Hi, I really hope you like my story. I know it is short but I'm working on it! xxx

Saret woke a fire and pulled her seal hide coat closer to her. It was late at night but she couldn't sleep. Her ears seemed to be more alert than ever, she heard birds claws clink as they landed on the trees and the trout splashing as their tales hit the surface. Why was she so awake?

Yesterday she'd woke up early, just before light, washed in the sacred fountain and eaten some trout that she'd caught the evening before. She'd set snares and even made a stew out of garlic, potatoes and some lemmings she'd stumbled upon when she was chopping down a young sapling to build her shelter. The rest of her clan were out hunting so she'd decided to stick around.

There was a young seal clan boy out skin boating by the lake. Skin boating is where you build the ribs out of wood to support the main structure, like our ribs, then you cover it in animal skin and make it waterproof, you then check for cracks or ripped skin and you're off. The boy was about sixteen summers old and quite handsome. His fair hair was tied up with coral shells and he wore an amulet round his neck. His clan tattoos shone in the moon light as he turned around. His clan tattoos were like blue waves dancing down his arms and his clan creature fur was invisible against his jerkin.

She hadn't seen him for the rest of that day but she wished she would, her clan had met a eagle owl scout party and were staying in there shelters on the opposite shore for the night. She was so alone. Saret pushed her brown hair behind her ears and walked over to the edge of the lake. She stared at her name soul in the lake. Her eyes sparkled against the water and her clan tattoos looked like stars on her cheeks. They were white smudges under her eyes, there were just three of them in a line. She brushed her hands over them and smiled.

She saw a shadow move behind her in the water. She drew her knife and turned. There sitting by the fire was a boy, he was shadowed in the moon light but she recognised the muscle on his arms as well as his tattoo. "You can put that knife away now," He said, "I won't hurt you, trust me." And for some reason she did. She looked about and saw his skin boat upturned and drying by her shelter. "What's your name," He asked her. "S... Saret, Saret of White Wolf clan," Saret said to him. "What's yours?" He stood up and walked towards her and gave her some willow grouse he'd been roasting at her fire. "Bale," He said, "Bale of Seal Clan."

They sat by the fire all night talking. Saret told him where the clan were and asked him his rank in his clan. He'd told her: "I don't really have one, but I'm told I'm the best skin boater on the island, how about you?" He smiled at her and she touched her clan creature skin for some reason, she just felt she needed to. "Well..." Saret said, "I'm kind of the White Wolf clan leader."