The Heartwood Never opened myself this way.

Two days had passed since Cirilla had crossed the Sunspire range and descended into the lowlands. Chakliux and his companion would be miles ahead of her, no doubt. She'd slowed her pace since her reunion with the seal-hunter and the resulting disappointment, but as she neared the territory claimed by Moonglow she felt shame weave its way into her soul

Kukutux would not reject her, she thought, but her dispersal had been a wordless one. It felt awkward to return to the Moonwoman and ask for another chance, and with her confidence dashed by discovery she no longer felt as bold as she once did.

The swallow lurked in the lands surrounding, trying to convince herself to be brave.

The panther couldn't help himself. He returned to the plains to try and trace his leaders' path, bringing with him only @Sulukinak, who he was reluctant to leave behind again. On the short trip, he accepted that he was afraid they all would disappear — but if he brought her with him, she would not.

But the trail had long since faded. There had been nothing to find. He found a place to sleep and tried to settle in, but his worries plagued him. Leaving the shadow girl to rest, he wandered listlessly through the woods.

He did not find Ariadne — but he did find someone. The trail was fresh, and he followed it until he had the unfamiliar wolf in sight. Close enough then for her to catch his own scent — would she recognize it as something Chakliux had carried, as he recognized her?

"Peace be," he said in quiet greeting. He thought, unwittingly, that she shaded a coat pattern with his baby sister, not realizing it was a closer match with his own. "You are Ciri. A seal hunter said this name to me."

A voice came, and Ciri lifted her head sharply to regard the wolf who spoke gentle words. She regarded him with forward ears and wide yellow eyes, snow clinging to whiskers from her nosing after the scent of a mouse. He was a stranger, yet spoke her name; she did not recognise his scent nor his face. But she was quick to assume: you are... Dutch?

The swallow allowed herself a moment's hesitation in asking for confirmation, for she wasn't sure if she'd retained it in the stress of her conversation with Chakliux. She was also caught off guard to learn that he'd spoken of her, and anxiety bubbled beneath the surface over what he'd shared of her.

A smile broke open the solemn pinch to his features when she said his name. He was weary still, and not even this pleasant surprise could cure that — but he was drawn close enough for conversation by her voice.

"I am he," the panther agreed with a short whisk of his tail. "We are returned from our hunt. I believe he is back in Moontide."

Without him. Dutch knew now more than ever that it was best this way — but he still felt a flutter of indignation over the seal hunter's break from their plans. How precious it would have been to spend a few days close with his family before coming home to sorrow and travesty. He had to worry now about what moonwoman would think, and about the wolves who had looked to Ariadne for leadership, and about the strange shadow girl he still did not quite understand. It gave him little room for grief or anger — and part of him resented that, too.

"You are returning to Moonglow?" he asked, his expression clouding as he looked toward the spine.

Chakliux had returned to Moontide - to embrace his wives, she imagined. The swallow felt nausea sweep the lining of her stomach at the thought of his joy upon their reunion, certain that she herself would be cast from his mind.

She bit back the sickness she felt, swallowed it. Ciri lifted her chin in an effort to convince herself to be strong, that he was only one wolf - the right one for her would be waiting, somewhere, eager for the same connection and loyalty she'd hoped to find in the seal-hunter.

Yes, she answered smoothly, following Dutch's gaze to look upon the place where Moonglow made its home, soon.

He suspected, suddenly, that she did not want to speak to him. Well, too bad, the panther thought, lowering himself to one haunch to take the weight off his injured leg. A sigh escaped him, silent but vaporous in the winter air.

"They have just returned home from a great hunt on the plains," he told her, his features sobering once more quite without his permission. "Moonwoman sorrows. A daughter fled in the night. Village Moonsong worries and mourns for its head. Moonwoman worries and mourns for her child."

This was supposition on his part. Dutch was only just becoming privy to the runrest between mother and daughter, daughter and village — but the divide had apparently been deep. Still, Dutch was sure that Kukutux was pained. He could not compare his own sorrow and worry to what he expected of a mother.

He wondered if she, too, was angry.

"I hope that a familiar face brings her comfort," he said, but he said it without much hope at all.

Dutch spoke of a hunt on the plains, and she imagined what sort of offering Kukutux might gift upon her return. A fine meat to fill her belly, surely, enough to satisfy her for days to come. Ciri resisted the urge to sweep her tongue across a lower lip, and instead averted her sunshine stare to blink up at the Moonsong wolf's face.

Your leader abandoned her family? Ciri sought confirmation, surprise lifting her brow as her heart lurched for the Moonwoman's misfortune. The raven Ostrega had only ever known Kukutux to be gentle and kind, and it pained her to know how she ached. What happened?

The panther was gratified to see the effect this information had on Ciri. He relaxed a fraction, glad that she was someone who cared for the wolves of Moonglow.

"It looks that way," said Dutch, allowing for some small shred of doubt. He wished sometimes for Ariadne to prove him wrong — but alternative explanations left him feeling sick with fear for the girl. And as for why, Dutch had slowly been coming to a conclusion. It was a shred of misgiving he'd carried in him since before departing the glacier with Chakliux.

"I cannot say," he admitted, deciding that his theory was better left unsaid — at least in so many words. "She left with her husband, who I believe is capable of seeing them both through the winter." Even though she was small, and injured, and quite probably with child. The panther grit his teeth, his muzzle wrinkling briefly before he forced his anger away once more. "But she was recovering from an injury. And she had come into her womanhood just before she left. She is young." A slight pause, and then: "He is not. He is of an age with me or you."

Ciri pressed her ears back as Dutch shared his observations with her. The moondaughter was young and foolish, it seemed, as many could be. That alone was not something she could be faulted for, and she felt the drive to seek Kukutux and show her support.

She inhaled deep, and shifted once more to look upon the Moonglow wolf's face. Thank you, Ciri said, her voice small, now I must go.

Hopefully he will not be so grave and mopey the next time they meet! Thank you so much for the thread!! <3

The traveler did not share her opinion on the things that had come to pass. Dutch felt she did not need to, for it was obvious how one ought to feel about such things. In any case, he felt he had done his part in cementing the truth of this tale. Perhaps not the whole truth, and perhaps not nothing but the truth — but the truth as it would go down in history, if this budding historian had anything to say about it.

But, for just this once, the panther found he had very little to say.

"Go in peace," he replied, lacking the energy to try and keep her any longer. "Your return may bring them some measure of peace."

This idea, too, would be recorded in his histories.