Blacktail Deer Plateau where was I when the rockets came to life

They made camp on a stretch of flat grass at the foothills of the mountains that had so often haunted Yuralria's days in the taiga. Crossing them had been surprisingly easy, and the girl had at once felt silly for making it out to be such a big deal. It was the principle, she thought to herself as she lazed beneath a rocky outcrop. The rest of their journey would be quick, loath to leave Sivaak alone in her condition for long.

Snow swirled, but their shelter here kept them nice and cozy while the storm reared its head. "You said you knew about us moonwolves when we first met," a yawn as Yura relaxed on the stone floor. "That just from the pack hunts? Or somethin' different." One eye opened curiously to gage @Sobeille's reaction.

she missed the thrum of the shore, alive with more lives than the billion grains of sand; she missed the calls of gulls, the grind of rocks underwater, the slow aching groans of the earth. all of this absent in this alien world of tiagas and tundras; even the birdsong carried tunes sobeille did not know of.

relieved to make camp, sobeille settled under the rocky outcrop yura had chosen, and licked an aching paw. somewhere between the moraine and here she'd twisted it, and it ached in that dull way that pain often does.

yura's question prompted her to sit up and think for a while. she cast her gaze out into the hazy snowstorm, trying to recall who it was she had met first -- sialuk or kukutux.

one of de moonwolves, sialuk, came to sapphique. she taught me de first of bone readin', and den, i went to moonspear for a moon's full cycle. she taught me of de stars, too. during dis time, i met kukutux - an' she told me much of de moonpacks, an' de stories dey sing.

In the depths of chilly nights upon the mountains, Yuralria felt guilt claw at her belly for taking Sobeille with her. The seawolf was unaccustomed to the terrain, if the subtle limp in her step was to tell; she had seen it also in the caribou they hunted. But as they sat together, she knew she had made the right choice.

"Shame we can't see them tonight," for if the sky was clear, Yura would have certainly quizzed Sobeille on her knowledge. Still, it filled a gap in her mind to know Sialuk had made contact with her friend before. Kukutux too - perhaps it would make their introduction to the spine that less jarring.

Stifling another yawn, her gaze now came to rest upon the rockwall as she pondered what there was to read in dead remains. "Did these bones ever tell you much?" 

sobeille's gaze cast skyward momentarily, as if willing the heavy clouds to part and reveal their indigo offal: glittering sets of white amid coils of endless black.

she crossed her limbs and sighed. not always. here was a failure she was reluctant to admit. sialuk be much better at it den me. sometimes -- as she grasped for a way to articulate it, she absentmindedly traced a spiral figure in the ground with one paw. it takes patience. an' experience. some'times i be certain dey be sayin' one t'ing, but dey meant some'ting else. an' i learned from another witch dat dere be bones more powerful den others. dat not just any old bone can be used for readin'.

Words filled their quiet, Yuralria's ears perking to listen to the dull scrape of skin against rock. The notion of abstractness was present here in Sobeille's explanation as it had been in Star Eater's talk of fate. She wondered then if the two were connected.

Rolling over until the other girl was front and centre, a pink tongue flicked to wet a paw that came to clean her face from dirt. "We could find you some. Might help your heart and your mind to see the same thing." For that was the dilemma Yura had come across before. "What d'you think makes a bone powerful?"

she continued absently tracing a sigil in the snow, hiding the playful grin that threatened to break her composure as yura rolled closer.

blood, mostly. sobeille learned from that other witch that the death mattered. an' purpose. she liked how yura put it -- might help your mind and heart see the same thing.

but so often with sobeille her mind was a kestrel and her heart a clam; two dynasties that could not be more distinct from one another. what commonality could they possibly share?

i t'ink if the wolf be powerful, dat it matters. and she realized then she had said wolf; not caribou, not bird or seal -- but a peer, put under the knife for the simple errand of witchcraft. but it doesn't always have to be bones. she added hastily, remembering sialuk had more in her parcel. 'ave you ever touched some’ting an’ felt its power?

Blood and purpose. Two things that Yura knew ran in her veins. Would her bones be powerful to read, if she could somehow extract them from beneath her skin? 

A silly thought put to rest as Sobeille revealed there was more to her witchcraft than the more morbid elements; the wolf described she thought only in reference to the auburn girl's self-proclaimed status, and not in the killing of their own. 

Her tail flicked. "Hmmmm. I s'pose so. There's a tree that grows across the river from our ulax - Firemother. Some who die are buried there." Auntie, her little fox. "Stepping foot there is like- like the ground is listening." It was difficult to put into words the feeling of power that permeated the air surrounding the maple.

sobeille was relieved her bumble remained undetected. the flutter of yura's tail and the consideration behind her eyes communicated she was deep in thought.

had sobeille only known what she thought then! it would have excited her in an all-together inappropriate way -- but yura, just like sobeille, must perform some measure of greatness first.

sobeille was confident greatness lingered in both their futures.

i be knowin' of dat tree. came the pleased dip of her head. stepping foot there is like the ground is listening. an' i be knowin' a place back at home dat feels like dat too. the grotto. only sobeille believed it was not so much listening as watching, that single blue pool in the center a roving orb of malice.

she stretched. let's visit both in de near future. see what both 'ave to show us.

thereby content in yura’s presence, the two spent the remainder of the day hunting until their bellies were full and paws sore from travel.