Ouroboros Spine Tuu-Tikki

@Towhee

Kausiut slept soundly in the sparse rays of sunlight that had broken through the blanket of clouds. She still had not fully recovered from the long travel back home - crippled leg was still very painful, forbidding her to move around much. At first she had been angry and disappointed, but even these emotions were hard to maintain, when the level of energy was already exhausted.

So, cut off from things she enjoyed doing during the day, she slumbered away. In colder weather on the pelts inside den, on warmer ones like this - out in the open.

Towhee's nostrils flared as she tested the air. Was Kukutux still in season? Surely it must be winding down now, so she should be able to leave soon to check on Meerkat. In the meantime, she patiently strode through the spine's interior, making her way from Deersight Hills, past the Three Sisters, then toward the well-worn footpath winding between the dens on the right and the lake on the left.

There was a pale lump on the ground ahead, which she initially mistook for a patch of dirty snow. But upon second glance, she realized it was a wolf. It was young Cowstep. Towhee slowed and came to a halt, wondering if she'd yet been forgiven for her unintentional disrespect back at camp.

So much had happened between their last encounter that Kausiut acknowledged You's presence, lifting her head lazily, wagging her tail twice in recognition and then lied down again. She let out a deep sigh, as if this had taken a lot out of her and was about to fall asleep again, when something occurred to her.

She pulled herself to her feet, stretched and winced in pain at the same time, then hobbled over to You and as per usual, completely ignoring any respect for personal space, reached up and sniffed around the adult's muzzle. There was no smell of fresh food, so Kau took a step back and regarded You with an expectant gaze.

The waving tail gave her hope. Towhee snorted when Cowstep promptly flopped again. Deciding to respect the child's nap time, she resisted the urge to go any closer and instead turned slightly to continue walking.

Evidently, Cowstep changed her mind. Towhee stilled when the pup approached her, after all. She seemed to be angling for a snack, judging by her behavior. She seemed a little old to be begging for regurgitated meat, though Towhee wouldn't have minded, if she had anything to give.

Returning Cowstep's gaze, she said, -"I haven't eaten anything today. Want to find some food with me?"-

Kau's face fell a little, when no food appeared right away, but she had already outgrown that stage, where she believed that adults were magicians, who could conjure food up at will (from the endless pits of, what were they stomachs). She had also put two and two together of the origins - her parents now and then brought live small prey for their offspring to practice their hunting skills on.

Offer to find food was met with a resigned sigh - Kau was not very keen on working for her meals, having enjoyed special treatment due to her ailments lately. On second thought - she did feel hungry and no one had come by to feed her yet. At best she could watch You work and then convince her to voluntarily share the spoils.

"Yesss," she replied, drawing out the last part of the word just for the amusement of it. It was a funny word.

Unaware of her young companion's penchant for hissing, Towhee only noticed an affirmative answer. She bobbed her head in acknowledgement, then looked around curiously. She knew they were close to some dens, including Kukutux's personal ulaq. Surely there was a cache around here somewhere.

-"Hey, you should know better than me where they keep the snacks around here,"- she thought aloud, blinking down at Cowstep. -"Can you lead me to the closest cache?"-

You did not even attempt to locate food. Instead she stopped, looked down at Kau and asked her to give directions. When the kid wanted to, she could understand quite a lot. Word "cache" was not unfamiliar to her, for she had been assigned to help hide food before. For a change this kind of activity was not met with resistance - she enjoyed digging and there was a certain art to make a cache invisible to others.

So - You wanted to raid, huh? Kau sat down, pondered the inquiry, scrutinizing the older wolf's face and, when she found a solution, a sly smile appeared in her lips. "Barter,"she told her - a fine synonym to the mouthful "What is there for me?" . Nothing in life was free and everything had a price.

Cowstep took a seat, like she needed a moment to deliberate the location of the nearest pantry. Used to the kid's mannerisms by now, Towhee waited her out, though she didn't really know what to make of the word she was offered in response.

"Huh?" she blurted. -"Barter? As in trade?"- she asked, seeking clarification. -"Trade what for what?"-

"Trade," Kausiut nodded approvingly, when You rephrased her earlier suggestion. It did not sound as smart as the earlier, but she decided that it might pay of to be lenient with people, with whom you attempted to make business.

She arched her eyebrows and targeted another expectant look at the she-wolf. Well?

"Trade," the youngster confirmed, though no further explanation was forthcoming. Towhee's brow furrowed and she gave Cowstep a mildly discouraged look that clearly said, I don't quite follow your meaning, but I want to...

Then an idea clicked in her mind. -"Uh, if you show me the way to a cache, I'll pay you in snacks?"- Towhee proposed.

Food for food? Initially that sounded like a good and fair trade. On the second thought (and these days Kausiut had grown less impulsive and tampered more with those second thoughts, sometimes third), that kind of trade did not make sense. After all You had nothing and her reason for asking was because of that.

She shook her head, deliberated something and then said: "Item." In other words - impress her with a toy she did not have yet.

-"Uh, I don't have anything on me,"- Towhee replied when Cowstep insisted on trading an item. -"I don't have any items anywhere, for that matter,"- she added, frowning apologetically. -"Sorry, kid. I guess I'm on my own for finding a stockpile, huh? Well, I'm gonna go do that. You're welcome to come along and, um... I'll keep my eyes peeled for any cool items. Deal?"-

Kausiut scrutinized You's face all the while she spoke. The girl did not understand everything that had been said, but she did recognize the tone, when a "negative" was repeated over and over again instead of a curt and simple "YES!"/"OKAY" that would indicate the deal was on.

There was an inquiry at the end of the long speech, again Kau took time to mull over, what should she reply, and decided to go with a shrug and a "Right". She tilted her head to the side and watched You, to see, what was she going to do with that information. Based on her next actions, there was a chance that she would be able to figure out, what had she agreed on.

-“Right? Right…”-

Remembering that actions spoke a lot louder than words when it came to Cowstep, Towhee began to stride away, seeking a stockpile. She was pretty sure she knew the location of one nearby, though it would take a bit more time for her to memorize all the landmarks around the spine.

I am totally open to continuing this or fading it, depending on what Kausiut would do. :D

You seemed to be fine with the terms of their deal. She shot one disinterested look over her shoulder to see, if there was any adult to prevent her from doing, what she wanted. No one was, therefore she tailed after her friend. With her body still stiff and paws throbbing from previous exertion, she attempted to keep up with You initially, but soon fell behind. And, when her half-howls to draw You's attention fell on deaf ears (pun intended), Kausiut simply sat down on the path and refused to move, while the adult disappeared from her sight. So much for having fun...

We can continue!

Of course, she’d hoped Cowstep could help her in this endeavor. That was the deal: “if you show me the way to a cache, I'll pay you in snacks!” Towhee looked around and realized she didn’t see the pup anywhere. So much for that, she mused, frowning thoughtfully.

Unaware that the child had fallen behind rather than simply abscond to do something more interesting, Towhee continued searching until she found a cache closer to Aumauttuk Grove. She nosed through its contents, selecting a shinbone with bits of dried meat still clinging to it.

She picked up the prize and decided it couldn’t hurt to retrace her steps and see if she could find Cowstep again. The young girl was always hungry in a way that nudged Towhee’s maternal instincts.

Wrapping threads up. Thank you for this one! :)

Kausiut, who could be very patient, if she wanted to, lost her patience this time. Suddenly anger boiled up within her, because things had not gone according to her wishes, because You had completely forgotten her, and for number of reasons she could not name. So she sprang to her feet and stomped back to the densites, where she would crawl inside her family's shared home and pout in the corner, until sleep would win her tired body and angry mind over.

Ironically - had she waited just a bit longer, she would have met You again with a heft prize for her too.