Moonstone Quarry Boy's working on empty

Some people would see the darkness in the air and think it was the end times, fleeing the scene before further damages could be rendered. Others would smell the change in the air and be driven to investigate. Raimo was different only in his mentality; he had been roaming the coast for the better part of a week when the flash drew his attention.

Even from the bay, where he had been rolling rocks and plucking at weeds, he had been privy to the rise of a false sun and the screaming of the far-off mountain. After he resumed his hunt for breakfast among the barnacled rocks, the earth trembled and then was quiet. He went on with his day — working his way up the beach and further south until the sand gave way to pasture, then to ice-choked weald, where he would try to rest.

As Raimo had not managed to find food in the past week he was hungry, tired, and focused on fixing his situation. The weald was a maze made worse by the snow but he knew the sight of deer trails when he spotted them; thin lines punctuated by deep divots, criss-crossing any open space. He found one that smelled the freshest and prowled after it; but by the afternoon he had lost the trail where it crested a rocky ledge and had to make another quick decision: turn around and try another route within the woods, or keep going south towards the mountains.

Remembering the strange light he had seen as well as the rumble of the earth (which he, at least by now, thought had been imagined) the wanderer chose to follow the rocky path leading him down from the ledge, in to the rubble of a quarry.

@Kukutux or @Sialuk?

She left her mother's side to find food. It had been easier than she had anticipated, and for that, the raindrop was thankful. The otter she carried in her mouth was old and sinewy, but it would have to do. She was making her way back up the steep walls when she saw the other wolf. They were dark-furred, and her heart leapt. Could it be? Taataa?

Gripping the otter firmly in her jaws, Sialuk plucked her way toward him until she was close enough to know that it was not her father. But he was a wolf, and she knew that they needed men among them. Her mother would think it best.

Sialuk dropped the otter at her feet when she was close enough, remembering how anaa greeted strangers.

I greet you, she said, attempting to hide the weariness in her voice.

just a howl cameo! kuku is too injured to physically join

sialuk had left the winter ulaq behind in search of a hunt. kukutux watched her go with a growing sense of sickening dread; she stared long after her raindrop, beginning to chill, not from cold but from fear. her daughter had travelled, yes, but this was a changed time; there was no home to which they might return, no hunters to gather if some threat should arise. no mother to protect her.

the pain was great in her ankle but she had become accustomed to it. when she could bear the silence no longer, kukutux tilted back her head, a searching note climbing into the frostmourne air.

Raimo halted to survey the area, plotting a route as best he could. He stood out against the snow-covered landscape, which would have bothered him if he had any real intention of hunting in this place. Everywhere he looked there was snow, ice, or bleached rockbeds and boulders—hardly any sign of life at all, let alone anything he might describe as edible. When he resumed his prowl Raimo ducked around a series of stony protrusions and came to a small plateau that tapered sharply, so he had to navigate carefully across the terrain lest he slip or fall. The next time he stopped it was because a segment of snow had moved—shifting oddly in the corner of his eye.

When he looked over to ascertain whether the ground was stable for him to travel across, he found a set of eyes watching him and he froze. The girl could not have been much older than a season—she was willowy, reminding Raimo of the youth that he had grown up alongside.

Hail, he called in reply to the girl's greeting—his tail brushing the top-most layer of snow behind him. The way Raimo had been looming with his head down could give him a menacing appearance and so he tried to ease out of that, loosening his shoulders and lifting his head to look the girl over, letting his friendly posture speak for itself.

That was when the call sounded from the direction the girl had come from, drawing Raimo's attention further. He looked over the girl's head at the white-capped forest, itself rising like the back of a mighty beast through the frost. The call had sounded pained.

They sound hurt, he remarks. There isn't much Raimo can do about it though. He looked over the girl again and pondered over the possibility that this youth might be dangerous, which was not a thought that sat well with him.

The girl looked nervous. I am Raimo. Is that your friend that calls? He decided to ask.

Anaa's call vibrated through the air, and Sialuk turned an ear toward it. She would return to the snow ulaq soon, but she should make conversation with this one first.

She is recovering, Sialuk replied, intentionally vague on the details. She did not know this man, so it was only natural not to trust him right away. Sialuk kept a single paw on the otter at her feet, at the ready to grab it and flee toward anaa if he attempted anything unsavory. Her parents had taught her well how to navigate meetings with strangers.

I am Sialuk Ostrega. Of Moonspear, she would have once added, but no more. Her birthplace had been defiled, and she was not yet ready to speak its name.

Are you in search of a home? she asked. It was not like her to be so forward, but circumstances were different now. She and anaa would need others among them if they wished to survive, even if those others were not survivors of their past home. Desperate times called for desperate measures.

Recovering? That was vague. It was all he would get, so Raimo accepted it. The look of brief concern upon the girl's face told him more; yes, it was someone they cared about. A sister perhaps - or a mother. Someone important to them.

His eyes tipped towards the husk at the girl's feet, pinned to the snow. A withered old thing. Are you in search of a home? The girl asks — he flicks an ear and loses interest in the otter.

I search for many things, he could be vague too. It didn't serve him to remain so, thus he continued after a pause: I am a seeker of stories, mostly. Right this moment I could do with a hot meal, though. With that said, he turns from her and strides on, feeling his weight sink in to snow. He does not go quickly or very far in case she has more to say.

Archive here?

The stories she could help with, but the hot meal she could not. The otter was for anaa, and Sialuk would have to find more for herself when she returned to the snow ulaq. Perhaps tomorrow, depending on how long it took to return there. She watched as Raimo departed, and Sialuk did not make an effort to stop him. She was in no position to barter with him, so she let him go.

Removing her foot from the otter, she picked it up and turned back toward the ring of mountains, urgency in her step as she returned to her mother.

OK!

There was nothing here to hunt; he was not so vain as to think he could scare up something from nothing, but onward he would prowl. Soon enough the girl grabbed for her otter and departed, back the way she'd come.

A stillness settled upon the scene.

Then, taking his time, Raimo's dark shape swept along at an easy lope, keeping to the trail that Sialuk had made. It was easier to follow her than any slim-boned deer; she was animated by the need to return to her friend, and Raimo counted on that to guide him.