Ouroboros Spine Catch me outside.

Tulukiri followed @Callyope to where she stopped walking, which was a place called the three sisters. She was quiet for the most part; occasionally spitting some fur or blood in to the grass as they went, but otherwise brooding.

Once there, she paced.

Look, that lady hates me, okay? Nothin' I can do about that. She grimaced and sat, then stood and paced, and couldn't make up her mind what to do.

She had plenty of warning to stop. I asked nicely, just wanted to do my job. She kept pushin', so. Talk shit, get bit. Here she paused and shrugged, glowering.

Callyope would ask her sit, once her piece had been said.

Along the way she had picked up some meat, offered it now between them. She did not have herbs with her. Yet the field was full of things of use and the young woman did not seem like she would die without sudden care.

What is she pushing?

Callyope's ears swept back before they stood tall. Nervous, concerned, curious. She had never seen Amalia act in such a way.

It had shook something within her.

She has it in her head that I'm some deadbeat, waste of space, jerk-off! Tulukiri explained in her own terms. Her steps punched at the grass as she spoke, punctuating each syllable. She sighed after and was finally out of gas.

She sat again.

Her boss, Kigipigak, was called away by my boss, Tulimaq. Served as my trainer for a while. Then when we broke away from Tulimaq together, we headed to his village. That's where it all started. Amalia came at me first! Her scruff bristled up and down, puffing, deflating, a show of her annoyance.

She was punished for it. I let it go. I really, really do not give a shit! Her voice was full of mirth as she drew a long breath and exhaled a tired chuckle, but there was no warmth, no real humor there. And now today, she comes at me with a list of all the ways I've fucked up!

I told her to stop. She didn't. Instead she talks shit about my family — about Tartok — and I'm supposed to just let her? Ah, nah, ain't gonna happen. Her paws flexed against the dirt, feeling it crush underclaw.

The other girl spoke words Callyope had never heard before.

An explosion of things and from tone alone she knew what was good, what was bad. She was surprised by the events that unfolded.

Amalia had come at her first, long before Moonglow. Now today it had sprung again, in the form of insulting this woman's family. Tartok. Callyope's face was painted with sympathy and concern in equal turns.

No. She agreed somberly. I have not known her to do this. A soft shake of her head. Disappointment in healthy doses rung in her voice.

I am sorry she treats you as such. Did she have reason for the first?

She could not fathom any of it! Amalia! An attacker!

Callyope's words only incensed Tulukiri over again, feeling at once like a victim who cried wolf, or treated as such. She bristled again and shot the girl a look before holding back the urge to shout, or do something equally reckless.

She eyed the meal that was between them instead, but did not reach for it.

She thought she was defending the village. Kigipigak led the way, but she saw me first and attacked. It was over and done with, and everything resolved. The fact that Amalia kept bringing it up was reason enough to smack her in the head.

How would you feel? You haven't seen your family since you were a couple months old, someone presents an opportunity to at least live among your people again, and you get jumped? Its bullshit. She fumed more from the recent fight than the previous one, though it made no difference.

So yeah, she's a bitch. She hates me. I can't work with her and she won't listen when I tell her to back off. You gonna rat me out? Tulukiri wouldn't blame the girl if she did, it was her duty. A piece of her did wonder what Amalia was doing, or saying, and her ears slanted with worry.

Her ears pinned back against her skull.

Some part of her saw a sliver of herself. That this may have been what she would become with all the sadness she carried. Would this girl burry a bone amongst them with emotions? She did not seem spiritual in that regard, and Callyope knew better than to bring it up now.

Rat you out? A bit perplexed, but she had more important things to say.

I have seen the things you have told me. When I arrived she bared teeth at you, you respond. This did not mean she favored the response, but she had little reason to think the girl may be lying! She will tell Moonwoman things. I will ask to hear these things. I will tell her what I have seen.

It is like I do not know the woman I saw today. She confessed with a soft sigh.

The girl had a perplexed look on her face, likely missing something in translation, but Tulukiri didn't really notice beyond the surface level expression.

She sounded exasperated from the retelling. Tulukiri was outright triggered by everything that had transpired between herself and Amalia, and now her skin hummed with adrenaline she could do nothing about.

I don't know her at all. Tulukiri went on to admit. I don't care to either.

She yawned; not because she was tired or anything, but to ease some of the tension in her jaw and neck. The fight had left her sore. Movement like this smarted, alerting Tulukiri to her torn ear all over again.

Can I get back to work?

The worse tense, a sizzle down her own spine to hear them.

Moonglow could not have strife thriving within it! She imagined her mother would agree, would she not? Something would need to be done about this.

What of your ear?

Her lips pulled tightly together.

The girl shrugged, but didn't rise.

She hunched a bit, licking her lips and feeling suddenly very tired as her adrenaline began to drain away.

Its just a little cut. She didn't know for sure. The wound still seeped blood, she could feel it and smell it where it dribbled along the side of her head.

Let me patch it, then you may go.

She did not want to hear an argument against it. She rose to go gather cobwebs, uncertain if the golden woman would even stay.

But Callyope would not be left to say she did not at least tried.

The girl moved quickly to fetch webbing, going so swiftly that Tulukiri could not even think to refuse; but the warning hung there that said not to, or that's how Tulukiri heard it.

She waited for them to return and attend the wound, and by the end of it Tulukiri was on her feet and roaming in search of something to occupy her energies with.

could be a fade here or in a reply <3

Warrior, She clicked in her native tongue upon her arrival.

She knew not what else to call the young woman! Her face felt warm for it, but that was neither here nor there.

It may hurt. She would need to clean the area first, only then could she attach the cobwebs to the woman's ear as a means to keep it from dripping blood all over.

Regardless, she could set her free after all of this.

She stopped when the girl returned, alerted more to the word spoken than the presence, and settled so that the wound could be tended to.

At the mention of pain Tulukiri smiled wolfishly, implying without a word that she could handle it. There was blood in her teeth she couldn't see.

While the other girl worked, Tulukiri waited.

When the dust had settled, she would tell her mother Moonwoman of the injury. That way somebody proper could see to it.

She licked it till she could see the place. For now the blood could be slowed and the wound protected at least slightly from the cobwebs.

Go, warrior. I will not keep you.

A timid smile upon her features.

After the wound was cleaned and the web applied, Callyope said something softly that straightened Tulukiri's spine a little. She enjoyed hearing the familiar words of Tartok upon the girl's tongue; though they were different from one another, their words were the same.

She stood and was ready to go, but as she stepped away, Tulukiri murmured quietly in the words they shared: Thank you, medicine woman

With that, she was off.