Whitewater Gorge tulaktuk ‡

kukutux followed the trail of his muzzle as he spoke. ravenhome; this place of unmarried men that seemed nestled high in the mountains. steep, he had said. a flick of her ears as she considered this, and looked over kigipigak with a gaze that assured her of his strength. they were not of the same kith, but it mattered not to the duck; their words were the same. "ilvit nukatpiak," she said softly in response to the welcome rush of his voice, not wanting to speak so much as was unbecoming for a woman.

a village of men catches no fish, her grandmother might have said. men were capable in groups as hunters, but not for the everyday tasks that knit a clan together. and by what he had said, the traveler had no women in this ravenhome. or perhaps none that could be wives. this was borne upon kukutux and her assumptions of his age, of his distance from his claimed lands; had he come down to look for one, she supposed? would that sialuk was older, kukutux might have at once encouraged the match. "tuttu," the duck mused, looking again toward his home, then back to kigipigak. "uxtil." when a man of her village wanted a wife, he made sacrifice to the gods and asked. would the same be for this iglaak and his customs? "annaumanasungniq." a compliment, but one of guidance. he would not be long lost.