[cen had discovered aivar's scent mingled with that of nutuyikruk and it had sat upon him like oil over water: uncomfortably. it was what he had ordered, and the chieftain was pleased to see that the moongirl had heeded. their closeness eclipsed his unsaid desire, the tremble of knowing that hovered in cen, and he turned away from the thread of their tracks. dawnlight had not yet come, and the land stood pale and washed out beneath a spill of creamy starlight. snow fell soft over the dark spots which marked clusters of caribou, and the lanzadoii man exhaled some emotion into the halflit anticipation of another day.]

cen had discovered aivar's scent mingled with that of nutuyikruk and it had sat upon him like oil over water: uncomfortably. it was what he had ordered, and the chieftain was pleased to see that the moongirl had heeded.
their closeness eclipsed his unsaid desire, the tremble of knowing that hovered in cen, and he turned away from the thread of their tracks. dawnlight had not yet come, and the land stood pale and washed out beneath a spill of creamy starlight.
snow fell soft over the dark spots which marked clusters of caribou, and the lanzadoii man exhaled some emotion into the halflit anticipation of another day.

Meleys battled the haziness of tired, still waking eyes as she struggled to come to in the early morning. Starlight streaked over the sky where the sun had yet to break. The caribou rest, their dark backs covered in soft snow. Meleys rest, her dark back covered in soft snow.

Groggy still as she remained curled in her ball, within a small dug out hallow in an ice mound. Crunching of footfalls caused her head to lift, eyes narrow as she took focus of her brother passing near.

Still too early, brother... She grumbled.

[meleys suddenly looked out from the snow as if its body were her own. cen smiled, a tangle of relief unfurling inside him to see his sister. it is never too early for caribou, he grunted, swiping snow sidelong gently along the crusted drift over her fur. but then he shambled down to dark haunches, licking the white from his jaws, watching his breath hang in the frozen air. we have stayed here for some time. would you leave? the lake was well-placed, the hunting good, and his heart had not yet begun to wander. but what of her own?]

meleys suddenly looked out from the snow as if its body were her own. cen smiled, a tangle of relief unfurling inside him to see his sister. it is never too early for caribou, he grunted, swiping snow sidelong gently along the crusted drift over her fur.
but then he shambled down to dark haunches, licking the white from his jaws, watching his breath hang in the frozen air. we have stayed here for some time. would you leave? the lake was well-placed, the hunting good, and his heart had not yet begun to wander.
but what of her own?

A smile from her younger brother and a swipe of his paw over the snow which landed so strategically in her face. She is still, blinks hard, as the snow slides down the bridge of her muzzle. Asshole.

Groaning as she got up from her place and into a sit to match his own, she grumbles more as she jut her muzzle to the cluster of dark spots of caribou. Doesn't seem that way.

Cen then spoke of the mirgration. The herd would soon begin their journey southward with the changing of the season. I leave when they do, despite my wants. She would then answer simply, flatly, yet the way which her ears perked and head tilted left silent question of what he was getting at.

[cen nodded. i want you to marry crying-wind obsidian to me. meleys was not an elder, but cen all the same wished for his sister to declare the bond he sought now, again. his sister had been betrayed by men. he considered this with a flick of his ears. if you go to men outside the clan, i will raise your children as my own. denied too long by weak mates; cen offered something he would not at any time else, and now the slate gaze moved to his sister, to watch and to wait. but she was darkfang, and all these things fell to her as matter of fact.]

cen nodded. i want you to marry crying-wind obsidian to me. meleys was not an elder, but cen all the same wished for his sister to declare the bond he sought now, again.
his sister had been betrayed by men. he considered this with a flick of his ears. if you go to men outside the clan, i will raise your children as my own.
denied too long by weak mates; cen offered something he would not at any time else, and now the slate gaze moved to his sister, to watch and to wait. but she was darkfang, and all these things fell to her as matter of fact.

Tell me when and it will be done. She spoke with a sure nod. Crying Wind was young. Young enough so that she could be Meleys' own granddaughter, had any of her own survived. Yet she was Lanzadoii and this was the first one Cen has taken since his first wife. A wife of a short marriage yet one which held a potential that all others there after had failed again and again. To Meleys, these failures simply came down to the fact that they were not Lanzadoii.

Now speaking of her pups not surviving... Meleys ears perked suddenly. Cen speaking an idea which she and the Muradoii woman Sastená had whispered in thought a time before. Her brother suggest she lay with a man not Lanzadoii? As it were, Meleys held no intention of taking a mate again, yet her thoughts from time to time (especially when Cen's marriages would continue to fail and children lost) went to the want to build strength into Saatsine and Lanzadoii further.

Meleys nods then quietly after a moment, with full understanding in her eyes.