Raven's Watch xvii siksuruk

The poppy girl followed Kigipigak like a distanced shadow, slowly closing in on him. She had no purpose to doing this. Ever since they had been discovered, he seemed to be avoiding her entirely. They were both sitting in the bottom of the pile, with her much further down, stripped of any real meaning to him. The strength that he had seen in the fire woman had dimmed its light down so that she was hardly a speck on his radar. She hated it. She had seen a future with the Tartok at her side. Now, she was nothing.
As she came to the lake, she saw him within the trees. His attention was on something ahead of him, but it was too far away for her to see. She sniffed at the air, noting the vague scent of deer out ahead.
Valmúa crept up behind him, resisting the urge to tackle him. She snorted to announce her presence — it was a far cry from her affectionate mouthing of the past. She said nothing, looking instead ahead at the deer. She glanced in his direction, wondering if they could do it on their own.