Firefly Glen niece

maybe @Kannoyak? set after he leaves moonglow

the journey was long. chakliux stopped several times to rest. by now he was aware that a bone in his side had been fractured.
drawing breath was an agony, and so he did not drive himself.
the shadows of night had fallen before he arrived in the place of dancing. the man at last groaned aloud, showing his weakness to an empty place.
he slumped down beneath a tree, back to its bark. he thought of the moonwoman and of nasamik. he thought of the sun man and rage burned. 
chakliux slept, lips and shoulder crusted with dried blood.

Kannoyak had hunted and he carried the body of a brown-furred rabbit in his mouth.

It was fate that drew his spirit into the glen. He had hoped to find more prey to carry back to the villages. His mind was fixated on the Moonwoman and her daughter. Wherever he wandered, he could feel their gaze upon him and it drew him back to their region on hasty paws.

Chakliux slept and Kannoyak nearly stumbled upon him. The white hunter’s ears fell to his head. He peered curiously upon the shape of the other man. Familiarity dawned on him.

You are injured, hunter. Concern flashed in his plum gaze.

chakliux woke with a start and bared teeth. then he saw it was the man kannoyak and relaxed, sliding back against the tree. "i have gone from moonglow, brother," he said in anger. he tried to smile but his tongue ached. his side was a mass of agony. his face contorted in pain.
the man's eyes flickered to the rabbit. hunger clawed at his belly. "i wait here to know if my new wife will also leave that place."
but his voice was soured.

Something had happened to cast Chakliux from Moonglow. Kannoyak wished to ask, to know why this man had left the village. The other man spoke of his wife! This was curious news. He was a fit wolf and a fine husband, but to draw himself outside of the village and to take another was surprising. Their children would not fare well if they did not find another.

Speak with me, brother. What has happened in the moon village?

Kannoyak drew near. His nose searched the hairs of Chakliux’ pelt. There was damage to his body. He needed the herbs of a healing wolf. The white hunter thought of Moonspear and the raindrop woman.

"a woman there carries my children."
he did not flinch, muscles tensing but not leaping as kannoyak explored his injuries.
"the sun man, ha. the sun man!" he snarled. "he struck me before the village and said i had not sought permission."
chakliux grinned with bloodied teeth. it was not one of humour. "a seal hunter man marries a woman who carries his child. that is it. so," he spread his paws, "i am now a husband."
pride laced through his tones. "but i would not stay in that place. i said she also must leave. i will not stay to be a meek man. next time another seeks to push me low, i will not let it happen again." his eyes gleamed. "i am not of this place. i will not forget."

Chakliux had been attacked by the sun man.

The white hunter’s hairs bristled at this. How could such a thing happen? Was the Moonwoman not pleased to see a fine man become husband to one of their own? It did not make sense to him. His features were downcast, confused.

Does the Moonwoman know of this show of power? She is ruler of the village, not this sun man. You are a fine hunter man. In my village, you would have your choice of brides.

Kannoyak was deep in contemplation. He considered seeking out Kukutux and asking for himself. Would the woman leave the village to join Chakliux? He could not help but worry for their unborn pups. They would face hardship if they were on their own. Children should be raised by a strong village.

What of Moonspear? Raindrop woman is leader, there… It was not Moonglow, but it was close.

"i looked also at his daughter, samani," chakliux said with defiance. "if she knew she did not care. her husband said i have shamed myself for going to the sleeping-places of women." what sort of man was he?
"in the place of seal hunters, a woman chooses who she wishes, as many as she wishes. it is same for men. sometimes we marry. always children are born."
kukutux had known his ways!
moonspear. chakliux wanted to go farther. but nasamik had clear attachments to moonglow. besides, she would need other women to be around her when the time came for children. "will raindrop woman accept a man shamed in the village of her mother?" his voice held doubt. "but nasamik must go. i will hunt and stay close if sialuk says i cannot be there."

This was a difficult thing that Chakliux faced.

Kannoyak did not have answers for him. He did not know if the raindrop woman would allow someone who had been cast out of her mother’s village. It sounded as though the hunter man would send his wife to Moonspear, regardless. How could he stand to be away from his young ones? They would be born without the presence of their father. This was saddening.

If she will not have you, then I will build a village with you.

This pledge was a risk and it was made without rationale. 

The white hunter did not know of this man’s pride well enough to be deterred. He saw Chakliux as another fitting hunter, a good man. Kannoyak did not wish to see children born into a fractured family.

chakliux was surprised. 
and then it became more, a true camaraderie flushing through his body.
"then it will be."
he sat back against the tree, but this time there was not so much anger in the set of his shoulders. "you are a good man, kannoyak."
his eyes were wondering upon the man.

You are like my father. The way you speak reminds me of him, of home.

This confession hung upon the air for a heavy moment.

We are of different villages, but we know the same paths. As your brother in hunting, I will stand with you.

Kannoyak did not wish to speak on the disappointment he felt. Moonwoman had been so good to him on their hunt. Her voice and her eyes were wise, knowing, open. The pale figure could not understand how Chakliux had been cast out of her village. Did she know of the power her sun man forced on others? More importantly, did she know that she had lost a good hunter to her village?

It was troubling to consider his first impression had been wrong.

brother-in-hunting. chakliux liked the sound of it at once. it fit the two of them, a banding against the wrong that he felt had been done to him.
"was your father a seal hunter also?" he laughed, and then winced hard, the back of his head striking the tree as he jerked in agony from his clenching side.
"first, i will sleep and wait for nasamik. then i will go with you to the raindrop's village."
his eyes closed. "kannoyak. you said if sialuk does not allow me to be there, you will go with me. but if she says i stay, will you also?"

Where Chakliux laughed, Kannoyak was straight-faced. He did not miss the way the other pale man had jerked in pain. He knew little of herbs and would not make a fitting healer or shaman, if it was needed. He did not know if the raindrop woman had a shaman or healer in her midst, either.

The man wished to rest and to wait for his wife. This seemed to be the best plan. Rest would help his wounds, if only a little. Kannoyak was more concerned with the journey to the mountain. Moonspear did not appear hospitable. Its slopes were slick with winter snow and ice.

Chakliux asked a curious question.

The white hunter’s features were drawn into a tight and thoughtful expression.

Yes. If she will allow you and your wife to stay. He thought of the raindrop woman often.

the smile that spread was knowing.
"she gave me a flower." he showed kannoyak how he had wound the dried loveliness of it into a lock of fur just under his throat.
nasamik would be his first wife. it did not mean he had forgotten sialuk.
at last, chakliux slumped down, head upon his forelegs. he would sleep again, and more deeply than before.

Kannoyak was surprised at the flush of hot jealousy he felt in his stomach. He had made a place in the wood for the flower Sialuk had given him. The beauty of it had brought life into the dark of the trees and the chill that winter had upon the forest. It had felt like a fitting place to leave her offered gift, so that it might grow into something new again.

Seeing the flower that Chakliux wore, Kannoyak could not help but wonder if he had been mistaken. The raindrop woman could have any husband of her choice. Perhaps the gift had merely been a kindness, nothing more.

While Chakliux slept, Kannoyak kept guard. When the pale man woke, he would find a plucked turkey waiting to be feasted upon.