Phoenix Maplewood akiġuaġvik

The sun cracked through the red of the canopy, causing shadows to flicker. The three wolves pulled and chewed at a boar which had been felled the night prior, as celebration for their apprentices, and the soon to occur departure of the dark girl Sulukinak to her man, Cen.

Kiviraq, his swarthy gray body sprawled in the grass, chewed a strip of hide; Aputuk was arranging himself similarly but with his attention to the wind, his silver body perched upon the slight hill as if that might give an advantage. Their last - Nunakiaq - kept watch of the other apprentices, a handful of yearlings from scattered families, lanzadoii, sharadoii, and beyond.

As Kiviraq chewed, he held a contemplative intensity. When he spoke it was in the language of the caribou hunters; it carried the weight of his many experienced years.

Sulukinak has done well. Her instincts are sharp, and she adapts quickly.

Aputuk smirks, although it appears as a narrow sneer and only briefly. His eyes glide to a gap in the trees as if the girl might hear him, but they were alone for now. True. She’s learned the nuances of the hunt faster than most. But she still has much to learn about the ways of the Lanzadoii.

I could keep her. Cen traded her away fairly. Spitting a piece of pig skin in to the dirt, there is no reply from Aputuk until Kiviraq pointedly remarks, I do not recall agreeing to her return. She is older than the others we teach; she could be made wife. His brow raises as Aputuk grunts, neither confirming or denying his interest.

The sitting man moves to the boar and inspects it, as if he might steal a mouthful while Kiviraq retains his claim, and there is a brief tension between them.

Aputuk breaks the silence with a thoughtful tone. Let’s make sure we give her a proper send-off, then. You can face Cen yourself. They share blood - or do you forget this too?

Kiviraq grimaces, spits, and gets to his feet. That I remember. I do not need bad blood between us. There is veiled defeat in his tone as he looks to the distant yearlings with their meals, his gaze lavicious upon them, fixing on Sulukinak who sits apart from them and in the shade.

He does not see Nunakiaq among them, and moments later the third man is there too, inspecting the boar's remains and gruffly waiting. He is a man of few words; the trio compliment one-another well enough between personalities and skills, and they work well together. A pointed look is all it takes for Kiviraq to accept the conversation (and whatever desires he held) was at an end.

Gather them, then. Leave the boar for the dark girl, our last peace offering. We leave immediately - she can find her way from here.

The others nod, and begin to move. Kiviraq is a little quicker, heading through the trees to the glade where the various youth lounge, although they move quickly to their feet as the man commands them.

Behind, Nunakiaq and Aputuk pause and one remarks to the other, There is something... unsettling, about her. As that final verdict rests between them, just beyond the yearlings are moving together and following the elder hunter through the forest, leaving Sulukinak where she had been laying off in the shade, surprised by their sudden flight.

Her name had not been called when Kiviraq had come to call them together, and so she did as she was taught and remained prone. The other two barely looked her way as they passed, following; but it was Nunakiaq who stopped short and turned, motioning back in the direction the boar lay. The yearlings had felled it together as a final test.

When she looked in that direction she understood something unspoken; and turning back, she saw she was alone.