Lion Head Mesa How do you know I'm mad?

late evening
37 F

Arielle preferred to remain outside the borders of Akashingo where Ursus had set up camp. Within the mesa was surreal. It was as if it was in a separate reality from the outside world, or at least that was how most of Ramesses wolves seemed to act. It left a bad taste in her mouth. Of course she was polite and went wherever she was needed, but when left to her own devices, she settled for learning the plants that grew outside the borders. 

There were some she knew and some she didn't, and she inspected them closely and carefully. It was a good way to pass the time—to keep the anxious thoughts from her mind as they sat here and waited for the inevitable. 

One plant she found, she knew well. It had no medicinal purpose other than to relieve a sore throat, but she loved the taste of it. She had gathered some, and she picked off a leaf one at a time and chewed it between her teeth as the refreshing minty taste pricked at her tongue. She watched the stars as she repeated the comforting act, searching the sky for answers she knew would not be there.

this night they have been banished from the god's chamber. were jawahir not still filled with good humors after hours spent in the wellspring, this would have stung.
they spy the girl and grin in shadow.
how could one so lovely have wound up with the one-eyed man? jawahir wondered, sulking closer.
what do you see?

MB is skippable, and I leave it to you both if she is discovered or not by them!

So as to not be killed by The Great Ones, who had provided, Mouseberry sought to once more fill their stores. Small things she brought down. Part of her namesake, and other small rodents. She would not see her fellow hurt for bringing her into this strange fold, though she still could not abide by her assigned role. It was not the fault of Satsu, as an individual, but of Mouseberry herself.

Instinct screamed to keep away from the The Great Ones. All of her life, she had depended on such instinct... and it kept her alive. To ignore it was no easy thing, and Mouseberry was unprepared. With that, disinterested. Fleeing them had kept her alive this long. It seemed wrong to go against such so entirely.

Trust was slow to be gained. Mouseberry could seem witless, but even Mouseberry could not answer to what and who she was. All of her life, she had been The Runner; only her mother had called her Mouseberry, for her preference of the smaller and sweet things. What was there to her, beyond surviving?

Wolfscent. Mouseberry froze. All of this wondering, this thinking, would get her killed. Now Mouseberry had time. Time for thought, rather than running to seek her next meal.

She could not see them from here, but she heard the voice of Jawahir. A small comfort. This new scent was not familiar, not at all, more stranger to her than the other faces she had never seen before. And so the coyote turned to seek shelter, thrusting herself into some old burrow. Abandoned or otherwise, she would make it hers for the hour, until the danger had passed.

Mouseberry had not supposed they had detected her.

She wasn't alone for very long, not that she minded. She may not understand the ways in which the Akashingo wolves lived their lives, but she had no reason to dislike any of them. Not yet, anyway. Plus, they had agreed to help them fight the Saints, and Arielle was extremely grateful. 

She turned to look at the woman, offering her a small but amiable smile. Nothing I had hoped for, she answered. She could neither see the future nor could it be found in the stars. Only the bear knew things like that. 

I'm Arielle, she offered. Then she turned back to look at the night sky despite that there were no answers.

jawahir slunk closer with the offering of the name.
i am called jawahir, they purr, while latern-lit eyes train upon the stars.
a moment hangs between them. jawahir studies the girl, intrigued that such a fine-boned creature lived among such rough looking people.
the way their eyes settle upon arielle, to watch the curve of her throat, or the way the starlight catches on the cinnamon of her face, was the same look jawahir might give a man destined for their bed.
an ear twists when they hear the sound of movement upon the sand. it is brief; besides, whatever roams out there in the dark, arielle is far more precious, and vastly more interesting.
do you think a wish upon the stars will win success for us? the warriors of ursus and the tacticians of akashingo, united.

The Akashingo wolf had a comforting presence, and Arielle had never been shy. So she didn't mind when the woman came to sit by her. She offered her name as she moved.

Arielle could feel the coyote's eyes on her. They lingered and inspected, and Arielle suddenly felt self-consciois. Her ears fell, and she glanced over at the woman with a timid smile. When Jawahir briefly looked away, the healer quickly looked back at the sky, only looking away when her company asked whether the stars could afford them a success against the Saints.

No, she promptly answered, giving a slight shake of her head. Her gaze moved upward again before she continued. Only the bear can decide that. Arielle was more sure of that than anything else; it made the prospect of fighting seem less daunting.

they were heathens, then. it was of no consequence to jawahir, who worshipped the wolf foremost, and could entertain the opinions of others. better that they worship something physical and real than a mere notion. bears—jawahir was wise to avoid them entirely.
they smile upward to the constellations.
there is a bear watching you now. up there among the various jewels.
kāhil ud-dubb, the bear's spine, it arcs—there!
jawahir motions to the three prominent stars connected to the bucket-shape of what others have called the dipper; but to them, and to their people, it was dubhe. to ramesses it would be ak, the eye.

Arielle looked at the woman strangely at first. She was going to say the bear is always watching, but it was clear Jawahir meant something else. The healer's gaze wandered back up as she tried to find this bear in the sky.

It took a few moments, but she saw the arc of the spine and followed it forward and backward until the shape of the bear was clear. I see it, she said with soft wonder. Do you know any stories about the bear in the stars? she quickly asked.

the girl might have balked at the idea.
she eventually looked up, tracing a shape with her eyes.
jawahir was pleased.
i was not privy to those lessons, they lamented softly, crossing their paws and adjusting against the earth.
i know some names of stars. they kept me company as a child. a thin smile, and soft inclination that jawahir did not want to delve in to details.

Arielle looked to the coyote woman with a frown, her expression full of unspoken questions. It wasn't as if she said there were no stories to be told to her as a child; she had implied that the stories were available, just not to her. 

But the subject was quickly shifted, and the healer knew she would not get any answers on the coyote's past. She looked back to the stars. Can you tell me the names you know? she asked instead, content to speak of the stars so that they could both forget what they would rather not discuss.

they think about an answer.

humming softly as the memory came, jawahir says to the girl:
alawaid, what was also called ar-ruba; together the stars form warring beasts, trying to hunt, and to separate a child from its parent herd. it was not a grand scene according to the fellahin, who was delegated the task of hunting daily for the mazoi of the mesa, and so their tone was a touch more bored.

it would not be as visible to the eye now, as they were far too south to spy draco.

the brightest star, which i have heard called many names, is  al-judayy, the child. it is also called jady banāt naʿsh, there, motioning to the bear's spine again, this time to the brightest star among the constellation, often used for pointing travelers north.

the child, chased by three mourning mothers. what constituted the arc of the smaller dipper's bowl.

al-judayy, Arielle attempted to repeat; she had chosen that word because it seemed easier to remember than the other name. The healer looked up to the sky, her eyes following the line of stars until they settled on the brightest one. the child, chased by three mourning mothers. It made her a little sad to think they were eternally searching for their lost child. That's a pretty name.

She searched around the bright star, noticing a bigger group of stars that looked similar to the child and the three mourning mothers. Do you know what that one is called? she asked, finally pulling her gaze from the sky.

it did not bother jawahir to have the girl speak their language, though it was a touch clumsy on her tongue. it did bring to mind tremulous bits of memory, pieces of things best forgotten. they are quiet as they watch the girl studying the stars.
when she speaks, jawahir looks to trace their dark eyes in an arc, seeing what the bear-girl sees.
i do not, the coyote murmurs with an inviting tone, wondering if the girl will give her own answer.

Hmmm, Arielle answered absently, her focus on inspecting the stars that made up the strangely familiar shape. It would have been nice if Jawahir had been able to tell her a story and a name associated with the new group of stars, but the healer wasn't disappointed. 

Maybe we can make up our own name and own story? she suggested. At least until we learn what it is actually called. Maybe someone else in Ursus or Akashingo would be able to tell them more later. For now, they could create anything they wanted.

They created a good story that night, one that Arielle would remember every time she looked up at the stars. After, they parted ways, the coyote to akashingo and the healer to the Ursus camp.