Moonsong Glacier don’t call me kid, don’t call me baby

The pack hunt had been successful, and after the initial celebratory bites had been taken from the caribou, Ariadne had gone to work divvying up the meat and fur for their sister villages. She separated the flesh evenly into four bundles, saving one for themselves, and prepared the hide to transport the goods. The fur would make a fine den lining, and each bundle was tied with an ermine fur, a luxurious add-on that she thought the other leaders would appreciate.

She sat outside her den with the three bags placed neatly in front of her and called for @Raiyuk, @Valiant, and @Towhee Jr to see if they could help her deliver them to the other villages.

Although he had not yet committed himself to any one pack, his commitment to Dutch was still strong. He remained close at hand in the other man's absence, guarding his brother's chosen family from the increasingly frosty borderlands. Despite this, he was surprised, somehow, to hear the summons.

He did not yet consider himself a moon wolf, but it did not cross his mind to defy the one that Dutch called cloudwoman. He turned and headed inward, following Ariadne's voice to the den where she sat. Her scent came to him mixed with another wolf's — one he did not know by name or face, but very well by scent. He wondered if Dutch was bitter over it, but if course, it was not his place to ask.

"Ma'am?" he asked, glancing down at the odd bundles before his gaze returned to her pretty face.

He was on his way to visit Moonsong Village when the call rose, and so Raiyuk did not dally. He arrived with a courteous bow of his head, and lay a large gull at his feet which he had carried from home.

Then he looked to the bundles, sniffing at them with some interest before looking to Ariadne, then the other wolf who had arrived (Valiant) when he spoke up.

Raiyuk wondered things, but would not interrupt. He sat with an expectant look upon his face.

ghost, ever her ears, gives a forceful, if not still slightly painful tug of her scruff with his good talon in the direction the howl had arisen.

curious, but knowing now what her falcon companion's different signals met, follows in the direction and arrives, third, to the small gathering. a dip of her head is given towards ariadne before sharp golden gaze goes to the two others gathered.

she does not know them; not really. not even really at all.

her curiosity makes its home upon her facial features as ghost finds a perch in a nearby tree instead of her shoulders; wary of the two he does not know.

They quickly assembled, and Ariadne was grateful. Thank you for coming here so quickly, she began, regarding each of the individuals with a smile—Ghost included. Since our pack hunt was a success, and our sister villages have been kind to us while we established ourselves, I wish to gift them the meat from our hunt and some furs I've prepared.

@Valiant, please take one to Moonglow—request the audience of Kukutux and Aiolos, and tell them what I have told you. Although she was still hurt by their last interaction, she had a duty to repay Moonglow for their generosity.

-@Towhee Jr, please take one to Moonspear—for sistraa. Please tell her I think of her and her family and wish them well.- Her ptreo was still clunky, and she hoped she had gotten the message across.

@Raiyuk, please bring this to Rodyn and Heph when you return home and thank them for their generous gift. She'd been lucky to catch his scent; it was easy enough to borrow him for this errand.

She looked at each of them and asked, Do you have any questions?

He recognized the young man who attended, but the girl was familiar to him only because he had come across her scent from time to time. The bird, of course, drew his gaze like a magnet, but he was quick to refocus on Ariadne when she spoke.

A trip to Moonglow. He had been meaning to visit, so he was happy enough to deliver a care package for the young leader. He committed the names and the message to memory even as the next distraction took place — the village head was making odd gestures while she spoke to the girl. Valiant was mystified by this action, and further stymied when the gestures ceased as soon as she turned to address Raiyuk.

"No, ma'am," he replied, although truthfully, the brief summit had left him with a few questions, at least two of them a pointed, excuse me, what the fuck?

But of course, he was too polite to point out this behavior in company.

(He was not too polite to slide a glance in Raiyuk's direction, just to see if the young man might exchange an uneasy or perhaps simply bewildered look with him.)

They were each given a bundle, and instruction. Although the dark wolf — the woman with the bird, who Raiyuk hadn't really been interested in until now — did not speak, and Ariadne motioned to them in a strange way. He thought it was perhaps a secret thing, one indicative of Moonsong, and did not let himself linger upon it for long.

If he was to take this home, he would need to leave soon. He also needed to visit Moonspear to take a tithe to Sialuk, which was something his father had mentioned before his departure. So when bid to take the bundle, Raiyuk drew close to find a place of purchase for his teeth; then he hoisted it up and carried it off, going a short distance before having to adjust.

The work would get done, either way.

a package was given to each of them, an jr inspects the bundle with a delicate curiosity, missing some of ariadne's speech. towhee jr looks up in time to catch her leader signing her instructions. she was to take her bundle to moonspear and to tell sialuk that she and her's were thought of and wished well.

for a moment, jr's stomach clenches as she thinks about moonspear, and how she hadn't even attempted to make contact since she departed months ago.

that she had defied njord's directive to return if things became too tough.

-of course.- jr signs in agreement; offering a soft shake of her head 'no' when the small group was asked if they had any questions.

Last post from me!

They were all in agreement, and there were no further questions. That'd been easy; Ariadne hoped their trips were as simple as this conversation.

-Alright,- she said, signed, and regarded each with a warm look. Please take from our cache before you leave—there should be some caribou jerky in the cache behind you, she pointed to the cache a few yards behind them and then relayed the message to Jr in ptreo.

-And one last thing: please report back when it's been delivered. I would like to hear of how the other villages are doing.- She took a step back. -Thank you all, if you need me, I'll be in my den.- When nothing was asked, she returned to her den and settled into her bed to rest, satisfied with the work that'd been done.

The girl gestured back. By now, Valiant had come to a similar conclusion as Raiyuk; it was a secret language, and he was not meant to be privy to their meaning.

"Yes ma'am," he assured her, just a little unsettled by the exchange. But she was so sweet a woman and the girl so young that he decided it could be nothing untoward. Mischievous, possibly — and, since this was the pack that Dutch had chosen, very likely. He offered the girl a quick smile before realizing that his quarry was getting away from him. "Be well, now," he said in parting, and those casual words managed to sound chiding, almost pleading — but the girl would not hear it, and either way, Valiant did not know that his anxieties shined through even in the most perfunctory of conversations.

He turned to catch up to Raiyuk before the boy could fully disappear.

last from me!

last from me!

believing the conversation(s) to be done — a missed social cue, perhaps — jr's gaze strays to find ghost. with a small huff she summons the young falcon to his usual perch upon the junction betwixt her shoulders. she gathers up her bundle and heads off in direction of moonspear.