Traveling through the shadow of the mountain was a surreal experience. It felt as though the trader had gone back in time! Back before he had been blessed with fatherhood, or married, or anything that had complicated his life. The shadow pealed off of him as the day wore on and the sun shifted in the sky, and by the time he stopped for a rest it was along the banks of a lake.
Here, he could spy the calm surface. There were occasional ripples when leaves fell and drifted aimlessly, and he watched some of these tumble. A heron flew by, likely hunting for its own food and disinterested in the terrestrial wolf. Kilgitsuk followed this with his eyes—and found his attention lingering on the bleed of color where the tree line reflected pine-greens, reds, and golds.
Perhaps here he could make another camp? There were probably fish to be caught if he was mindful enough—and with that in mind, Kilgitsuk got to work scouting the area for edibles.
It was two days, since Bronco's passing and the usually happy and cheerful home of Brecheliant wolves had gone silent. The atmosphere was heavy, the sadness overwhelming and palpable. Those affected the most were in shock and mourning, leaving the rest on the fringes uneasy and having difficult time to find their place.
Dwin belonged to the second group. For the most part she kept on doing, what she had all this time - tending to the kids, making sure that they did not starve or die and, when there was time, she patrolled the borders and combined it with the very necessary me-time. Still she would often stop at the borders and look in the distance with longing. Her heart wished to travel and yet it seemed that the fate kept bringing forward circumstances to prevent her from doing that.
Time from time, however, she treated herself with short trips to nearby territories. Again - to tame her guilt for leaving, she convinced herself that checking out other hunting grounds was just as important as hunting inside the invisible fence. So this was, how she found herself near the lake. With every step she took away from Brecheliant, her spirit felt lighter and more whole. And for a moment there she decided to leave the weight of the world elsewhere and pretend herself to be as free as she had been, when she had first set out on an adventure.
"Good day for fishing?" she asked cheerfully to a tall, white-furred stranger, who she came upon next to the lake. Out of interest she too, leaned down to sniff the Earth and then to peer in the water to see, if any fish were to offer itself to become her lunch. Then her gaze went back to the stranger and she waited for his response at a polite, but safe distance.
If there were fish in the lake, they were smart enough not to venture too close to the pale wolf scouring the banks of their domain. He could only be so quiet, and so careful. Kilgitsuk did not see much beyond the glassy surface of the water, and as he snuffled and searched for anything else that might be of use, he bypassed various plants he could not identify. His focus was there at the lakefront — so when a stranger came venturing close, he did not see her. When she called out he did raise his head and look for her, and brightened upon seeing a friendly face.
I think so!
He answered, and after a glance to her he turned to look at the lake. But I think they know I am here.
"Don't they always?" Dwin replied with a question, peering over at the shallow end of the lake and seeing flashes of black and silver, where a swarm of tiny fish had returned only to disappear again at the slightest notion of danger. "I wonder, what the world through the eyes of the fish must be like. The closest I can come to imagine it would be as if we could see shadows and here rumbling and vibrations in the sky. And now and then the sky would break apart and big set of jaws would come and destroy stuff," she liked this rambly idea and decided to use it next time she would have to teach those rascals back home a story about, how obedience paid off.
"Name's Dwin," she introduced herself and dipped her muzzle politely. And after the guy had given his name (or not - his choice), she asked. "What do you think? They say that in order to become a good hunter, you have to think like your prey. So - what do the fish think?"
He wanted to laugh when she replied, good-natured, but as she went on Kilgitsuk found himself humbled before the vision she presented: teeth in the sky, bearing down! It sounded incredible. He had never considered how the life of a lesser creature such as a fish might end in such a violent way; but he was not the kind of man to be all that curious about esoteric things such as the plight of prey beasts. To be grabbed from the world by tooth, claw, or talon — it was not so different from any warrior, he mused, and then wanted to laugh again for the thought of warrior fish!
I doubt they think at all,
he answered honestly. Only enough thought to propel them away from one shadow to another, or towards little movements, and away from bigger ones.
Ah, but now she had him thinking! They would be trapped here a while. I am not a small tremble in the water, like a bug, so I cannot lure them close! But I can be quiet and keep my shadow away from their water, and perhaps wait them out.
It had worked before.
(He would have to shut up soon if he wanted a meal, which was a struggle of its own.)
"Yeah, you are probably right," Dwin nodded. "Though, not necessarily. You are right in that, if you assign too much common sense to a prey, it becomes more difficult to hunt them, don't you think?" she asked and moved to peer down in the water. She was standing in an angle, where her shadow was crossing the water surface. Sure enough - the fish steered clear of that."But then you can never underestimate them either. Deer can kick you so hard that your bones break. And - there are Big Fish in caldera that can swallow a fat puppy in one take and not even blink an eye," she added.
"I am Dwin, I am from over there - Brecheliant," she beckoned to caldera. "And you are?"
Dwin! You are wise.
He commended of her knowledge, and then answered her question with, I am Kilgitsuk. I travel a lot and hunt things, or fish them, and make trades with villages as I go.
In this instance he wasn't faring well in fishing for himself, but that was alright. Kilgitsuk did not mind going hungry a few nights if luck was not on his side.
There is a child there at the caldera who I made a trade with - but I have yet to succeed. I am to bring your people fresh meat of a deer.
He mentions this mainly to make it known he has not forgotten; only, the deer would not return this way until winter was upon them.
They told me that your village mourns. I am sorry for your loss.
But he did not mean to dampen the girl's spirit! Or to take away from the task at hand. Perhaps with two of us, we can at least catch enough fish to make life easier for your people?
Dwin's ears drew back and she frowned, when the man revealed that he had spoken with someone from their pack and made a deal too. She wondered, who may it have been (she missed the part about him mentioning a child he had spoken to) - certainly none of the adults. They had enough common sense not to trust a deal that was too good to be true and they also had pride as well. Brecheliant wolves were not beggars, nor did they need anyone's help. It was therefore a high likelihood that he had spoken with one of the kids. Little idiots. Dwin thought to herself. Tell them a story about a Santa Paws and they believe that any old vagabond spinning tales was the one to bring them gifts and do magic tricks. It was not as if they had not been told about the danger of talking to wolves that did not belong to their family circle, but were meandering around the borders. Too bad they were: a) Blackthorns; b) teenagers, who were going through a stage, where nothing adults did was right. Bloody morons.
"Fish won't replace the man lost," Dwin shook her head, finding it odd that he even suggested such a silly thing. Ever since Bronco's passing it seemed that Teya was sustaining herself on sunlight and air and the kids had been left to their own devices. Since they were still alive and in a better physical shape than their mom (from what Dwin could tell), she assumed they ate, but it probably was not among their priorities now. The grief was too much. "I appreciate the condolences. He was a great wolf that should have seen many more springs than there were alotted for him," she told.
"You say you trade food - for what?" she asked, thinking about the cautionary tales about deals with Crossroad demons. So - naturally - she was curious, what that kid had promised him on the day, when he would drag a whole deer to their doorstep. "Souls? Firstborns?" she suggested with a smile, which meant that she was not serious.
For someone not yet having reached adulthood, this girl had many opinions. Her pointed remark may have stemmed from the pain of loss, so Kilgitsuk let it slide, and was somber as she spoke of replacement as if an offered meal could do any such thing. He held his tongue, though wished to correct her on her assumption, and waited until she had moved on to speaking of the trade.
No, no, nothing like that,
Kilgitsuk almost laughed at the absurdity of her suggestion. Did he look like the kind of man to steal children from their families? (He thought of his own sons, and his wife who had taken one of them away, and was startled by the sudden memory, swallowing it down.) I only offered as a kindness. The food would not bring anyone back - that is not the purpose. It is only meant to make life easier so that the family has time to grieve without worry over such things themselves.
But what of his trade specifically? I am to bring deer meat to your village; I never specified what I would get in return, as I only wished to spread kindness.
Had there been anyone else to meet him at the border that day, he would have made a proper trade.
I have asked for permissions before, to hunt on the land otherwise reserved for a village; payment, sometimes, in the form of fine furs or rare things; or sometimes I am given jobs to do.
The culling of pests or the transport of messages. All of these things were offered to smaller homesteads in the north as he had traveled. Now that Kilgitsuk was here in the Wilds again, the trades were different.
The trader mentioned doing it out of kindness of his heart and Dwin arched an eyebrow and offered him a look of disbelief and sceptical attitude. He may have fooled, whoever that little rascal he had spoken to earlier been, but did he really think that an adult would fall for that? There was this old saying about real monsters never appearing as such. She applied the same logic to kindness too. One thing was receiving it from good friends. Completely another, if it came from strangers. There were always strings attached, even if they had claimed otherwise.
"You do realize that you should never make deals with kids," she told him, looking him seriously in the eyes. "Especially deals as yours. They have no right to make such in the name of the pack and therefore you have no obligation to uphold it either," she said. "Even if you showered Brecheliant in venison steaks tomorrow, you most likely get a polite thank you, but nothing in return," in other words - don't do that again and stay away.
"Besides no one does anything out of goodness of their heart. There is always a reason. What's yours - earned some bad karma points that need to be cleared?" she asked, the tone of her voice had lost its steely edge now and was expressing genuine curiousity. "Or is it some voodoo/religion stuff that your culture runs by and thus you are obliged to do all of this?"
Still she die not believe him! Why was it so hard to think a person might enjoy the work itself, and find pleasure through aiding others? Or that his offer was genuine and without some sort of underhandedness? The girl sounded so cynical about the motives of others; he wondered what might have incurred such a doubt, but it was not his business to ask. Ceridwen probed further with her questions and presumed Kilgitsuk might have some faith-based motive and this is what makes him abruptly laugh.
I have no need for faith in the fantastical, the unreal. My people have always put value upon the physical; manual work, bodily strength, the power of oneself. So to answer your question - no! Absolutely not.
His laughter boomed and then became a chuckle, and then faded. You do not know me. I understand that makes you skeptical of any motives I may have. I would ask that you trust me, that I only do it for the sake of being useful to those that might benefit - but the way you speak on it, I don't expect you to do that. It is alright.
a smile, as he kindly bows his head to her.
I plan to uphold my end of the arrangement. It is important to me to follow through when I state my business.
Whether she approved or not, understood or didn't; and afterwards he would not return to Brecheliant for a long while.
Dwin had not noticed that she had grown a lot more territorial and suspicious of all strangers during the months she had spent back at her family's nest. She had been quite a different kid almost a year ago, when she had set out in the world for her first big adventure. It was likely that, when these two girls were put side by side now, they would look similar, but their characters would be on the opposite ends of the spectrum.
When had that change taken place? Or had this part of Dwin always been present in her? After all her family consisted not only of adventurers and storytellers, who welcomed anyone and everyone and believed in the very best in people. But there were also plenty of guardian and warrior types. Her own grandfather Dante, though he had not passed many stories about his side of the family on to the next generations, had once belonged to a clan of warrior wolves. Her aunt Sarah and uncle Terance had inherited these traits as well, and without ever having a chance of meeting them, she was very similar.
In a way distrust was a trait that had been with her and after Dee's incident and herding puppies all summer long, that characteristic had been watered and fed and allowed to flourish. Without the chance to practice that playful and teasing side of hers to balance it out, she had become more cynical than a person her age should have been. "I don't trust you, but it is not my obligation to do so. And yours is not to convince me otherwise," she agreed with him and a genuine smile eased that earlier frown of hers. "Don't you have a family to help? Why should you seek out strangers to do so?" still she was not convinced by his stated purpose. She just could not wrap her mind around the term altruism. It was a unicorn. You heard about them and they lived in fairy tales, but they did not exist in the real world.
Ceridwen had discovered Kilgitsuk's purest motivation without meaning to, and when she asked about his family he felt a wave of pride first, shame next, and sorrow last; but he kept all of this tightly contained so that not even an ounce of his feeling showed. He was a traditional man, and that meant keeping tight reign over himself.
I do, but they are grown now and do not need me.
This was a painful thing to say. Perhaps admitting this would serve to answer Ceridwen's question as well as illuminate something for Kilgitsuk.
I have been a trader for some time now. I go where I might be of use, and by doing so I meet new people, experience different places and cultures, and have the opportunity to hunt things I otherwise would not get to. It is enjoyable to me.
The more he spoke on it, the less true it felt. Yes, Kilgitsuk put value in to his own abilities and his successes were important to his ego. However, he knew he would prefer to help his family and keep them together, safe and fed. Seeing as he couldn't do this, he worked for whoever would have him.
It was not the best life.
Anyways -
their conversation had worn through an hour or so, and Kilgitsuk noticed this when he glanced at the sky and saw the sun was in a different place. If you change your mind on trading, perhaps we could come to an arrangement.
He would not hold his breath for that.
"But then you do it all over again, don't you? Litters are an annual thing after all," Dwin pointed out, taking her own family as an example. Maia had given birth in three consecutive seasons. Her father had had kids even before he and mom had become an item. Same with Teya. Dwin believed that there was a choice of, whether you wanted to have kids or not, when you were not married. But after that - you simply obeyed the rules of nature. This made her wonder, if he had abandoned his family and it was very tempting to dig for more answers, but... she had just as little business in is private matters as he did with making trade deals with Brecheliant children.
"I am not the one to make arrangements with either," she replied, though she had a feeling that Maia would not be against her second eldest daughter taking up more responsibilities and making decisions. But Dwin was neither ready, nor willing to venture there. Yet. "Well, as exciting as the exchange between us was, I have to be on my way," she was glad that by looking up at the sky the man had given her an excuse to go. She had grown tired and the conversation had run its course as well. But just before she turned on her heel and ran off, she paused and looked at him: "Brecheliant is about having and collecting good stories." If he were to stand on their doorstep ever again, offering a good story for a trade would be a far better option.
He wasn't going to get anywhere with Ceridwen where trades were concerned, and that was alright. She did give him some support in the way she phrased her final words — and Kigipigak pocketed this information while nodding politely to her, his head transitioning to a small bow as he bid her farewell. She was the first to depart, and then he turned to go; as he marched he'd think upon their conversation and restructure his thinking a little bit when it came to his work.