Moonsong Glacier like every verse of a living, breathing fairy tale

When Nephele had departed, Dutch sought out @Sulukinak. He had been busy with something or other, and probably sad and broody about Fallen Sun and Eira disappearing. But the clouds had parted — and with the light of the sun shining on his face, he felt very keenly the absence of his shadow girl.

He followed her trail to where her scent grew strong, a low sound rumbling in his throat in question.

Later, he would find Aditya, and they would all go together. For now, though, he wanted to see no one but Sulukinak.

the scent of the woman nephele came back to the glacier, and for a moment the intensity of sulukinak's emotions drew her from cover to investigate; but before she could emerge to see if this was a real moment, the scent changed, and with it the interest of the girl diminished.

if it was really her, then what? nothing. nothing.

she sulked back among the trees. she was there for a little while before another scent came to her — and the sound of her man dutch carrying lowly through the dark.

sulukinak did not come out of her hiding place to meet him.

No answer. The panther stood still for a long moment, breathing in the scent of spring. She was near, he thought, and was suddenly breathless with a surge of fear and guilt. He had not taken good care of Sulukinak, either.

Moving carefully, he made a more thorough search of the area.

"Sulu?" he called softly, sticking his nose into a bush. No one was inside. His head lifted, and he cast his gaze around. "Shadow girl?"

he called, she did not answer.

he watched for her and when the moment drew too long, enough that he might go, she finally spoke from the dark.

they left. was all she said at first; wherever her voice came from, it lanced from the dark with an air of indifference, which was an obvious defense mechanism by the girl.

feel nothing; then, nothing hurts.

they came, they took, they went.

i told you so.

He breathed out an unsteady sigh of relief when she revealed herself, and he hurried closer. Close enough to see the shuttered cast to her features through the dark before his steps faltered. But the reproof that came from her lips was not the one he'd expected.

"They did," he agreed, his voice hoarse. He pushed through the last of his reserve and sought out her hiding place, crawling on his belly to try and get a better look at her. "And I was sad to see it."

He was distracted for a moment, trying to gauge whether the hiding place was big enough for both of them, and whether trying to fit himself in alongside her would earn him a bite on the nose. In the end, he laid his head on his paws instead.

"But we are still here together," he told her. "And I am grateful for every day that I have with you."

i thought you'd gone too.

maybe not. maybe he had been mourning their losses? maybe he had gone to hunt for the hungry people who had stolen away so many. he was here now; she watched dutch now as if he might disappear.

a momentary contemplation—and she extricates herself from her wallow, climbing deftly from among tree roots and stone to find the more stable earth where he lays.

what do we do?

His face fell —

"Never without you," he said, his heart twisting at the idea. Not just of being without her, but of her being without him. Of her thinking that she might be, even for a short while.

He backed out of the hidey-hole as she exited, and then remained low to the earth as she approached. If he had been finding himself more and more attached to Aditya, it was nothing compared to his feelings for Sulukinak. They were a team, she and he. As long as they stood together, they would never be alone.

"We will go to be with the seal hunters — me and you and my father, and Simbelmyne," he told her, watching her face for the distress he was sure she would feel. He felt guilt all over again to think of bringing her amongst all those other wolves. But — "I won't go so long without seeking you again," he promised. "Here — I don't like how leadership split my attention. From now on, I want my life to be full of those most important to me."

And Sulukinak was of great importance to him.

it was good to have a plan. that much she'd take away from all of this.

they would go to be with the seal-hunter people, which was fine with her; she was closer to them than anyone, sulukinak judged. they knew the ice and the cold the way she did, and beyond that she understood the connection between her dutch man and the man chakliux, and it was important.

he mentioned his father, and sulukinak nodded; she liked the old man well enough. he was very old, though. sulukinak wondered to herself if the man would make the trip—and her thoughts emptied from her head when dutch mentioned another name, a simbelmyne. that was one of the women who had joined their village, wasn't it?

she squinted but said nothing. if nothing else, simbelmyne hadn't abandoned the glacier the way the others had.

okay, the girl quietly agreed, nosing at dutch's cheek before withdrawing from the affectionate moment, eager to get a move on.

She showed few outward signs of reservation, but Dutch would not be convinced of her happiness until the had arrived and settled in amongst the seal hunters. He would take better care of her. There was no excuse not to without the burden of leadership upon his shoulders.

"Okay," he said, warmth flooding his chest. The would go, then, all together.

After months of pining, he would be exactly where he wanted to be.

"Okay," he said again, breathing out all his worries in a soft sigh. This was a good move. This was what they should have done in the first place. "Let's get the last of the pelts together — and then we will call the others, and we will go."

she would have cavorted along the familiar paths and gone away from moonsong entirely, had he not spoken again. the sense that there was more work to do had slipped from sulukinak's mind; she did not care for the pelts, or the memories of those people attached to them. she did not see any value in keeping these stale remnants around. but dutch wanted them, so...

the girl nods, waits for him, and together they head off to find what little remains.