Broken Boulder i hope you devour

The many aspects of her life remain lost to him, but she brings up some which sound intriguing, and her stories are more plentiful than his own. Kigipigak feels suddenly emasculated; but it is a brief sensation that does not linger long enough to have any detrimental effect. He feels pride rival his own curiosities. To know someone with such prowess on the battlefield - to call them family, even if it was derived from a mutual desire to survive rather than blood - pleases Kigipigak.

Kigipigak looks over her many scars and grins with each new discovery, reading the roadmap of her flesh. He tilts his face to show off his oldest, curving up his lip to his cheekbone. I have seen some battles too. Mine were nothing in comparison. You are impressive. He feels a twinge in his neck suddenly and shakes to relieve it, his tattered eartip flopping about.

In the calm that descends after, he explains his greatest accomplishment.

In my family's custom the weak among our people must be purged. We welcome elders, of course. They keep our history. But when their minds begin to go and at times they become violent in their disfunction, they are removed. It is an unkind action to take upon those losing their minds to the delusion of age, but it must be done to keep their resources free for those young, virile, and strong. I was ordered once to cull one such beast from our number - my sisters were to help, but when the time came I was alone.

There have been other battles, but none so harrowing as the competition between myself and this man. At his age he was slowed but he still held years of experience over my head. Kigipigak draws a breath and holds it a moment, puffing himself up by happenstance, and when he exhales, deflating, he lets the subject go stale.

You sound as if you have been traveling a while, he comments after a beat.