Ouroboros Spine Adrift, Asunder.

There it was again, that derision. That belittling tone as if Amalia was somehow her mother, correcting her. It was enough to rile Tulukiri just because of the tone of it.

Amalia rehashed all the old crap: Tulukiri's arrival, her cajoling of her packmates, proving herself to be some kind of wound collector. Counting off all the slights to each member of the pack, which only proved she was somehow gunning for Tulukiri; why else would she collect these details and spew them at her? This list of sins.

I'm over that shit! I don't see why you're bringing it up. You were punished for what you did, life went on. I don't care! I don't care at all about you or about whatever bullshit you think you've got on me. Tulukiri was exasperated by all of this. She was glaring now at Amalia and wanted very badly to be away from here. In the future she'd make sure to avoid the woman's patrol routes, and as such, avoid moments like this.

I do think less of you. She admitted, without any humility. Her frown had shifted in to a brief sneer before the downturn resumed. All of you. You're not Tartok. The only person I respect from Natigvik is Kigipigak, because he is. Its that simple. He said he had a village and he was raising his sons in the ways of Tartok, which I thought meant you'd all be strong like them, and wise like them, and -- you're not. You're absolute trash, and I think you know it.

She was seething. It went beyond Amalia's reception of her, now. Beyond even this moment of contention. Tulukiri felt utterly betrayed by Kigipigak and the idea that had been planted in to her mind during their travel away from Tulimaq: that they would find a family of Tartok warriors waiting for them in the village. Now the village was gone, and they were on a mountain full of children, and Tulukiri hated all of it.