Qeya River fables

star eater listened with quiet understanding, though her eyes drifted toward the distant treeline, as if seeing something far beyond their conversation.
it was beautiful because i did not know it was a cage, she murmured. not until i was grown. not until i realized what it meant to be born to that place… to be born to them.
there was a brief flicker of pain behind her gaze, swiftly tucked away beneath the practiced mask of a woman who had learned to endure.
i was not saatsine by birth. i chose this life. because if i stayed... i would have been buried beneath the weight of duty that was not mine to carry. i left because i had to. because i wanted to live.
her voice softened, the tension in her body easing as she looked back to other shore.
the march is hard, yes. but it is life. to move is to survive. the caribou know this. and so we follow.
she leaned down, gently nosing the younger woman’s shoulder—a rare gesture of affection.
you will learn. and you will endure.

we can fade this out in your next post :)