A Loose End 18 (Strip #662)

[JSM3050]

Is it just me or does Prrowa look like she's expecting to be asked for the impossible in the second panel? She's figured out that Rif was the one who sent the sheep and now she's waiting for the other shoe to drop

[cairn destop]

Whatever debt the wildcat tribe owes Rif, it must be major.  As leader of her tribe, she has to first discover if the sheep tribe is collecting on that debt.  Prrowa wouldn't be a wise leader if she sold out the security of her tribe to another over a debt to somebody who isn't even a member of the sheep family.  This is the beginning of a bartering session and our wildcat leader is trying to figure out what the sheep want before they ask.

It's a game of favors.  Who's favor cancels who's favor and does cancelling one favor create another obligation?  It's politics at its most basic.

[JSM3050]

That makes sense. I hadn't looked at it that way.