Silver Moraine the right clothes and the right appearance

she brought @Yura to their lean camp made in the moraine. silvery powders of snow blew underfoot as she searched for the caribou-killer among the glacial scar.

spotting the muradoii coursing along the slope’s rock-chewed terminus, sobeille motioned for yura to follow as she leapt from stone to stone.

@Sivaak, dis be yuralria. sobeille announced with a wave of her tail, small chest proud to have found kinship with both caribou-killers and moon-women. she wants to learn ‘ow to become strong moonwoman.

Their camp was humble, strewn with only the necessities needed for travel. Yuralria had seen it before with the Taiga hunters, and further back still with those she'd rested with on the way home. 

Home. Moonglow - she would return eventually. But first came the matter at hand: Sivaak.

Sobeille had spotted her nearby and Yuralria easily followed her friend through the jagged landscape until she came face to face with the woman at large. "Sobeille says you can teach me to strengthen my body and spirit," added the star watcher, poised and confident in the company of the auburn girl.

sobeille’s announcement brings a faint twitch of her ears, her expression unreadable as she scrutinizes the newcomer.

her gaze lingers on the moonwoman, measuring her worth in silence. under her scrutiny, there is the weight of a seasoned bloodchief assessing potential.

you come to sivaak to learn, moonwoman. but learning is not easy. spirit and body break before they grow strong. you are ready to break?

sobeille's confidence came at odds with the hard scrutiny of the muradoii; for the briefest span of seconds, doubt clawed its way through her chest.

but sivaak's words come at last, softening the unease sobeille felt rippling around her skin.

expectantly, her eyes turned to yuralria. though she would do everything to see this woman become her best self, there was nothing sobeille could do if the star-watcher's heart was not truly in learning.

like sobeille, she must be prepared to break.

Sivaak's eyes bore down on her and, like many times in the face of the unknown before, Yuralria stood her ground. There was no trace of emotion in the hardened northwoman's glare and the stargirl knew she must rely not on the kindness of others, but on her own self-worth.

Rough words broke the silence, Sobeille's focus prickling the hairs on her spine as she considered her answer carefully, mind tracing the hunt with Nanuralaaq. From the stumblings of a girl inexperienced with game, to the euphoric moment her teeth took the life of another - Yuralria wished to chase that feeling again and again. To become moonwoman, she must learn.

"Yes! I mean, sure," star watcher met Sivaak's gaze with all the fire of a youthful student. "I'm ready." Whatever things may break her, she must learn to overcome. Such was the price of knowledge.

then prove it, she growls, her voice carrying the weight of command. she takes a step closer, her towering frame casting a shadow over the star-watcher. words mean nothing. show me you are ready.

she snaps her teeth in the air, not as a threat but as punctuation, before stepping back and nodding toward the jagged terrain ahead. we move. we hunt. the moon will not wait for the weak to rise.

with a lash of her tail, sivaak turns. lead me to prey.

sivaak minced no words. her teeth punctuated the cold air between them, imperial command in the iciness of her deep red stare.

sobeille brushed her shoulder ever so slightly against yuralria in reassurance. thus far, she had said everything right -- now she must complete the rite of caribou killers, and show sivaak she was ready to be among the echelon the muradoii esteemed as 'strong'.

A growl and Yuralria felt her enthusiasm ebbing slightly. There was still time to back out, to run to the hills away from Sivaak's domineering figure and into the waiting arms of her mother. But was that what she wanted?

Sobeille's warmth steeled her courage. She was done being a doormat, a girl constantly overshadowed by the feats of her sisters. And while she wanted them both to succeed, there came with it the selfish desire to be better. To be stronger.

A parting touch of her tail to her friend's shoulder, the star watcher nodded and leaped ahead to a large, flat rock. The open fields stretched out before her, snow glittering gold in the late afternoon light. "The plains are our best bet," she called over her shoulder. Caribou trails crisscrossed the land there, and while the beasts were certainly fierce, Yuralria had already proved herself capable of felling one. 

Descending the moraine, she hoped the shake in her step went unnoticed.

sivaak’s gaze followed the star watcher’s bold leap to the flat rock, her crimson eyes narrowing slightly. there was an air of impatience about the muradoii woman, but she made no sound, no comment, her scarred frame still as she observed yuralria’s declaration.

we go, an expectant grunt.

and they go. her paws break the crust of snow as she descended the moraine. sivaak did not coddle, but neither did she discourage.

though the touch of yura’s tail was featherlight, an avalanche of warm sensation rippled out from where she’d touched sobeille’s shoulder.

she admired the athleticism of her new friend as she scaled the rock, surveying the moraine below before announcing the plains below would be their battleground.

a glance to sivaak, and sobeille noted the hard impatience in the caribou killer’s eyes — but no discouragement there.

silent but ever ready to prove her worth against the throat of caribou, sobeille moved after them both in a ground-covering stride.

They entered the plains a line of hunters, Yuralria cutting a path through the fresh snow as her nose raised to scent the air. Sivaak seemed approving of her decision, though it was difficult to tell exactly what she felt below her stony exterior. At least Sobeille was easier to read.

The girl wished almost forlornly that her friend was closer, that they could track together, but understood that this was the way of the taiga hunters. Was Sivaak a branch of the same tree as Star Eater and Ice Diver belonged to? Their mannerisms bore a frightening similarity and their nomadic nature had her linger on the thought, until a line of distant shadows caught her attention.

A large herd crossed the plains; Yuralria was pleased to see smaller figures dotted among the large. Young males, perhaps, approaching their first year of life just as she. But how to separate them? "There," her muzzle motioned ahead before glancing back at the others, "if we chase them, get them running - maybe one will fall behind?" Her eyes sought approval from the white woman, and then Sobeille.

sivaak's gaze tracks the distant herd, crimson eyes narrowing as she takes in the scattered shapes. her breath fogs the air in a slow exhale, tension coiling beneath her skin like a drawn bow.

when she speaks, it is sudden and cold like the ice she is bred from. we split the herd.

strange girl, you take the flank. keep them from circling back. moon girl, you push with me. when one breaks, we cut it down. fast. no mistakes.

a spark of pride for yura as the plains spread out below, hosting a milling herd of distant caribou.

sobeille's thin figure drew to a halt, the velveteen of her ears pricked towards their faraway quarry.

sivaak's voice cut the air colder than the snow they stood upon. sobeille's gaze flicked once to yura, a brief encouraging smile given, before she nodded and took up a hunched trot, keeping her body low to the snow as they moved across the tiaga.

she poised herself at a flanking junction, gaze intent on sivaak and waiting for her command.

no mistakes.

Yuralria hadn't known what she was expecting, but it was not the harsh decisiveness of Sivaak's voice. This was something she'd have to get used to, surprise quickly collected in a firm nod as Sobeille's smile cemented her resolve.

Moon girl, as she was called - she liked the moniker. 

Paws fell into a stiff lope besides the ice giant as they rallied the herd, watching, learning from her partner's actions how to move the caribou from a walk to a gallop. Her gaze remained transfixed on their undulating bodies, to ensure Sivaak would not be let down by a clumsy mistake no matter how her heart ached to find Sobeille in the crowd.

sivaak moves like water over ice, flowing, shifting.

a ripple through the caribou, tension snapping like a bowstring.

now.

she surges forward, a blur of muscle and scars. her voice cuts through the wind.

push them! drive them forward!

the hunt with black scar and sivaak, sobeille had watched.

and she learned much, observing the synergy between two practiced killers.

now it was her hour to show this gleaned knowledge. she prowled forth, waiting -- and when sivaak's harsh command rose over the milling beasts she burst from her vantage at a full sprint towards the circling herd.

each time one came she drove it back with a snap of teeth. they were flighty and quick; a snort here as they pirouetted away, long limbs carrying them to safety.

one had split from the others. in his panic he ran towards sobeille.

sharing one last glance towards yura, sobeille lunged for his face to drive him towards the duo.

---

in short order he was felled.

sivaak ate first, then yura and sobeille.

sobeille learned much in that hunt - how to drive prey, how to move, how they thought and fled —

she ate with savage gusto, and began the long task of cacheing their kill.