Moonspear angagixta ☘

Kukutux did not hesitate to ask the sandy girl about her gesturing. The movements the girl made when she spoke had indeed been strange to Toad, but she had intentionally ignored them. She assumed, perhaps wrongly she was realizing, that Meerkat might have some sort of nervous tick or disability that caused this. She had never seen such gesturing before, but had seen smaller ticks in other people in the past. Rather than make judgment, Toad pretended not to notice. She was learning this, too, might have been a selfish move.

Then, Kukutux began to speak of the mythical white fox she had mentioned. Though Toad did not speak with the other skin shoved in her mouth, her eyes were wide with a child-like wonder. Her silence did not reflect her mind at work, visualizing the fox with its coats, the endless summer, the endless winter. The fox was an icon of a story. A legend of a creature who danced with the sun and the moon, trading one family for the other every six months: it filled her with awe.

They arrived at the site, but Bronco was nowhere to be found. Toad followed Meerkat's lead, placing the skin tenderly on the cave floor. She nudged it such that it unfurled and would have a chance to absorb the scent of the siblings. The cave was a larger hideout than she had expected; she looked around, looking pleased and impressed.

Ptero. This made much more sense, and immediately Toad felt intrigued. That the family had come together to learn and teach a new way to speak was truly wonderful. That's so cool, she said. You use it even though we can hear. She liked this, though she said the statement quite bluntly. Toad wanted to learn this gesturing language, but waited for the graceful mother before saying more.