Duskfire Glacier at aaktuktuk |<

Maybe @Lane or @Arius or anyone doing border patrol?

The wolves of Moonglow had built up various camps by now with clustered ulax, and were taking the time to dig in to the frozen earth for places to keep the meat once the hunting began in earnest.

Kigipigak had helped with one such task earlier in the day, leaving him muddy and sore, which he regretted. There was still time before the two villages would unite in celebration over the caribou; he hoped it was enough for him to rest.

The tracking of the caribou herds was done in rounds. It was not his turn; but he hungered, and sought something small from a half-dug ulaq to compensate. He then gathered whatever remained in that particular cache - in this case a ratty looking rabbit - and carried it to the edge of Duskfire village.

It was here he placed it at his feet and looked around, wondering if he should cross that invisible line and bring his gift, or wait for someone to meet with him. There did not seem to be anyone upon the outskirts today; odd, as these northern wolves had seemed so attentive to their land before.

Kigipigak was ignorant to the sorrow the Duskfire wolves were undergoing, given their recent losses.

Veteran drifted through his normal rounds like some cross between a zombie and a wraith. He knew he should be feeling something intensely painful, but strangely, it felt more like something was missing from his heart instead of added to it. There was a hole, sucking and devouring, attempting to pull all the rest down inside. Veteran fought it, but it was there, and he could sort of see how Tzila had succumbed. 

He somehow found himself face to face with a great white wolf, a stranger, and yet... Veteran couldn't bring himself to voice his usual questions, or feel his usual suspicion. Some blunted instinct within the boy alerted him that the man smelled of Moonglow, and he was therefore a friend. Dully, Veteran voiced, "My dad just died. His wife too." He felt detached from his own voice. 

His ice-blue eyes landed on the offering, lingering there for a long moment before drawing back up to the man. "Can I eat that?" he asked finally, realizing it had been ages since he'd eaten. Before dad died. Before Tzila had rushed to follow him to the grave. Try as he might, Veteran couldn't recall dining since he was camped out with the Moonglow wolves.

It wasn't a man who came to greet him, but a boy.

He looked to be built out of a winter storm. Dark and moody at the edges, gilded silver everywhere else, and blue; more than that, his expression looked dour. Kigipigak watched him with a small bow of his head, and that was when he saw the scar across his crown.

A boy yes, but perhaps also a warrior.

Hail! Kigipigak called out, and reached for the hare at his paws, lifting it and touting it as if it were some great discovery, only to fling it towards the boy.

Kigipigak was prepared to introduce himself; looking like his old gregarious self, grinning and boisterous, ready to proclaim that he was a hunter of Moonglow here to learn of the Duskfire wolves before they set to work — but the boy's voice cut through all of that before Kigipigak had a chance.

My dad just died. His wife too.

The smile faltered slightly upon Kigipigak's face. He shielded his teeth and looked a bit perplexed. He had not met the village leaders here but he still felt a keen shock at the news. The boy was more interested in the hare — likely still in shock.

Ah, yes, yes that is for you. Kigipigak indicated, although tossing the rabbit might've been clue enough.

The man practically radiated with life, and he was normally the sort of person to which Veteran would find himself instantly drawn. The boy's mouth twitched in the barest hint of a smile. He then bent to tear scrap of meat off of the hare, and he studied the Moonglow man as he chewed. It was sort of nice to have something to focus on that wasn't, you know, all the shitty stuff. 

Swallowing, he noted, "Your face is scarred, like mine." Actually, the man's everything was scarred. "Do you know my mom? Her name is Lane, and she's a medic." He had the look of someone who was often in need of a medic. "She's also the alpha. I'm Veteran." He bent to tear another bite, chewing ravenously.

As the boy took to tearing in to the hare, Kigipigak watched him. He looked strong and healthy, which made him wonder what had happened to either parent; but it was not something Kigipigak knew much about. Perhaps they were old, like his own father had been. Perhaps the sickness in the caribou had somehow branched to the two of them - which seemed unlikely, but, again, Kigipigak could plead ignorance.

The boy spoke as he ate. He offered up tidbits of information that piqued Kigipigak's interest. Better to focus on these, he thought, than what troubled young Veteran.

I know Lane. Kigipigak answered, smiling before he could stop himself. We have hunted together before. In fact, I have met you before too! But it was during your time growing within her. A strange point of fact, but Kigipigak thought it amusing. We hunted boar together just before you were born.

To hear that she was now issumatar of this glacier was not surprising; although Kigipigak had never imagined Lane in such a role, she was clearly suited to it. A mother and a hunter of some prowess — it was in this new light that he would see the woman now, aligning her mentally with Kukutux.

Veteran listened while he chewed, but when the moon man mentioned that they had met before, he paused and met the man's eyes curiously.

The moon man would quickly explain his line of thinking, and Veteran's mouth would quirk in an amused half-smile, similar to he expression is mother wore near constantly. He swallowed before he spoke again.

"And I thought all along that I had never tasted boar before! Even though my mind doesn't remember, I wonder if my tongue would..?" His mother had explained to him all the (yucky!) facts of life about wolf reproduction, but somehow this crucial topic had never come up. 

"Did you want mom? Or Issorartuyok?" he asked as he chewed on yet another bite.  The man had come to the border, but he hadn't howled or anything. Was there something he wanted?

The boy looked pleased, in so far as he could be, and Kigipigak felt a weight rise off his shoulders. It was the true mark of a man when one could see themselves through hardship with a smile; it had always worked for Kigipigak, and he liked to think it would work for others.

I would like to say hello. It does not have to be to Lane, or to... the other name was one he did not know, but he understood the meaning of. Someone else from the north? Had the glacier always been a branch of Tartok, the hunter wondered. Issorartuyok. I have not met one by that name.

Then he shrugged. Meeting you was fine enough. I only meant to pass a greeting, offer my service to the glacier. The wolves of Moonglow have made their camps and we ready ourselves for the hunt — that is all. Perhaps you can take that message to them.

He did not want to linger long on foreign soil, not when there was work to be done.

"Issorartuyok Tatkret," Veteran repeated for the man. He flipped the rabbit carcass deftly with his nose, pulling back the skin to reveal the only meat left on the bones. He dug in eagerly. The hunger of a growing boy could not be staunched, even by grief. 

"He's new. Kind of. He helps my mom lead." But the moon man would know that, since he was a Northerner. Issorartuyok's name translated to leader dog in the Northern language. Veteran was still of an age at which his black-and-white mind believed that one's job could not deviate from one's name. His own name was Veteran, and so he would be a soldier. Wayfarer would be a ranger. He'd met Angler, who was a fisher. And Issorartuyok, the leader dog-- he would lead. It was just the way things were.  

"Moonglow is about to start hunting?!" He leapt to his feet. Veteran nearly choked on his last bite of meat, which he had swallowed much to soon in an attempt to speak as quickly as possible. His eyes watered from the large piece of half-chewed meat he had just forced down.

"I'll tell Mom!" he cried, darting off in the direction of the Duskfire rendezvous point. After a few leaping steps though, he stopped in his tracks and turned around, darting back to ask the Northerner a question. "Will you wait here for me?" he asked breathlessly, "I wanna go to the camp with you, but I gotta ask Mom first!" Veteran technically wasn't allowed to leave the Duskfire lands without an escort, so he needed the Northerner to wait for him here. He leapt away once more, only to return again after getting about a step-and-a-half away. "Hang on, what's your name?" The moon man had never told him. 

As soon as Veteran had his name and his assurance that he would wait for the boy to return, Veteran would race away with the message. The rabbit carcass would be left behind, although it was little more than a pile of bone and fur scraps at this point.

Ready to fade when you are!

The boy feasted slowly on the rabbit. Kigipigak watched him with some care, not wanting to offend him with his staring eye or disturb him, as some people did not like to be watched in this way. As soon as Kigipigak mentioned the hunt the boy's mood shifted dramatically.

Kigipigak. The white wolf answered with a thin smirk, holding back the chuckle that wanted to draw lowly from his chest. It did not seem appropriate given their topic of conversation earlier.

I will wait, but not for long. He answered, and motioned for the boy to get a move on with a nod.

Once the boy had dispersed, leaving only the ratty ends of his meal behind, Kigipigak breathed deeply and set to waiting; together they would head for the nearest Moonglow camp and the Duskfire boy's abilities would be put to the test.