Duskfire Glacier they're all liars here

"Hey Siku," Veteran called softly, approaching Siku's perch with extra care. The kid seemed a little edgy since his run-in with Makatza, and Veteran didn't want to startle him. 

Veteran had suffered his own altercation with Makatza, as evidenced by the lingering, halfway-healed scarring on his forehead and scalp. She was a crazy bitch, but the scars looked cool and it was worth the pain to have had the opportunity to stand up for his smallest friend. 

Veteran's scars weren't terribly conspicuous in the the half-light of sunset, and it was possible that Siku wouldn't notice them. It was possible Siku didn't even know that Veteran had fought Makatza for him. Mom had really wanted Veteran to keep that a secret, for reasons entirely unknown to Veteran. It really burned him up, to have been in such a cool fight and then to not even be allowed to talk about it. 

"Can I sleepover with you?" he asked Siku. The young Qeya-Black was the only pup who wasn't yet entirely consumed by dominance-driven behavior, and as much as Veteran liked scuffling with his brothers and sisters, he could really use some bro time to just chill out. It might be kind of nice to just snuggle with Sikuliak and watch the stars come out.