Raven's Return - Ruby Dixon Page 0,9

stay. That I am not a true hunter and so I should not go searching for the female. I should leave it for those that are true hunters, those that passed the proving.

Those that are worthy.

I hate that word, worthy. I have heard it far too many times in the last ten turns of the season. I am just as much a hunter as anyone else. I have brought down just as much game as the others in my clan, perhaps even more because I constantly feel I must prove myself. I am as strong as I'rec, as broad as O'jek, and quieter than A'tam. I am the oldest of what is left of Shadow Cat.

I am worthy. I am.

And I am going to find R'ven and bring her home. With that thought ringing in my head, I sling my pack over my shoulder, grab my spear, and head down the beach.

The sands here are slightly different than the sands at home, larger and crunch more underfoot, so I move slowly to keep silent. My nose pricks, catching the slightest scents, but the camp itself is nothing but the usual cluster of people-scents and smoke, food and F'rli's shaggy pet. I move past the huts on the shore, move past the drying racks, move past someone's discarded net. I move past the endless clusters of tide pools and then past the large tumble of stones that marks the “boundary” of camp, the ones that the hyoo-mans never go past.

It is just a hunch, but I think R'ven went this way. It is not a friendly path, but perhaps she came this way anyhow. Perhaps she had a reason that we do not know. But it is the only path that makes sense if she did not go to the mountains. I study the cliffs that hug the shore. I know they are riddled with caves, most of them little more than inhospitable holes in the rock that fill with water when the tide comes in. I swallow hard, because I imagine R'ven's body floating here, her long, pale mane flowing in the water…

No. She is not dead.

I close my eyes and touch my chest, willing my khui to resonate. To show me the way to her. I have heard such tales, back when my parents were alive. Of a great hunter whose pleasure mate was stolen from him by Long Tail clan. He could not find her, no matter how hard he looked, so he closed his eyes and asked his khui to guide him. He resonated and followed the sound of the song until he found his mate. She resonated back to him, and Long Tail released her into his waiting arms.

It is a good story, but…my khui remains silent and no amount of hoping on my part will get it to sing.

With a sigh, I study the cliffs before me. They are a lot for a hyoo-man to climb, so I do not think she went that way. Perhaps she found a way in the caves through to the other side. Perhaps she swam. I eye the icy waters. The next section of beach might not be so far away, just on the other side of the cliffs. If that is the case, perhaps her scent can be found there.

It is worth a try. If I do not find her scent here, I will backtrack and search elsewhere. I know she is somewhere…I just have to find her.

I am not ready to give up on her. The others would not understand why I must search…why it is so important to me. Why she is so important to me. I have not resonated to her but…we understand one another. I feel R'ven is a kindred spirit.

I think back to the first night we truly became friends and let those thoughts run through my head while I search the caves.

Some weeks ago

R'ven is not by the fire, despite the gathering.

This is unusual. Normally she is one of the first to appear the moment I get my drum, a smile on her face as she asks me to set a beat. I live for those moments when she leans in, tucking her long, pale mane behind her ears and talking to me as if I am the only one that exists on the beach. It is when I have her attention all to myself, and I find I will use any excuse to bring out my drum and make music, if