SKILL: Ranger

Yanan Callyope

Her voice was a whisper in his heart.

Ipiktok ranged from the Spire and sought another peak.

A blush of alpenglow cast warm colors across a mountain range named Morningstar. He stood at its foothills, alone in the dark of morning.

[tall, golden and green eyed. yanan observed him from her perch in the Stony crags. he was familiar in a way understood; his familiarity kept the girl from raising an alarm. her own sentiment remained -- interested. eventually yanan let herself down from the rock and made a slow approach, bright eyes watching him with intrigue. you are alone? this time, yanan said when she had halted, flashing the man a gleaming smile. would callyope also intervene?]

tall, golden and green eyed. yanan observed him from her perch in the Stony crags. he was familiar in a way understood; his familiarity kept the girl from raising an alarm.
her own sentiment remained -- interested. eventually yanan let herself down from the rock and made a slow approach, bright eyes watching him with intrigue. you are alone? this time, yanan said when she had halted, flashing the man a gleaming smile. would callyope also intervene?

A kicked piece of scree. Paw pads over scuffed rock. These sounds made Ipiktok’s ears turn just as another wolf crested the apex of, and began to descend, a tor of stone.

Up until then, he had not noticed her presence. It was evident she was naturalized to this kind of place… or perhaps this territory, in particular. Like a curious raven on a branch, who blended in with the evergreen needles of pine.

Ipiktok’s weight shifted to face her. She was a young woman, perhaps of similar age, cloaked in a timber agouti pelt. The waxing crescent of her smile was impish, but friendly.

“This time?” Ipiktok parroted, intrigued by her cryptic words. Had they crossed paths before? He had not detected her presence upon the Spire when he had awoken a moon ago.

there was always something to do upon the slopes.

she let yanan live a carefree life. if the girl took an interest, she taught the preserving arts after hunts — and the songs sung as they worked. the shine she took to the young woman was not hidden. always prepared to guide her, indulge her.

it soothed some ache in her spirit that she did not speak on.

her path loosely twined with yanan's wake. content to spend the earliest hours of light shadowing one another. she watched the descent of the eagle hunter far ahead. eyes followed as she picked up pace, gaze falling upon...

nuak? (nephew)

[i see you once. with other man. a hunter. many scars. yanan was rather pleased with herself, to have evaded his notice but retained the memory of his face. and he looked hale as before, though her attention was taken by callyope. they lived a good life here, and she was disinterested in alteration or change. but handsome strangers with some intrigue of mystery were welcome. it seemed that the man was not a stranger after all, yanan discovered in the next moments. she eyed callyope with inquiry, glancing between her companion and the man who stood now on their mountain. she had not learned fear, only an innate wariness; yanan's existence had so far been kind and she reflected that with an open curiosity.]

i see you once. with other man. a hunter. many scars. yanan was rather pleased with herself, to have evaded his notice but retained the memory of his face. and he looked hale as before, though her attention was taken by callyope.
they lived a good life here, and she was disinterested in alteration or change. but handsome strangers with some intrigue of mystery were welcome.
it seemed that the man was not a stranger after all, yanan discovered in the next moments. she eyed callyope with inquiry, glancing between her companion and the man who stood now on their mountain.
she had not learned fear, only an innate wariness; yanan's existence had so far been kind and she reflected that with an open curiosity.

SKILL: Seer

Ah, upon Moonpeak, Ipiktok thought to himself

That night he had awoken blanketed by silver moonglow. The hunting man did not understand how or why he landed in this place… but the questions in his mind were quieted by the innate trust he placed in Sedna’s ways. It is what guided him now – his listening spirit.

A corner of Ipiktok’s mouth smirked, both impressed and entertained that he had been unwittingly spied upon. He opened his mouth as if to reply, but the words were stolen from his breath when a third wolf arrived.

Nuak?

“Ajâtsuk?“ (Aunt?) he whispered in equal disbelief and surprise.

Callyope! Aya, could it really be…?

Ipiktok felt Sedna’s art was at work, now. And each of them – a piece of her design.

she would not forget her eagle hunter in this moment. even as her spirit stirred and fluttered wildly within herself! to hear her tongue come from another — and that other to be blood bound!

my nephew. family. she explained softly as her gaze looked to yanan. he is a strong hunter, too. a dazzle in her eyes meant only for the humor shared between women. yet let her brew upon that later.

my heart grows to see your face, nuak. she meant to embrace him now. not unlike how her own mother had welcomed her home so many times. how have we both come to far lands?

[reunion happened before yanan's eyes, making her undergo a rather sharp sense of awkward displacement. it was unlikely her own parents would follow her here, let alone her sister merei. nuak. ajâtsuk. she was learning callyope's tongue, and this was a chance to file away more words. 'nephew' was not comprehensible, but this nuak being a relative to the stone woman was. i am yanan, she introduced, wondering at the gleam in callyope's welcoming eyes. you stay? why not? she was not sure it was her place to ask -- but she was not sure it was her place to not inquire at very least.]

reunion happened before yanan's eyes, making her undergo a rather sharp sense of awkward displacement. it was unlikely her own parents would follow her here, let alone her sister merei. nuak. ajâtsuk. she was learning callyope's tongue, and this was a chance to file away more words.
'nephew' was not comprehensible, but this nuak being a relative to the stone woman was. i am yanan, she introduced, wondering at the gleam in callyope's welcoming eyes. you stay? why not? she was not sure it was her place to ask -- but she was not sure it was her place to not inquire at very least.

Callyope was just as he remembered: effervescent and beautiful. The dark carob of her kind eyes glittered among a downy pelt of gingered-gilded snow. Playful, but warm, words sent him back to the time of her betrothal. Ah – but the memories were becoming threadbare in the fabric of his mind!

Ipiktok’s jaw went slack, stunned. For a moment, the raven-wolf was forgotten as his spirit dipped away into its past.

Callyope had vanished. Had she been sent here? Did Solharr still search? Had Callyope’s memories faded too?

Ipiktok welcomed her embrace.

“Callyope…” he said against the wrap of his aunt’s fur, tone filled with both wonder and confusion.

He pulled away.

“I do not know,” Ipiktok admitted with pinched brows. A flick of his eyes alluded to the desire to ask Callyope more…

Ah, but…

He turned to the hunting wolf, known now as Yanan.

“This man greets you,” he replied. “I am known as Ipiktok.”

You stay? she asked.

“You are making a village here?” Ipiktok replied and glanced at them, both.

so neither knew how or why. surely they had not...well, she did not entertain that thought. for as long as they stood then their spirits must also remain. not sung away or sent high.

they were here. all of them. all three. but this trio mattered more to her than anything else in that moment.

her grin now was for yanan. bold and smart! a sharp hunter who carried sharper mind. it was thick winter tail that swayed behind her to hear the girl's asking. even if a touch of melancholy reached callyope at her nephew's question.

i have seen no familiar lands, no one knows nuiruk. she explained for ipiktok's ears now. i must do what my mother has done to survive in such a new life. oh how she wished she had listened and acted upon moonwoman's wisdom more in those times before! yet perhaps all of that knowledge was meant to be gathered for this moment.

yanan has walked far with me. is it your want to see a village made, eagle hunter?

warmth given to the girl for whatever choice she would make.