caribou hunter. bitterbrush clan. husband to red leaf. father to ghelan. father to ghaden, who died under suspicious circumstances shortly after cen married red leaf. the village blamed her. red leaf is young and because he paid much for her bride price, cen would not give up his chance for more sons. he also is not sure he believes ghaden died at the hand of red leaf. and so they left, he and she. he resents her and is abusive. she was kept in thrall to him by threat of a death curse, one he lifted upon the birth of ghaden after they joined moontide, red leaf weakened by her pregnancy and cen's torment.

in the spring, cen discovered he had a blood relative in sulukinak of morningside. at first he believed them cousins, but he is her uncle. cen decided then that she would go with he, red leaf, and ghaden when they left moontide.

the tumultuous nature of his marriage went on. cen continued to beat red leaf, culminating with a near drowning-death. it was after this that red leaf confessed the misery of their marriage to chakliux. following the seal hunter's report to his leaders, heph and rodyn, cen was captured by moonglow warriors and taken for trial. during these proceedings, sulukinak spoke for him. kukutux commanded that his left eye be put out. both cen and sulukinak were exiled, fleeing into the very part of the taiga into which he had come with red leaf.

following their exile from the great bear wilderness, sulukinak and cen arrive back near the bracken woods, as far into the taiga as they can go. cen changes his name to yikaas, reflecting a new beginning for himself as well as a way to avoid being caught by hunters. dawnlight: the dawn of a deep, abiding hatred for the moon wolves.

after wandering for a time with sulukinak, yikaas eventually finds a man, anselm, in need of care and attempts to treat him. he eventually captures the man's sister, ilse, though he does not know their relationship at first. after brutalizing her into submission, yikaas realizes he must hold a place if he is to keep them both.

it is then that he stages his bloody takeover of the qeya river, killing ash star to solidify his claim. he calls himself sun eater now, and the wolves of the taiga opt to stay. two are renamed with the meaning of lanzadoii words; sheep killer and stone crier, who later become ridgeback and ice diver.

the saatsine thrive. some return. two months after he becomes chieftain, sun eater returns with warriors to claim ghelan from moontide. their raid is bloodless and quiet, but he does not bring red leaf with them.

leading his clan from the taiga in autumn, they go to meet the caribou near the sunspire, in the rising sun valley. it is the first leg of their nomadic journey, and many kills are taken. spirits seem high.