Porcupine Ridge gold dust

no posting order!

@Nutuyikruk walked as well as she said she would. where muskrat climbed, the girl's efforts were valiant, aided by a lifting here or there. the sentry spoke as they traveled, telling the lynx-child of how warriors would spring from this place, how they were powerful enough to take what they wished from others.

how one day perhaps she would grab a captive of her own, and set them free in new knowledge.

muskrat carried her ward up the path and set her down in a sprawling patch of dark clover. voice crooned now, low, for @Makono and @Hex. come and see, she urged, citrus eyes gleaming in the new crawl of darkness as she watched the girl. "food." goat meat, pulled from a cache, set in front of nutu yikruk.

The rise had been violent. 

The soft slope of the first spire was nothing in the face of the trek to come. Jagged stones with pointy teeth for rock faces stared at her. Buttes spun overhead and reached for the sky higher than any triumph she believed had been conquered. Shadows were placed like long arms over the valleys. 

Muskrat led every step and Nutuyikruk followed in blind faith through every frightening ridge.

The land opened up to clovers, and she sat with her back feet propped up. Clover stems tickled between them and made her toes wiggle, staring ahead in wait.

"Who comin'?" She whispered. "The shadow people?"  Muskrat kept the promise. Her eyes lit up at a slab of meat, and she gorged herself in a snack.

The Shadow Man came.

Oh, she was young. Hex's golden eyes lit upon the girl with both intrigue and sympathy; she couldn't be much older than he had been when he'd first left home. Clearly starving, too, with the way she wolfed down the meal.

Who's this? he asked Muskrat, who he assumed had escorted the child here. And was she alone?

She resembled Golden Eagle, somewhat, but he couldn't know for sure they were related. Hex sat back near the pair, waiting for his warrior's response while continuing to watch the young wolf.

anyone still welcome to join! <3

night man was one thing: a fall of quiet darkness lit by stars. shadowknife was another: a raincloud pouring in black liquid over the face of the ridge.

"her name nutu yikruk," muskrat said with difficulty, her serpent-gold eyes on the girl. "mean 'lynx.'" his warrior gestured back the way they had come. "find her alone. sad. hungry. none of those now."

it was the ridge who fed her now. it was the shadows for which she too would fight.

A shade from the underbelly of the spires emerged. She looked into the golden eyes of the man and felt her heart shake. These people, they struck a terrific wonder.

The girls head fell towards the clovers with a mouth stuffed of goat meat. The sprouts of growing adult teeth hung on by their points to the flesh. Blood stained the ground where the food was dropped. A seeking glance found quick rest to Muskrat's face. The man with night fur would be met soon after by emerald eyes, and a soft voice. The lake had not been home.

"Hello." 

The name was a mouthful. He'd do his best, but for now, he saw her as "Nutu"—lynx seemed far too ferocious, at least at the moment, for this shy youngster. He gave her a brief smile, nodding at her greeting.

I'm Hex, he replied. You're safe here. We've got food and shelter.

His face held gratitude as he turned to Muskrat, nodding briefly toward his chief warrior. There was something else he needed to discuss, and he did so without lowering his tone; no need to alarm the girl with sotto voce suspicion.

There was a woman on the next peak over—pale, with a reddish streak down her spine, he explained. A child with her. She didn't look right. Could be sick. Be wary.

He'd have to let Aquilae know, too. He doubted the pair would stray into their land. . .but the madness was unpredictable, and he'd guard against any outcome while he still could.

the warrior listened. with their numbers growing, she had less reason for caution and more for the fierce territoriality she felt already in her spirit over this place.

a sharp jerk of her chin upward said she had heard him, and she chose then to explore the nearby mountain with the intention of driving off this oddwoman.

nutuyikruk would find that where there were no mothers for now, mentors might abound in the shaded heartbeat of the land hex ruled. she would eat. she would rest. she would train.

this can be a cameo since we're a bit along!

a child warrior.

perhaps she should have held the highest amount of empathy. yet instead it is a tumbling brew of worry that sloshed around within. she should have summoned @Qiao and fed this girl-thing into the jaws of the crone, but she figured that it might instead be taken as a slight to hand over a child not of her loins.

maybe this was only the leftovers of her lover's burning times. some streak of maternal in the wake of it all. granted she doubted any of this would be exactly motherly.

she might corner the child alone later, as if she had not outgrown school-yard bullying tactics herself yet.

<3

They welcomed her, and Nutu was lost in a new world.

The grass along the steep slopes dripped down to the and pooled into the flat they resided in now. The peak sprung up in the distance, and the wind rushed through the valleys with brisk cold. Surrounding, a fence of needle peaks. 

She wriggled her toes again, and rubbed a front paw on the soft ground. It was nothing like the climb to get there.

The lynx's attention drew back softly, and her cheek shied away into a shoulder. "It's nice to meet your face." A meaningless statement next: "I'm Nutu." And they knew that.

You're safe, Nutu, Hex reiterated, nodding toward what was left of the meat. Eat and sleep. We'll be here.

Aquilae appeared, and he cast his gaze upon her briefly before returning it to the girl.

Muskrat, tell Aquilae about what I've just said, he ordered the warrior, with a brusque nod. I'll show the girl to the rendezvous.

Without further hesitation, he escorted the young wolf onward after her meal. 

Muskrat and Aquilae could handle the threat.

He would handle the needy.

their night man was strangely nurturing. perhaps not strange at all; hex was not unkind, nor was he cruel. muskrat indeed had yet to see any of the innate violence needed for a raid.

she trusted it would come. the aspect was certainly in his order. muskrat jerked her chin upward, turning to makono as the nightrunner and the girl moved off. "come. i tell you on way."

they would find who this woman might be.