"is she your woman?"

by now he had taught the dreamer enough lanzadoii to allow basic communication. the woman had given birth and had lain asleep for many days. the man with the black eyes did not act like her husband. 

and presently, he did not answer, staring at the cold lap of the sea.

cen snorted, and spat, and shuffled closer. "are they your sons?"

he had kept @Red Leaf away from the dreaming man. shamans did not seek women, not among the caribou. they lived alone, isolated. it was said that love turned the mind from dreams. 

but they were certainly isolated. and this man had a woman at his side, one with children. 

no answer. cen remained fascinated. "i hunt with you. for trade," he said next, watching as the eyelids fluttered and wolf dreamer returned to them both. as always, he blinked and stared around, as if not knowing who he was, as if he did not remember where he sat.

and then the obsidian eyes fastened to cen. "what trade?" wolf dreamer asked, aware that he was cutting the language to pieces in his ignorance.

cen grinned. "what you have. power."

in halting speech he told the dreamer that he too was a shaman, from across a glacier. there was frustration, that he could not insist that he be recognized for what he was. cen showed the other his charm, the snarl of red leaf's essence held with wolfbone.

the dreamer was silent for a long while.

and then he said, "there is a web."