Redtail Rise back on 74

Night had fallen.

The croon of crickets strummed noisily in the cool autumn air.

Moon Runner looked for her sister, @Saturdays Sunrise. Lately, she had been missing her company. Different paths meant different responsibilities and while Moon Runner honed her hunting skills, she was keenly aware that her sibling underwent arduous training. Expectations for the Rise’s new guardians felt very high.

In her jaws is the bone of a deer, with aged, ripe meat, dug from a cache. The juvenile’s skills, while gaining traction, had not amounted to a fresh kill just yet.

Sister must be hungry, the spirit felt.

sunrise had been looking at her reflection in the river that cut through the rise, illuminated partially by the moon. the fox had sunk its teeth deeply into her muzzle and now the wounds were beginning to heal, in turn causing an insatiable itch.

she had thought it best to not scratch and found the cool water to help with the sensation. shaking about her muzzle within the water, the girl sends rippling cascades through the air, watching them reform with the moving current. with a reasonably soaked muzzle, a pale tongue comes to run across the punctures before she turned to leave.

just before she could begin a patrol of the borders, sunrise can see her sister up ahead. and within her maw, a plump bone where a gristly scent emanated from. had she been younger, perhaps she would have tried to hassle moon runner for the scrap. but as she slowly grows older, sunrise puts away her childish ways and has come to truly appreciate her sister.

with a bouncy stride, sunrise comes to jog towards moon runner before settling to brush a cheek against her sister's, crooning softly to her as if to say "where have you been? i've missed you."

Moon Runner found Saturday’s Sunrise near the water. The girl mirrored her sister’s loose body posture as her tail began to wag back and forth, happy to be reunited like two halves of a locket.

She fawned with happy whines and muzzle pokes along Saturday Sunrise’s silver ruff, inhaling her familiar scent. It was always changing as they matured: from milk-soaked to pine-scented, but always with an undertone that was uniquely Sister.

I have missed you, too, the spirit said warmly. I will never be far from you.

She dropped the bone at Sister’s feet. Was it not a hunter’s job to make sure the pack was fed? Even if it was from a cache?

For you, the spirit said.

Then, she noticed the wound on Sister’s muzzle. Moon Runner’s nose hovered over it as she tried to parse what had happened.

cut from the same cloth no doubt, sunrise looks at the surprise gift with grateful eyes and happily wags her tail at the scent of the bone. but before she could come to grab ahold of it, she noticed that sister lingers on the marks. perhaps if she was angsty enough, she'd brush her off and simply pretend as if they weren't there. but secrets are never healthy, and sunrise loves her sister enough to feel no need to be protective of her day-to-day events.

in a form of reenactment, sunrise comes to make a grumble in her throat before nipping at the air, trying to signify she got bit by a creature she was not fond of. she lifted her paw up just a few inches or so, hoping to inspire the idea that it was small, too small to be a coyote or another wolf.  he liked to think sister was smart enough to decipher she meant a fox, but either way, it seems clear that she got chomped on. 

sunrise would come down to give the bone a few little nibbles to show she accepted and appreciated the gift, and through her youthful boneheadedness, she is able to think about asking her sister of her own time. mimicking the sounds of augur before following up with a head tilt, she attempts to convey the idea of asking:

"have you hunt with dad?"

Moon Runner smelled the wound. Open flesh. Blood. The unique scent of healthy, healing cells.

Sister’s primitive charades conveyed the event and Moon Runner immediately understood. Her tail wagged as her mouth opened in a jovial pant, proud of Sister’s ferocity. She loped in a circle, to give her sibling space as she ate, and resisted the desire to groom and fawn over her like Mother would.

Then, she put her newest skills on display. Moon Runner crouched like a stalking lion and pounced on a blade of grass.

We hunt. I learn, the spirit said. Suddenly, Moon Runner lept into the air with a growl with full body extension, propelled by well-muscled haunches,

Father and I chase birds! The spirit cheered.

Her heart beat quickly, but Moon Runner chose to lie down on her side. She yipped and crooned a high note to express her love of the hunt, amber eyes full of life.

sister watches fully as moon runner demos her skills, light eyes glistening with pride.

seeing her sister settle, sunrise is quick to join her for this moment. it felt like a distant memory, something they had not done since they were quiet children. in many ways, one could have expected the two to be at each others' throats as most children are. but between the sisters existed a bond that not even death itself could dissolve.

sunrise offers a sweep of her muzzle over sister's cheek softly, an affectionate rumble to her. 

"proud."

sunrise wondered of their future together. her and her sister continue to grow, and yet they remain attached at the hip. would life always remain this simple, this enjoyable? perhaps it was best to not think of such things and simply learn to appreciate.

a cricket catches her attention, as sunrise sits up and rotates her ears as she hones in on an individual that is much too close to her. it might as well be in her ear with out loud it is! she looks down to moon runner and offers a playful grin.

sunrise gets up, and suddenly springs into the air like a cat before pouncing on the ground, the cricket falling quiet for just a second before it continues its song. she tosses back a look to her sibling; it was an invitation to play, and perhaps put her true tracking skills to the test to see if she could determine where this one loud cricket hid.

Last from me ~ Sorry I’m going to cut this beautiful thread short! I simply love these sisters!

When Sister lay beside her, Moon Runner stole the opportunity to nibble at the fur of her jawline. Social grooming braided their bonds tighter, and while Saturday’s Sunrise wondered, Moon Runner’s spirit knew.

Yes, they would always be this way.

Devoted sisters. One a guardian, the other a huntress. Bonded by blood and the path of womanhood. Moon Runner lived in the present and could not imagine their relationship any other way.

A game!

Sister pounced in the grass where a fiddling cricket hid. Moon Runner quickly joined her game and together they played like children, again.