Permafrost Hollows end of the journey; first of the trials

oh, no, alsek breathed, okay? there was something obviously wrong with the woman, based on the near palpable shift in energy. she still seemed to be speaking normally, not yelling like his mother might have, and so he felt confident enough to refrain from cowering. still, he wondered if he'd done something wrong.

what helped him feel better when he was feeling sad? flower, the blackbird explained. it was a second invitation, this one spoken with more meaning. he didn't want polaris to be sad, not if there was anything that he could do to help her.

her question about his parents went unanswered for some short amount of time. alsek remembered them sleeping, and he remembered the adults coming to watch them sleep, but nothing else about the event made much sense. pele's reaction was certainly the most confusing part, though he didn't have the words to explain why.

the blackbird sighed, replying, sleeping. it was the simplest answer he could give, the only one which made sense in his mind anyway. arty and germa and chubu.. alsek began listing the names of those packmates he could remember, finding that there weren't very many. you know mama? he finally asked; maybe that was why the woman smelled of whitebark?