Moonspear hell's bells

She didn’t want to leave the mountain. She didn’t want to be apart from almost everyone she knew and loved. She didn’t want to go to faraway places and socialize with dozens of strangers. But Tiuttuk did want to become a leader, perhaps more than anything else except her wish to become an anaa herself someday. If she could do this, it would prove she was actually worthy of that honor.

Her heart pounded as she shadowed Sialuk’s footsteps, her mouth gone dry as her yellow eyes panned the distant northern coastline. Treepie forced herself to pause and lean against a tree, closing her eyes and taking a few deep breaths to steel herself. She glanced behind her—one last glimpse of Moonspear jutting into the western sky—and then faced forward.