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RE: ⟐;; - Elk Charm - 6/13/2026
sitting in work with cecil reminded elk charm of the women's circle in childhood, where girls had learned a variety of important knowledge from the older she-wolves of their village. these circles were often marked by smaller groups through the day, little gatherings with pelts slung in piles between, or heaping herbs to sort. songs to while away golden sunlight. today reminded her of that, and elk charm felt a sparking gratitude to have met cecil, to learn that they had shared ways.
she stopped to watch in amused surprise as her companion attempted to taste the foul castoffs, laughing at the expression made.
cecil was a skilled story-maker. should walosi ever gather for those old tales handed down and those new ones created, she had no doubt of ability to charm an audience of more than herself. mother's brother had showed how deer might be hunted, with a nod to sharing among other meat-eaters. but to kill a snake first; her brow furrowed. not with judgement, but to consider how much fright had been present to make such a blow.
the people described and the sharadoii each lived in nearby family groupings. similarly to the seal hunter also, she imagined.
she put aside a final row of offal.
her eyes blinked.
a smile.
she stopped to watch in amused surprise as her companion attempted to taste the foul castoffs, laughing at the expression made.
is better that way,agreed the sharadoii in a bright voice, before she settled once more to listen.
cecil was a skilled story-maker. should walosi ever gather for those old tales handed down and those new ones created, she had no doubt of ability to charm an audience of more than herself. mother's brother had showed how deer might be hunted, with a nod to sharing among other meat-eaters. but to kill a snake first; her brow furrowed. not with judgement, but to consider how much fright had been present to make such a blow.
the people described and the sharadoii each lived in nearby family groupings. similarly to the seal hunter also, she imagined.
your shidá’í sound like -- have much wisdom,she said with care, wondering if that was the source of this kindness she saw in cecil's face.
glad you have him.
she put aside a final row of offal.
sharadoii are caribou hunters. caribou hunters have three grouping, three -- faction. sharadoii, valley-dwellers. lanzadoii, long-running-people. and the muradoii, the blood drinkers.elk charm was unable to staunch a shiver.
in each faction, many bands. i was born to great stag band. great stag,she went on,
is band who -- when there is hunt or wedding or gathering, great stag say 'come to our land and be here.'perpetual hosts.
live in wetu with father and mother. three brothers. i learn to make pelts, to fish, to cut meat. sharadoii do not long walk. we wait for caribou to make path to our valley. then we hunt and hunt and hunt,all that might be needed for the year to come.
her eyes blinked.
sharadoii women do not always hunt. i did not. mother say i stay back, wait to prepare meat when father and brothers carry back.
a smile.
many celebrations. many happiness.her gaze shone toward cecil.
my mother was first woman in all sharadoii bands. she gave to me many words. much wisdom. like your shidá’í
RE: ⟐;; - Tsídii - 6/23/2026
Walosi was a world away from home- and still not so different. They made dens near to one another; lived clan lives, even if that name to a wolf meant pack. Where wetus and dens had sprung up now seemed almost alike.
Still Cecil couldn't help but be a touch wistful in the sharing of those things.
"I miss him," they said. "But better he stays where he's at. Taking the shape of a coyote... Their mouth curled, and they shook their head. "Ain't to be done... even if it's this place doing it."
They'd no more inclination to talk about that now than they had before, shaking snow from their new-grown fur as they met Nate for the first time. Pulling another fish to apply a significantly more cautious tooth to, they settled to listen.
There would be no fire here, but settled around work at the riverside it was natural to talk, the same way you might at the loom. To hear of a people worlds away, in different skin but alike... made their own fur less uncomfortable. A hard thing to find reassurance on.
It did not surprise that Elk Charm's band was the welcoming kind. She had the skill of someone who had spent their life at the practice, and an ease that Cecil envied. They knew what to do with their own people, and the right kind of traveler or trader or stranger who needed their tongue translated. Not enough to live a new life somewhere else.
Did a wolf learn these things quicker? Must have. Strange, to think of it- and to think that in this body they had ten years, at the longest, near a third of what they'd lived so far. Stranger that this hadn't been a thought before now.
"She sounds like a special woman," Cecil said. There were elders and medicine men throughout their own clan, and they'd yearned for advice for too many weeks to count. Still would, if they knew they could have it, and so knew how fiercely that knowledge and memory must have been prized.
Wished they might've spoken to her, too.
"What does the first woman to the Sharadoii do? An... advisor? An elder?"
Still Cecil couldn't help but be a touch wistful in the sharing of those things.
"I miss him," they said. "But better he stays where he's at. Taking the shape of a coyote... Their mouth curled, and they shook their head. "Ain't to be done... even if it's this place doing it."
They'd no more inclination to talk about that now than they had before, shaking snow from their new-grown fur as they met Nate for the first time. Pulling another fish to apply a significantly more cautious tooth to, they settled to listen.
There would be no fire here, but settled around work at the riverside it was natural to talk, the same way you might at the loom. To hear of a people worlds away, in different skin but alike... made their own fur less uncomfortable. A hard thing to find reassurance on.
It did not surprise that Elk Charm's band was the welcoming kind. She had the skill of someone who had spent their life at the practice, and an ease that Cecil envied. They knew what to do with their own people, and the right kind of traveler or trader or stranger who needed their tongue translated. Not enough to live a new life somewhere else.
Did a wolf learn these things quicker? Must have. Strange, to think of it- and to think that in this body they had ten years, at the longest, near a third of what they'd lived so far. Stranger that this hadn't been a thought before now.
"She sounds like a special woman," Cecil said. There were elders and medicine men throughout their own clan, and they'd yearned for advice for too many weeks to count. Still would, if they knew they could have it, and so knew how fiercely that knowledge and memory must have been prized.
Wished they might've spoken to her, too.
"What does the first woman to the Sharadoii do? An... advisor? An elder?"
RE: ⟐;; - Elk Charm - 6/28/2026
consideration.
cecil moved with caution. not fear, but a thoughtful assessment of the experiences which shaped speech. elk charm had moved to cleaning the edges of the fish, flicking a bolus of muck away as mind layered with sudden thoughts of her mother. weeping did not happen so often. not now. it had been a long while. what moved the sharadoii most was to think of how that charismatic and loving woman would not attend any births to come.
many voices! many songs! hunters in the high forest and gathering-parties below, where she had most inhabited.
elk charm paused now, upper limbs aching from the constant work.
her paw described an arc.
and only one daughter might inherit. it had not been elk charm, and yet still -- her aspiration was visceral.
cecil moved with caution. not fear, but a thoughtful assessment of the experiences which shaped speech. elk charm had moved to cleaning the edges of the fish, flicking a bolus of muck away as mind layered with sudden thoughts of her mother. weeping did not happen so often. not now. it had been a long while. what moved the sharadoii most was to think of how that charismatic and loving woman would not attend any births to come.
all sharadoii clans gather one time a year.elk charm wiped her claws upon a patch of silken grass.
great stag, we give place to all clans. we make hunting, fishing. we make place of pelts for women who visit and want work. we bring new children to place of watching by all sharadoii elders.
many voices! many songs! hunters in the high forest and gathering-parties below, where she had most inhabited.
first woman know all songs. all words. all ways. know how to make anyone safe.
elk charm paused now, upper limbs aching from the constant work.
is elder and also listen to elder. help make marryings. help with birth.
her paw described an arc.
do all things for all sharadoii people.
and only one daughter might inherit. it had not been elk charm, and yet still -- her aspiration was visceral.
miss her close.
RE: ⟐;; - Tsídii - 6/29/2026
Each movement imitated; Cecil cleaned muck from the dark flesh and around the ragged claw-torn edges, and listened to Elk Charm speak. Sensed some manner of melancholy in the doing; they understood, without the saying of it, that she was gone.
Didn't matter if it were death or not. Some vanishings were much the same.
"My people have- hataali. Singers. Could call them shepherds of a sort too, for us... not sheep. They guide us spiritually. Thought I might be the type to become one, but... the world wasn't right for it, I suppose. Or I was a little too inclined to wander."
Rain pattered down between the split ribs. Enough water, if they waited, to wash things clean, and scraped the sand back into the dirt.
"But my cheii- grandfather- he knows the ceremonies. Always knew what to do, when I came to him. I always wanted that certainty. Sure, I'm an adult," too many years to a wolf and too few to a man, "but I always felt like a child next to him. Waitin' for the day I woke up and had a little of the wisdom he does."
A laugh. "Suppose I won't know now," and there was some of their own sorrow, there, but without the bladed edges that came and went. "Losing them is hard. Not just losing family, but... knowledge. And then, on your own, bein' left to preserve what you do have for yourself."
They thought that ache might be an echo of hers. Softly, "I'm sorry she's gone."
Didn't matter if it were death or not. Some vanishings were much the same.
"My people have- hataali. Singers. Could call them shepherds of a sort too, for us... not sheep. They guide us spiritually. Thought I might be the type to become one, but... the world wasn't right for it, I suppose. Or I was a little too inclined to wander."
Rain pattered down between the split ribs. Enough water, if they waited, to wash things clean, and scraped the sand back into the dirt.
"But my cheii- grandfather- he knows the ceremonies. Always knew what to do, when I came to him. I always wanted that certainty. Sure, I'm an adult," too many years to a wolf and too few to a man, "but I always felt like a child next to him. Waitin' for the day I woke up and had a little of the wisdom he does."
A laugh. "Suppose I won't know now," and there was some of their own sorrow, there, but without the bladed edges that came and went. "Losing them is hard. Not just losing family, but... knowledge. And then, on your own, bein' left to preserve what you do have for yourself."
They thought that ache might be an echo of hers. Softly, "I'm sorry she's gone."
RE: ⟐;; - Elk Charm - 7/2/2026
haatali. singers.
cheii. grandfather.
elk charm inventoried these words in cecil's tongue as she did those others spoken by samo and chakliux. her companion's story-telling voice wove those memory-threads, and she was filled with that sadness shared between them, lightened by the wisdom of their experience.
loss. it took much. it gave other things. it gave way to future births and blood and clan. but cecil knew its pain, and her mouth gave only a small twist at its corner. stacking slabs of cleaned fish in a wide leaf to be rinsed, elk charm glanced at cecil in thought.
elk charm refused to weep.
overhead, a hawk wheeled with hunting cry. her glance was swift and pleased, returning to cecil.
cheii. grandfather.
elk charm inventoried these words in cecil's tongue as she did those others spoken by samo and chakliux. her companion's story-telling voice wove those memory-threads, and she was filled with that sadness shared between them, lightened by the wisdom of their experience.
loss. it took much. it gave other things. it gave way to future births and blood and clan. but cecil knew its pain, and her mouth gave only a small twist at its corner. stacking slabs of cleaned fish in a wide leaf to be rinsed, elk charm glanced at cecil in thought.
she is -- i not know if she is dead. but i am here. cannot go back. cannot leave. will not see glacier again.her claw did not shake as she dragged it to create a ragged strip from the first filet.
so. i gone. and she is gone.
elk charm refused to weep.
i am sorry, too.another movement.
will you become haatali in remembering of your cheii?new words. round words. the sharadoii would practice.
he taught ceremony.her eyes were upon the fresh catch from freshwater stream.
maybe this -- maybe it is how these songs keep their breath.
overhead, a hawk wheeled with hunting cry. her glance was swift and pleased, returning to cecil.
is bright sign. means way is clear.