Moonspear And the chickens how they rattle chicken chains

the silence swept between she and bronco. kukutux had expected the boy to continue his line of questioning, but he did not. instead, the young hunter followed almost obediently at her side. the duck was inwardly grateful for his willingness to end the silence between them. "i like the fur of ermine and the pelts of young deer." 

she paused, looking down upon her small pale paws as she pondered. but it was not only upon bronco's question. despite the moondrop's want to be present in their discourse, she had not forgotten that this boy was of firebirds, and tinaurak had gone to live there also. yet she continued to be silent upon, and at length turned her watchful eyes upon bronco again. "each skin can be used in different ways," kukutux added around her bark-bring, and then set it down upon the wet bank of the stream that meandered beyond her ulaq.

"this i call kinnaum," kukutux murmured shyly, lapping delicately at the rain-swelled surface before she motioned toward its low shallows. "when the light is good light, it holds ... a bow of many colors," she tried to explain, of the bow that often appeared after a storm and held dazzling hues. looking into the boy's attentive face a moment, she motioned that he should come near. 

in the next motion, kukutux had gathered the shredded fibers and held them in the edge of the water until a golden stain began to spread across the gentle current. it darkened, and the snowduck straightened, grinning toward bronco. "chaayux," she informed him. "drink. i will make more. in a short while your pain will fade."

when they had presumably both stepped to the motions, kukutux rocked back upon pearled haunches now muddied from the loam at the edge of the streambank. jadestone eyes beheld kinnaum. a thought. "how many moons do you have, bronco?"