Whitebark Stream wintermurk

AW but maybe @Sulukinak ?

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The participants have indicated the following reason(s) for this warning: brief heat mention

cold as it had been, k'edghildza did not feel the wrath thereof. with her thickened, staunch coat, she was a warrior amongst these plains. though it did not seem as such— toiling with herbs, praying for their surplus in the spring, she did what she could.

she knew her season was approaching. the clock in her body would soon strike at midnight, airing the future for saatsine in her womb. it would be her duty as a wife— again this she knew. he had promised her it would be different. sun eater. that even the children that could be lost against the snow, they would mourn. for however brief, they would. it more than she could ask for.

over the heap she travelled to a felled bull. she begun to tear the hide from the rigid carcass, insides still warm. a fresh kill, it seems! scents lingered, all of saatsine nature, but she didn't note whom. with sharp teeth, she'd continue to bite.

The woman her uncle had chosen was not one of them. She was learning at a good pace: the language came to her swiftly enough, and as she ran with them after the caribou there were obvious shifts to her body that even Sulukinak could notice. Regardless of the effort, Sulukinak was slow to trust anyone, and was reluctant to do so even now. She trusted her uncle, but only to a point.

For now Sulukinak followed an odd scent that paired with Keda's. It wasn't the scent of uncle, which gave rise to suspicion. The shadow used all of her knowledge as a tracker and a hunter to keep herself hidden, downwind, or at such a distance she would not be detected. Was Keda making a rendezvous with someone outside of Saatsine?

Sulukinak would find out.

Keda roamed over a snowy hilltop, and Sulukinak waited beneath it for some minutes before slipping up along the path carved by her body. At the top she looked for cover, but there was no such luck; the woman was crouched over the body of something large and crowned.

Lurking near, Sulukinak then moved as if to investigate the carcass as if Keda wasn't even there, and she had not just been stalking her the entire time. That odd scent remained and Sulukinak wanted to make sense of it.

she watched as sulukinak approached, her presence unspoken but undeniable. the girl’s curiosity was sharp, her movements deliberate as she began to circle the carcass.

k’edghildza shifted slightly, allowing her space. with a faint smile, she returned to her work, claws digging into the hide as she stripped it back. she paused only briefly, lifting her gaze to watch the girl’s inspection, before continuing with measured precision.

the silence between them was steady, the rhythm of their shared task a quiet understanding. k’edghildza let her actions speak, the slow rip of the hide the only sound accompanying their focus.

the carcass was fresh. it had not yet begun to rot because of the cold, and likewise the work it would take to properly butcher meant many hours toiling. the woman proved her skill as she cut in to the hide - something sulukinak did not know how to do; and while the shadow wondered if the hide was worth saving, she continued to sulk and study both the remains and her uncle's chosen.

the scent which had lured her in pursuit did remain; dwarfed now by the musk of the caribou, but not altogether gone. perhaps if sulukinak lingered then keda would feel compelled to work I stead of seek her secret rendezvous - which remained a fantasy in sulukinak's mind.

she had no other reasoning for the cloying scent clinging to Keda, except for this. a man must be hiding out somewhere, obscured. a hungry man which had made some pledge to her would-be aunt.

she worked in silence, her claws slicing skillfully through the thick hide of the caribou. her breath puffed in soft clouds in the crisp air, her focus unwavering until the last strip of the pelt was freed from the body. with a practiced motion, she laid the hide flat against the snow, smoothing it out as if laying a foundation for something greater.

her gaze then turned, sharp as the edge of her blade, to the young shadow lingering nearby. sulukinak’s presence had not gone unnoticed, though k'edghildza had said nothing until now. the girl’s silence, her watchfulness—it was curious, but also unspoken.

k'edghildza straightened, wiping the damp from her paws against her chest before tilting her head. her voice was calm, but edged with curiosity, a note of challenge in her tone.

what do you look for, sulukinak? her pale eyes, cold as the snow beneath their paws, searched the younger wolf’s face for an answer, though she suspected the girl might not give one so easily.