Emberwood jedanaest

suliya's tail gave a small wag as she caught ice diver's words and saw her gaze shift. she repeated softly, tsaay qa denidał ts’iigh, embedding it deeper into her memory.

when ice diver spoke of the strongest, suliya nodded quickly, a flicker of pride warming her chest. ełtsa, very good! her voice was bright, though she kept her eyes trained on the bulls as they clashed, their massive forms moving with both grace and brute force.

the strongest one, she echoed again, this time with a more confident nod toward the dominant bull. tsaay qa nełt’aał. the one who leads. she slowed over the pronunciation slightly, hoping ice diver might appreciate the effort.

her gaze lingered on the bull that seemed to be winning, her thoughts flickering back to the one she'd marked before. perhaps, like this one, he had fought hard to keep his place—or perhaps he had fallen to another. these things, she could only guess, but in the company of ice diver, it felt good to try and understand.