Gilded Bay echoes

A whale, murmured a soft reddish-yellow woman as she approached, drawing Lucas' attention. He'd yet to meet Hamartia, but she seemed familiar with Govinda by the way she picks a spot next to him, and that's enough for him. His gaze traced over her sharply defined black cloak and silver ticking with interest. They stood in sharp contrast to the rest of her fur, that ruddy hue overlaid on slate grey. He'd never seen anything quite like it and spent the next several seconds studying her coat, missing Aiko's arrival entirely, else he might have studied her just as closely.

The Parivaar hopefuls seemed content to watch the monstrous animal expire on its own, but the unfamiliar man among them chose to hasten the process. Lucas, having taken his cues from Govinda, was aghast. "Hey!" he shouted, pricking his ears and feeling a cold wave down his back as Tulimaq came away with a hunk of the whale's flesh. Blood streamed from the wound. "What're you doing?" cried Lucas, who thought that was a horribly cruel thing to do to such a wonderful and surely ancient creature.

He'd never been part of a hunt in Bearclaw Valley and had never seen wolves tear into still-living prey before. Instinct told him to chase and eat meat but everything he'd consumed had been dead prior to being eaten... stealing flesh from a living animal that could neither flee nor defend itself, especially one with such sad and wise eyes, seemed completely wrong to him.