Qeya River crow's cry

@Lestan <3

Another man had come.

Her heart was still hard, aloof. She knew now not to be so desperate with her need for bodies or her desire for loyal family. Perhaps unfortunate for this man. Perhaps @Kigipigak had already made such abundantly clear to him.

But in the glow of the setting sun, she came to him, stance strong and gaze unwavering from him.

What skills do you have?

<3

lestan had spent the better part of several hours hunting a marmot in the cliffside. he had turned up scuffed, dusty, smeared with mud — and victorious.
but when the small scarlet woman commanded him, lestan let the fat furry animal drop with a thump. "uhum," he said elegantly, mind suggesting this must be — sakhmet? she matched the dominant scents upon the border. "h-hunting, ma'am — issumatar." brilliant introduction. "well, i'm just learning how to hunt. hunt here, i mean! i can hunt other places," rambling again. he checked himself. "i am an aspiring hunter, diplomat, and historian."

Ma'am.

Issumatar.

She felt a flare of power and great strength that had been absent from her. The kin of Moonglow had soothed her soul, but now she returned to her own village. She must rule it. Not care for it like a child, like a babe too weak to tend to itself.

And this man had talents that would not be wasted.

You'll find much to do here then. She informed him. The taiga is a very different terrain for both travel and hunts. How odd it felt to be formal, but also strikingly felt like the right thing to be doing.

Her eyes drifted to the marmot before returning to him.

I take it you've met my Sangilak, my husband, Kigipigak?

lestan nodded, grateful for her education. his ears came forward at the next words. "yes. kigipigak — ah, the sangilak — he accepted me not so long ago."
a breeze raked the land. the young man shivered. "i am still getting used to the weather. you are right about the terrain: it's very different. natigvik holds the whole river, too. it means you control the waterway through here." he looked at her with the intrigue of an academic.

He was attentive, detail orientated it seemed.

This she could appreciate. Took some trickle of pride in his observation. It does and we do. She tried to continue this air of self assurance and strength. Gestured for him to grab his kill and follow her.

He would be very to dispose it into a cache, if that had been his goal.

The river brings plenty of life for hunting too. We were away for a visit and it seems the land grew for it. The waterways too. It felt like small talk but it was all important.

What was your life before Natigvik? Were you all these things elsewhere?

eager to please, lestan picked up the marmot and carried it until sakhmet spoke again. she was vibrant in the same way amalia was striking: immediately eye-catching and would be against the snow too 
she reminded him that he had asked amalia about their trip, but hadn't sought an answer once they had discovered the same details on their family tree.
"no. i decided this things after i struck out from the loch."maybe that was why he had been drawn to the water here, despite its frozen offerings. 'where did you go? did all of you go?"

She may have questioned him more, had he not returned on of his own. She offered him a brief glance as she led them along the river. Nearing where it reached towards the glacier.

We have kin over the mountain in Moonglow. It was once the home of Kigipigak, before we made ours. He was a great hunter there with much honor.

It could have been her home, too. Perhaps she could have held honor.

She did so now, she reminded herself.

How did you decide to become all these things once you left the loch? Was that home?

natigvik had family other than here. through kigipigak. he noted that while sakhmet spoke of them fondly, she also mentioned her husband and the honor he had held among this place called moonglow. it meant natigvik, being hers, meant something very different to her perhaps.
lestan filed this neatly away, a historian moment.
"yes. loch teine. fire lake. every year, a great multitude of fireflies rose into the air each summer night, and lit the water so brightly it looked like a pool of fire from a great distance."
he sighed and smiled a little, reaching to prod the marmot. "i became a hunter out of necessity and then i got here and found it to be a rather nice place for tracking. the other two roles; i suppose i thought them up on my journey. you see how much i enjoy talking."

He spoke of place that tugged on her heartstrings. They did not outright have a place like that here but...there was the glacier, nearby, with its nightly shows of skyfire.

It was easy, for a moment, to think of Gleipnir.

A thought banished in favor of the here and now.

You don't speak without meaning though. She complimented, a small lift at the end of her lips. The glacier — She gestured to the land north of them. It is almost like your loch teine. At night the sky lights up, full of colorful fire.

What would you say if I gave you a task to go there?

She did not order him on such a thing.

lestan drank in the details of the glacier. that it too held fire of a kind intrigued him very deeply.
he wanted to ask her the glacier's name, but her next pronouncement brought lestan's attention sharply around. he had not forgotten what kigipigak said: that he must impress sakhmet, for she had final say.
it seemed he had captured her good humour at least but now she was offering a task. "i would immediately say yes and leave as soon as you saw fit, issumatar." lestan's face was warm but he meant it seriously.

She smiled. A show of approval for the sudden obedience offered to her.

Know the glacier is not far, I'm not sending you on a long excursion. She spoke now as if her mind had been made up.

Rest for a day or two, first. There was little negotiation on this first step. He would be no good in a tired, ragged state from whatever journeys he had already made here. Then track any prey in the glacier for two days. If you need more, then you will come back and say so. You will learn the terrain of the taiga there too. The glacier has woodlands, ice and caves.

She paused for a moment, turning to face him. He may have taken up more space but she certainly felt bigger here.

Upon return, you will tell me and my Sangilak of your findings.

And now she fell fully silent. Prepared to hear what he'd make of this.

lestan stood attentive. two days, and he was to go on a prey-finding mission. this was more than acceptable, despite the fact that he had almost killed himself falling after catching the marmot by only sheer luck.
what trust she placed in him! he was dazzled!
lestan bowed gently. "i hope to have a half-dozen places to describe when i come back, issumatar," he said happily, still enthused for the chance to prove himself even if it was a steep learning curve/

wrapping this? :D

I believe in you.

She told him. A blessing, perhaps. Should he survive the glacier and return with words of it, she would know he truly did have skills and loyalty to offer Natigvik.

It would be a shame to see his potential untapped.