my old aches

She caught his hidden uncertainty, as he knew she would, but thought it might be insulting to clarify much more about the oak itself. Instead, she let her lip lift into a silent, mocking snarl, aimed at the tree that Kisu had moved up to pull at with her, that clearly conveyed, no wolf will step on our land and get away with it. No, certainly not... Though white oak would not cause a wolf to die of their wounds, the recovery would be painful and made difficult by it. Killing other wolves was criminal activity, and to be saved for sacrifice, and then it must be willingly done.

Her glance turned sidelong to him when he spoke next, and a lopsided smile pulled at her lips to more-or-less return the sentiment. Kisu may have been more normal by most wolves' definitions than she, which certainly made her strange, but having grown up amongst no-nonsense religious zealots, it was difficult for Jinx to believe herself strange. She often thought those ignorant of Sos and Atka to be strange... But she was reminded abruptly that there was only one god now, and the name given him did not fully encompass him any longer.

Don't swallow, she advised when he joined her in using her teeth to strip it, knowing high quantities of the acid in the bark could poison a wolf if ingested. A gesture back over her shoulder was enough to indicate her plan to him, she hoped: once we have enough, we will wash our mouths in the sea. Not exactly the most glorious of prospects, for the sea truly tasted terrible even to wolves, but effective nonetheless.