Long Steps

Long Steps is probably the most widely traveled individual in all the river villages.  He is lead boy of a small pack of 5-7 other boys who share his enthusiasm for long-distance walking.  In a single dry season they can traverse the entire string of villages from one end to the other and back, and could probably do so twice if they did not spend so much time taking detours from the established migration paths.

Mental characteristics

Personal history

When he was born he was called No Good, an all-too-common name for a boy. So common that there were several other boys in his village also named No Good. As a child he was nicknamed Dry Feet, after his dislike of standing in water. He accepted the name with good humor, even though he had the sense it was supposed to be an insult. At adolescence, according to custom, he joined a boy pack leaving his village. Within a month they were calling him "Long Steps" for his habit of constantly roaming ahead.
Long Steps stayed with that pack until his maturity. Feeling slowed down by the older members and the sheer size of the pack (20 individuals at its greatest), he split off with some like-minded friends to form a group small enough to travel faster but still large enough to defend each other against wild animals.

Personality Characteristics

Motivation

One reason Long Steps did not do well in a large pack is that he prefers to select his own pace. He likes to move ahead when he has a goal, and stop and enjoy the scenery when it is beautiful.

Savvies & Ineptitudes

Long Steps has a knack for gauging people's moods.  This skill has been invaluable in keeping his pack safe during the migrating season.  His pack is very small, putting them at a severe disadvantage in competing with other boy packs for village quarters.  Also, the villages themselves are not always welcoming to boys, and being alert to women's attitudes has smoothed their entry several times when they might otherwise have been made to leave.

Virtues & Personality perks

He is protective of the boys who travel with him. A few years after forming the pack, an encounter with a lone woman endangered a boy who had recently joined. Long Steps distracted the woman to give the boy time to escape, despite knowing that she would take it out on him.

Social

Contacts & Relations

Because he visits every river village during every migration season, Long Steps is the most widely recognized boy of his time. And because of his reputation as "not as bad as most boys", he is easily the most welcome anywhere.

Ethnicity

Boys

Whenever Long Steps and his friends cross paths with other boy packs, he has fantastic stories to tell of the things they have seen and done. One of his more incredible tales is about the day he met a giant. He says it ran away when he raised his voice, which no one believes but the boys in his own pack. Unfortunately he was separated from them at the time, so he has no witnesses to back him up.

View from the Future:
20 years

When he felt himself slowing down from age, Long Steps retired from his pack to live year-round in the crossroads. But his love of adventure didn't fade, and when the radical women lost their challenge against Moon Wish and fled into the wild forest, Long Steps joined the boys going with them.