the flirty little human left to go live with the other tribe.
Things have been tense at the Shadow Cat fires lately.
"Just get your spear," I tell A'tam. "Let us go already. The day is wasting." I glance over at the fire and it is normally crowded with people at this time in the morning. This day it is the females and the young kits. Everyone who can hold a spear is out searching for R'ven.
"I will get D'see, too," A'tam says. "She needs to learn how to track."
I clench my jaw, because is this truly the time to teach a hyoo-man female? Now is the time to rescue R'ven, and the sooner we find her, the better. We have no time to waste showing D'see how to read footprints or to follow the wind. But the others do not complain. They enjoy D'see's company, and I suspect both O'jek and I'rec would be thrilled to resonate to her. With a sigh, I know I am outvoted.
A'tam trots away, and I look over at I'rec. "Shall we head out, then? A'tam will be with D'see. I will head south and follow the coast—"
I'rec shakes his head at me. "You will go with A'tam and D'see. O'jek and I will head north."
I clench my teeth. "I can go on my own." A'tam and D'see will just slow me down, and the need to find R'ven is overwhelming. I imagine her scared and alone, shivering in the early morning cold. "The most important thing is that we find R'ven."
"A'tam has the best nose of all of us," I'rec says flatly. "He can make up for your shortcomings."
It is something I have heard from him many, many times. Each time, though, it feels like a fresh wound. In his eyes, I am not a true hunter. It does not matter that I am older than him by a full turn of the seasons, or that I bring in just as much meat as the others. I failed when I needed to succeed the most, and I'rec will never let me forget it.
But I swallow my anger, because R'ven needs me right now. "Let us just get going, then."
It is a long, fruitless day. A'tam does his best to pick up R'ven's scent, but it is nowhere to be found. D'see is quiet and keeps up well, so I have no complaints about her. We move over the beach, searching for any hint that R'ven has come in this direction, but there is nothing. My frustration mounts when we return at sunset only to find that I'rec and O'jek found no trace of her, either. The sa-khui hunters and the other searchers found no trace of her in the mountains. To make matters worse, a light snow has started to fall, which means any footsteps will be covered up.
The gathering by the fire that night is somber.
"We should keep looking," I tell the others. "I have good eyesight. I can hunt for her at night."
R'hosh shakes his head. "It makes no sense sending out anyone at night. If she is out there, she will have sought shelter. We will go again in the morning." He rocks one of his daughters against his chest, standing close to the fire, his mate and other children at his side.
Nearby, T'chai sits with his mate, M'rsl. She braids his hair, standing behind him, and all of Tall Horn is clustered together, just as I sit with ShadowCat…and D'see. He rubs his chin thoughtfully and then gestures to speak. "She cannot simply disappear. Someone would smell her trail."
"Unless she is hiding it," T'shen of the sa-khui says. He looks tired, his mate leaning against his shoulder. They have been out searching all day.
Many of the faces around the fire are worn and exhausted, I realize. People take the bowls of soup handed to them with weary movements, and no one seems to be talking much.
"Hiding her trail? Raven?" Buh-brukh says, wrinkling her nose. "I doubt it. She never goes hunting with anyone. Where would she learn to hide her trail?"
"Perhaps she wandered away from camp and had an accident," J'shel states.
His mate clutches at his arm, a worried look on her face. "An accident?" H'nah echoes.
"Swept out to sea," J'shel clarifies.
My gut grows cold at the thought. It is the only way her scent would disappear, and it is a thought that has occurred to me many a time…but R'ven is smart. She avoids the icy waves. She would not