Batzargal

I asked three times for someone to count the winters with me. While I was waiting on the third answer, something washed up at the ford.

• UranWasn't it four times, not three? I heard it was four.
  BatzargalIt was three. You made one up, auntie.
  UranIf half of it's made up, that means the other half is true.
• OyunaOver the pass, they call a man who asks three times a man of devotion. What do they call it here?
  Batzargal…You've got a gift for scratching a man's back while you smile.

Every burrow's frozen shut. Standing over ground with no tracks on it and waiting for something to come isn't hunting, it's fortune-telling.

• NaranBut it actually came.
  Batzargal…It came?
  NaranI saw it myself. Right where he pointed.
• TsolmonThat wind-shadow was yesterday's spot.
  BatzargalA man of few words sure gives long advice.