Verdigris Ravine and the rest hope for a shoulder

the to’lang fell to the earth with a clatter, a small cloud of red dust rising. 

the hunter remained silent. he may have been near qiao, but his mind was far away reliving experiences too abject to put into the sparse and piecemeal command of his newfound language. 

one sigil-bone intrigued qiao. it pointed to zoug with its head oriented towards the eridanus star. again came the sign of water. 

this portentous sign qiao kept to herself. she begun to clean the dusted edge of her instruments, comfortable in the shared silence.