Blackfoot Forest silaqqiqtuq

@Stryx

The dark-winged bird fluttered against the limitless blue of the summer sky. Below, the world hummed with summer life. The Teekon Wilds seemed to have flourished with the change in season. All plant life had grown thick and prosperous, reaching out much further than the young wolf had remembered when he had last crossed the earth on his youthful paws. Many things had changed since Sos had been there; he wondered how much of his family remained in the places they had known since their birth.
 
Taggak circled twice before swooping downward and beating his wings against the shaman’s back. The dark bird’s careful beak played with the inky fur near the bear’s nape. Poison eyes were cast toward the raven with fondness. Sos had known the companionship of the dark-winged animal for most of his life. Taggak had taken to the wolf pup when he had been no more than a few months of age. Their friendship had not been severed in the two years that the boy had roamed. Knowing that they had forged something deep and powerful was strength enough to keep the two creatures from parting. Wherever Sos would go, so would Taggak. The raven was never to be found far from the young shaman’s side.
 
Stepping into the forest, Sos sniffed at the earth and waited for the spirits to speak to him. His handsome frame was still until the breeze shifted and brushed through the foliage of the wood. The bear drew his muzzle upward and drank in the scent. Though the frosted peaks of the northern world had treated him well, Sos could not help but to be pleased that he was home.

'A woman's work was never done,' the crone used to say to her, prefacing every lecture with some mantra or other. Stryx could not help but hear those familiar words drifting in the back of her mind as she hiked; she had come down from the mountain range by accident and found herself surrounded by a forest of dark spires, littered in between with plants she could not easily identify.

It was like combing between the needle-sharp quills of some mythological beast. Some of the bramble bushes held promise. She had to tear herself away from one such cluster and carried some seed pods in her fur thereafter, unable to reach the majority, which only pissed her off.

Stryx planted herself in a patch of grass where the light was brightest, hoping to utilize the summer sun in identifying what she'd gathered, while also picking away at the spherical burrs. Some of these came away with ease and she spat them immediately in to the dirt; others would take some work, and she'd have to pull out chunks of her own coat to be free of them. Those ones she left alone, for now.

Something dark shifted overhead, drifting beyond the canopy. The dark vee of the bird's spread wings briefly scythed her spotlight. Stryx looked up with a scowl, watching the shape as it scattered beyond the trees and then rebound, taking roost somewhere close. With a huff she returned to her grooming - oblivious to the presence of the bird's master, the wolf.

The shaman had learned to follow Taggak long ago. The bird had carried the young wolf across numerous terrains to show him the way to things beyond. Sos believed that he owed the bird his life, for he had seen the dark-winged creature warn him of many dangers in their travels. Taggak had also taken the two-toned bear on a journey to magnificent sights. The two beasts had watched the dance of northern lights from high perches and jagged peaks. Without the aid of his companion, Sos’ lifetime would have been much shorter and uneventful. Their bond would not be frayed or torn; the shaman believed that it could only be strengthened over time.
 
Trotting beneath the shadow of the raven, Sos made his way through the dark portion of the wood and into a clearing where sunlight dappled the ground in a shimmering golden glow. Fel eyes drifted upward to a shape that shifted slightly between the trunks of the trees. The shaman stilled his movement and paused in the shadows. He canted his head just slightly so that he might see with some better clarity. Taggak circled before landing in the branches overhead. A single caw from the bird let Sos know that the movement up ahead was from a wolf.
 
Moving toward the stranger, Sos drew his crown upward and chuffed out a greeting in his native tongue, “aluu.”