Wolf RPG

The trail had run cold. Crowfeather had either moved on or he had found a better way to conceal his scent. It seemed that even the weather had assisted the dark prince, having rained off and on since Foxfur had arrived.

With two large hares clasped tightly in his teeth, the warrior trudged back to the borders of the protected pack called Moonglow. The wolves there had been strong and kind to him in his search.

Once he had found himself at a respectful distance from their border, near an entrance point within the mountainous stone, Foxfur called to @Sialuk as the only member of the pack he knew how to summon. The tired shape of his frame was almost a sad site were it not for the prey he held.

Sialuk felt the weight of responsibility float off her shoulders. She had not felt this way since before the strange storm. She spent time with her sisters, doting over them and making sure they were comfortable whenever anaa was not around. That was the responsibility she craved the most. Being a face for Moonglow had been necessary in the beginning, but now... now Aiolos was here, and he was well equipped for the task.

Presently, she was peering over her bones, Sixsix nearby and watching as he so often was. He seemed more at ease since Sialuk had spoken with her mother about the unrest in her heart. The crow fidgeted less, and he had brought her more bones than usual over the past days. Sialuk was sorting through them, pruning some of the duplicates and making sure the ones left behind were in good condition.

Replacing them had become part of the ritual, and the ones that were discarded were thanked for their guidance before she returned them to the earth.

However, the ritual would have to wait. A voice called for her. Not just a leader, but Sialuk. The raindrop wondered if it were somebody from the village Redhawk come to check on them (something she meant to do very soon for them).

Upon her arrival, she found that it was the unmistakable coat of Foxfur. He brought with him two hares—impressively large ones. Sialuk felt her throat tighten, her heart thrum in her chest.

The girl swallowed, then stepped forward to meet him.

I greet you, Foxfur, she said, curiosity and excitement swirling through her veins. But she did not forget what they had spoken of.

Crowfeather has not come to us, she said, then laid her eyes on the hares that hung from his mouth. She could not take the gift if she had nothing to give in return.

The warrior’s jaws ached from holding the prey there for that long, but the pale young woman approached in a reasonable time and met him with a greeting. When she was present, Foxfur released the hold he had on the hares and bowed to place them in front of her.

Sialuk was swift to bring up that they had not seen Crowfeather appear since their last conversation. The warrior shook his head with a tired smile.

No, no, all of that is fine, he said with assurance. It seems Crowfeather is far more capable of hiding than I had originally given him credit for. This was true, but not the reason that Foxfur had gone back to the borders of the Moonglow pack.

I have brought these to you as a gift. You showed a great deal of kindness and respect in our meeting the other day. I am appreciative and wished to demonstrate this with prey.

Foxfur regarded her with shrewd brown eyes before bowing his head softly.

A gift, as she had thought. But she could not take it.

This is kind of you, Foxfur, but in this place, Moonglow, I cannot accept such a thing. Perhaps if I had found your Crowfeather, but... she had not. And she had nothing more to give Foxfur.

A flash of white ran through her, and she thought of Raimo bringing gifts to anaa. She quelled the memory.

She did not wish to offend him by rejecting the gift all together though.

There is another thing we can do with this gift, she said. A way we can draw Crowfeather's spirit here. It was a thought, an idea. She did not know if it would work, but the feeling came in the same way it did for the bones. It was more than a feeling, it was a knowing of something without being told.

Is this something you wish? she asked.

The warrior listened to Sialuk speak and he frowned in a thoughtful way. She claimed that in their land, Moonglow, she could not accept his gift without having provided a service to him. At least, this was what the warrior had gathered from her phrasing.

You require an equal exchange, Foxfur said, his voice melancholy, his brown eyes searching her features with shrewd intelligence.

The hares would not go to waste, however. For Sialuk offered him a means of using the gift to attract the princeling. Foxfur regarded her carefully, uncertain of this. The arts of the medicine wolves and seers of his home seemed foreign enough.

Very well, the warrior conceded with a splaying of his russet ears. Let us use the gift in your way. Interest played on his features, a twitch of the whisker.

He understood, and Sialuk was thankful. She took one of the hares, and she gestured for him to take the other. They would walk north, to the quarry. This was a sacred place, one where she could concentrate in a way she could not in other places. There was no sign of Sixsix above her as she walked toward Moonstone Quarry. The crow did not come with her today.

When they arrived, she set the hare down gently on a rock. She laid it out on its belly, her movements gentle. She moved its front legs so they draped over one side of the oblong rock, and its back legs she made the same on the other side.

Place here, she said, motioning next to the one she had arranged just so.

The pale wolf plucked one of the hares from the ground. Foxfur followed promptly, gripping the remaining one in his teeth and trotting after Sialuk.

The young wolf led them with ease in her frame. Foxfur admired the knowledge she had of her home, of its delicate inner territories. The warrior thought the pack Moonglow to be a peculiar one, but not entirely unfamiliar.

When Sialuk placed the hare, Foxfur watched the way she displayed it and he attempted to copy her with a few measured nudges of his dark nose.

Is that good? Sialuk would be the best to know.

He placed the hare alongside the one she had arranged, and she bit back a smile. The way he had arranged his was... less than ideal. Gently, she moved the rabbit's legs to be straighter, moved its body to be parallel to its kin. The raindrop stepped back, then looked to her companion for a moment before speaking to the open air, eyes closed.

In her native tongue, she spoke, though Foxfur would be able to pluck is name and Crowfeather's from her voice.

These are Foxfur's spirit and Crowfeather's spirit. We ask that they may come together, as they are here. Quiet, restful, and no longer with worry for one another. Take these offerings, as a gift so they may be together again.

Sialuk opened her eyes, then turned again to the red-faced friend.

We leave them here, as gift for spirits and their help.

The young woman adjusted his sloppy work. The warrior watched her intently, unoffended that she would adjust what he had failed to accomplish. It was her way of honoring the gift, after all.

When Sialuk spoke her words, Foxfur looked up, unsure where his gaze should rest while she continued with her ritual. The weathered man’s studious gaze fell on her once she had finished and stated that the offering was a gift for the spirits, for their aid.

Foxfur bowed his head, grateful to Sialuk for sharing her faith with him. 

What role do you play in Moonglow? You are- the masked warrior gawked openly, forgetful of the word she had used. Ullorik? Foxfur attempted to play their conversation again in his mind and stumbled over the unfamiliar sound of her native tongue.

Ulloriaq, yes, she said. Sialuk had been something else then, too. I do not claim beta any longer, but this is not a bad thing.

The girl gestured for him to follow back toward Moonglow, so that they may walk and talk. Sialuk knew she could not leave her home for long, even though she no longer had the responsibility of greeting strangers.

My mother, Kukutux, she is wisewoman of our village—ah, what some call 'pack.' When we came here to make this place, she was hurt, and she could not make Moonglow on her own—needed my help. Now, she does not need the same help from me any longer.

Moonglow had taken on a life of its own over the last several months, and Sialuk was happy for it. The spine had become a lovely, comfortable home for the wayward mother and daughter. With Aiolos now there, it felt even more like home for anaa. And with her new sisters... it felt home to her, too.

Ulloriaq has the meaning 'star.' My mother is Taqqiq, meaning 'moon.'

The raindrop felt a certain ease speaking to Foxfur about these things; perhaps because he was one of the few who had asked it of her.

Are you hunter for your village? she asked.

The young woman was swift with her response, claiming that she did not hold the rank of Beta any longer. Foxfur knew the rankings well enough and understood that Sialuk had held a second position of command. This was impressive to the warrior, seeing a leader so young.

It seemed that when she was not needed in this role, she willingly vacated it. Foxfur tilted his head curiously, trotting alongside her as she carved their path. He found Sialuk’s nature to be curious and unfamiliar.

You adapt like water, the worn sound of his words was issued, intended as a compliment. Foxfur smiled tiredly. You adapt to fit the role you are needed to. You flow to fill a need.

When she asked of his home, Foxfur nodded softly.

I am from a village called the Starsea. I am a warrior there. A hunter, a mercenary, a guard. Many things that the Starsea needed, Foxfur would shift to adapt to. 

At this, the intentness of his brown eyes bore into her. It seemed a fateful meeting that he would happen upon one who had been a star to her pack, to her village.

She felt heat in her cheeks when he complimented her, and Sialuk cast her eyes downward as they walked, unable to meet his own. In her own eyes, she had done what had to be done. When anaa was injured, somebody had to bring the pieces back together and make a safe place for them. When Aiolos came to lead as sun alongside her, Sialuk felt her spirit off-balance, and she knew now it was the responsibility that had done so. A break—a respite—from that was needed, and the raindrop needed to do some soul-searching.

Foxfur spoke of being a warrior in his village named Starsea. It brought to mind her own name and Aiolos. A memory from long ago, of visiting the coast with anaa to meet a suitor, son of Aiolos, Huojin. They had met only twice, and Sialuk did not know where he was now. Perhaps back with his own mother, further inland, where he had stayed once before.

Does Starsea need many warriors? she asked. Her own dear aunt had been a warrior, and many others who had once lived upon the mountain where she had been born.

Foxfur did not miss the way her gaze fell, how she would not meet his eye. She was a humble girl, duty-bound to her clan. In this, the warrior thought that they were not so different. Their cores marched to the same drum, pressing on for the betterment of their people.

Yes, most wolves become warriors. In our clan, the warriors defend the pack from the neighboring clans. They feed our young and elderly, they patrol our borders. They fight in our wars, he explained to her with a small nod.

Once a month, warriors from all four clans travel to meet in a time of peace. They are our gatherings to share stories and discuss the wellbeing of our clans.

Foxfur felt he was speaking too much and tightened his jaw. The warrior’s brown eyes sought the pale girl’s features for a moment before he inquired of her, what else do you do for Moonglow?

War was not known to Sialuk. She had heard of it, but she had never been made to endure it. For this, she was thankful. It sounded as though the place where Foxfur had been born was much more turbulent than her own. But then again, the strange storm had upended her life, though it was not war that tumbled the mountain.

She did not fully understand how these warring clans could come together once a month to discuss things peacefully, but she did not question the traditions of his village. He asked more about Moonglow and her role within it, and she smiled to herself.

I am also healer and bone reader. The latter was sometimes hard for others to understand, but Sialuk’s voice did not waver when she spoke it.

Just as Sialuk knew little of war, Foxfur knew little about the art of reading bones or healing. The task of medicine wolf was one that was assigned to a particular member, they were trusted with the care of the clan and the wolves in it. The medicine wolf and their apprentice had always been adequate, at least for the Starsea and the clans around it.

The warrior glanced to the pale wolf curiously at the mention of reading bones, however. This was something that he had never heard of, never experienced. It felt as though it carried a great deal of importance, but he could not place exactly why that was. Foxfur thought he’d like to hear more on the matter, if Sialuk could share those details with him.

Might I ask how it is you can read bones? Is that a gift or a skill that is learned? he inquired gently.