Redtail Rise Moon Singer

Moon Runner did not leave Redtail Rise.

Home, the spirit said to its vessel.

The white wolf watched the horizon, her mind silent in response.

The sun set and the moon rose. A waning crescent – just a sliver of pale light in the dark sky.

Moon Runner tipped her head back and howled an emotional serenade. A solo.

I should, uh…

When he glanced over his shoulder, his latest hookup was already trotting away through the trees, with nary a backward glance. Bushtit stared after her, then snorted. A grin broke over his face even as he shook his head and turned, his pale paws carrying him steadily westward for a while before he steered in a more southerly direction as the day waned.

He would find a way to cross the mountains in the morning, he decided sometime after darkness fell. Bushtit slowed his gait and rolled to a halt, eyes piercing the darkness as he searched for someplace to shelter overnight. He saw what looked like some woods a few miles due south, though before he could take a single step, a song rose up from somewhere behind him.

He turned his head first, then the rest of his body followed suit as he pinpointed the origin of the howl. It came from a rise north of his present position. Bushtit listened for a moment, his ears quivering, before he indulged the instinctive urge to howl back. He caught a glimpse of a pale sickle in the sky—the new moon was days away—before he squeezed his eyes shut and turned the distant stranger’s solo into a duet.