Unatsikanogeni had to grin back at her when she seemed dubious about his claim on ancient wolf nutrition—but it wasn’t so strange to a Tribe-raised child. They were taught respect of all life, first and foremost, and had cultivated crops for a few generations now to feed their livestock; these were in turn eaten, it was true, though the wolves relied mainly on wild beasts except for scarce or festive times.
All this thought of food made him hungrier.
He blinked dizzily as she suddenly stood up and headed off a little ways, and he wondered if he’d hallucinated her being there at all. After a moment, though, a tiny shape dropped before him, and he reflexively reached out to grab it; the little body bounced off the tips of his fingers when he was too slow, and it was in that instant that he realized what it was.
The urge to stuff the mouse in his mouth was overpowering, but he jerked his arm back as if he’d touched a rattlesnake. He shook his head at her, glad that she’d at least not left an open hog carcass or something before him; he wouldn’t have any self control left, then. Maybe that said something.
“Can’t,” Unatsi managed. “I mean—I appreciate the gesture, you know, I am really grateful that you care, but—there’s this, this thing—this fast—that we do in my Tribe in honor of the life in the world, or—or I forget the reason, but it’s what we spiritual folk do.” He turned his head so he wasn’t looking at the mouse. “You—you understand, right? I mean, we eat like the wolves in the stories for a full week, and we don’t eat anything that once breathed air or water. We don’t eat, but it shows that we—that we’re mad, really.” He shook his head, decided that was a bad idea, then put his face in his hands.
“In short,” he muttered through his fingers, “I can’t accept that, but really, thank you, you’ve been a huge help staving off my loneliness and everything, so at least I’m not hungry for company.” He peered at her with one green eye, hope lighting the orb for an instant. “The fast’s almost over, anyhow, and when it’s done with I’m going to get a big, I mean absolutely massive, wapiti and then just dig into it, and eat everything, and chew on the bones for months, and next time you see me I’ll be absolutely bloated!”
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