Redtail Rise III

hunter, then. she gives him the barest approximation of a smile. the squeals are dying out as he kicks the creature along the ice; she's annoyed, all of the sudden, and bends, jaws open and then shut to snap its neck and snuff it out for good.

she pulls a gut for herself and chews thoughtfully, eyes fixed upon her new Clawan.

where you from, before? she asks. she knows he cannot—does not?—speak, and points her head in each cardinal direction, starting with the north. then she goes on: moun'hain, plain, hhh—ohhhshean?

she's lived in all three, she supposes, or close to it.

she takes him for a mountain wolf. he's large and rugged like the crags that loom above the Rise.