It felt as if the world had become smaller to Kausiut. She had spent months in an open terrain and treeless landscape, where only snow-capped mountain ridges on one side and saltwater pools and lakes on the other bordered the realm of the Walrus hunters. Returning to Moonglow felt as if being put within confines of four walls after enjoying limitless freedom. Well, not as bad as that, but adapting to this was not easy.

She also soon realized that she was no longer fit to traverse up and down the terrain - her crippled foreleg that had not bothered her at the coasts, now protested and ached at the new physical strain. Therefore, while she rested and figured out, what to do next, Kausiut found a cozy place at the foot of the mountain. There she slept and there she observed the other villagers from afar.

Only once did she climb up to find an old stash of her toys - most that she had treasured as a child had lost their appeal. The items that had once spoken to her, were silent now. They had lost their voice. Out of a whim, however, she picked out an odd shaped rock and a tiny, dried up fish, which she brought back to her "hut". During the waking moments, she spent time, lying on her side and staring at the rock, as if willing it to talk to her again.

Kausiut did resemble her beautiful twin in some ways. Where Samani was a perfection, there she was an unfinished painting, a sketch, a first try to draw a wolf and not being particularly good at it. Still, if one looked closely, they could find similarities in the facial features and stature. It was even more evident, when you knew the pretty one quite well and you knew that the ugly was the sibling. Then one could draw conclusions by seeing both side by side.

Kau caught the sight of the young man from afar and without getting up, she followed him with her gaze, until he stopped not far from her. She acknowledged his greeting with a look and a few wags of her tail, then she rose to her feet, stretched and approached him cautiously to catch his scent and find out his intentions. He was one of the newer village inhabitants and yet his smell was intertwined with that of her sister. Making him both familiar and foreign at the same time. Content with her initial assessment, she retreated, giving him and herself space. She sat down and waited for him to speak.

"Samani," Kau recalled Kukutux mentioning her sister's name in association with this one. They were to be married. She looked him up and down, comparing him to those few males that had run together with the Walrus hunters, who essentially were a very strong matriarchal society. There a woman did not have to live up to particular expectations and did not have to fit standards or stereotypes. There even ugly Kausiut would have had her pick in the mate, it would be her choice alone and it would be up to her to leave the mate as well. Therefore, when she regarded the husband-to-be of Samani, one could sense that the demeanor was not exactly neutral or overly-positive. In that moment she evaluated him as one would a prized horse at an auction.

"Kausiut. Sister," she introduced herself after she had finished gathering the visual information on the man. "Trade?" she asked next. Conversations, small talks and socialization in general was still not Kau's forte, but Murre had taught her the patterns of, how such a thing was done. The simple inquiries and observant silence so that the other party filled it with words and expressions. If it had been up to Kausiut - she would never talk to people at all or engage in any other activities that required sharing space with people. However, her mentor and time spent in the other village, where the rules of survival were a lot harsher, had taught Kausiut that unfortunately due to her disabilities her fate would always be closely tied to a pack. If in one side of the equilibrium is the ability to have a fully belly and relative safety provided by others, then paying for it with at least attempting to fit in and making the village care for you long-term was a small price.

At the end of the day - with all her misanthropic tendencies - Kausiut very much wanted to stay alive.

A hunter. A scout.

Rodyn was useful and Kau decided that despite her attitude towards male gender as something lesser and disposable, she should stay on good terms. Be polite, which simply meant to tune down her own personality and adjust to the person opposite of her. Come to think of it, being unhandy with words was a salvation in a way. She could keep a conversation going and despise people within her mind without ever showing it outwardly. After all with her appearance and general demeanor no one expected her to be a social butterfly, who loved everyone.


"Bride price?" she furrowed her brow, trying to understand, what did it mean exactly.

It had been the right question to ask. Two words had released a fountain of words. Kausiut focused on understanding at least half of things Rodyn was telling her. Again - in her experience - long text did not necessarily mean that all of it was valuable. Some people could talk all day and say nothing of use. Some - and she counted her to this camp - could say very little, but always to the point.


What she got out of the lengthy explanation was that the marriage deal was closely tied to providing food. Out of five things mentioned 3 referred to edible things, which seemed very fair. This got her thinking that maybe it was worth investigating mate stuff after all. For practical reasons, though she was rightfully skeptical on, whether relying only on one person for food, was wise. Putting eggs in different baskets seemed like a safer option.


Still. "Bride price. Finished?" three word sentence was a record for Kausiut, but she figured that by asking "finished" alone Rodyn would go away. And as much as conversations were not her thing, she was not finished getting to know him and forming some sort of bond.

Kausiut was not a sentimental creature - instead of congratulating Rodyn on his success, she thought of all the food she could have potentially had (surely Samani would have shared or made realize that she should share) and now missed. Well, she would keep an eye out on the next bride-to-be in order to have some of the bride price spoils too. The fact that she could enter a similar agreement was eventually dismissed. She was not interested in either men or women. It is highly unlikely that a person, whose looks reflected her personality perfectly, would want her as a bride anyway. Kukutux and Aiolos would have to bribe the groom-to-be lavishly for him to even consider her.

"Birth where?"that was another typical thing you asked to a stranger. Where were they from.

Among the walrus hunters leaving fur of a kill behind was not a thing they practiced. Once the higher ranking wolves had eaten, the rest were allowed to feast (Kausiut included) and they ate everything, fur included, and picked the bones clean. There was no shortage of walruses, but it was not easy to hunt and kill them. Besides there were other predators on the lookout for anything left over. Drying the furs would not have been possible there either - the air moisture was so high that any such feat would end up with a rotten, stinking mess.

Again - she had no way of telling this to Rodyn, but he had not asked either. He called his place of birth by name, which meant nothing of importance to Kausiut. "Village?" she asked, it was an odd inquiry, because Kau knew no other pack structure than the one her kinsfolk had. Yet - having grown up among the village wolves, he did not look or act like any one of them. You just felt it.

To be honest, Kausiut herself did not really know, what the actually rules and customs of Moonglow were. She had lived there at a time, when it had not mattered to her and explaining in detail would have been in vain. The only rule of law was not to get in too much trouble as to make Kukutux frown. The moonwoman was patient as a saint. Probably she had been even more lenient on her wayward kid. But up to a point.

The life and customs of the Walrus hunter village had been largely shaped by the harsh environment they lived in. At some point of history the male population had dramatically declined leaving women in charge. While the situation had improved later, the strong-willed leaders were not inclined to give up their privileges. They had managed without men during the harshest of times and they definitely did not need to rely on them now.

"What - here?" she had attempted to form his last bit about life here in a question, but she could not remember all of the details. Putting more than three words together was still a challenge.

Kausiut lost him, but she kept up an appearance of listening carefully. It happened to her - talking and speech in general took time, practice and energy. It was even harder for her, who was new to all this. Therefore every conversation was an exercise of intense focus and figuring out, what to say next. Kind of like playing chess. The outcome depended on, where she placed her figures.

"Sleep," she told him and waved her tail in a way to emphasize that she was tired and needed a break. Then in that straightforward manner of hers she let out a deep sigh, spared Rodyn one last glance and returned to the place, where she had rested earlier. Nap felt very well deserved.