Verdigris Ravine skin

"@Sari." zoug's voice was a guttural vibration in the ravine.

he approached respectfully.

"candle."

a blink of his single eye to the leader of tribe. "wolf." he knew she saw something in their mixes he did not, and it was not those ones he blamed for this.

zoug wanted to hunt them. he would not without s'ari's approval.

Making some assumptions to make this make a bit more sense since S'ari is NPC, let me know if I should change it!!

But S'ari would not attend; it was Candle who slipped from the den occupied by the leader in her sickness, a bit haggard but healing steadily. She blinked at Zoug, not comprehending what he had meant to ask of their first Mediator, but knowing that he would now have to ask it of her.

S'ari... s-sssi..ck, She told him somberly, then switched to the language he had been teaching her: Ask me now.

their world changed.

"wolf attack you," he gestured, punctuating with the grunted words. "now s'ari sick. i want to find wolf." and the look in his eyes suggested more than a meeting.

"but i protect tribe first. what zoug do, candle?"

he wanted to hunt. but they did not have warriors for it. he wanted to kill. but they needed all their teeth. ultimately, zoug did not think the tribe wanted to move as he would, and this was why he was not leader. he would abide and defer.

He spoke of the wolf.

Candle drew in a quick breath and went still, thoughtful; it brought her some measure of peace to know that he wanted to protect her, and all of The Tribe. For a moment she let her thoughts wander, let herself imagine what might follow: the wolves would not forget them if they retaliated. Thus far she had not been sought, and with everything in her she wanted it to remain this way.

And besides, their numbers were dwindling. Candle would remain by S'ari's side even if she was the only one left, even if all of the others faded away as Meridian had. But she did not want to do this alone. No wolf, She decided finally, her reluctance showing in her expression. M-Meri... gone. Only K'oa, Kusuma, and you. Stay. Need you.

She beckoned for him to follow her so that their few spoken words would not disturb S'ari. T-Tri - be small, And she did not know what to do about this, but still lacked the proficiency in Zoug's language to express more complex thoughts. Instead she turned questioning eyes to Zoug, asking wordlessly for his advice, his opinion. To her it made no difference, but Candle was no leader; she was their Mediator, and her job was only to ensure that The Tribe thrived. If thriving to them meant maintaining what they had established under S'ari, she would try. But first she had to find out what her remaining kin truly wanted.

candle wished him to stay. to remain. their numbers were few, and again, they did not have the fangs.

zoug gave a single nod. he would obey.

when candle motioned him away, he followed, and now he looked into her two eyes with his single-sided gaze.

"need children. need more men."

the fact that tribe had become the way it had was not by design. but if they were to grow, to hold the ravine, more must come. their efforts should be toward recruitment, zoug felt.

Children. It was not what she had expected, but Candle saw the truth in his words, and for the first time considered herself as a potential mother. As a priestess, children were forbidden to her. Many of her sisters had been altered, but Candle herself had been too young for that when the fire came and loosed them all into the world. She was whole, and no longer a priestess of the House in anything but name.

But was it what she wanted?

Candle nodded after a moment, but was silent a few beats longer, breaking their eye contact while she sorted out her thoughts. Then her eyes met his again. You? Much of her question was left unspoken, but Candle felt that he would understand. They needed children; she could provide them; and it was Zoug she would choose to aid her in this endeavor.

among the clan, a man and a woman might become mates, but exclusivity was unnecessary. all pups borne to the clan were raised between the families. paternity did not have an emphasis.

zoug knew what candle asked, and would have accepted with his usual grunting had not he paused.

did she want a sire for cubs or a mate? zoug had never been sought out for either. a man of the spirits might provide affected or sickly children. it was reason enough for him to have always kept his distance.

but this was not the clan. he was tribe now, and candle wanted him for this.

and so zoug gestured: yes.

Yes.

There was relief; she knew she could ask no other to do this with her. There was surprise, too; Candle had not expected him to agree without further questions but flushed with joy when he did, and perhaps that should have been her first hint to the last thing she found in her heart. Most of all there was love; for the one who had brought her to S'ari, the one who had given her the gift of language and stood by her and S'ari even as The Tribe crumbled away around them.

Was he her mate now? And what about S'ari? She knew of these things but only through gossip, secondhand stories passed down by sisters with lives before the House. Candle had been born to it. She knew nothing about what it meant, nothing of love except that she felt it. But it didn't matter what they called one another, she decided. Zoug was her friend first. Now he would help her bring children to The Tribe, and she hoped that he would pass to them all of the things that made her love him.

Candle didn't know how to say these things. So she brushed her nose briefly against his and, as she had once before, made that sound that meant home. That was what they were to one another, what they would always be, in the same way that S'ari was home.

there was not a need for words. his single eye took in the emotions which raced through her very skin.

and when she reached to him, zoug was thankful for it, candle's electric pulses traveling into his own whiskers, the roots of his fur.

the sound, repeated.

home.

A promise for the future; they would be parents, here, together, and Candle was overwhelmed with the suddenness of it. Still there was no fear in her. The priestess was learning confidence, and in this it came easily, for Zoug would be at her side through it all.

Children!

Her eyes brightened and her tail waved behind her, a dark banner in the wind. She yipped once, twice, and fell into a play-bow. Many burdens had fallen upon them all at once, it felt, but there was so much to be joyful for. They were alive, and they had one another, and they had hope for the future.

And they had this — their home, their shared promise. Candle darted away from Zoug with a playful glance over her shoulder and another yip, inviting him to follow. When the time came, she would seek him. But for now she only wanted to run and play, perhaps hunt together while they still could. In time they would both be bound to the ravine by this promise of new life. There was a strange comfort in the thought.