Redtail Rise Phoenix

thorn caller asked that he stay. blood star tested the man.

and new snow came to flank him.

the rise had almost broken before. the day red woman had demanded to return to leadership and set her teeth on wolverine, the day she had refused new snow's council; would it be echoed here again?

no. he did not wish to stay. blood eyes had gone. red woman was dead. her youngest children were able to hunt for themselves, and her eldest converged in leadership.

like new snow, mountain boulder did not know where their footing might be secure. 

and so he did not raise his plume, but he did not stand down either. the shifting of his mate kept what might have been an easy power-offering into something more. did she mean to challenge as a contender?