Silvertip Mountain i have made the universe the way i wanted to

tags for ref! kiva would've definitely told them he was venturing out to try to find her again. <3

sakhmet is still gone.

after sending a howl to @Kukutux and @Aiolos, kivaluk ventures out.

further than he's ever gone.

further than he's ever wanted to.

he was a homebody by nature, chainbound by duty and the desire to be the exact opposite of kigipigak and akkuma —

he tucks thoughts of them away; firmly.

his focus: sakhmet. the thought that she would leave her newborn ... or moonglow without word was a troubling one.

there is nothing overly appealing about silvertip mountain: aside from the fact that it was a territory he has not yet checked ( though it feels like a shot in the dark ).

he continues the climb, the mouth of a cave holding his attention, wondering if she might've found refuge there or in some place similar; trying to beat back the fear that he is largely grasping at straws.

sorcha was starving. she and @Antigone had hunted on the plateau together until her strength had failed her. and then she had been separated from him by a thundering rain, which swept the flatlands and led sorcha toward the distant mountains which marked the entrance to the sea.
the mouth of the cave was far too high for the emaciated girl to even consider. she whined and called out for her companion, curling in a shiver at the base of silvertip and seeking sleep for dinner — again.

a whine and then a call rises: heard over the unsteady thumping of kivaluk's heart; accelerated due to the climb he'd begun to embark. he wasn't so sure of this height, of the path of jutted out rock hugging the side of the mountain.

he knew, of course, that the caller wasn't sakhmet; but blind hope pushes kivaluk back down the rocky path to the ground.

steps are more stable as he veers in the direction of the sound(s); soft disappointment flooding him as he is forced to face the reality that it is not his mother.

but kivaluk cannot simply turn his back.

hey, he calls out; leaving distance between them. are you ok?

a welter of stones. a figure descended.
sorcha heard his voice and knew only it was not antigone. tears of hunger, of fear, of exhaustion broke and gathered into a sob she held in her throat.
"n-no." her time in brecheliant, in its love, had made sorcha no stranger to asking for what she needed. "i'm — please, do you have any food?" she asked, weakness straining her voice almost to nothing as she took another breath from thinned breast.

no.

kivaluk's stomach twists, silveredchampagne gaze searching her for any signs of physical injury.

not that, he knows, he would be much help if she was. herbology was best left to wolves other than kivaluk who's only skills were of the tracking , hunting and fighting variants.

food.

a strange wave of relief floods kivaluk. that, he can help with.

i don't, he tells her truthfully but adds quickly, but i can hunt something for you.

stay right here. he tells her, though she didn't appear to be in much of a state to venture off.

he spares her a worried look over his shoulder for a moment before he sets off: nearby, close enough that she can hear that he hasn't abandoned her.

kivaluk runs through his options: rabbits are plentiful, as are squirrels. birds too, though she'd have to work to get thru their feathers first.

in the end, he decides on rabbit: catching one in what had to be some sort of personal record for himself; less about improving skill and more about the pressing need to hurry.

kivaluk sends up a brisk howl to her: i'm returning with food. and trots back to where he left her, rabbit corpse betwixt his jaws.

his voice was the first hope that sorcha had experienced in a long while. she nodded helplessly and shut her eyes tightly. 
the scent of blood was the first thing that roused her. hope became delight became desperation; she paws weakly for it, and if she managed to grab it away, sorcha fell to gorging herself with strained little cries.
but her stomach too was ill, and almost as soon as she had swallowed the last bite, she was immediately sick in the short grass at her feet.

to give her some privacy, kivaluk turns to the side, staring at some obscure patch of grass nearby while she eats. his ear twitches as he wonders if she's even tasting it, if she's even breathing in between bites, worry creasing his brow at each strained cry she makes.

like each one drives a stake in his heart.

hey, try to slow down a little bit — his words are cut off by a sharp inhale as kivaluk, to his credit, tries his very best, but utterly failing to avoid cringing as she throws up everything she had devoured.

ok, yeah... he murmurs, looking up to the sky then; nose wrinkling as the scent of sick mingles with the scent of blood and carrion.

try again. slower. small bites. chew it. i can get you more food. he promises, swinging his head to look at her; breath catching in his throat as empathy rises trying to choke him; without knowing why he cared so much.

i'm kivaluk, by the way, he introduces himself to her, thinking that maybe talking to her and not standing like an awkward bump on a log might help. i'm from moonglow. he adds before drawing in a soft breath and asking her, what's your name?

such a waste! such a waste! sorcha all but cursed herself as she stared miserably down at what had just been a meal.
he offered to fetch her more but she shook her head, quickly and mutely. moonglow was an ally to brecheliant, which meant that they'd know how to get her home.
but the thought of failing, of coming home with no adventure and not even antigone, made sorcha's eyes sting. she didn't want to be out here anymore, but she wasn't sure she wanted to return to the name chickadee and the caldera.
"i'm sorcha chickadee blackthorn, from brecheliant." it hurt to get those words out but she said them. "well, previously from brecheliant. i took off a while ago. the uh, friend i was with, we got separated."
at last she found his eyes, heart thumping for multiple reasons. "do you know stratos?"

her name is quite a mouthful, but kivaluk doesn't point that out, mostly because it seems incredibly rude. in fact, he feels guilty even thinking it and is quick to latch onto the next tidbit she offers in return: she was from brecheliant.

past tense.

kivaluk wonders what made her leave when leaving hasn't appeared to be so visibly kind to her: but it wasn't his place to pry on matters he assumes is private and thus: he doesn't ask.

stratos.

once cousin, and now through sakhmet's marriage to kukutux: brother.

stratos is my brother. through my mom's marriage. he isn't sure why he adds that bit other than to explain why they looked nothing alike. but uh, he's been gone from moonglow for a while. not sure where he went or why.

and they'd never really been close, in truth.

the hunger that had been momentarily sated now rose to claw at her. instinct said he was pack, to stay with him so she might have access to more meals. his brother. her ears flicked.
sorcha wanted to say something about ani or stratos but what she blurted was, "can i come back with you?" shame briefly flared but she was far too tired and too exhausted to truly hide her desperation.
maybe stratos has gone after ani. maybe they were together even now. the idea was going to make her cry, and so she ducked her head, waiting for kivaluk's answer.

the question she blurts out surprises him, if only because to kivaluk it appears to stem out of nowhere. though he supposes it isn't entirely from left field: she'd brought up stratos ... and given her current state it was obvious she'd been on her own for some time.

either way, he wasn't going to deny her.

yeah, of course. kivaluk says, though the choice of whether she could stay or not was not his to make. he couldn't imagine his anaa would say no. c'mon. we'll take it slow. luckily, we're not too far.

fade here? i'll start us a new one in moonglow. <3