Stone Circle Everything's a Story

Relieved her sister had the same idea, and affirmed by the clear display of positive emotion from Kota, Nanook relaxed, though not to Desna's extent. The tightness in her shoulders unravelled, but the Apaata stayed firm in her stance, readied if the man proved an enemy and skewed the meeting awry.

The story held some promise at first - the names harkening back to the days she'd spent with the aged widow up North - but whether in the method of his telling, or that she'd simply grown jaded over the years, the tale quickly soured her ears. By the end of his account, her eyes had narrowed. Thank heavens they hadn't brought the pups out before hearing the tale. Though they would one day be exposed to concepts of justice and vengeance, Kota's story wasn't the way she wanted them taught - with a handle on violence she thought exalted the act of killing, even though the cause was just. And there was a bleakness to the tale, a grotesqueness, that made her shift her eyes to Desna, wondering to her reaction.

She lent her opinion in the rest of her ears against her skull, a level snout, and a downturned nose - the movements of a hostile uncertainty. That disturbed me, she physically said, and Nanook would let Desna audibly speak; her sister had always been much better with words.