Duskfire Glacier after midnight

skulking was right. sulukinak rarely moved without a serpent's curl to her body, or the prowl of a wildcat; a feral aspect followed her through life, perhaps as a curse from the very mother she hoped now to emulate. was that right? did she want to be like nukilik? the need for it was so deeply rooted inside of her—especially now—that there was no avoiding what was to come.
as a shadow, sulukinak had become accustomed to watching and listening; she had done so in moontide, and then at the qeya river, and only came out of that protective shell when cen had sent her with the lanzadoii; soundlessly, she came upon the languid figure that had previously gone unseen.
it was the woman—but for now she appeared as a pearlescent ghost in repose. compared to sulukinak's own scraggy shape, svalla was swan-like, while sulukinak was closer in composition to a pigeon.
there was that edged tone, again. still, she did not know what to make of it.
we only lay after, answers the girl, unaware that svalla was making a dig at her.