Otatso Wetlands night shadow

their peace disturbed, the caribou ran before sun eater as he charged them outside the forest.

belly filled, he did not hunt; he ran at the herds for the sake of it, testing them. among their number were old bulls who would see their end this winter, younger males already injured from the rut. here and there an antler had been shattered, and it was these weaker caribou whom sun eater meant to remember at a later time.

as the moon rose, he was a darkness upon the land, snaking up on white-tufted tails which bounded away in panic.

his teeth clicked loudly among them.

Movement made the man switch into hunting mode. 

He did not need to eat- but he did need to chase. A fleeing animal triggered the instinct to pursue, and when he saw Sun Eater move, he hastily picked himself up without bothering to shake free the dried grass, and bolt after the man. 

He wasn't sure if they were hunting- he remained an accomplice, watching for the shadow's cues. His gaze scanned the herd as they moved, a silvered sea of bounding caribou moving like waves in the moonlight. He noted those who bolted the fastest- who shouldered others aside, who blasted a warning with their nostrils. They were healthy, watchful, and unsympathetic to their herdmates. Ridgeback wanted to wrestle one to the ground simply because it shoved its way past the slower, weaker caribou-

but it was not the fleet that were their target.

ridgeback.

the name suited this man more than sheep killer. sun eater had almost called him lambkill. but the new title was fitting, and ran alongside the one his wife had taken.

it was good to have the hunter beside him, testing, watching.

"niłdzitaataande!" the caribou man shouted, motioning to the faintest path along which the herd was divvying itself in two.

between panicked bodies, he glimpsed a bull with a dire cut to his shoulder, veering hard to the right as clods of dirt flew into the air.

It wasn't easy, running at top speed with a head tilted in confusion- but Ridgeback managed well, maintaining his surprised expression for several strides when a word was shouted that he didn't recognize. He thought at first maybe it was several words slammed together- until he remembered that Sun Eater had a different mother tongue. He clamped his parted lips shut and turned his head forward, at first only noticing the broader path through the woodlands. 

The herd split, with some veering down a more subtle, narrow path. It might force them to fall into single line, and cause those at the rear to slow down so that they did not charge blindly side-by-side through branches that would snap and tear at their flesh. Puffs of breath blasted up into the tree limbs in a mist that might later turn to frost. There was hesitation, confusion- and amid the swarming mass of beige fur there was a rake of dark red on the shoulder of a bull who lunged to the right. Ridgeback heaved a breath, and cast a side-eye to Sun Eater, watching for the next direction.

often did sun eater place himself into the role of teacher, and this was one such movement.

he drove the bull through fireweave trees which shed their leaves and created obstacles of tumbled root; he slashed the hindquarters until shining blood spattered the ground.

as caribou peeled away from the killing path, the bull's stride became more desperate, more headlong. wounded animals ran down into gullies, and today would hardly be an exception.

plume revolved to keep him intent upon his quarry, sidelong glance reaching once for ridgeback.

The one they chased left a spattering of blood in its wake. Ridgeback was a cruel whip, surging forward to grab and brake, allowing the creature to pull his fangs through its flesh as it struggled from his grasp. Flying hooves sought only to put distance between them, but every now and again one would flash out with a quick kick to try and discourage the hunters that harried it. Its harrowed attempts would succeed, but only for a second. 

Second by second, it became abandoned by its peers, and strike by strike it would become weaker. While his own breath came in pants, the likelihood of a warm meal drew him forward. He took a risky bargain and nabbed the caribou just above its fetlock where the ligaments were tight, hanging on though the animal tried to jerk the limb forward to take another stride. It pulled Ridgeback forward, but he denied the animal the ability to put its hoof down until he released his grip, strumming the tendons with his fangs.

ridgeback had different tactics against the caribou. sun eater found himself watchful over these movements, grinning in pleasure to see how strong the man's hold was.

he himself set an increase in speed, lunging to halt their quarry, slinging snaps and forcing the animal to level heavy antlers at him instead. 

claws ripped dirt from earth, root from ground; sun eater at the caribou's shoulder as it careered toward a tripping halt.

Confronted by the one-eyed chieftan, the caribou swung its head low as its momentum ceased. Ridgeback dodged a hoof sent out to steady the creature as Sun Eater lunged for its shoulder. He then leapt to sink his fangs into the stretched flesh of the animal's opposite flank, using the strength of his jaw power and the weight of his body to work together in tandem. His hind feet grazed the ground as he hung like a weight from the caribou's flesh, clenching his teeth together as hard as he could so that his grip did not falter. 

It brought him back to his childhood- and a game that his uncle had introduced to the litter of feisty children as a clever means of ensuring their best behavior. They would each leap up and grab onto a low branch, and see who could hang on the longest. It kept them quiet, and all in one place. Stubbornness ran so deep in his family that it often allowed his uncle to consume an entire meal in peace while they competed. His uncle had been a clever man. 

But this was no tree, this was a caribou, a living animal that felt the pain of having the full weight of a wolf hang from its underside. It took two kicks for Ridgeback to yelp and drop free from his hold. The first glanced across his leg, the second caught him in the abdomen. He landed on all four feet and dipped his head to avoid a third strike.

harried, their quarry struck out. with a shout sun eater released his hold, the caribou colliding with his own shoulder in a final desperate bid to sail beyond the two hunters.

he struck the ground, rolling hard against its rise.

but the creature was wounded now, blood evident on its coat even as it galloped from the saatsine wolves. single eye tracked before he stood, moving to ridgeback with the intention of regroup.

the challenge would make the meat sweeter, he felt, rousting the pained animal from wherever it attempted a discovery of peace. "hurt?" he grunted, muzzle reaching to test for the sense of blood or concussion in ridgeback.

No.

The word slipped out through gritted teeth; one he had learned from Ice Diver. Ridgeback was slower to consume and properly pronounce the words that his wife taught him, but simpler expressions had begun to stick. 

He could feel the hoof-shaped welt swelling the skin on his belly, but the caribou had missed his ribs, and his abdominal muscles had absorbed the majority of the impact. He stretched briefly, and licked his lips, sharing breath for a moment with the Chieftan, having seen him go rolling a moment ago. 

He huffed, and his hungry gaze fell, with renewed focus, on the wounded bull.

"ha! you are learning," and the single eye shone with fierce accolade to hear lanzadoii in ridgeback's voice. "now i tell you your name in our words. it is s'dates'uyents’uu, man who walks with the point of a mountain upon his back."

now! now! did the man see?

"two names," sun eater grinned. "three names. one over other." the layered identity, the ultimate insulation of the lanzadoii caribou hunters.

Saliva pooled in the corners of his lips as he watched the wounded bull draw away from them, and an ear flicked toward Sun Eater was not enough for him to fully catch the translation of his name. By the third syllable, he realized that this was not going to be as simple as the other words he'd learned, and abruptly clamped his mouth shut and in the same motion, tilted his head hard to the side and perked both of his ears. 

He was quiet for a moment. Ice Diver was much better at this than him. Can you say that again? he asked, with a light wince. He was not an auditory learner, he might as well admit it. ...A couple times?

twice more. then a third. sun eater was calm in his repetition. "it is many sounds. not like yours."

chin gestured to the bull with a tilt of his head. "we will leave. we wait. then we will hunt him again. he is strong. so he live longer."

trading blows among the endless herding of caribou was a way for the hunters to test themselves. thus far no wolves had offered tooth. but it would come. he would be ready.

It would take Ridgeback time to fully learn his name- and time again for him to be able to pronounce it correctly. His concentration was divided, between hearing these foreign syllables and watching the bull caribou as it meandered away- until, of course, the hunt was called off. 

He was hungry to complete the kill, and his teeth chattered lightly, with the spillover of adrenaline that had been summed but not used up. He nodded though, and clenched his teeth together.

The caribou would fall another day.