Duck Lake doublemeat palace

Sialuk found herself far, far away from the spear for the first time in a long time. @Treepie was old enough now to be on her own, her other children had gone, and she felt less tied down than she had in a very, very long time. For so long, she had tied herself to others, but she thought, come spring, she would not do the same.

That was not to say that she would not follow her instincts, as she had every year before... but she would distance herself emotionally from those who would bed her. She would guard her heart against them, building walls so she might not feel the acute pain of their departure. Moonspear was always meant to be a village that would raise its children no matter their mother or father, and when the snow began to melt and her time came, Sialuk would not let herself fall in love again.

She sat at the edge of the lake in the late afternoon as she made this decision, watching the small waves crash upon the shore. Soon, it would be frozen over, a solid mass that would no longer bend to the will of the wind.

morwenna's paws carried her steadily along the edge of the lake, her gaze scanning the familiar ripples of the water that mirrored the mood of the season—restless, yet composed. she halted at the sight of the pale figure sitting by the water, her form framed by the golden haze of the late afternoon sun. it was a wistful scene, one that compelled morwenna to draw closer.

the woman was still, a part of the landscape itself, her thoughts seemingly as deep and vast as the lake before her. morwenna’s own thoughts flickered like the leaves in the wind, and she could not help but speak as she approached.

you seem lost in thought, she said softly, her voice carrying no judgment, only an observant warmth. pondering something with great measure, it seems.

she stopped a respectful distance away, her starhued eyes resting on the wistful woman. you are not from around here? her scent was unfamiliar to these lands.

Perhaps, when she returned to the spear, she would seek council with the bones once again. It had been too long since she had asked them to guide her in the right direction. Since her discussion with Killdeer, she felt even more empowered to make changes in her life.

Footsteps derailed her train of thought, and Sialuk's sunny eyes settled on the dark charcoal figure of another woman. She appeared friendly, though her observations struck Sialuk as rather presumptuous, considering they were strangers. A village not so far from here, Sialuk replied. The tallest mountain in the range west of this one. To make her point, the sage gestured toward the peak of Sunspire, the tallest of this particular range.

morwenna followed the woman’s gesture, her pale eyes tracing the line of the distant mountain against the sky. her gaze lingered, thoughtful, as memories stirred unbidden. she could almost feel the cool press of the sea winds against her fur, hear the rhythm of the waves crashing against the shores of evenspire—a time when her own village had stood strong.

her silence stretched between them, but it was not unfriendly. instead, it carried a quiet reverence for the moment, for the lake, and for the white woman whose gaze seemed lost in something deeper.

the mountains, morwenna murmured finally, her voice low, more to herself than the other. they see everything, hold it all.

she thought to ask more, about this village, about the life the woman had left behind or perhaps still lived, but the words felt heavy on her tongue. instead, she let the weight of her musings settle into the stillness, sharing the quiet reverie of the lake.

An uneasy feeling crept over Sialuk as the other continued. She spoke in riddles that did not sit well with the sage, and her paws clenched the earth below her. There were all kinds of stories about creatures that appeared as one thing, but were another underneath their skin. That was the sense the Ostrega could not shake from the other. Her skin prickled with disquiet.

Sialuk turned toward the sound of a bird landing on the branch of a nearby tree, seeing it was Sixsix. That settled her nerves to some extent, but she knew she could not stay here, lest this creature wearing a wolf's face began to rip apart her spirit.

I should be moving on, Sialuk said, her voice coming out more shakily than she had intended it to. Perhaps, if she could leave before the creature had a true read on her, she could escape whatever terrible fate it had out for her.

morwenna’s gaze lingered on the white woman for a moment longer, a hum low in her throat. without a word, she turned and began to leave, her steps measured and deliberate. the encounter had left her unsettled, the strange woman’s presence scratching at the edges of her patience.

a soft huff escaped her lips as she moved deeper into the wilderness. hmm. she muttered to herself, the scoff hanging in the air like a stray thought. she shook her head lightly, dismissing the odd exchange.

and weird one.