Big Salmon Lake kuak ⛣

The dark Ostrega grinned fondly beneath her kiss, and turned his ears intently. Naagaayik, she said, and certainly unlike anything he had heard them called before--but a something to try to keep and remember if he could. Too, he noted the thought of a small span of summer--testament to how far north her homeland had been, if he drew the proper conclusions.. not because he had ever seen it for himself, only through the words of those more worldly than him. How short were your summers there? he had to ask with a curious tilt. Still, he appreciated any of the insight into where she had come from, however small it seemed, and watched luck take its turn.

His tail waved a slow rhythm. They've had a good summer--all this rain had to benefit someone, he mused. It was a good year to be an amphibian. Probably a fish too. There had been days in the middle of all that constant rainfall that he had felt a bit like one. Speaking of which, if he had to name the flavor, he supposed that suited closer than anything. Not mammalian, definitely. Maybe avian, if he squinted. Well.. I think they taste a bit like fish. Not the texture, though, he answered, and she could find out for herself soon enough. I used to hunt them with my mother too.. on the mountain's lower streams especially. When I was very small, she had me practice on them while she fished upstream, he spoke softly, and the memory was easier than anticipated here in Kukutux's company, where it simply could not trouble him.

Speaking of fish, he finally looked past her in earnest towards the water, trying to see beyond the surface. It was probably too soon for salmon to run in any real number, but a trickle of hope caught him. Still, he could only spy little slivers that dared to come close enough so far--minnows, perhaps?