It was a beautiful, crisp morning in late December with sun peeking through the clouds down at the little village in the mountains. Usually light in winter was cold, but - perhaps - the solstice had brought a slight change in the weather patterns. Whatever the reason, Kau enjoyed the warmth so much so that even her perpetual frown had eased to something akin to contentment. Having trees and and mountain range to block the view of her surrounding was still something she could not get used to, but these same obstacles protected her from harsh winds. It was a noticable change for the better compared to the autumn and early winter in the lands of the Walrus hunters.

She hobbled through the forest area of the terrritory that Moonglow claimed as its own, stopping here and there to read the messages left both by the villagers and other creatures that had passed through during the night. Where it was particularly interesting, she squatted to leave a comment too and then she moved on. Sound of hooves and a scent of fermenting grass caught her attention and after walking up a small hillock she came to see a small group of elk, some of which were resting, the others were digging form the grass in the snow. Kausiut sat down to watch them quietly.

After staying with walrus hunters Kausiut did not hold men in particularly high regard. They were useful - yes, but the group she had stayed with had instilled a sense of superiority towards the opposite sex. Save for one individual - her father. He had left a lasting impression on her, though much of the memories from her childhood had already been forgotten. She had seen him briefly after Kukutux had accompanied her from the borders, but had not exchanged more than a nod of acknowledgment and respect.

Kausiut was a complex personality, the makings of her mind were hard to understand and quite often she herself did not have the full grasp of, what exactly she felt or how to act. Social situations, while a necessity at this age, were still difficult and awkward to them. Therefore, when Aiolos came and after greeting her sat down to observe the elk in silence, she felt more at ease. He did not expect anything from her and therefore her usual dislike for having people in her sphere of personal space was not triggered. She was free to speak in her own time.

Which she eventually wanted to do, but did not know, what to say. So she turned her head to eye him with curiousity and expectation. As if she willed him to say something again.

Had it felt different to live out in the open on the coasts? Kausiut could not quite pinpoint the feeling. Murre had been there to support, guide and help her, therefore transition had been easy. It turned out that it mattered less, where you were, as long as a good friend was with you. After her passing - the coasts had no longer felt like home.

Therefore she shook her head in response to his first inquiry.

Father noted his own challenge on adapting to the life in Moonglow and a flash of understanding appeared in her golden gaze. "Not. See," she said beckoning to the trees and the mountains around her. While she missed her friend more than the barren landscape of the coast, she did find the inability to survey the whole area around her unsettling.

Aiolos promised to take Kausiut somewhere and, while she did not get all the details of, what it was and where, she nodded in agreement. Most of the time she had no issues on focusing and understanding, what others told her. But then there were moments, when her mind drifted or she was simply tired, and then the speech that had been clear and concise became a string of sounds that made no sense.

He had mentioned a mountain - a topic that Kausiut had something to share. She lifted her crippled paw and told: "Pain." The reason, why she did not traverse higher grounds was that the uneven distribution of weight and physical exertion put strain on her whole body. In that sense being by the shores had been easier.

Kau furrowed her brow. Her father in his well-meant encouragement seemed to have missed an important detail. Just because she had walked great distances before, did not mean that her paw hurt any less. She had stated a fact that it was painful even now and that any enthusiasm for a journey would be marred by this fact. She knew exactly, how it would go - the irritation, anger and bitter jealousy to those, who could move with more ease and quicker than her. She knew that, if she reached that destination he had mentioned, she would not feel happy at all.

There was no way to tell him this in so many details. Therefore she remained silent, until another topic she wanted to talk about surfaced. "Samani. Go?" she asked, recalling that her elder sister had left too.

Samani was here as well, which should not have surprised Kau much, because she had met Rodyn before seeing her father. Still - others had gone. She found that her younger sister's name was more difficult to keep in mind than the brother's. Stratos. Short and easy. Good thing neither were present - she would not have to remember these names for too long.

"You," she waved at him with her forepaw. "Good?" she asked.

Kausiut realized that it had not been necessary to ask that question, because she could read it in her father's features. He looked happy and content with, what life and gods had given him. Asked the same question herself, she had to think about it thoroughly. Unhappiness was an umbrella term to the myriad of nuanced emotional states. Kau had been discontent. She experienced frustration on daily basis. She had felt empty of any emotions. She had felt satisfied with a hunt. Or excited. If one compares one's state of their mind to a Celsius thermometer then Kau's life was a stable 0 with fluctuations to either -5 or +5, nothing of extreme.

"Tired," she responded with a word that in her opinion said it all. No, she was not going to leave anytime soon not least because it was winter, but also chances of survival for her without the village's support were close to non-existant. Coming here had been hard enough.

Kausiut was not the kind of person to feel indebted to anyone or to feel bad being a burden to other people. She acknowledged the fact, of course, acted accordingly (stayed out of trouble and kept a low profile), but you would never force her to feel inclined to repay or even seek reassurement that she indeed was welcome to stay. And that no one expected anything from her.

Yet - it was nice to hear it from her father as well. She licked her lips, when he reached to touch her, a sign of mild discontent with the closeness, but she tolerated the brief moment and then turned to look Aiolos in the eyes. He was not lying or saying it out of sympathy. He meant it. For now. That would be enough for her.

"You. Siblings?" she asked out of the blue, wondering, whether her father had any brothers or sisters.

Just because your kid does not respond the same way to conventional expressions of affection, does not mean that they have no connection to you whatsoever. If Walrus Hunters had provided her with an environment that she found easy to fit and live in, then Moonglow gave her sense of belonging and safety that she had not had there. This terrain felt uncomfortable to her as dress that looks good on you, but still does not feel right. But people made her stay. Equal parts of calculated pragmatism and need to have at least some sort of connection.

Kausiut valued this in her own particular way without showing this to others. "Blackwater..." she repeated slowly the unknown combination of two words. Black and water. "Village?" she asked, wondering, if that was another name for a village like theirs here.

So, her father too had lived in a place that had not made him happy. He did not say it out loud, but Kausiut thought she could sense it in his tone. Unfortunately she was unable to express the whole complexity of her feelings towards Moonspear with the vocabulary she had, though in the long look she gave Aiolos, it was evident that she understood, what he was saying.

"Bad?" she asked and added after a pause. "Village?"

There was very little left to say afterwards - Kausiut was tired and therefore she got to her feet and stretched. "Sleep," she told her father, inbetween two yawns. It had been a long day for her. After bidding him a good-night - she left.