December 16, 2021, 10:01 PM
He had found a scent-trail leading westward to a distant peak, and chosen not to follow it. It was the trail of the Tartok man, and Kigipigak was nervous to ever encounter him again. The way they had spoken to one-another - more with attitude and posture than words - reminded him of his own father, who himself had been more bestial a creature. Kigipigak had not enjoyed the sight of him at the ulaq before that, and worried now that the man would linger through the winter while the caribou ran strong.
As Kigipigak returned from a patrol of the valley, he moved through the ambience of the hollows and then further, to where @Kukutux made her camp. She had gone off on another day with @Sialuk and he wondered now, if they had both returned, and if they were both safe. His mind inevitably filled with thoughts of Sialuk, and @Lane, and even the man from the coast, @Njord; he felt dizzy with so many things on his mind.
The women's clustered ulax were industrious. There were many pelts already prepared and bodies stripped of their meat, with a growing midden-heap of unused parts. He grasped a femur from the corner of one such heap and made his way to an empty, half-built ulaq and lay there with it, thinking, masticating across the surface of the bone.
After a few minutes of this he sprawled out a bit more, leveraging his ankle which by now had mostly healed, retaining only dark pinkish marks where Njord's teeth had scored it, forever marred by scar tissue. He sniffed, easing away from the bone that he chewed upon, lost in thought.
As Kigipigak returned from a patrol of the valley, he moved through the ambience of the hollows and then further, to where @Kukutux made her camp. She had gone off on another day with @Sialuk and he wondered now, if they had both returned, and if they were both safe. His mind inevitably filled with thoughts of Sialuk, and @Lane, and even the man from the coast, @Njord; he felt dizzy with so many things on his mind.
The women's clustered ulax were industrious. There were many pelts already prepared and bodies stripped of their meat, with a growing midden-heap of unused parts. He grasped a femur from the corner of one such heap and made his way to an empty, half-built ulaq and lay there with it, thinking, masticating across the surface of the bone.
After a few minutes of this he sprawled out a bit more, leveraging his ankle which by now had mostly healed, retaining only dark pinkish marks where Njord's teeth had scored it, forever marred by scar tissue. He sniffed, easing away from the bone that he chewed upon, lost in thought.
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