Moonspear Med blinde augo vil du vegen finna.

Towhee usually put on a brave face for her children (large and small), though she just didn’t have the spoons for that today. Rather than hang out at the rendezvous site or go visiting at her daughters’ ulax, she avoided everyone and headed to the western slopes of Moonspear. Whereas much of the bustling village life seemed to take place on its east side, she thought she could find some peaceful “wallow-tude” on its less populated face.

There were a couple natural mountain springs here. Towhee passed the first one she came across, then slowed to a stop beside the second. She helped herself to a drink, then took a seat. She sighed, eyes going unfocused as her head hung toward the trickling water. She stayed that way for an unknowable amount of time before raising her head and looking at her surroundings.

Part of her liked the idea of finding a ulaq here on the remote edges of the village, though Towhee wouldn’t actually settle so far from her kids. Still, the idea had its appeal, at least presently. She heaved slowly onto all fours again and began exploring among the evergreens, the landscape here reminding her of their temporary campsite on Cassiopeia’s View.

soup-rise!

He had at first ventured from the lodge to chase his father's shadow, but the attention of the child was fickle, and was caught by the sound of the wind through the trees, or the dance of flowers sprouting along the path, or the babble of water which he briefly imitated. Another shadow passed by his periphery and Raiyuk took to it as a hunter might: or that's what he thought, in his limited, childish way.

The boy knew the scents of many wolves of Moonspear, and knew the children best of all since he spent many days with them, or nights asleep in one ulax or another; his attention had not yet wandered to the adults except for Chakliux or his own mother Nasamik, so he did not immediately recognize the songbird-colored woman as she hiked her way along.

The game of follow the leader was taking all of Raiyuk's focus, regardless. He crouched and crawled, or made daring leaps along the path from shadow to shadow, slapping the ground with his paws or kicking at stones that toppled noisily in to the grass; but these were things the deaf woman would not notice, and he did not fully comprehend this. So it was, Raiyuk thought himself a fine hunter — his prey had yet to take any notice of him!

She had liked it there, even if the heights had been a bit much for her youngest son. Towhee exhaled and plodded forward, thinking about that crazy hunt with Alaric and how much he had reminded her of Maxim. That thought made her chest pinch but she let her mind wander rather than quell thoughts of him, as she had been doing much of the time.

Despite the conviction she had shared with Phox—Maxim was dead and there was no other explanation—life in these wilds had taught her that you really never could say “never.” Sometimes the most unexpected things happened. Wolves disappeared and reappeared suddenly and, sometimes, without any real explanation. Case in point: her own brother.

What if he did turn up back in the vale? Towhee wouldn’t be there. But that was part of the reason Jack had stayed. Besides that, Tamar and everyone else there would notify her as quickly as they could. But what would she do? Would she go there and see him? Would she get back together with him? Towhee couldn’t see how that would be possible, though she had the feeling everything would be different, should it actually happen…

She paused, blinking to a focus and looking around. The forest was still and silent, although they all were for her. Towhee’s fur prickled as she sensed someone nearby. She felt eyes on her, though as she scanned the underbrush, she didn’t see anyone or anything at all out of the ordinary. Her jaw set, though whatever presence she sensed, it didn’t feel threatening.

Show yourself, please, Towhee demanded in a gravelly voice, eyes narrowing.

When the shadow finally stopped, Raiyuk took their interest in the bushes to mean the game was nearly at an end. They appeared frazzled, and they called out to the unknown so that the boy would reveal himself — and Raiyuk was pleased by this too! He was all giggles, and burst from his hiding place among some rocks and tall grass feeling quite proud of himself.

Boo! He called out as he high-stepped closer. He wasn't afraid of this woman because, again, she was a familiar enough adult and because she smelled so familiar, being of his village. His laughter bubbled up from him and Raiyuk play-bowed before Towhee, his entire butt wiggling while his tail fanned the air as a blur. I was playin'! Did I win?

Her rapidly hardening expression softened pretty quickly when a little boy emerged from some nearby bushes. Towhee was a little surprised to find him out here, so far away from the main areas of the village, and moved nearer to him even as he playfully bowed before her. She hovered, looking down at him, doing her best to read his little lips.

“Win?” she mouthed, trying to parse what he meant. -“Oh yeah,”- Towhee said once it clicked, -“you totally got me. How long have you been following me? We’re quite far from the the rendezvous site. I’m impressed.”- She paused, then asked, -“What’s your name? Who are your parents? They’re probably wondering where you are.”-

He laughed a little more, but the sentiment died when the woman asked about his parents. He was proud of them of course! It was a knee-jerk reaction of being reminded he'd gone off on his own, without their awareness or supervision, which was against the rules. His ears switched to airplane mode for a second. M'name is Raiyuk. He went on to announce — and remembered what his mother had recited to him, in case the question was ever posed.

My 'da is Cha-klee-x, and 'ma is Nasa-mik. He puffed up a bit when mentioning his father, sounding out his name emphatically, because it was difficult even if it was familiar. He paid the same care to his mother's name and when he was done, thumping the ground with his tail, smiled up at Towhee. Who're you?

His demeanor shifted guiltily when she raised the subject of his parents, which caused the corner of Towhee’s mouth to lift. Her eyes narrowed slightly as he enunciated their names. There were some really tricky ones here in this village. They were probably the same foreign language as ulaq. She mused whether most words in said tongue ended in the ultima “ick.”

-“My name is Towhee Redhawk. How old are you, Raiyuk? Are you friends with Orca and Seal?”- she asked conversationally, as if he wasn’t a wayward pup far from where he was supposed to be.

To her credit, she motioned for him to walk with her and began striding back toward the mainstays of the village. Hopefully he hadn’t been following her for very long and hadn’t even been missed yet. It wasn’t the same thing at all but Towhee thought of Jack as she picked up the pace a little, eager to reunite these parents she didn’t know with their son.

The lady introduced herself! At least he was pretty sure she was a lady. She smelled mostly like his mother, and held the scents of other children (even if he hadn't met them yet); and while her voice sounded different from what he was used to (more slurred sometimes) he thought it had a lady-like quality to it. Raiyuk decided he liked her voice.

The questions made him think. He tawdled after her while distracted by the conversation.

I'm jus' a baby! He announced, not knowing how to count that well yet, and not really sure how time worked. When she mentioned the names of some of his friends, he was even more excited! YEAH! I play a lot. Accidentally dropping the rest of what would've been a normal sentence (play with them, is what he meant).

Are you Seal's mummy?

She didn’t understand where that declaration had come from, cute as it was, until Towhee realized it was in response to her question about age. She chuckled and shook her head at herself, smiling when Raiyuk confirmed that he often played with her granddaughters. His follow-up question was entertaining as well, though she stifled the urge to laugh.

Meerkat is their mother. Do you know her? she asked, still walking steadily toward the main part of the village. I’m Meerkat’s mom, which means I’m Orca’s and Seal’s grandmother. She paused to let that sink in before adding, I’m Fennec’s mom too, which makes me Killdeer’s grandma too. I also have some younger kids, ones closer to your age: Sable and Towhee Jr.