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stay. And maybe the Walker's right, maybe I will always be a
wanderer. But I can't... I don't want to lose her."
He needed Fin-Kedinn to make things better; but the Raven
Leader's face was hard as he sheathed his knife. "I'll take the
prey back to camp," he said brusquely. "You put the fire to sleep
and see to the fishing lines on the river."
Renn had forgotten to take any food with her, so by dawn she
was hungry and bad-tempered. She hadn't found Torak, though
she'd seen plenty of wolf tracks; and she felt awful about Dark.
The Mountain clans had only tolerated him because he was with
Torak, and they'd made him sleep in a separate shelter at the
edge of their camp. The Raven Clan, too, had been wary at first,
though they'd changed when they'd seen Ark; a boy with a white
raven deserved respect. Dark himself had taken instantly to the
Forest, and adored being among people. But yesterday, Renn
had found him anxiously fingering the small slate musk ox he'd
brought from his cave. She'd reminded him that Fin-Kedinn had
said he could stay as long as he liked,
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and he'd nodded politely; but she could see that he didn't really
believe it, and dreaded being told to leave.
And you were nasty to him, she berated herself as she plodded
toward camp. Very clever, Renn. Just what he needs.
Torak was on the river, hacking open ice holes with an antler pick
and drawing in the lines. A pile of whitefish lay beside him, rapidly
freezing, and Rip and Rek were walking about, pretending they
weren't interested.
Torak glanced at Renn as she approached, then resumed his
work.
Unlike her, he still wore his Mountain Hare tunic, drawn in at the
waist by the belt Krukoslik had given him as a parting gift: a broad
band of buckskin, sewn with many rows of reindeer teeth. Renn
thought he looked good, not like anyone in the Open Forest. She
asked him if he didn't mind appearing so different from everyone
else.
"Why should I?" he said with a shrug. "It's what I am."
She picked up the antler and scratched the ice. "Don't you even
care?"
"What's the point? I can't change it."
For a moment, he truly seemed a stranger to her: a tall young
man in outlandish furs, with an outcast tattoo on his forehead and
unsettling light-gray eyes. She thought, Fin-Kedinn's right, he is
apart. He always will be.
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Out loud, she said, "I need you to promise something."
He threw her a wary look. "What?"
She'd intended to ask him not to leave the clan, but instead she
blurted out, "Don't ever spirit walk in me."
"What?" He flushed the color of beechnuts. "But-- I'd never ... I
mean, why would I? I already know what you think."
Renn stared at him. "You-- know what I think?" He swallowed. "...
Yes. In a way." She flung down the antler and stalked off. "Renn
..."
The snowball hit him full in the face. "There!" she shouted. "You
didn't know I'd do that, did you?"
Torak was blinking and spitting out snow. His expression turned
thoughtful. Renn decided she'd better run.
As she sped up the bank, she heard him coming after her. She
ducked. His snowball missed her and hit Dark, who'd come to
investigate the shouting.
Dark was astonished. "Wh-at..."
"It's a game!" panted Renn as she raced past, yelping as Torak's
next missile struck her hard on the shoulder.
Dark caught on fast, and soon the air was thick with snowballs.
Renn's aim was good, Dark's was better. Torak's was the worst,
but he made up for it by relentless firing.
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The ravens' excited caws brought the wolves bounding out of the
Forest. Wolf made great twisting leaps and snapped snowballs in
midair; Darkfur got spattered all over, as she was such an easy
target; and Pebble raced about, barking and getting under
everyone's feet. Eventually, Torak and Renn ganged up on Dark
and pelted him until he laughed so much he fell over. Gasping
and clutching their sides, Torak and Renn collapsed beside him,
Wolf and Darkfur crashed into them, and Pebble climbed on top.
They lay gazing up at the sky, munching some hazel cakes Dark
had brought with him, and tossing crumbs to the ravens. Then a
cloud drifted over the sun, and it was suddenly cold.
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