Raven's Return - Ruby Dixon Page 0,18

little tail, and Dad's small horns and puff of hair that sticks up like an anime character. They wear leaves. They know what fire is. They raft. They even speak—just not to me.

Of course they're people.

And they deserve to get warm by the fire, too. Dad kidnapped me—I think. Or maybe he just drugged me so I wouldn't fight him as he got me out of the water-filled cave? I don't know and of course I can't ask him. He wasn't unkind to me, though. He never groped me or made me feel unsafe. We just had…differing opinions. He wanted me to go with them; I did not.

Doesn't mean that they're not people.

"So…people are outcast at birth?" I ask U'dron, trying to keep my voice light. "Because they don't match your clan characteristics?"

He nods, kneeling in the sand and making a cooking tripod out of some of the driftwood. "Each clan is proudly known by the spirit that chooses them at birth. When someone is born without that spirit, they are outcast."

"Like if a kid is born without the big horns, or the fur like you have." I gesture at his forearm. It's the biggest indicator.

"Shadow Cat is born with the spirit of the cat," he tells me, spreading his hand, and I see the claws tipping his fingers. Right. Those and the biggest fangs amongst the group.

"So if I don't have fangs or horns, I'm not in one of your clans, right?"

"You have not been chosen by the spirit of our ancestors, correct."

"You do realize you just described me and every other human on the beach?" I cross my arms over my chest. "Going by your rules—which are gross and wrong, by the way—you can't talk to me, either."

He frowns at me. "That is…different."

"Why, because I'm human?" I shake my head. "You need to talk to Devi about dominant and recessive genes," I tell him, getting to my feet. "It's not Pak's fault he wasn't born with big horns or claws. So what, now he has to eat raw fish for the rest of his life and not talk to me because you feel like he's flawed?"

"It is tradition," U'dron says stiffly. "I did not make the rules."

"But this is our beach and our new land," I tell him. "We can make new rules. People shouldn't have the past held against them." God, maybe I'm so defensive because I'm thinking of myself here. "We can start fresh. The rules that applied in other places—especially wrongheaded, stupid ones—don't have to apply here. We're all people." And I gather the furs tighter around my body and leave the fire.

U'dron jumps to his feet. "R'ven? Where are you going?"

"To invite them to come sit with us. Because they're people and they should be able to get warm, too."

"He stole you," U'dron growls.

"No, he didn't. I think he was helping me. You can ask him about it when he comes and sits with us." I march over to where Dad and Pak are waiting, wary expressions on their faces. Pak's little body isn't shivering, but his skin is prickled with goosebumps, and I suspect he and his dad are terribly cold. It might not kill them, but it still sucks. I take one of the layers off my shoulders and gently drape it around Pak, tucking it around his little body. "Come and sit by the fire," I say in a soft voice, gesturing at the warmth.

They don't move.

I turn around to look at U'dron, and I'm not surprised to see that he's followed me. "Will you please invite them? They can't understand me."

U'dron nods. If he disagrees with me, he doesn't show it. Instead, he gestures at Dad and Pak. "There is room at our fire for both of you. Join us."

Dad hesitates. "We are outcast clan."

"Tell him that shit doesn't matter anymore," I hiss at U'dron.

He nods, once. "We left clans behind on the warm shores," U'dron says. "In this new land, we are all equals. Join us and you can tell us how you survived the death of the Great Smoking Mountain."

6

U'DRON

R'ven carries the little one over to the fire, and when he sits near the warmth, the look on his face is one of dazed pleasure. It strikes me in the heart with guilt. How did I not realize that the kit needs warmth just as much as a fragile human? Shame washes over me, and I gesture for the outcast male to join us, to sit next to