POBear 101.1 - Bear-ing Your Guilt
Tyghak was hunched over and retching once more as the last stink bug fell. It was weird. He had been exposed to more of the stink clouds than he cared to count and yet, each one still smelled as bad as the first. His nose absolutely refused to get used to it even a little.
But as he was hunched over and gagging, he caught sight of something. Once he had gathered himself enough to move again, he walked over and crouched down, trying to ignore the smell of the rot cap all around him.
There was a small patch of black flowers with the faintest hint of purple at the edge of their petals, barely illuminated by the light crystal tied to the front of his clothes. They were short, shorter than the rot caps around them, which made them especially hard to spot as they blended with the shadows around them. If he hadn’t been hunched over, he never would have caught it.
He didn’t remember exactly what they were, but he did remember Juosiutik mentioning them, so he figured they were valuable. He nodded to himself and crouched down. He had hoped to hunt something a bit more substantial to offer to the Sacred Den Master, but stink bugs weren’t great for…well, anything. Besides, bees liked flowers, so maybe the Sacred Den Master would prefer this?
Tyghak gathered a bunch of the flowers, wrapped them up and stowed them, and then returned to the group. Metsaitti, with his face wrapped in a cloth doused in some sort of liquid, crossed his arms. His other companions were already there, the spearwoman nodding to Metsaitti.
“That’s the last of them…at least, it better be.”
Metsaitti shrugged.
“There’s never a last stink bug.”
They all groaned at that. Metsaitti turned to Noiggakuq.