Redsand Canyon start to finish

From one end of a steep hill to the other was a span of bright red blood. There were prints in some spots of it, and further along as the blood tapered thin, the steps continued. The stripe transitioning to messy stains that trailed after Glaukos.

In his teeth hung a fat goose. It was white, or should've been while alive, and its neck was so long that he had to grip the thing from its back, between the wings. He tossed the thing down as he came to a plateau, square in the middle of it.

Licking his lips after, Glaukos looked from the vantage point he had discovered and out, at the surroundings of Mereo.

Some ways off he could see one of the other guardians doing a patrol. Down among the rocks was Tamar, tinkering at whatever job she'd found for herself.

He didn't call out to anyone, and turned back to his kill to begin plucking feathers.

tamar was settling into being a wife.

today she combed the pelt of a rabbit she had killed. it was good to watch her work become something more. the idea of having her own things still made the girl uncomfortable, but she was growing into it.

when she looked up, it was to see glaukos. he had red on his mouth but from here she could not see what he was doing.

tamar only lingered with her eyes, smiling once should the soldier look back down toward her. she too went back to her task, humming gently a song from the oasis.

He saw the woman, shared a glance with her, but did not let his eyes linger long. He'd learned his lesson: do not stray from Mereo. That did not just mean his physical body as far as Glaukos was concerned.

While he pulled feathers from the bird's carcass, he thought of the warning given by Germanicus at the last meeting. He thought also of the way Tamar had arrived late — and his curiosity grew. His jealousy too, Glaukos didn't understand why he felt so bitter.

A crack; he pulled one entire wing free and in the next moment, it was flung from on high, to land in the dust nearer to Tamar.

she jumped slightly when the wing landed.

it was a twist of blood feathers and gristle. for a long moment tamar only looked at it, then glanced back upward to glaukos.

what sort of game did he mean to play?

she chose to take it as a gift. tamar lifted the wing and tossed it into the air, catching it a moment later with a leap. "thank you," she called up to him.

she set the feathered limb beside her and returned to her work.

The girl's voice drifted up to him. Glaukos continued working as if she wasn't there - but then saw something flash in the corner of his eye.

The wing, up, down again. The clatter of teeth against the hollow bone as it was caught. He gave a snort and pretended not to notice.

She moved well. She was quick and careful, with a good eye.

The feathers on that particular wing were still relatively clean - he worked now on the other, which was far more twisted. When Glaukos had finished with the second, he worked at the neck and was left with the plump body of the bird with is heavy breast of meat.

He thought of tucking in to it and feasting alone.

perhaps she would use the feathers for decoration.

she would wash them in the stream beside the forest.

eventually the girl rose and draped the pelt over her shoulders. she picked up the wing and turned away. her song trailed on, low in her throat. she felt that glaukos would want to be left to his own devices.

tamar was happy.

He listened as she carried her song, and when it diminished the boy was left fully alone. He peered over the ledge at the place where the wing had been left, and saw it too was missing. He deliberated something silently for a few minutes and then moved.

When Tamar returned, if she returned soon, she would find the space empty. The cleaned carcass of goose untouched and left at the opening to her shared den. Glaukos' scent lingered but the boy did not - he'd taken the smallest portion, the neck, and gone off to eat it somewhere out of sight.

that night tamar prepared the meat with fragrant leaves.

she sent a silent thanks to glaukos for his offering as she ate with arsenio.

the wing was untouched by blood now. she had placed it on a small ledge alongside the door.

it caught the moonlight as she slept.