Raven's Watch illuktuk

Kigipigak wanted to fight back just as Valmua did. He had done it before—ripped the throat out of his own father for the sake of his mother, thinking it was for the greater good—but there was no reason to take it to that extreme; Stjornuati was young and hale, he may end up being the right leader to the group. It would not sit well with Kigipigak for some time regardless, raised as he was to trust in a female issumatar. This was the way things had to be.

However close Kigipigak felt to the other man before, now he was resistant to his presence. It had not been Valmua's influence that undermined their friendship but the core of the winterborn boy: they were doomed from the start. Valmua's influence had only exacerbated a pre-existing bias; and as Stjornuati condemned his blood-sister and bond-brother Kigipigak's dark feelings grew stronger.

No wolf of Tartok wields such disloyalty. The man said. Kigipigak held his tongue. It was frozen in place within his mouth, heavy and immovable, muting him. He did not consider himself to be disloyal to the cause—quite the opposite, Kigipigak was doing all he could to piece together a home and make it as strong as possible. Southern blood was weaker but it was prolific. The deals he had tried to strike among the valley wolves could have been a boon—if only Stjornuati had seen the value in them and not fallen victim to his skepticism.

Having been told to stay near the Watch, Kigipigak merely nods his head. He had already accepted that as one possible outcome and would obey it to the best of his ability, wondering all the while if the cause was truly worth the headache of this man's tantrum. He waited to be dismissed; as soon as he was given leave Kigipigak would skulk along the ridge again and disperse from both their company—eager to put some distance between them to sort out his own feelings on the matter.