Mount Everfall I cannot be tender with this much blood in my mouth

Well accustomed to life on a mountainside, the climb up this particular mountain — as steep and treacherous as it was — was an easy feat for the two giant beasts. Large paws guided their way skilfully across the terrain, and Anuniaq felt well at ease up amongst the high slopes, even if the height here was almost dizzying. He peered every so often over the edge of their path, every so often kicking a stone over and watching as it tumbled down, seemingly forever.

Night fell upon them quickly, and Anuniaq was already hungry again; the meat from the carcass had been enough to satisfy him for the time being but now, now he wanted something fresh. However, the mountain seemed devoid of life (which was no surprise, considering the dangerous territory). With no tenderness to his movement, the boy poked and prodded at the ground with his nose, trying to find even a whiff of a trail.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw his travel companion look up and back to him. He met her glacial gaze with a rough shake of his head, understanding the wordless question. Like his mother, his aunt was a woman of few words — as were most of the Tartok wolves — but Anuniaq was able to discern the meaning behind her various grunts and glances. He was about to go back to his mindless search for food before a movement caught his eye, and he immediately turned to face the slim form of another that had appeared behind them. Although she seemed to show a display of indifference towards them, Anuniaq still let out a quiet growl to alert Silaluk, ears upright and tail rigid in warning to the stranger to keep her distance.