Whitewater Gorge tulaktuk ‡

The Watch had been difficult to reach but Kigipigak and Valmua had been successful. Afterward he rested the night and spent the following morning expanding upon his knowledge of the mountains.

The ravens led him down and across a range of cliffside and then up again from the vale between, until he was among the furthest peaks from where the brother-sister duo slept. From there Kigipigak could look down upon the valley; he thought of the fawnboy he had tested, of the ghost he had met, and followed the ravens further.

Kigipigak lost them to the whitewater. Their forms vanished among trees while he stared at the river and the shapes formed there upon the rocks. Kigipigak could smell bear and thought it odd, as the nanuk was the only beast that came to his mind and they persisted further north.

He investigated a narrowing of the shallows for further clues, and upon raising his head Kigipigak saw a white shape with more solidity than the foaming caps, then a flash of red, and thought Valmua had followed him.

Inu-gik-suk! You follow all the way? He grinned wide, reminded of all his fantasies and hopeful Valmua had come with such things in mind.