Phoenix Maplewood Are there any left who haven't kissed the enemy?

With her words spoken, Nanook held the newcomer with a level stare and searched for any shift in her demeanour. She expected the silence and prepared to welcome it with an icy heart. What she didn't expect was the sound that met her. Not the constant shuffle of leaves or the gurgle of some distant brook, though those were always there. The woman's lips parted and Nanook couldn't keep her ears from perking, nor could she stop the strange rush of heat that pricked her spine like pine needles.

Nanook leaned forward, eyes bright, and nodded to confirm the woman's question. "And Desna, and Sesi." She added with a curt frown. Her sisters didn't seem to care that Xan and papa weren't with them. She tried not to worry what she would do if they didn't share in her passion to get the rest of their family back. It wasn't like their decision would change her mind. Nanook would find their missing half, even if no one else tried.

But the gentle emotion that slipped through the woman's words caused Nanook to turn her head and appraise the newcomer through suspicious eyes. The adults all had a way of acting nice to her, but they didn't really mean it. They would have listened to her if they did. The newcomer looked different, though, and her posture indicated what Nanook took as some sort of interest. She pressed her lips together before she spoke, cautious and slow. "Bearclaw Valley. I think." Nanook couldn't stop the twist in her chest, the fear that maybe Xan and papa were somewhere else, like she and the others were now. If they weren't in the Valley, Nanook didn't know where she would look.

As quick as the anxiety came, Nanook steeled herself against it. So what if the world was far bigger than her? Soon she'd be big too, maybe as big as papa. Then she would find them, and nothing in the world would stop her.