Redtail Rise This life isn't romantic or free, there's no path to anything that makes any sense

Unlike Siarut, Nanook's cautionary advance came only from her nature. It wasn't so easy to shake the habits of a rogue, even when her fur was wreathed in pack-scent. More often than not, she caught herself watching the passing land, as if her eyes were the only ones she had to warn her of danger as it approached. A glance to her right reminded her that she wasn't alone, but Siarut's presence almost strengthened her guard. She had more than just herself to look out for now.

The land to their right rose in steep and charred steppes. She had passed this way with Clary, but the place had looked different then, covered in snow. Now, it was almost as if the snow itself had burned to ash, and littered the ground in a sombre film. The skeletal spines of burned out trees glowed almost eerie in the afternoon sun, and she turned away to peer South instead.

She nosed a gesture toward the grey horizon that marked the great rocks of the morraine. "Easthollow is about three nights travel from here. South," she added, in case her friend had been looking elsewhere and had missed her gesture. "That's my sister's pack. My brother rules Bearclaw Valley, where we were born."

By every account, a child as young as Yakone should not have been in Redtail Rise. The mountain's edge was steep and footholds were not always steady, but Yakone was no ordinary child. Most of her life had now been spent as a voyager, whether it was across the varied landscapes of the Teekon wilds or the shores of Meares Island. She boasted the muscle mass and wear of constant travel, uncanny on her youthful frame.

Mama was somewhere close behind. Since they had met the white man and his children in the valley, mama remained a ghost on her daughter's heels and a tension had crept into the air. Yakone was sharp and quick to understand abstract concepts, but this was something she could not grasp.

She wondered if it was because she looked like him, like the man there in the valley. She didn't remember him, for she had been stolen away at such a tender age that the only thing she felt when she saw him was confusion, because if mama was her mama, then why did she look so much like him?

Her mind worked this over as her eyes locked onto her paws, making sure she had proper grip as she maneuvered the worn paths of the Rise, and when she looked up she realized she was no longer alone. Mama was nowhere in sight (although she was surely within earshot) but two strangers were and as she instinctively took a step backwards to avoid being noticed she tripped and was sent tumbling down the rocks.

"Valette and Xan," she softly said, her thoughts adrift in the memory of their faces and scents. But before she could wonder her personal hope for an alliance, Siarut started at her side, and Nanook swung her head back round toward the Rise, attention sharp and toward the present and immediate, in time to see the young girl stumble.

Nanook clipped forward, quick on the Northerner's heels, and drew herself short of crowding the girl, but close enough to give her a good one over. She looked much younger than her nieces - much too young to be travelling alone - but her scent was atypical, more like something of a vagrant or rogue rather than something a pack wolf would carry. As the Apaata's honed in on the ruddy splash tinging the fur along the child's chest, she leaned forward and flicked her gaze along the vibrant blaze with a frown. "Are you hurt?"

It all happened so fast. She was banged and bruised but she wasn't bleeding, thankfully. Her eyes lifted to the two strangers and her ears pushed forward almost in defiance before she shook her head and blinked. What? Words swam in her head — the woman's question, and then Did you say Xan?

Her cheeks flushed beneath her dense pelt (inherited from the very same Xan) and she stood up quickly, argent eyes darting around for her mother. I'm okay.

She couldn't smell blood - a good sign, so long as the girl didn't bleed in areas they couldn't see. Nanook knew the danger, but those wounds were hidden, and there was no real way of knowing just now. Someone would need to keep an eye on her - but what rose from the youngblood's lips turned her thoughts still, and Nanook blinked, taken aback as she answered, "Yes," and found herself exchanging a look with Siarut - her's more puzzled than anything else. "Xan. He's my brother."

But who was this girl? Turning a new look upon the youngblood, Nanook imagined the youngblood couldn't have been many moons older than her nieces and nephews born to her sister this season, which turned her brain to unconfirmed conclusions. Still, she asked, "How do you know him?" even though she already anticipated the answer.