Moonsong Glacier sistermine

it was time to turn back.
chakliux had been defeated.
the dried blood he had painted upon his face five days prior had flaked away slowly, leaving behind a chestnut stain along his cheeks in a rough line.
he must return to moontide now, to his wives.
he must admit he had failed.
but the seal hunter heard the songs from the glacier, and new voices; he made his way there first, crossing the border with the heavy step of a man who has carried a weighty spear for many miles.

There had been much activity, as of late. Visits from Kukutux and Valiant had filled his spirit, and news of his father — even old news — had buoyed old hopes. He trusted that Aditya would find him here, and perhaps all that would come of it was a hug and some catching-up, but Dutch had learned to treasure these things more than he resented them.

He was only exploring when he came across the stranger. Unused to protecting borders, he did not consider whether or not the man belonged here. He only saw the downtrodden, exhausted sag to the man's shoulders before a decision was made.

"Come and eat," he said as he drew near enough to speak without raising his voice. His dark brow was furrowed in concern, and his usually jovial features were sober as he wondered what had put the stranger in such a dismal state. "There is fresh deer meat. We must not let it waste."

a man, older. a hunter. tall. strong. chakliux felt a pinprick of jealousy, but it died in weariness.
somewhere upon the trail of the monster, he had found the tendriling discontent within him, and followed it down to a suppurating root. there was much to contemplate when a man was alone.
and now that he had come back to the wilderness, to moonsong, he found he only wished the sea and his wives. perhaps he would want more when he had been returned for some time, but the choking crush of failure had sundered a good deal of his faith in himself.
and so chakliux stood, silence where he might have made a joke. "how is ariadne? i must tell her i did not — catch my quarry."

It took more than a failed hunt to paint a man's features in such defeat. Dutch was not familiar with the depth of his sorrows. They were of the same age, he thought, but he felt very young, all of the sudden.

"She is well. She heals," Dutch replied, hoping that Ariadne had already been injured the last time this man had seen her. He did not want to bear bad news to so dispirited a man! "She would see you fed and rested," he added, not knowing their relationship, but knowing this to be true. She was too sweet a girl not to.

"Please come and eat," he said again. "We will call her."

Dutch tipped back his head to send a querying howl to @Ariadne: Cloud woman, are you near? He would not pull her down from the mountain with her leg as it was; if she was too far, they would simply have to go and meet her. But if she was still in the foothills, Dutch thought it was better she traveled toward them than this man take any more steps than he needed to.

"she is eager to walk up the glacier. many times i have told her that she must wait." the humour wished to be in his face, and for a moment, there it lived. "i will eat." he could not stay as long as he often could, but he wished soon to be in his lodge.
"i am chakliux, of moontide. i have been exploring the glacier for ariadne. i am glad she has now made it a village."
he thought of marina, of tullik. his face darkened once more, even as he nodded toward the other man in a companionable way.

The heaviness came away for a fleeting moment; yes, Dutch thought, Ariadne could life anyone's spirits. But he was downcast once more in the next moment.

"She has spoken well of you," he replied. And, then, realizing he hadn't introduced himself: "I am Dutch, of the White Spine."

He began leading the way toward the deer carcass, which was not quite as fresh as he had advertised, but by no means old. He snagged a bone to set his teeth against just to be companionable, wondering if it might be kinder to leave the man to his thoughts or if being alone with them would be detrimental.

"You are burdened," he noted. From what he understood, this was not the husband of the late seaside woman. He knew that Moontide grieved, but this seemed to be something beyond that. Dutch did not want to pry, but he did not think that Chakliux was giving himself the pep talk that Dutch might be capable of giving.

this lifted the seal hunter's head for a moment, the idea that ariadne had spoken of him. he was grasped by a great desire for her; he turned his head to the places he had last seen the moonwolf, leaning into the touch of the wind which now carried her mark.
when he saw the meat, chakliux realized how hungry he had been; he ate methodically and without speaking for some time, having hunted many days for the monster.
"i have failed." the story came out in terse pieces; how marina had been attacked, how he and kilgitsuk and alaric and the woman had pursued. how the scent had been lost. how for more days they had looked.
the evil one had escaped.
hatred flared in his heart. "so now i must go home to my wives and my son and say, the husband and father of your lodge cannot protect you." he tossed a bone aside and sat down with a hard face turned upward into the icy air.

The story was stomach-turning, but not, unfortunately, something that Dutch was unfamiliar with. There was evil in the world, and it was sobering to remember how close it sometimes stalked. The panther felt galvanized by the knowledge of this man.

"All have failed," Dutch said quietly, a long moment after Chakliux had finished speaking. "But your women will still sleep easier once you have returned to them. We are not gods to smite all evil we cross. We are only men. But it is a man, and not a god that will bring your wives comfort. It is in this that you must succeed."

It was a cold comfort, if the words meant anything to Chakliux at all. It sat uneasily in the pit of Dutch's stomach until he felt compelled to ask:

"Will you seek him again?"

His eyes said, Take me with you.

who was this man? chakliux felt an immediate kinship with this dutch, and felt something ease in his tight muscles. the other hunter was reassuring in a way he found was important to hear. 
and the look in the other's eyes;
"yes. i will go again. i must have his blood."
to be whole. to feel a man.
chakliux reached his paw for that of the other wolf. "it seems that oil father has led you here. for this i will give thanks, and a sacrifice." the berrybright eyes burned.

The panther inclined his head; of course he must have blood. Dutch felt none of the same bloodlust, but it was not his own wife that had been harm. Instead, he felt only the powerful conviction that the man must be wiped off the face of the earth. For the good of all, and for young Marina.

He was surprised when the hunter reached out to him, but the kinship was mutual. He, too, felt as if he had been led to this place. He only wished he had been here in time to go with Chakliux for the initial hunt. Now he had no scent for the evil one and could at best be moral support while the other man attempted to pick up the trail. Even so:

"Call for me when you go again," he said, the word part command and part plea. "I will be ready. The kill may be yours, but it is the responsibility of all to see this evil struck down."

It would not be his first wolf hunt. Dutch was resigned to the likelihood that it would not be his last.

it lifted the spirits of chakliux to hear that dutch would go with him so readily. hunger returned and he filled his belly again, then stood taller and with a step that was lighter than before.
"from where have you come, brother hunter?" chakliux asked, stretching first one leg and then the others, until his body had loosened from the expected tautness of travel.
"when i come again, i think i will bring my son. he should know the ice of this place. the snow."

The panther's ears pricked at the familiar address. Brother hunter. He did not know the exact context, but he did not protest being named so.

"The mountains, but not these," he replied. "A place called White Spine."

He was interested in returning the question, but he remained quiet until Chakliux spoke again. At this, his eyes sparked bright. "Tell me of your son," he said, and then he slipped in his question: "Was he born to these lands? Were you?"

"white spine. was it a place of the north, dutch?"
at last, a smile, a true one. "raiyuk was born in village moonspear when to my first wife and i. he will have a year in the springtime." his brightberry eyes glowed. "raiyuk is a good son to me and already a strong seal hunter boy. when the snows come, i will take him to the coldest part of the sea. there, he will kill a seal and he will earn his scars."
touch to face, to shoulders. "he brings me much pride. his mother nasamik has gone but he tends my second wife, tullik, with much respect. i know he will do the same for marina. and raiyuk will be a good brother."
his son was his pride, and chakliux looked forward to the ceremony where raiyuk would receive his scars and be a full seal hunter man.

North? He supposed so, but not as far north as the rest of his family. Round Valley was in the tundra; the spine separated it from warmer climes.

"North, but not the cold north," he replied. "We must cross the ice bridge in the wintertime to come to these lands, but in the spring time, the grass runs green into the sea."

The panther was charmed by the way Chakliux spoke of his son. It was clear to him even before the seal hunter said so that he was proud to be Raiyuk's father. Dutch could see why — he sounded by all means to be an impressive young man. Very young; not yet a yearling! But that only made him more impressive in Dutch's eyes.

"Perhaps you will introduce us," he said, for once suggesting rather than declaring. With many things, he believed he knew what was best and right. But he had never had children before; he did not know how a man might feel about introducing him to strangers. "I will travel soon to Moontide — when we have settled things outside. Perhaps you and he will teach me to hunt asea."

ice bridge. this intrigued and compelled chakliux, who made a mental note to ask more about this at another time. white spine then became a place which the seal hunter might be pleased to one day visit.
dutch's offer made chakliux grin with delight, a quick, flashing smile. "i would enjoy this. i believe raiyuk would also." it was curious that chakliux and dutch had similar ages and yet only one of them was a father. maybe he meant to marry here. perhaps he had his eye on the moondaughter ariadne. of course they all would look to her!
"i will bring you to the lodge of my wives. you may rest the night there, if you wish." already his mind was thinking ahead to this visit, and his heart was lighter.

The invitation was one that the panther eagerly leapt upon — he had been scheming ways to invite himself! Not to stay the night, but to meet the rest of the seal hunter's family.

"I would be honored," Dutch replied. And truly, he was flattered by what he read as a bold expression of trust. "What gifts shall I bring?" he asked.

Chakliux was an easy man to like. The panther had been surprised when he did not argue or cling to his melancholy when Dutch had offered his perspective. A man who allowed himself to be bolstered was one whose company Dutch could see himself continually seeking. It was very different from Valiant, who was often self-effacing until Dutch argued him out of it, and then sullen and withdrawn until he forgot the indignity of being made to respect himself. This tendency had grated on Dutch for the whole of their partnership, but he did not begrudge the isbjørn his hurts and insecurities. He had had a hard start to life, and then he had been a man grown before Dutch's mother brought Valiant into their fold.

"Your son is fortunate to have such a father," he felt compelled to say, apropos of nothing.

"meat. good fat. perhaps berries, if you can find them."
he did not know if marina was ready for such a visitor, but the lodge was large even now. and he missed having another hunter beneath his roof, a man who knew the ways of men. soon, raiyuk would be that.
his chest was proud. his mouth was pleased. "when you become a father, your son too will look to you, dutch white-spine."
all at once, he thought again of @Simbelmyne, and saw it another way for them to bond as men. chakliux began to continue along their trail, hoping to see ariadne. "there is a woman in moonspear who seeks a man for a night. she is new to love, and wants to know what can be taught. perhaps it is a way to welcome you properly to the moonvillages, ha!" 
he challenged the other man to an upward run.

The panther gave a nod of understanding, already casting back in his memories for a place where he might find berries. He would bring them something special, he thought, that they might know how he treasured this gesture of Chakliux. He harbored a secret hope for his future in this place — one that he dashed from his conscience even now, following the pale seal hunter in a joyful lope.

"Now you sound like my mother!" he said, a fond laugh in his voice. He pushed himself to catch up, a small lifetime of mountaineering lending power to his body. He aimed a nip at the other man's hocks, but on these slopes, was unwilling to risk too much roughhousing. At last, he said, "I would meet this woman, if you would introduce us."

his eyes danced. "she must be a wise woman indeed if we sound the same!" for a moment he only ran, the cold wind in his throat and nostrils, wind at his nape; for a moment it felt as if he were home and the man running beside was another seal hunter.
and then he slowed; he caught his breath; he laughed, saying between pants, "i cannot take you to meet her. it would feel too much like arrangement. but i will send you to moonspear with her name."
"it is simbelmyne." his eyes shone. "say mine to her and she will understand. i have encouraged her to seek many hunters before she makes her choice. she is shy, but you are kind." a wink!

The panther only laughed, but he had to agree with Chakliux — she was a wise woman, and he had great respect for her not only as his mother, but as an individual to rely on and an example to strive toward. It was a great source of comfort to him to know that the black bear was proud of the man he had become.

They slowed, and Dutch turned this idea over in his head. He thought he smelled mischief in it, although he could not quite say to what end. He decided, however, that it could not hurt to go and introduce himself to this —

"Simbelmyne."

It was a pretty name. It belonged, he thought, to a winter queen. And if the seal hunter's eyes shined, the panther's certainly glimmered. He would seek her — and time would tell if he would thank this man, or if he would chase him with a swishy stick the next time they met.

"Cloudwoman rests here," he said, pointing his nose toward their common place. "Go in peace, brother. I will see you on the other side."

He favored the seal hunter with a warmly fleeting glance before turning back toward the borders. Now more than ever, he felt a strong need to have them under his eye.

cloudwoman. chakliux was eager to see her; it showed in the lines of his body and the set of his expression. but for a moment he gave dutch a final nod and watched the man return to the borders.
it was good to have a companion.
the coming days would be filled with many things, and chakliux would come to count upon dutch's stalwart nature more than he realized.