Orion sighed as she leaned against a nearby wall of rock.  The two whelps she was watching over had scampered off again, climbing one of the striated formations to play on its wind-smoothed surface.  They took any hint of climbable rock as a challenge, as if there weren’t cool vantage points in Mireh!  The pair were probably going to disturb something’s nest and get bit at this rate.  Still, standing in the shade was nice.  Even in Kerah, Issiq was hot.  They’d been walking for two weeks and while the temperature change was gradual, it was certainly noticeable now.  She was glad they were almost to their destination.  Traveling with two whelps for this long had nearly made her abandon them to the badlands.

Deciding she’d cooled off enough, Orion stepped forward and called out to Dawnbreaker and Cygnus.  The two scrambled down and started a race through the scrubby grass.  Orion barely held in another sigh.  They were close enough to the canyons where the turak plant grew that it was fine they wasted their energy.  They’d be here for a few days anyway.  The trio had already passed a few locals making their way to the area for the harvest as well.  Dawnbreaker had been especially excited at the chance to meet natives from another region and spent the whole afternoon chatting with them.  Cygnus was more reserved, keeping her distance.  Orion tilted her head at the slate-grey whelp, who was currently in the lead in the race.  Dawnbreaker’s presence she understood; she was nearly an adult.  But when Orion asked why her younger sister had been chosen for this trip, Yayaloc had simply said “She has keen eyes.”  It was a surprise she’d even made it this far.  Ahead, Cygnus bounded onto a rock, the apparent end point, and loudly declared herself the winner.  Dawnbreaker trotted up and shoved her off, and the two started a playfight.

Orion walked past without glancing at them.  They would catch up.  Instead she kept an eye out for the curved spire that marked an easy entrance to the canyons.  She had to thank Dawnbreaker’s sociability.  Without her chatting up the locals, they would’ve been guessing at how to access their destination.  Movement ahead brought Orion’s eyes lower on the landscape.  Something large was moving between the stones.  She whistled sharply to the whelps and they sat up, shaking off dust as they scrambled to Orion’s side.  “What is it?” Dawnbreaker asked, peering into the distance.  Cygnus simply pressed herself close, wrapping a hand around the adult tsabhua’s tail.

Orion nodded ahead to where she had last seen the shape.  Patiently they waited for the creature to reveal itself.  After a long moment it stepped out from behind a boulder.  Dawnbreaker relaxed.  It was another tsabhua!  She flicked her ears up in greeting and started toward them, but Orion put an arm out.  “Wait for them to approach us,” she warned.

The newcomer did approach.  They blended well with the tan grasses, spotted and oat-colored as they were.  The three watched, Dawnbreaker nearly vibrating, Cygnus fluffing up her mantle.  The tsabhua paused a respectful distance away, ears held back in acknowledgement of their larger force.  Orion dropped her arm and Dawnbreaker eagerly stepped up, dipping her head in greeting.  Despite her excitement, she held herself in check, obeying the cultural norms for meeting a stranger.  She introduced herself, her companions, and inquired if they were trespassing.  The newcomer shook their head, and introduced herself as Kukimbia.  She was a native in these parts.  “Are you here for the turak harvest?” Dawnbreaker asked.

“Yes, many of us are,” Kukimbia replied.  “We’ve been setting up camps as we wait for the fruits to ripen.  You’re welcome to join us.  Do you bring trade?”

“No.”  Orion stepped in before Dawnbreaker could reply.  Now that the native had proven to be friendly, Cygnus was showing curiosity, stepping far enough around to sniff at her.

Dawnbreaker huffed at Orion’s curtness.  “We moved recently, and have little extra for trading,” she explained.

Kukimbia nodded.  “The camp is over there,” she said, indicating an imposing rock formation with her tail, “but you’ll have to bring your own food and fire supplies.”

Dawnbreaker’s nose scrunched.  They had food, but no fire fuel.  “Do you know a place that hasn’t been picked over?” she asked.  Kukimbia nodded again, and led them away into the badlands.  The grass they passed through was dry, but not dry enough for burning.  The suns were beginning to get low in the sky, but Kukimbia walked confidently, and they soon reached an area interspersed with shrubs.  They waded past the first few, which looked to have had branches recently stripped off.  Finally the group came to some that had not yet been touched.

“In Geshem, these are covered in poisonous berries,” Kukimbia explained.  “But in Kerah, they’re dry and good for kindling.”  Cygnus was the first to step forward, sniffing and experimentally pulling at the plant.  Kukimbia laughed and showed her how to pull off the branches.  As a group they began gathering their firewood, the native keeping an armful to herself and the colonists depositing their forage into the baskets on Orion’s back.  Sunset had begun to turn the blue sky orange as Kukimbia led them to the camps.

Natives and colonists alike clustered around the same curved spire marking the entrance to the canyons, building their fires on the stone that spread out from its base.  Sheltered from the wind, it was a comfortable place, and tsabhua wandered between campsites to chat and trade.  Orion, Dawnbreaker, and Cygnus hesitated as they gazed out at the crowd.  A few turned to look at them.  Not all were friendly.  At their pause, Kukimbia smiled and tapped Orion’s shoulder, nodding at an empty space a little ways away.  Dawnbreaker and Cygnus followed, eager to have someone on their side, and Orion trailed after, ears pinned back.  She showed her teeth to someone nearby whose tail was flicking ominously, and they sneered in response.

Kukimbia’s campsite was flush against the rock formation, and she dropped her armful of sticks on top of the pile of ashes that were already present.  The three colonists hurried to settle in, Dawnbreaker pulling food out of her packs, Cygnus unrolling a blanket, and Orion depositing her own firewood.  The whistles of tsabhua and crackling of fires made a murmuring backdrop to the group of four cooking and chatting.  After eating, they curled up against the rock, Cygnus offering a share of her blanket to Kukimbia.  Cozy, they gazed at the sky, the world around them lit by firelight reflecting off stone.  They would not be alone when the harvest began, but perhaps that was a good thing.  They had made a friend.