Morningside Cuesta [m] trottinggale

@Sun Eater, set after this thread.; moved them a bit north so an open plain so they could hunt!

the cold bit at her nose, a sharp reminder of the season as k'edghildza lowered her muzzle to the snow. her breath fogged the air as she followed the faint trail left by the caribou. tufts of fur caught on branches, the deep imprints of hooves pressed into the snow—small markers that told their story. she moved with precision, her lithe frame slipping through the trees as if she were part of them.

beside her, sun eater loomed, his silent presence a weight she had come to find comfort in. his broad shoulders moved with power, each step calculated, though his gaze remained sharp and watchful, a sentinel to her tracking.

as the ridgeline came into view, her pace quickened, excitement bubbling beneath her focus. they climbed in unison, and at the peak, k'edghildza stilled. below them sprawled the valley, and there, clustered near a frozen stream, the herd. strong beasts, their antlers rising like ancient crowns, their bodies broad and full of life.

her eyes flicked to sun eater, and with a determined glint, she whispered in broken lanzadoii. they are here. she struggled with the words, the foreign tongue heavy on her own, but there was pride in her attempt as her gaze returned to the caribou below.

she spoke in lanzadoii and his heart experienced something he had not felt in a long while. winter spread around them as if it were a fine cloak. the sound of their feet in the drifts pleased sun eater thoroughly, though he knew he did not need to express his thought aloud.

they came for water. proudly the darkwoven pair watched over their herd, their sustenance, before the saatsine man pressed his lips to her cheek and went on.

his trailing became a watchful skulk the lower he descended; sun eater ensconced himself behind a stand of pine and waited for his wife to join him there. 

the animals were all healthy, that he could see, but single eye pressed for more detail.

k’edghildza brushed against him as she joined him behind the pine, her fur soft and carrying the faint scent of frost and earth. her gaze scanned the herd with precision, her keen eye catching the details of their movements, their patterns.

it wasn’t long before she spotted him—a solitary figure at the edges of the herd. an elder male, one antler cracked and crooked, the other missing entirely. the way he lingered, his steps slow and labored, made it clear he was not as strong as the others. blood darkened his coat near the shoulder, a fresh wound marking him as vulnerable.

she leaned into sun eater, her muzzle brushing gently along his neck, a soft nuzzle that spoke of shared purpose and connection. her lavender gaze locked onto his single golden eye, and she spoke in broken lanzadoii, a single word that carried both determination and direction.

there.

her nose pointed toward the elder male, the choice clear between them. the hunt would not be easy, but it was necessary, and together they would see it done.

their target chosen, sun eater spent some moments more staring after the bull, assessing him for any signs of power beneath the wounds. he had fought bravely; maybe even now several cows carried his strength in their unborn progeny.

it would be the role of saatsine to see he had a good death. into a run went the chieftain, the starbound at his side. lips peeled from teeth, tail bannering high; he snarled a loud crack of sound and went after one foreleg, then another as the others scattered in startled directions.

the fight was nigh to begin. he would see his wife blooded this day with first-kill; it was swiftly that she must learn all of their ways if she was to teach their children to be lanzadoii.

their children.

his heart soared.

surging forward alongside her husband, her movements sharp and purposeful as the bull’s hooves tore at the snow-covered ground. the great beast moved with strength still, but his wounds and age betrayed him. this was the moment for the saatsine to prove their skill, and she would not falter.

she angled herself to the side, eyes locked on the bull’s broad frame. his flanks heaved with exertion, the scent of sweat and musk thick in the air. with a sharp lunge, her teeth found the tender flesh of his hip. the bull bellowed in pain, staggering forward as blood seeped from the wound she left behind.

the saatsine woman peeled away quickly, her heart pounding with adrenaline as she darted out of the bull’s immediate reach. her sharp gaze flicked to sun eater, a glimmer of pride sparking in her eyes. she had drawn first blood, slowed the beast for her chieftain to strike next.

first blood stained her teeth. he reached to brush his cheek against that crimson smear before speed cut right. the caribou followed, antlers swinging in harsh reply. fur, cut from sun eater's shoulder, floated in the spray of snow to follow.

scarlet blossomed in hot flowers on the bull's shoulder. a bellowing scoured the air, followed by sun eater's snarl as he leapt back.

they would move in a weaving to cut down this animal. time lost itself entirely.

she moved like water beside her husband, her steps light and deliberate, a delicate mirror to his powerful strides. where sun eater’s force pushed, she pulled, their movements a balanced dance honed by instinct and trust.

warmth flooded her chest at his touch, his brief brush against her carrying reassurance and fire. they were united, two halves of a predatory whole.

the bull’s bellow split the air, a guttural sound of resistance and pain. its wounded shoulder betrayed it, a single misstep on the churned snow. it stumbled, and in that heartbeat of vulnerability, k'edghildza surged forward, her body coiling into a spiraling leap.

her teeth found the soft expanse of its neck, her momentum driving downward. the caribou’s weight fought her, but the precision of her strike and the determination in her grip anchored it. snow kicked up around her as the beast’s knees buckled, its cries muffled beneath the ferocity of her hold.

his k'edghildza was ravenous upon the hunt; her softness imparted a contrast to her building skill that fired every part of sun eater's desire as if he were a kiln.

she struck and the creature was driven down into the snow, a thick furrow raked there. he followed with snapping jaws to break a flailing foreleg and shred another; he dug his teeth into its chest and then its flank, ripping in sawed repetition.

blood sprayed both he and k'edghildza. its taste mingled with her own, and so the caribou killing became a shared and almost lustful thing between them in its mutual violence.

almost 400!

the warmth of the caribou’s blood painted her face, streaked her nape, and pooled at her paws. her chest rose and fell with a quiet intensity, the flush of the hunt clinging to her like a second skin.

she turned her head to sun eater, her lips curling into a smile that revealed crimson-stained teeth, a sight that should have been feral but was almost serene. her eyes crinkled at the edges, a lightness in them as if she had plucked flowers rather than felled a beast.

she leaned closer to him, the gore painting her pelt no barrier to her quiet joy. husband, she murmured, her voice steady and sweet against the frost-laden air, as if the violence she had just wrought was as natural as breathing. and for her, it was.

in his presence, the sheath of her quiet nature had unraveled into something far more dangerous. yet now, as she stood before him, it was tucked back into her chest, replaced by a calm that belonged only to him.

<3

stained now in cerise droplets, they stood together, silhouettes of killing power upon the land. she was not his shadow; she was someone who had come to reflect back at sun eater those parts of himself he always felt red leaf had never prized.

and how he loved the mirror of his starwoven's face!

"wife."

the trial ahead would be her final honing, a test to what he had always held to be true. but he would not forget quickly this glimpse of her knife-edges, her spear-point eyes. this the birthright for their children, that those places which had forged her held the same ideals as the snow which smelted lanzadoii hunters.

his teeth twitched against her eartip, holding for a moment of rapturous jealousy before he was released into a laving kiss.

her breath came in soft plumes, mingling with the cold air as she tilted her head slightly to accept his kiss, the raw tenderness of it against the backdrop of their shared violence. she was both hunter and hunted, and in this moment, wholly his.

sun eater she murmured, her voice steady, though a faint tremor of exhilaration lingered beneath it. blood warmed her fur, the remnants of their conquest, and she felt its weight as though it tethered her to him, to their purpose, to the land that demanded strength in every breath.

the children will know, she said softly, her gaze lifting to meet his, the ice of her eyes glinting like tempered steel. her voice shackled with lanzadoii, she was trying her best for him! they will learn from this—the hunt, the blood, the fire. they will be yours, sun eater, through and through.

she leaned closer, her lips brushing against his cheek, her body a quiet testament to the strength they shared. there was no doubt, no hesitation. only resolve.

did she know his thoughts? was she spirit-woman too? sun eater did not question; he took her in with a long look of acceptance, trusting her promise.

there was no desire in him to leave any of them behind in the snow. but his desire did not exceed that of the caribou spirits, who might demand their own tribute in return for all the blood shed by his sun clan. and he was not sure how this might be explained.

"you are learning to speak well, wife," sun eater grinned; he nosed her more gently and then began to butcher the cooling animal, standing back thereafter so she might have first choice of whatever she wished.

the wife smiled, a quick and playful thing, as she nudged his shoulder with her own. i told. i am quick, she teased, her tone light and warm, though her eyes glinted with something sharper—pride, maybe, or the quiet joy of being trusted by him in this way.

her gaze dropped to the caribou, its stillness now a sharp contrast to the hunt’s chaos. she stepped closer, brushing her nose lightly against the thick, cooling fur. the heart, she murmured, looking up at him with a gentle insistence. may i have it? her lessons with suliya were paying off well.

there was something reverent in her request, her voice low as though speaking directly to the spirit of the animal itself. she looked back to the caribou, her breath curling in the crisp air. it is strong, like this one was. i will honor it.

a grunting sound answered her words; sun eater had heard, and fell to cutting the last holdings of that organ in place. but she would lift it herself from that chest cavity, and he would see its blood upon her mouth, hear the lanzadoii of her tongue.

his eye glinted. a small curve which might be some part of a smile found its way to his face.

"you honor me in the same way, wife."

she tore at the heart with a ferocity that mirrored the very life it once held. blood coated her lips, dripping from her chin, staining the snow beneath her feet. she did not flinch, did not pause, only devoured with the purpose of a wolf bound to her pack, her husband, and their gods.
when she finally looked up, her amber eyes burned bright, locking onto his lone, glinting gaze. her tongue swept across her bloodied mouth as she spoke, her voice low and rich with conviction.
that is what wives do, she said simply, her words thick with the weight of tradition and devotion.
k'edghildza stepped closer to him, her breath misting in the cold air. we honor, she murmured, her muzzle brushing his as the warmth of the heart’s blood lingered between them. and we are bound.

"careful," sun eater growled huskily at her words; her devotion did as always, turning him into a paragon of a desire he did not even comprehend.

he saw this at last as love. it was closest to what was often described, though it did not mirror the abject softness he had first felt with gheli.

this was new. different; she enticed him in many regards but almost none so much as the way she spoke to him, of him; of a future where the same respect took strong root.

sun eater tasted the blood upon her lips and was content.

a wife's lips curved into a sly smile, a sound escaping her that was almost a giggle, light and teasing. she turned her gaze to him, eyes warm but challenging, a spark of playful defiance dancing within them.
not need for careful. she murmured, her voice low, molten. not when husband is with his wife. her tail flicked behind her, her confidence radiating as she tilted her head, meeting his gaze unwaveringly. this is what good marriage is.
her words hung in the air, carrying a quiet, unshakable certainty. she leaned closer, her muzzle brushing against his, the blood still fresh on her lips. it was an offering, a promise, a testament to the strength that burned between them. and honeymoon.

it was all he needed; sun eater was spurred into glorious action, claiming her there again with the blood mingling and hot between their pelts.

it was as if the caribou spirits enlivened them both for a time, saying that if they were to give meat to the saatsine, then the saatsine must make of themselves a stronger protector.

the ground and sky spun beneath him, and he gave himself over to an ancient rhythm which sent his pulse thundering caribou-hoofbeats across the plain of his soul.

it never took much to rile him. yikass k'edghildza would learn this very quick. for as he was a man with dominant blood, the need to prove riling his veins. and she was keen to take.
a beautiful union as she saw it— a complement to their own natures. any illusions or doubts about her leaving the creek's wilds had been long forgotten in her mind. they were replaced with caribou hoofbeats and the touch of her husband, a possessive, wild nature.
a nature that their children would thrive in. starve upon to feel the same rhythms their parents had. she would make sure of it— that even her own whelps would know the power the saatsine pair had. for they would not go ignored.
she would not go quietly against him, a toil of theatrics of laughter and kisses. mighty, she was even more veracious in her loving. she'd wish to try it new with him; to seek the act as more of a pleasure than a duty. to see if she could elicit something inexplicable from him, that left him wanting more than just a claim upon her womb.