Mount Apikuni ﹌ tskow’aya

for @Skukä

the mountain air was crisp, laced with the scent of damp earth and pine. tey’gan exhaled slow, letting the breath roll from his chest like the river winding beneath them. they had been traveling long, through ridges and dense thickets, but now—now they had found a place to rest.
he cast a glance toward the sky, watching as the last tendrils of sunlight kissed the peaks, the world around them bathed in deep hues of violet and blue. the river hummed, a gentle song against stone, soothing, familiar.
we can rest here for the night.
his voice was steady, a quiet certainty in the vastness of the wild. he stepped closer to the river’s edge, letting the cold water lap at his paws. the night would be cold, but the land here was kind. it would hold them well until morning.

the further they went alongside the river, the more alert skuka became to the various scents around them. it was clear by the time they reached the heel of a singular mountain that there were others in the area: marked animal trails, in particular.
this would be their camp, and just in time. the sun was setting; with the oncoming creep of the evening skuka was nervous. tey'gan looked to be smitten with the water; that or he was communing with it, and with eywa. she would not intervene.
there was a village nearby—a day of travel through the thickets, if that—and so she was on edge.

in a land so unfamiliar, ro'nak had never felt so out of his element. they were sea-people. warriors of the waves. he was accustomed to white-sanded beaches, salty ocean air, endless water for as far as the eye could see.

but the forest? he trampled around like a newborn with clumsy feet. on sand and and in water he swam as true as any tsurak. 

the only comfort he had, was that eywa's songs still thrummed beneath his feet. whispered from the tree-tops, all the way down to the soil between his toes. she would guide him; as she was the only one to have ever guided the black sheep. 

she had not failed him in her guidance. a scent brought upon a breeze, carrying the presence of his brother. excitement rippled through him, as did calm. tey'gan had always been the protector, even if ro'nak sometimes despised him for it. 

crashing through the underbrush, he called out in their people's cry. "tsmukan!"

the river was quiet, save for the gentle lapping of water against the shore. tey’gan had been kneeling beside it, paw skimming the surface, feeling the pulse of eywa in its depths. the mountains loomed overhead, the stars just beginning to awaken in the sky, but he was grounded here, in the stillness.
and then—
a sound. a cry. no—
his ears twitched, his heart stilled. it could not be.
ro’nak!
his head snapped toward the underbrush just as the figure burst through, all wild limbs and untamed spirit, as reckless as ever. his chest clenched, relief washing over him in an instant, his name carried on the breath of disbelief.
he was moving before he could think, surging forward to meet his brother, gripping his arms tightly as if to assure himself that he was real. his voice dropped low, urgent, reverent.
eywa has guided you here.
his grip tightened. his brother, his blood. after so long.
you found me.

there was a disturbance around them. at first it went unnoticed because skuka was too much in her own head. she slowly came to realize how quiet the evening was; the birds would have been active for another hour at least.
ears pricking, she studied her surroundings a little more intently — and then the stranger burst forth, rounding upon the riverside and tey'gan.
skuka flowed in reverse, hackles raised and head snaking low. it was a man! one she did not know. his shout registered as her known language but that did not mitigate the swift shift to a defensive posture.
she slunk among the pines for cover, and kept to the other side of tey'gan, shielding herself from—brother? a brother.
eyes wide, she realized finally that this was a reunion.

"yes, great mother led me to you!" ro'nak breathed with a hearty laugh, one that stemmed from his soothed soul. he met the hug tenfold, his arms wound tight around his kin. his brother. one of three parts to his heart, now snapped back into place. 

wild and unkempt fur bristled with palpable excitement, he pulled away from the hug just enough to asses his brother. still the confident, collected man who reminded him so much of father. usually, it would sour him. but there was only room for joy. 

"the storm—i lost you and—and va'ruka and yawntu'evan!" his speech rapid, hurried. a mixture of relief and lingering worry. brilliant green eyes shift, searching the surroundings, praying that tey'gan had rounded up the rest of their pack as he usually did. 

but they weren't there. only a stranger woman leering at him. his exuberant expression fell. "they still lost?"

tey'gan's heart swelled at the sight of his brother, whole and standing before him. a piece of his world, a part of his soul, returned. he held ro'nak tight in their embrace, the weight of time and worry pressing between them, before stepping back, his grip lingering on his brother’s shoulders.
yes, he admitted, though it pained him. we are still lost from them. but you have found me, and we will find them together. his voice was steady, but beneath it was the quiet strain of responsibility, of knowing that he had yet to reunite all the scattered pieces.
his gaze shifted to skuka, catching the tension in her frame, the way she moved behind him, watchful. of course. ro’nak had arrived with all the force of a crashing wave, and she did not yet know him.
how rude of me— tey’gan said, exhaling lightly as he turned toward her. he gestured with a nod. this is skuka. of ukyomrai, daughter of aymang. his golden eyes found ro’nak’s again, the warmth of their reunion not yet fading. skuka, this is my brother. ro’nak.
he stepped slightly aside, bridging them together, hoping to ease whatever uncertainty remained between them. we are together now. that is what matters.

she watched from her stooped position as the pair had their reconnection, and when tey'gan stepped aside to welcome her among them she froze a moment, eyeing the stranger who had by now been called brother; it was after her own introduction that she stood a little straighter, prouder.
welcome, she greeted with the slightest sideways tilt of her head.
then she focused on her friend.
i go now to scout the forest. this one is loud, she does not move her gaze from tey'gan but it is clear of whom she speaks, a line of agitation erecting the furs of her spine even now. ...he has likely cost us meat.
it would give them time to speak without her presence; she was swift to seek the shadows then.