The sun was setting again. The dark-furred coyote crouched anxiously over a half-eaten lizard, eyes darting back and forth along the horizon. Candle did not know how long she'd been alone, or if she could take another day wandering aimlessly in the heat like this. She panted lightly and crunched her lizard as the day darkened.
Watching the sky like this, she almost felt the presence of her gods. They were somewhere far away now, too far to hear her prayers. Candle dropped the rest of her lizard into the sand. She wasn't very hungry anymore.
zoug wanted what the other would not eat. it was long crossing the sand. he dug for more grubs and the soft-bodied crickets beneath the coolness of the earth. he filled his belly with insects and looked up with a smack of lips.
another female. zoug yipped a high and piercing greet. he suspected she too might speak in fastvoice like s'ari and kusuma. but that did not matter. he would bring her to them.
But Candle did not speak; she fell back with a little shriek of fear, scrambling to get away, away! Her lips pulled back to show her teeth, desperate more than threatening. She did not think to defend the remnants of the lizard.
No, she was more concerned with her own safety, her own image. A priestess of the House was not safe in the company of strange men, and it was not proper! Still, it had been so long since she had seen another, Candle hesitated in her retreat when she felt there was a safe distance between them. But her posture remained shrunken in fear; tail tucked, ears pasted to her skull.
zoug slipped forward and ate the remainder of the reptile. he chewed pleasantly and spat out the hardest claws. the man snuffled in the dry ground for more. she acted odd. protective of herself.
zoug hopped sideways. "ravine. others. kindred." but he did not expect her to understand his sounds. or his signs. he walked that way a few steps, then looked back.
He was a strange man. Candle eyed him warily as he spoke in words she could not fathom and gestured. What she did understand was that he meant to lead her somewhere. How bold of him!
The little coyote drew herself up to her feet and darted after him, meaning to nip at his ankles and see what he made of that! There was no hostility in it; only a pressing of boundaries, a testing of waters.
her teeth were sharp! zoug yapped a loud warning and also capitulation to her challenge. energy was precious. a high growl told her not to waste his.
and then he blinked and was almost softer. he had learned one word at least.
"rah-veen." it was something like s'ari pronounced.
he called for them now,
@Sari and
@Kusuma.
"other females," zoug told her in his tonal words.
"you see. more eating together."
Howdy, partner :D
A sharp shadow came bearing a dune-pelted rabbit, fresh-killed for the children of the tribe. Namely, herself.
The woman sat the rabbit down, looking first toward the man that had uttered her name.
Zug call Kusuma? Is danger? Food? Tunnels?
his yip, to her ears, had not been very clear.
But then her gaze fell upon another, head tilted and nose twitching. She did not smell danger on this one.
Another Tribekin?
The sun had fully set a little while before and S'ari was on her back in the sand, watching the stars come out. Each star was the spirit of a passed Tribe member, or so she had been told. Almost, she could believe it. Only, there were so many stars. Had the Tribe really existed that long, long enough to fill the entire sky? Sometimes, she wondered. But most nights, she only felt comforted by their light.
Her ears pricked up at the sound of Zoug's yipping howl. She rolled over onto her stomach and rose to her paws, trotting over to where the sound had originated. Kusuma was already there, and the scent of fresh hare filled S'ari's nose.
The moon was near nonexistent tonight, a mere sliver in the sky, so she had less light to go by and could not really see the female that Zoug had brought to her. But canids did not primarily use their eyes. All that mattered was that the female was Coyote. Tribe. Family. Already, the Ravine was filled with new friends. It made her heart swell. She thought of Meerkat and wondered if the wolf would be happy for her if she knew.
Greetings,
she said, dipping her head, though that didn't matter in the dark. S'ari sees that Zoug has brought you to us. Does this one have a name?
Sharp teeth indeed. Candle froze with ears forward at his growl, and backed off slightly, but some of the wariness left her. She watched him, then the others as they arrived. They spoke too, this time things she understood.
But Candle was overwhelmed. Her ears folded again, though she did not retreat this time. She looked between the two women for a long moment.
Candle,
She whispered through the dark. The Candlekeeper. After a moment she went to the one called S'ari, sniffing her all around and then nosing lightly under her chin. It was overwhelming to be around so many others after weeks of solitude, but she could not turn away now. She needed them.
The shredded remains of a lizard? A child of Tribe did not have to hunt such meager prey when other Tribekin could offer more substantial things.
Kusuma slowly lowered her muzzle and looked at the hare she had caught. Dark woman nudged it over to Candle. Kusuma offer hare to Caindal. Kusuma can catch another.
She looked toward S'ari and Zoug. That was way of Tribe, no? Care for others as you wished to be cared for?
Candle seemed terribly frightened, and S'ari was reminded of Mercedes. When the girl came toward her--a girl she seemed to S'ari because she acted so diminutive--she went still, not wanting to frighten the girl more. Even bouncy, bubbly S'ari could be still when it was required. She allowed the girl the nose and sniff and then she very slowly moved her head and gave the girl a lick on her nose. There now,
she said, her voice strangely quiet. Candle is home. She is Tribe now. She will be cared for.
Last for me!
Candle was overwhelmed all over again, this time by their kindness. She trembled and her eyes filled with tears; there was a softening of her posture and her presence turned calmer, warmer. She went to Kusuma and touched her nose with her own, and then went to Zoug to do the same.
Then she gathered up the hare with an appreciative growl, and would cling to it in the manner of a child with a favored toy as she followed.
Home. Tribe.
She would never forget.