Chapter Four: Huntress of Fish

Kahvi became aware of curious eyes on her person. She looked across the room, and saw one of the strange waterpeople – wavedancers, she'd heard them called – looking at her. Kahvi scowled, and sent: **come here if you're so curious. I won't bite.**
The female laughed, and did indeed walk over to Kahvi. "I've heard much about you, chieftess."
Kahvi sighed. "I bet. What do they call you?"
"Krill. I am a huntress."
"Huntress of fish?" Kahvi couldn't resist a little teasing.
"Fish… and other things. Daggerteeth*, sometimes."
Krill didn't sound like she was bragging.
"What do you want from me?" Kahvi asked.
"A story, perhaps. A story of the greatest hunt, as only the greatest hunter could tell it. I want to hear about snow bears." Krill smiled, almost shyly.
"Get me something to drink and you'll get your story." Kahvi promised her.

Krill darted off and returned with a jug. She poured Kahvi a cupful of something purple. Kahvi drank it. "Hardly Old Maggoty's finest, but it will do." She stated flatly.
"The Sun Villagers are still learning how to brew wine." Krill admitted.
Kahvi drank more, and began recounting the tale of a cold winter, and a hunt, a long time ago in the Frozen Mountains. She had to explain many things to Krill, including the concept of snow, but the parts that had to do with hunting Krill seemed to understand instinctively. Krill, too, drank of the wine, but not as liberally as Kahvi. The Go-Back chieftess was beginning to enjoy herself. The wine helped her forget the strange pulling feeling inside her, the whispers of her soul.
"… and then Vok distracted the bear and I struck my spear in, right through his eye, but the old bear wasn't done with me, he pushed me into the snow and then collapsed on top of me. And it took four stags to drag his dead carcass off me! And that was the biggest snow bear ever slain in the Frozen Mountains that I know of."
Kahvi could tell Krill had been holding her breath. "Amazing!" The wavedancer admitted, and grinned. "I'd like to hunt for snow bear sometime."

Kahvi slapped Krill's back. "Sure you would. And you'd do it, too, I can tell by the look of you. You should have been born a Go-Back, lass, you'd have fit right in."
Krill grinned again. "Maybe… but I do like the sea! I can tell you a story too, if you like?"
Kahvi nodded, a little drunkenly. "Go ahead, you owe me one."
And so Krill told a story of hunting daggerteeth at the reef. Now it was Kahvi's turn to ask questions, such as what a reef was, and Krill was more than eager to explain. But by the end of the story, Kahvi was beginning to nod off. "Hey, chieftess, am I that boring a storyteller?" Krill complained and nudged her.
"Mhhh.. the wine… stronger than it tastes, curse it!" Kahvi mumbled.
"Alright… time we got you to bed." Krill tried to help her up.
Kahvi resisted. "I'll sleep here. Good furs. Fire. S'good."
Krill rolled her eyes. "Don't tell me… no one gave you a room? Come with me." Krill managed to get Kahvi upright, mainly by brute force. Kahvi swayed slightly. Krill wrapped an arm around Kahvi and led her along the corridor. She took her to the guest bedroom that had been assigned to her. Kahvi saw the bed and collapsed on it. Krill sighed and managed to get Kahvi's boots off. She left the undressing at that. Kahvi seemed too drunk to care about anything. Krill drew the curtains in around the bed – she didn't like the light of the Palace shining in her eyes when she slept, so she'd asked for curtains – and settled in beside Kahvi.

Kahvi slept the heavy sleep of the drunken. And she dreamed. In her dream she was looking for something. Someone. She was looking for a little girl, no, a young maiden, who'd fallen into the water. The water had taken her away. But she couldn't remember the maiden's name. It was very important that she remember the name. How could she call her name if she didn't know it? And why didn't she know it.

Kahvi came to a fog-shrouded river. Someone stood on the opposite shore. The mist hid the person's features.
"Who's there?" Kahvi called out.
The figure waved a hand, and then walked away without answering.

Kahvi felt suddenly that she had to follow the stranger. She waded into the river and swam across. On the other shore, she found footprints. She began to track the stranger. No matter how fast she moved, he was always just out of sight, going ahead of her. Kahvi called out again:
"Wait for me!"
And he waited. Kahvi caught up with him, and saw it was Skywise. She felt cheated, and she realized she'd been expecting Cutter.
"What games are you playing with me?" Kahvi demanded of him crossly.
Skywise didn't speak. Instead, he pointed down.

Kahvi saw a pool of water. And under the surface, a maiden was… dead? Or sleeping? Kahvi looked closer, and saw this was the maiden she was looking for. She looked familiar, but Kahvi still couldn't remember her name.

Kahvi woke up. She saw Krill sleeping beside her. Careful not to wake the maiden, she slipped off the bed. Kahvi pulled on her boots and headed down the corridor. She located the cooking area by smell and grabbed a basket, then filled it with smoked meat. The Palace was quiet, it was very early in the morning. Kahvi walked to the big hall, grabbed her spear, and then walked out to the wall. She touched the wall and willed it to open, and to her surprise, it did, letting her out.

Kahvi stood outside and found the Palace was still in the Frozen Mountains. This suited her. She walked out, into the dawning day, quiet on her feet as a thief. Soon she was a dwindling shadow on the hillside. Then she was gone.

Inside the Palace, Skywise woke to a sudden feeling of immense loss.

*Daggerteeth = wavedancer word for shark