbone. Earlier I culled a fox. The body went to Kukutux. I thought you might like a piece too.
A shadow crossed his face, and when Raimo blinked up at the shape he saw the bird on a high spiral overhead. Or maybe your friend there would like it.
Raimo explained what he wished to do with the bone lined with sharp teeth, and what he had done with the remaining portions of it. He was attempting to earn their favor, and Sialuk felt herself give a small amount. Raimo mentioned "her friend," and a moment passed before she realized of whom he spoke. Sixsix.
He finds his own food, sometimes for the two of us.
She did not wish for every part of her to rely on Raimo, and by all counts, Sixsix was an extension of her being. He would not come down while the black fur was near, she knew.
But what was she to do with the jawbone?
I will think of a use for it,
she said. You show kindness.
So long as someone found a use for it, Raimo did not care where it went. The majority had gone to the one who could make the most use of it: the meat would help Kukutux regain her strength, the pelt would give her something to work on and then provide warmth until winter's end. The jawbone seemed tiny by comparison; but Sialuk sounded thankful for it.
Surprised, even, to find some kindness flowing from Raimo. He nods slowly and murmurs, Of course.
I am not unkind,
he explains and chuffs a small laugh alongside. Proof enough in the full caches and filled bellies.
He could hoard the meat for himself and watch as the little family starve, but that did not suit his ends.
Sialuk splayed her ears when he laughs at her. She had not meant it in the way he accepted the words, but she could not take them back now. A question made its way to her mind, and she broke the silence with it. Why do you help us?
she asked.
Anaa and she could not provide for him when they could barely provide for themselves. The others, she understood. Adrastus sought knowledge of the strange storm. Meerkat and Norah were kin of the spear. She had not met the man Zane, or she might have pressed the same question on him.
Her question doesn't come out of nowhere. Raimo wonders about how long either woman has wanted to ask him. Something up until this point has stopped them. He has many reasons but he goes for the first one that comes to mind — in the form of a story.
You remember when I found you that first day?
He did not give her time to answer. The memory is easy for him to reach for, replay. You greeted me, and then a call came down this mountain. It was a woman's voice, pained, asking for help.
There was no way to misinterpret that, Raimo thought.
When someone needs help, you help them.
Raimo specifies, the laughter gone from his voice. Would you prefer if I did not? Let you do all that work to feed two bellies on your own?
He watched Sialuk's face with a skeptical raise of his brows. Raimo thought the daughter was a proud creature and that pride often got in the way.
I rememb
—but he cut her off before the answer could be finished. Sialuk gritted her teeth. Normally a patient girl, she did not appreciate being asked a question only to have an alternate answer thrown in her face. Her bushy tail lashed behind her, an outward sign of her irritation.
I would prefer not to owe debt,
she said. And we have others now to help us. No longer would it be one to feed two.
Norah was here. Lote. Meerkat was helping. It was women Sialuk trusted. They were sisters, not in need of bartering as men were.
He had not forgotten the arrival of Sialuk's friends. Their numbers were growing.
Raimo was not the type to think a woman was weaker than their counterpart and so he saw each of them as a potential threat to his position; except that he had never met the majority of them. Of those named he knew Meerkat was aligned to the glen, and they had spoken of seeking shelter at the Caldera, which could have been anywhere.
For now they would help provide where Raimo's concentrated efforts waned. By Sialuk's own admission it was a set-up she preferred; no debts owed, no threat of strange trades or dealings to handle down the line.
You asked me why I helped and that is my answer. If I had not, you would have struggled and possibly failed on your own.
His tone was clipped, himself growing impatient. Sialuk could not have known that her friends would come to help her.
Decided in that moment he was done trying to justify himself to her, Raimo feigned interest in the shadows among the trees. Pivoting his ears as if he's heard something, looking around with an alert expression.
The wind picked up in time to whistle a low note, but that was all. I do not know what it will take to earn your trust, but I find I do not need it. Trust me or not, I am at home on this mountain.
He mentions with a glance to Sialuk, then back to the shadows. As a sense of disquiet settles between them Raimo begins to stalk away again.
He thought she would have struggled and failed. She kept her composure, taking his verbal beating with grace. He thought her weak and incapable of handling her own life. It did not sit well with the raindrop. If he did not wish to earn her trust, his wish had already been granted unto him.
She watched him as he stalked away, giving him none of her breath to be wasted. His usefulness was coming to a close.