Ouroboros Spine surprise

At first light, Sialuk woke. She greeted @Kukutux warmly, then headed out to hunt. "A man's work," anaa would have said, but they had no men. For now, it was just the two of them, and Sialuk must become both hunter and warrior while her mother rested and regained the strength in her leg. She thought of when she had met the witch in Bramblepoint, wondering if the blind woman would be able to help, but asking it seemed like too much. They were not as close to the Redhawks as they had been with the glen. The raindrop did not feel she knew them as kin.

There had been no word from Meerkat, and the Ostrega feared the worst. Perhaps nobody lived on the spear or in the glen any longer, as she had suspected from that first moment. Wiped out. Only she, anaa, and Meerkat had survived the strange storm. Perhaps Meerkat had been taken by the aftermath.

Overhead, Sixsix squawked at her, swooping low and back up, then tore off in another direction. This, she knew to be a good sign. Carrion. She did not believe herself to be above scavenging, and she breathed a sigh of relief, saying a silent prayer to the spirits who guided Sixsix (and by extension, Sialuk) to the meal.

She hadn't slept since her nap in the hot springs. Meerkat didn't think she would be able to, though not long after reuniting with what little was left of Moonspear's and Firefly Glen's tatterdemalion ranks, she must've passed out. The next thing she knew, she was groggily awaking to a bright but overcast morning, her muzzy eyes darting around for any sign of @Bronco or the others.

Pushing herself upright, Meerkat abruptly remembered her words to Sialuk. Hoping her friend could hear her over at the spine, the yearling raised her muzzle to let her know, "I found my brother and some other survivors!" That was the good news.

She wanted to ask Sialuk and @Kukutux to come meet them here, though she remembered the latter was injured. They would have to go to them, if anything. But Meerkat still wasn't entirely certain of their next steps.

@Raimo was somewhere within the circle of stone teeth, but kukutux could not be certain of where. the worn otter skin lay between her paws, something to busy herself while sialuk was away hunting.

the bird had followed. kukutux was beginning to see the nuances of their bond. tulugaq was wise and strong. if his spirit had chosen to be totem to sialuk, then this was a good thing.

meerkat's call startled her, and then relief. she had known the girl lived, and yet it was good to hear her voice all the same. she spoke to sialuk with a message. kukutux' own tones flowed out in greeting to the firefly.

Still AW, especially since the other two are elsewhere.

Trustworthy as always, Sixsix led her to the freshly-collapsed corpse of an ungulate. It was a gift from the spirits, and Sialuk cried out with a happy sound when she saw it. No other creature had yet touched it, but she knew that would not last long. Whatever caused its death, it had been sudden. A failing of its heart, perhaps. It was old, and the meat was still lukewarm.

Sixsix perched on the animal's head, pecking out an eye. A squeamish sight for some, but Sialuk knew it was his favorite piece of any found food. She was about to work on the organs when she heard Meerkat's call. Her brother, which Sialuk assumed to be Bronco, and some others, unspecified.

"Norah lives. She has found us here," Sialuk called back, then eagerly went to work on the caribou, starting with the richest and rarest meat for herself. If it had been easier to carry, she would have brought it to anaa, but Sialuk knew that a hunter needed her strength, too. She gorged herself on as much as she could stomach as the qugax continued to deface the creature.

Calls from the lowlands, from higher on the mountain, and from where the woman rested. What Raimo thought to be two stranded wolves piecing themselves together sounded like more now. He listened to the information as he came and resisted the urge to call back them — an instinct that was easy to dismiss. Instead, he tracked the sound of the girl's voice and found her not long after the calls ceased.

Raimo prowled a good distance from where the caribou's corpse lay frozen to the ground. He heard the tearing of skin before he saw the curve of the girl's spine as she ate, and waited for her to take a breath. Was she even chewing her food? The work of keeping her mother fed must have been draining; but he was here now, he could help.

Doing well for yourself, little hunter. He remarks lowly, his dark face rising to be level with his shoulders, and he moved towards the carcass, sniffing at the musk-riddled air.

Focused on nourishing herself, she had not noticed him approach. She chided herself for not keeping herself more alert, and her skin prickled at the sound of his voice. Sixsix remained where he was for a moment, but as the black wolf drew near, he flew to the safe haven of a pine branch above. He had not survived this long around predators because he lacked intelligence.

She kept herself calm, cool, collected. Anaa had said they were indebted to him for the food he had given, and Sialuk knew she could not eat this whole elk, even if she intended to bring a leg of it back to her mother. The spirits chose for this one to die so that we may live. I will take one leg for anaa, and you may have the rest. Sialuk was glad she had managed to take a majority of the richest meat for herself. She purposefully used her native tongue to refer to her mother, not wishing him to know their relation. The less he knew, the better.

This settles our debt. There was an air of finality in her statement.

The girl gave him the cold shoulder. He did not expect much else from her, however. The way she spoke of the dead thing was odd to him but he liked it for how different it was; being a physical creature and not so much a spiritual one, Raimo was intrigued by the mention of spirits. These were things he could ask about at another time.

When Sialuk spoke of the debt being cleared, Raimo chuffed. That is for your elder to decide, he corrected. I will bring what I can carry so that she can recover. This meat is dead, cold. I will hunt for something else after. He did not need the girl to give him orders or decide anything for him. Raimo knew he was a stronger provider.

Still, he liked the straight-forward way Sialuk proported herself. She seemed the hardier of the two somehow. Without waiting for commentary from her, Raimo moved towards the carcass and began to pick apart what he could reach.

Sialuk knew she could not win against him, so she remained aloof. She wanted to tell him that she did not need his help. That she disliked him. That she wished for him to go. But she could not enforce it. Her expression showed none of this, remaining a blank slate. She would have to keep her true self hidden from him. It was how it needed to be until they found somebody who could chase him out. Sialuk could not do it on her own, and he knew where the ulaq was. Anaa could not flee with her for some time, and Sialuk could not leave her mother here with him anywhere nearby. It was a bitter truth.

She began to chew at a front shoulder, slowly working her way to the joint where it connected with the rest of the body. In time, she could disconnect it and begin to haul it back to the snow ulaq. She did not know or care what he would to bring back, but this would be for anaa. Again, Sialuk was grateful that she had gotten to the most nourishing meat first.

After his rejoinder the girl went quiet. She worked at the shoulder of the dead beast while he pulled at the rest, worrying an exposed rib, crunching at frozen tissue, whatever else. It did not occur to Raimo that he might have been offensive. He saw these two wolves in need of help — one which had called out to the wilderness for it — and believed he was right in his actions.

It was not his fault they thought this endeavor was transactional; nor was it his fault for capitalizing on the concept since they were not inclined to accept his presence otherwise.

Raimo gradually filled his belly with tough meat that he would soon regurgitate in to a cache; it was not ideal but it was a commonplace manner of gathering from a kill. Any pieces he could cleave from the skeleton (meat or bone) would be brought to the meeting place he had found the woman.

As he concluded his work he regarded the girl again, licking his lips to return warmth to them after the work upon the frozen flesh. You do not like me. That is alright. He remarks; it isn't hard to see, her intermittent glances and worried silences telegraphed as much to him. But I am able-bodied and willing to help you, the both of you. Does that not warrant some kindness in return?

A pause. Raimo watches for any changes in her expression and cups his ears towards her in case she has anything to say, but doubts he will be given much to work with.

I cannot like or dislike that which I do not know. Likeness comes with passing days, of which we have had not had many. I offer you kindness with this meat, with the otter skin. There were no lies in her words, so speaking them comes naturally. If he did not like their kindness, he could find other women to hunt for. Sialuk would have preferred it that way.

She worked the shoulder again, fanning her ears back for any further false wisdom he wished to give. Her distrust in him grew thicker, unimpressed with his pressure to make them friends and family. She kept this to herself, though she already planned what to say to anaa when she returned to the ulaq.

He supposed he could not fault them for being wary of a stranger, well-intentioned as he may be, especially if they expected a certain level of cultural sensitivity that he did not possess. Fine, he thought. Raimo could offer other things if it was necessary.

You know my name. You know I am a capable hunter, willing to help you. Clearly it was not enough. I can tell you I mean no harm to you, or to your mother, but I doubt you will trust me at my word. Even though he'd worked to feed them and done nothing to harm them. It did not matter so much to Raimo what Sialuk thought; although to turn her in to a friend would certainly benefit him, he would not try too hard to do so.

In time they would reach an understanding — or they wouldn't, and he would be on his way. For now there was meat to transport. Raimo silenced and worked at the carcass some more, paying more attention to the work now than the girl. If she should leave with her haunch he would take little notice.

Last from me!

He referred to Kukutux as her mother, and she wondered what anaa had told him. Perhaps he merely assumed. Sialuk had been careful to keep that secret to herself. The raindrop said no more to him, working at the shoulder until she could free the joint from its socket. She carried it back to the ulaq as quickly as she could, hoping that he would not follow too closely. She needed to speak with anaa.