Verdigris Ravine marrow

set for tomorrow!

zoug had stayed away from the ravine for whole day and half of another. he did not want to risk any of the Others finding where tribe rested.

in the evening zoug returned. he was still stained in his covering of blood but it had gone rank and brown. he came close to @Sari. "find wolf," he told her, using that same attempted wolf-snarl for the name of the beast he had seen. "know s'ari. say your name word." 

it was not a confrontation. zoug hunched beside her and spoke quietly. he wanted to know and to speak in a way that made him truly understood. there was more to share with s'ari, with all of them.

Phone post

S’ari’s tail wagged as Zoug approached. She opened her mouth to greet him, but he beat her to it, straight to the point.

Find wolf.

Her blood ran cold, eyes widening in fear. Anxiously, she checked him over for wounds, but there was nothing. Only the rank smell of old blood from his war paint, or whatever it was he always put on his chest.

Knew S’ari. Say your name word.

Meerkat? she asked, immediately, feeling suddenly much better. What did this wolf look like? Male or female? She tried to keep her words short so as not to confuse Zoug.

he was annoyed by the gap of speaking between them. "female. age." older than any daughter, though zoug would not know how to convey what the Other had said.

he noticed that her worry had gone away, and cocked his head curiously. "zharee no fear?" to zoug this represented an abstraction, a blurring between their world and that of the wolves.

his nostrils flare. "zoug make drink. show tribe first breath."

he saw the time to prove himself, but first he wanted to know why s'ari was not afraid.

Female. Age.

Age? Did he mean old? Oh... Towhee, perhaps? S'ari asked. Dark fur? With red?

S'ari no fear?

S'ari smiled at Zoug, a sort of sad smile. Not all wolves are bad, Zoug, she said, gently. Some are friends, yes? Then, Drink? She did not know what he meant by drink, and his next words, in his own language, were lost on her. She'd only learned a few of them. She caught only tribe. What drink?

slowly zoug nodded, though his brows grew together. s'ari spoke of friendliness between wolves and tribe. the muscles of his shoulders were rigid as he fought against shaking his head. she was young. he was almost an old man. perhaps she simply did not know what he did of the Others.

"clan drink. not water. make all tribe see. together," zoug added, using kusuma's word as he peered at s'ari with his single good eye.

Zoug did not look happy about S'ari fraternizing with wolves. However... Zoug rarely looked happy, period, so it was difficult to tell.

He spoke of a drink that would make all the tribe see together.

See together, she mused. See... Perhaps he meant see in the way a shaman Sees? In her home Tribe, they used certain cacti sometimes, to See things, the future, the past, things happening far away. S'ari had partook of such rituals before, though the after effects always left her feeling strange and uncomfortable. If Zoug thinks it is necessary, she said, begrudgingly. But only those who agree will drink. Not everyone wants to See.

zoug had never heard of their kind declining the drink. it was a great difference between clan and tribe. the liquid was sacred, precious. the ingredient was rare. it could not be made only for testing, only for show.

the man made a grunt low in his throat.

it was a rite for all of them. they must all partake. "zoug wait." but his eye was on her. "zharee drink?"

Wait? S'ari repeated. Wait for what?

But Zoug was already speaking again. She sighed at his question. S'ari does not like this way of Seeing, but... yes. Yes, she will drink. What is the drink made of? She can help you gather the plants. In her Home Tribe, there were no multiple ingredients, simply one type of cacti that was very carefully gathered and removed of thorns, which was a long and tedious process, which often resulted in getting poked several times. Thorns were removed with the teeth, which took some level of skill and strength to pull from the fruit without breaking the needles off too early. Then the cactus fruit was broken open and chewed. S'ari hoped it would not be this difficult to make Zoug's drink.

s'ari did not like this sharing. zoug grunted, pitched in a way that indicated his confusion. the more that he spoke of these things and his people's ways, the more it became clear there were such stark differences he was not sure how to surmount them.

wait. "wait for — others." he was frustrated, and touched the earth to steady himself. "wait to know good."

she asked to help. zoug shook his head, though not in a disparaging manner. "can not help. only zoug. go far," he said, gesturing in a general direction south of their ravine. "i will come back." something not quite a smile touched his features.

he knew only one place where the plant he needed grew.

S'ari did not quite understood what wait to know good meant, but she did not think there was a point in asking, as she got the feeling Zoug was already stretching himself thin trying to explain. Silently, she cursed their language barrier.

He told her he could not help, that he had to do this alone, but that... She squinted, trying to pick out his Clan gestures. I... back. He would come back, she guessed. Of course, she said, unworried. The entire desert belonged to the Tribe, and so he would not really be leaving. (Unless he left the Lowlands, which was so outside of S'ari's worldview that she did not even think of it). Will Zoug go now? Or when?

s'ari asked a question that meant numbers. zoug did not have a way to tell her how many days. for a moment the man only frowned, and then he held up his paw. 

five.

a dot in the dust. six.

six days before leaving. he would purify himself in preparation, and hunt with the others until it was time.

Zoug held up a paw. One. One day. Or... five, for each toe? He then put a dot in the sand... for one more? So, he either meant two or six. Well. No matter. S'ari would simply wait to see when he left and then she would know how many days he had meant.

Good, then, she said, and stood up. She was not looking forward to partaking in this drink, mainly for the side-effects of afterwards, but she would do it regardless. S'ari will see you off when you go, yes?

Wrap up?

<3

zoug hoped to show s'ari how much her power was needed. it was hers. it was his. he wanted to remind her as he had done for those of the clan. "yes," the man grunted, with a lighter look in his eye.

tonight, he would sleep well. tomorrow he would do his rites of cleaning. 

but zoug ended up seeking a slumber that did not come to him.