Gifted Pelt

Chapter 29

Astrila nods and Tonraq helps her pull her gloves back on before he speaks again.

"Are you ready to join me on my rounds today?"

Astrila beams. "Of course!"

"Very well, let's go. Remember to ice your hands throughout the day."

"Yes, Tonraq."

Tonraq gives her a small nod, the corners of his lips tilting up into a smile. Then he strides out of the iglu, Astrila quickly twisting around to follow him, Kōri at her heels. Tonraq is quick as he makes his way out of the village, as if he knows the best routes and the best places to put his feet to stay on top of the snow. Astrila keeps up with him easily, not having to worry about the snow, but Kōri is a different case. He struggles to remain on top of the snow, each step sinking through. Occasionally, he sinks so far in he has to wade back to the top of the snow layer. His feet sink through once again, leaving him up to his waist in snow. Astrila giggles at the sight and he lightly scowls at her and points a finger at her.

"Don't laugh at me, Astrila!"

She grins. "I wouldn't be laughing at you if it wasn't so hard for you to stay atop the snow layer. How are you even doing that? Tonraq doesn't appear to be having problems, but you just keep sinking."

He hisses at her. "Astrila! Let it rest!"

She holds her hands up placatingly, sensing his exasperation, and steps back over to him. She extends her hand down.

"Come on then."

Kōri wraps his hand around her wrist and she yanks, pulling him out of his hole in the snow. Once he's back on his feet, Astrila stares at his black eyes, the gold-flecks glimmering in the light reflecting off the snow.

"Better?"

He nods. "Yes, thank you."

Astrila shakes her head, her black braid whipping around her. "It's not a problem, Kōri."

They stand there like that for several moments, Astrila staring into Kōri's dark eyes. Tonraq calls from a distance away, snapping her out of it.

"Come on, you two! We don't have summer daylight, we have winter daylight, so we need to make the most of it!"

Astrila's eyes snap away from Kōri and she smiles softly, hurrying to catch up to Tonraq. She hears some mumbling from Kōri before he struggles through the snow over to them. His hand brushes against her arm, and Astrila twists her head to look at him as they follow Tonraq. His eyes are swimming with some emotion Astrila can't place.

"What are you thinking about, Kōri?"

He shakes his head at her, a soft smile flitting across his face. "Nothing for you to worry about."

Astrila raises her eyebrows at him but doesn't push it, bounding forward to Tonraq's side once more.

~~~

Tonraq is crouched over a young man, his arm clutched to his side. He gently pulls the man's hand away to reveal the wound. Astrila has to hold in her gasp when she sees it and smoothes the wince from her face. He has a large gash on his side, weeping blood. Astrila peers closer at it, squinting. It almost looks like claw marks. Could it be? Tonraq looks over at her, and she can read it in his eyes. The wound is bad, but the selkie will heal.

"Astrila, can you get me my basket? Then go get a big handful of snow."

Astrila nods and darts over to the door to scoop up the basket and bring it over to him. She deposits it at his side before she hurries out of the iglu. Kōri frowns at her from his position beside the iglu entrance.

"Astrila? What happened? You look worried."

She shakes her head at him as she scoops up a few handfuls of snow. "I'll tell you later."

Kōri doesn't even have time to respond before Astrila ducks back inside the iglu, her hands filled with snow. Her hands have finally healed enough to use, thank goodness. Tonraq will need as much help as he can get with this healing. She kneels beside Tonraq, and he gives her a tight-lipped smile.

"Thank you. Can you press the snow into his wound? The cold should stop the bleeding."

Astrila nods and presses the snow into the wound. The man groans, trying to pull away from the cold snow against his bare skin, but Tonraq's grip is unfaltering as he keeps the man steady. He starts speaking, trying to both distract the man from his injury and learn what happened for him to be injured so badly.

"Atiqtalaaq, can you tell me what happened? What hurt you?"

Atiqtalaaq groans, but a word makes its way out into the air. "Nanuq . . ."

Tonraq almost pulls back to sit on his haunches in surprise. "Why did you approach Nanuq?"

Atiqtalaak groans again. "He disturbed seal hunt. He attacked. He's dead."

Astrila runs her hand down his arm in a comforting motion, still holding the snow to his side with the other hand.

"You'll be alright."

The snow is stained pink with blood, but as Tonraq pulls her hand away and the snow falls to the ground, she can see that it did its job. The blood surrounding the wound has frozen, long enough for the wound to clot.
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What do you guys think? Sorry, I don't really have any author note questions today, but tell me if you have any of your own!

Happy reading and I'll see you next chapter!

~Goddess of Fate, signing out