Pipaluk- Female Straggler- 97 Summers
The old female cackled softly, her eyes all but disappearing in her smile. She raised her face to the moonlight, the grin still sticking to her grey face. "It is our duty to worry. We are the keepers of stories. The ones that we live with and love are those stories. I would be more concerned if you didn't worry."
Again she looked a bit distracted, turning her head to the side as if someone was speaking to her before she once again addressed Attican. "My better half offers his condolences. He says that it's difficult to lose someone that you love." She flicked one ear and sat thoughtfully for a moment. "It is difficult... but such is the way of nature." Once more she looked to the sky, the moonlight bathing her face with it's glow. "Sometimes those that leave don't really leave. They wait for us; guide us; teach us."
The growling of her stomach broke the silence and Pipa couldn't help but laugh, though she tried to stifle it. Wasn't it just like her? Here she was, in the middle of a serious conversation and her stomach rears it's head in loud protest, ruining the moment.
"I suppose I should try to feed myself. I forget sometimes. Pretty soon I'll be walking bones with a furry tail." Rising shakily, she shook the powdery snow from her rump. Pipa spared Attican another glance. "What will be, will be. In the end we'll all meet at the den in the sky with our ancestors, so no one is truly lost forever."
As silently as she had come, she moved off into the trees. Pipaluk wasn't afraid for her safety. If she died, she died. She would join Nanuq in either pestering someone new, or they would take their place among the ancestors and rest. It was her duty to live until she died, so she was hoping to find something to eat.
In the end, Pipa dug a sleeping mouse out of a fallen tree and feasted upon it's tiny body. Her stomach stopped it's protests and she was satisfied enough to go back to the group of wolves. Once there, she curled up in the little bowl that she'd made and finally slept. Nanuq stood watch, prepared to wake her again if anything was amiss.