Qeya River briar hearts

pika's screaming brought the night. sun eater closed its life with a merciful bite and tossed the body into a cache nearest stone crier's high cold caverns.

he was restless; he went after the night down into the ravines and bathed himself in icy water until his senses all sharpened with a hard gasp.

if this isn't ok, i'm happy to remove <3

she did not know if her soul would mend as her flesh had begun to.

it was not just sun eater who stirred with restlessness. she could not sleep through the pain anymore and the desire to be free of the cavern for just a moment was too grand. she had sorted through plants and dared to test them for herself. the first had wrought an ache through her abdomen.

the second brought sweet relief that warmed her more than any fire ever could. it gave her the belief that she could do anything she had the desire for.

like walk among the clan.

fresh pika had captured her attention first. she did not know why sun eater kept her fed, brought a healer to her abode. she thought if the man wanted her to march this badly then he must have seen something beneath her skin. she did not think of how that thought scared her more than death.

nor was there much thought in how she followed his scent now. it led her to a further relief in the form of icy water. she thought she saw him out there like some kind of vodník. yet there was no fear in her to see him now.

she slid within the icy waters and found herself punched by a gasp, too.

ur always welcome!

seeing sun crier down beside the river, her tall frame gilded with sunlight, satisfied the caribou man. it meant he had kept his word; it meant that she would live, despite her pain.

but would her walking continue? could she hold the abilities of his clan? 

still sun eater did not question overmuch. it was a day to be celebrated in good, contemplative silence. he felt they had a better chance now to leave before the first hard frost.

ghelan! his heart leapt. sulukinak searched for truth among ash and the man who might share blood. but perhaps he did not need to wait so long.

he lifted his head. "ugheli dzaen, stone crier," he greeted her in partial lanzadoii. time now also to shed the unpleasant common, though for now he spoke its bulk only with sulukinak.