Ouroboros Spine i grieve in stereo, the stereo sounds strange

@Yuralria <3!

Anaa had a bird.

A brown crow that sat over the ulaq where she rested. She called him beyond. In the brief time where Kassuq was among them, he had a bird too. An owl he never seemed to acknowledge.

Lightfoot had wanted one herself. One that was fast. A runner, like her. Like one of the fast hawks she saw from a distance, swooping to grab a rabbit. She kept her eyes open for the right occasion, hoping beyond hope that maybe one would simply come to her.

Today, she ran. Lengthening legs churned the dirt beneath her paws, sending clots into the sky as Three Sisters opened before her. She flew through the lavender fields, banking sharply around one of the stately trees with a laughing apology to it, before she careened right for the soft, lapping waters of the lake. Lightfoot hit the surface at speed, finally slowing down when a slip on a rock drove her under.

Now sopping, she hauled herself out of the water and looked up to the sky. Nothing. No bird to come land on her shoulder, no sound of feathers rustling. Lightfoot’s waggling tongue retreated into her mouth, and her face soured into a pout.

Don’t get it. She murmured as she plopped her rear on the ground outside the lake, not even bothering to shake water from her fur.

Unlike Lightfoot, Yuralria had no interest in birds. They were loud and irritating and got all up in her business - like they were doing right now. She had been tasked in preparing a caribou skin to line the guest ulax. It was tedious work, but the skygazing girl had begun to enjoy the repetitiveness of it. First, she would saturate the hide in lakewater and use a sharpened jawbone to scrape off any remaining fat and meat. 

And that was all she had done so far, for a gaggle of brave magpies had begun to caw and peck at the fur as she worked. Yuralria would bare her teeth and snap at them only for them to saunter right back! She had just about had enough when a deafening crash made her visibly jump. Startled, the birds took off into the trees, leaving the girl to wonder what in Sedna's name had made all that noise.

"Are you trying to scare the fish or something?" came Yuralria's scolding yell as she rushed to where her sister now sat bedraggled on the shore. What a bird-brained fool! Although the sun shone warm on the lake, there was a definite chill in the air - her voice softened. "C'mon, you'll get cold if you sit like that for much longer."

It was a welcome break and Yuralria was in no hurry to return to her work, though she really ought to start the drying process soon.

Of course, it was Yuralria who found her. Lightfoot ducked her head in an attempt to look sheepish, tail patting the ground in a swaying up and down motion.

Had to slow down somehow. She quipped in a witty retort (for her, at least), ignoring that she didn’t actually slow once she hit the lake. The rock had been her slowing point, actually.

But she wasn’t about to tell her sister that.

I’m going to impress a bird. So I can have one like anaa. But I need a fast bird. So, I run fast. It made sense in Lightfoot’s head, so she doubted she’d need to explain further. She moved to her feet, shaking off the water in a torrential tidal wave of water droplets.

I’ll dry eventually. She grumbled in a good natured huff of a tone, but she went trundling along after her sister after a moments pout.