Spring, Day 65, AV 511
Puapasho rose from slumber as the Sun's light began to slowly illuminate and lighten the sky, the interior of his cave home changing from an inky dark to a slow lightening of the redstone walls. The native beetles, which provided the Kalanue with their black bands, skittered to and fro in the changing light and heat. He stretched in his nest, a crafted bundle of scrub, feathers, and furs, lined and curved to resemble a bird nest.
He crouched on the cool cave floor, winding his torso in a slow circle, turning and stretching his joints.His hands came before him, palms flat against the stone, his breathing even and slow as his lips moved in a silent prayer to Brother Crow. ---Great Brother, watch over me today as I enter the great open and seek sustenance for myself. As I seek sustenance for my family. As I seek sustenance for my people. His head rose slowly, his double lidded eyes blinking to take in the first light of the day.
The air was already moving. Though it merely trailed over his face and occasionally whipped inside the cave's mouth, his sensory pads in his hands could feel the currents, shifting and moving the sands. Tracks were degrading. He had to get moving. A few moments later, he had slipped his wrap over his legs and grabbed his spear, slipping from his hole in the rock as the others were just stirring. His feet moved carefully down the footpath until he stood on sand. Careful steps on the redstone were always a necessity, even when one had run over their faces his whole life.
Crouching again, his eyes scanned the sandy paths through the stone. his father had always told him to start at home with tracks. You could completely miss a kill without leaving your home terrain. Every mote of energy saved for the Burning Lands was needed, even for their hardy race of people. Lizard scat, now two days old and quickly becoming little more than crumbling calcification. Few footprints, save for the nightly purging of fluid any may have taken in the night. A sharp slice of 'CAW' caught his attention from above.
Auspicious. Brother Crow answered his prayer, now circling over and around his general location. Puapa's head shifted toward the augury, black band and eyes blending into darkness against the rising and burgeoning sun. He could see Brother Crow landing, hopping and rising, angry snips of caws perforating the silence. Others began to poke their heads from their caves with the sound of their benefactor. Whatever He wanted to show Puapa was on top of the formation that contained his own cave and many others of his family.
That meant a short climb.