Moonsong Glacier a dream within a dream

Glaukos. she can't handle the whole name, not with her mangled speech. Claw, she decides, then sticks out her tongue in illustration—in case he hadn't gotten the point before. moonwomanh, she explains, once she's retracted it. remember?

if not the valley, then where?

thank the gods, whatever they were, for Redtail Rise. without her claim, she might have wandered aimlessly in the aftermath of her parents' death, and of their failure to bring down Nyra.

as it is, now she has a home. a family. a legacy, perhaps.

she turns and points her muzzle northwest. over mountainhh', Avicus replies. Red'hhail. not too far from Ursus, but far enough that the spectre of her father's madness does not haunt her.

maybe he'll visit.

Avicus takes another few steps closer, and they are now within touching distance. she casts her eyes upward, toward his rugged face. old playmate punching bag, now warrior. she's happy for him, oddly enough. 

(well, maybe not so oddly. she'd gone out of her way to rescue him once, after all.)

gladh you are alive, she remarks, without malice.