Ouroboros Spine If you were a Transformer… you’d be Optimus Fine.

picking his thread titles is my favorite

Also *eyes*

With Legion gone, Zane was a free agent. A hungry free agent, but hey, he'd get by. He was a survivor, a Lone Ranger on this road called life.  He struck a pose that befitted the role despite absolutely no one being nearby to see it.... then continued on in the decidedly less glamorous task of plodding through the snow.

His stomach growled and he groaned.  He didn't do shit to deserve goin hungry, okay? And if he died out here, starving in the snow, it would be a waste of incredible potential.  In fact, life owed him a pretty juicy catch right now, and it better deliver.  Too bad fate didn't really respond to threats, even ones from such handsome devils as he.

kukutux made a line in the snow to mark another day. how many sunrises had happened since the great light had come? she shut her eyes, trying to think, trying to count.

sialuk was kept busy with hunting, but both of them would only possess a growing hunger until a large kill could be found. kukutux cracked the edge of a bone, licking free the last of the marrow as she looked out across the snow.

eventually the duck disentangled her limbs and stood, slipping from the ulaq. she stared at the short mountains and then searched for moonspear, still torn as though a giant monster had gnashed the stones with its teeth. the urge to relieve herself came, and she looked for a place some distance away.

it was where she spotted the figure, roaming through the white. fear sent the woman's hackles lifting, and she stepped back, holding as still as she dared. snow ducks bedded into the drifts and could not be seen. she could only hope such a blessing might work for her now.

Luckily for Kukutux, Zane wouldn't have noticed a bear five feet away with all that snow, discomfort, and hunger plaguing him.  He'd barely gone a few days without eating and he was already nearly unable to function.  Discomfort wasn't something that settled well on him, and he tried to allay it by dramatically picturing the attention he'd get this spring.  Hardened and rugged from the cold winter months alone, he'd sweep in, whisking any chicks he may meet off their paws and driving them to a whirlwind romance before leaving them, despairing and satisfied, waiting for his return....

Right.

Unfortunately, he was heading directly towards her, and he was bound to notice at some point that they were on a collision path.  He saw the difference in the snow first, then when his attention focused, realized it was another wolf.  Holy fucking SHIT, he exclaimed, scrabbling back in a rush.  His heart was hammering a mile a minute - who the hell ambushed a wolf like that?  Dude, what the fuck?  It didn't register immediately that she was gorgeous or the type he definitely should have tried to woo right out the gate; all he knew was a ghost had just fucking materialized right in front of him and he was legit spooked for a hot second.

as the male recoiled with an exclamation and an epithet, kukutux jerked backwards, putting as much immediate space between them as she was able. black lips skimmed away from her teeth; she felt the pull of ears and jaw breaking open the wound upon her temple.

but she snarled through the sudden trickle of red, inching back more from him as her dirt-smeared ears came up. he offered no more threat; he had been startled to see her. 

kukutux thought of her daughter, hunting alone. not alone. she thought of the black bird who had stayed near them for many days. "you will find there are many things here you do not understand," the duck breathed, tongue lolling in an anxious pant. the spirit spoke sharply, reminding her that she was woman, but kukutux only kept her injured ankle uplifted beneath the heavy fur of her chest with hard greenstone state fixed upon the newcomer.

That made no fucking sense.  Zane was not a complicated wolf, and what Kukutux said was so disconnected from where his mind was currently that he could do nothing but stare stupidly at her for a solid few moments, the gears in his mind obviously grinding slowly into place.  What...

Uh, are you okay?  He asked finally, dumbly.  The blood trickling down her face kicked him back into action, and he looked at her more closely.  Awh, shit, she was not only pretty... she was in trouble.  Two check boxes, and yet he had no skills or abilities to help either way.  Is there, like... someone I should get?  I'm Zane, by the way.  He gathered himself and finally put on the front, flashing a disarming smile.

the man offered help. kuktutux studied his face. "nothing that can be found under this snow," she murmured, thinking again and painfully of her stores; lost beneath the fires and the carved earth. she did not want to think of it now; the thought threatened to blur her eyes with tears.

but he had asked to help. "i cannot hunt," she said, lifting her paw. kuktutux did not mention sialuk upon the plain alone, endlessly searching for food. she did not give her name — not yet.

Ah, oh.  Yeah, guess that makes sense.  Well shit.  Couldn't she see he was kind of busy looking for food for himself?  How was he supposed to help feed her when he was starving, huh?  Zane sat on it for a minute and hesitated because hunting alone was a fucking chore;  he hadn't even liked hunting for a pack, and at least in a pack he had benefits.  This chick seemed helpless.

But.... no risk, no reward.  That part of his brain clicked in slowly, and he looked her over.  She was pretty small, and no way was she going to, like, attack him or some shit like Arbiter.  Right?  So fuck, maybe it was worth a shot.

Alright, alright.  I'm pretty busy, y'know, but I'm also obviously a really good dude. I guess I can help you out.  I'll let you sort out how you might want to repay me,  Zane finished with a broad wink.  He really didn't fully grasp the idea of charity.

He'd find something.  He did not want to hit a river in this cold, so he'd try scavenging the banks for something recently dead if he found one.  Or, if there was a forest, maybe he'd find like... a weasel or some shit like that.

the duck's jaw clenched. "you are not the only man here who waits for payment," she told this one in a low tone. "i hold you to no barter. bring meat or do not."

the inner spirit spun, horrified. the dark wolf with the name of raimo knew there was a barter to come. but he had already hunted. kuktutux would not allow this one to do the same, to drag her into beholding. not with much to lose and nothing to give.

there could be no payment until she had a pack again. "i wait for others to come down from that mountain," kukutux spoke, indicating voiceless moonspear with its great scars. "until that time, hunters are necessary. you will not be alone if you stay in the beginning of this village."

Woahh, Zane was taken aback (as usual) when his joking and, in his mind, completely innocent comment got a markedly less welcome reception.  What was this chick's problem with a little tit for tat?  (Lol....).

Sheesh, mood kill much?  Look, lady, I've had a pretty rotten string of luck pickin 'villages', or whatever the fuck you're callin this shit.  Places expect work with no payout and then tell me I'm crazy for not wanting to kill myself just so they can stick around and look good. No thanks.  If you got problems, fine, but they ain't mine.  I got my own to deal with.  

From where he stood, what she'd just said couldn't jive less with what he expected in a place.  Maybe she was more Arbiter than he'd thought.  Not the only man here waiting for payment. Fuck that entirely.  He was literally just passing through, no way in hell he was already going to get into a fight with some dude over who got to be head honcho here, or with her over what the hell was 'enough' work.  Wolves on a power trip.  Zane rolled his eyes, then started to walk away, though the walk was a little stifled by the snow.  Look - maybe if he found something he'd come back.  Just because she was hurt.  But after that he was gone, because he didn't owe her shit.

"i am not those places. i am not those wolves," kukutux rejoined sharply, seeking to pause him in his step. "i had a blessed home. it was destroyed in one night. now i am forced to ask those i do not know to hunt so that i might live." perhaps she spoke to only the disappearing slant of his back, perhaps he was gone by now.

she would speak into the wind, then.

"when men ask for payment they often do not mean meat or furs," she uttered with a tautness along the back of her throat. the words poured as his did; he a strange hunter and she an injured woman. "there is only myself and my daughter here," she said, knowing she could not lie, and seeking to soften him, "and a man who brings meat. but we do not know him. and i do not know what he wants in return."

"so you see why i do not want to make myself a new debt, kunulik."

He did keep going for a few paces, at first.  He didn't really care that her home was destroyed - look, he'd had a shit ton of homes, and wasn't like any of those worked out any better for him.  Nah, what made him pause was when she brought up her daughter, because as her voice softened, he was reminded of his own mum.

Not enough to make him entirely sympathetic, but enough to bend him.  The only woman Zane had ever loved was his mother, in a pretty typical and extremely spoiled way, and he'd have moved heaven and earth for her if she'd ever asked.  But she didn't because she was a fuckin stand up woman.  (Where was this respect for other women? None of us know)

He froze, but the fur along his back lifted up, more against the cold than anything else.  All I want is to find one place that lets me do things on my terms without immediately punting me to the curb for opening my fucking mouth.  He answered, tail giving a lash.  If you can't give me that, I might as well move on.  Winters got a ways to go and I ain't starving here.  

He wasn't putting any time into a place who didn't want him, and who wouldn't appreciate what they had when they had him.  He wasn't about to make her promise that if she didn't want to (though hell, he thought the joke had been funny).  He could find his own chicks later, long as he could be promised he wouldn't be kicked out for flirting with the wrong wolf, or taking a nap when he shoulda been hunting, or not throwing himself headlong into a fight where he was outnumbered two to one.

her own shoulders bristled in response to his own. "you speak as if i had the strength to make a path for you," kukutux rejoined, tempering her tone. her greenjade eyes remained firm however, watchful. he was older than she but spoke informally, and with the air of a much younger wolf. where was the kingdom he should have built for himself by now?

"i do not. if you bring meat, if you stay, then i will come to know you. if you do not, that is your choice. i do not make such a way on your behalf. nor do i want to do this thing," the duck added. he had stopped, he still spoke. these were good things. kututux made no demand of men. "more hunters build a village. but they only build if they are welcomed to remain in one place. i welcome you."

her voice begin to thaw. kukutux loathed the admission, but it was necessary. a limping step forward. "if you stay, you chose to stay, and you cannot say i forced you to be here." 

or that i begged.

He'd assumed, from the way she spoke, that whatever place this was, she was going to lead it.  But apparently this wasn't the case, and to his mind, that meant whoever the other dude was probably going to be calling the shots.  That didn't bode well for him at all.

Shit,  he expressed in an exhale.  What did it matter anyway?  Probably the guy would take one look at him and tell him to keep moving.

Thats a pretty raw deal.  She really couldn't give him shit, could she?  Not even a promise of a home, which was like, the... bare minimum.  But he could always bounce.  This interaction left a pretty bad taste in his mouth, especially after Legion.  He'd had nothing but scorn there too, and he didn't believe for a second he'd deserved it (though he unobjectively had).  

He probably wouldn't find anything anyway.  No one forces me to stay anywhere, sweetheart.  You can be sure of that.  He tossed over his shoulder, and then he kept moving.

narrow-minded men. the reward was to build something upon which to put their names, and a home for generations to be born to their hearth. but these things took time, and this one was not patient. none of them were patient. his swearing folded back the duck's ears, but in all honesty she had ceased her fear of him. his heart was filled with sourness. only until he tasted something sweet would he be satisfied.

sweetheart. kukutux said nothing; she wore her aloofness like a wrap and sat down in the snow to watch him depart.

she did not think he would be back again. he had given her no name and did not know her own.

green gaze shifted to moonspear.