Moonspear i am a boy from the high country

It had been cloudy for what seemed like days and the first dusting of snow had reached the midlands of Moonspear some few days ago. It had fascinated Altair at first, watching it come plummeting from the sky. But the squall had been brief, whisked away by strong winds that had shook the trees of the mountain. Just as quickly as it had come, the snow had melted and the damp was ever-present.

Not all of the snow had gone away, of course, and it was in one of these shadowy patches deep in the old wood that he had found some to skitter about in. He kicked it, he bit at it, he had rolled gracelessly across it several times to the point where this particular spot no longer had a pristine glow to it. Streaked with mud and bits of pine and leaf litter, he had made a proper mess of it.

It did not stop him from scooping up one place he had not, however, and he crunched the snow between his teeth with a shiver. Cold and wet, just like the several times before; his gaze went skyward as a hawk soared and cried overhead. It disrupted his thoughts, which had been about the story that Kukutux had told and he wondered if perhaps she had a story of the hawks too. And then his thoughts went to wondering what Caelum may have been doing, and then @Sialuk. He hadn’t seen her since the day they had come across Huojin.

Then he remembered that she had been limping that day too, and abruptly set off to find her.

He never had figured out what had happened.

Snagging this. Savi needs more cousin time! <3

The world around him was changing. It had been gradual at first, with subtle little signs. First the changing of the leaves, shifting colors and then wilting altogether. And even before that, was the temperature in the air. Gone was the warmth of the summer months, replaced instead by a sharp cold. Earlier still was the steady thickening of his dark coat, his fur growing coarse and fading to a sandy mantle around his shoulders.

The last but surest sign of winters approach were the snowflakes that spewed gently from the overcast sky. Wide aqua eyes cast themselves up, pinned on the many delicate, crystal like flakes that fell down, carried on the new breeze. They shimmered and danced in their own beautiful way. When they landed, their touch was cold and wet, some sticking to the outer hairs of his coat. What Saviguk was more curious about, was the blanket of white that followed. It too, was cold and mushy under his paws. He found that when he walked, he had to watch his footing to avoid slipping clumsily.

Was this what Ana had meant by ice crystal, these mysterious flakes? He would find out later, distracted now by the cry of a hawk above, and a set of prints in the snow. Altair. He had heard about Sialuk's unfortunate accident. How could he not, with what an observant young boy he was growing into? But his pale sister was a tough little lady. She had been through plenty already and had come out just fine. She'd get over this. Though, that didn't stop his protective brotherly nature from making him care. Calling out in a low chuff, Savi caught up to his agouti cousin in a few strides. "Hey! What'cha up to?"

As they grew taller, Sialuk found that she grew apart from her brother. It wasn't anything sudden, and it wasn't done with ill will on either of their parts. It just was. She wasn't entirely sure how to approach it, or even if she should. She had sat with the raven bones for some time that morning, trying to derive meaning from their shapes and positions on the hare skin she used for them, but the messages were confusing. After poring over them for at least an hour, she felt her head strained and her eyes tired. It frustrated her that they would not give her a clear answer, even though she felt that they should.

She had also asked about anaa, but no word had been given back. Wherever her mother had gone, the qanglaagix bones refused to deliver the information. Or she was just inept at reading them. The Ostrega girl refused to believe the latter. The raven would not have brought them to her if it had not believed her capable, would it?

Wrapping the bones carefully in the hareskin, she tucked them into her sacred spot in the ulaq, saying a small word before sighing and leaving them alone for now. It was then that she heard her brother's voice outside and exited to see him. The Omicron blinked, seeing her cousin was present as well.

With her limp nearly vanished, Sialuk smiled and strode toward them, dipping her head and wagging her tail in a silent greeting.

He hadn’t gotten too far ahead when he heard someone call out to him—Saviguk. He hadn’t spent a lot of time in his company like he had his paler sibling in the recent past but his cousin was a welcome sight. Altair gave him a friendly wave of his tail as he slowed to let Saviguk catch up with him, thinking that if anyone knew where Sialuk was off to, it would be him.

“I was looking for your sister,” he rejoined easily, “have you seen her? Is she around?”

And as if right on cue, he spied the movement of her emerging from a mix of snowy brush and earth, and the question was rendered relatively useless. She had been closer than he thought, a lot closer. While he was familiar with many parts of the mountain as they all were, the change of scenery with the snow and its melt had much to teach him.

“Sialuk, hey,” came the switch of his attention; she didn’t limp like she had been. It sought his investigation assuredly, and swift. “You’re not limping so bad now. What happened to you anyway?”