Moonspear on the front line, get ready for war

in an attempt to ease the racing of her mind, sobeille made inland. part of it was denfever; she was tired of screaming babies, and no longer feeling like she was the baby — all natural emotions for an elder child to experience, but unfamiliar emotional topography for sobeille none the less.

she brought to moonspear a young sea-turtle’s shell; unaware that @Sialuk may be indisposed, sobeille placed the bony husk at her feet and howled for her in a tentative voice.

this was, after all, sobeille’s first border-call.

A solid day of rest did a lot of good for the twice-again mother. She could not stray as far as she had last year until the babes were weaned of milk, as Elentari was not producing any of her own, but she refused to be confined to the ulaq entirely. She kissed the three dear little heads when she heard Sobeille's call, leaving her precious three newborns in the very capable care of the family.

Her body, now twice used to give life, hung differently from her bones. The Ostrega knew from last year that it would reshape itself in the weeks to come, but for now she would feel a bit out of place in her own skin. As she made her way down the familiar path of the mountain, she thought more on her second child. When she returned, she would ask the bones for their guidance on the babe to learn what their fortune was to be.

Sialuk's eyes lit up when she spotted the dark-masked child at her doorstep holding something odd in her mouth. Sobeille, it is good to see your face, she said, her tail wagging gently behind her.

sialuk looked different than the last time sobeille saw her. the pale wisps of her fur stank of newborn and mother's milk, and parts of her sagged in ways sobeille recognized in her maman. there was no shame in this - she simply observed it in the clinical manner of a girl used to the female body.

sobeille's tail wagged to be greeted so warmly. for a distant child, it instilled in her a strange sensation; like she might belong here, and was not a stranger like back at home. it be for you. sobeille instructed, pushing the plastron towards sialuk. it was not large -- hardly a foot's diameter -- but its edges were hooked and turned inward. 'ave you birthed, den?

The piece, which Sialuk now identified as the shell of a turtle, was a beautiful thing. Already, she wondered where it might find a place on the shrine in her ulaq. Sia hurt to think of the bride price Argent had left with her, but she pushed the emotion down. Thank you, she said, pulling it close to inspect its textures and colors more closely.

Three babes: Pauk, Tiuttuk, and Kaujimaq, she smiled, the hint of something sadder lacing her expression. Argent had been gone long before they were born, but the pain still lingered. Sialuk had thought perhaps taking multiple lovers would lessen the blow, but now she worried if Elentari left her, too. Could she be subjecting herself to heartbreak after heartbreak? Sialuk blinked, realizing she had gone silent in the midst of her guest.

Have you been learning more of reading your sacred bone? she asked.

sobeille’s golden gaze held sialuk in full as she took the turtle plaston, inspecting its storied ridges and scars. every knot and blemish was testament to enduring life, while the skeleton served to remind those among the living of their temporal tenancy among the threads of existence. sobeille wondered when she was dead, who might read her bones or treasure them.

sialuk shared three names; while her voice carried a mother’s pride, her eyes shadowed with melancholy. what do de names mean? she asked, sitting carefully on her toes. yes and no, moonwoman. i found more bones, but i don’t know what dey mean when i study dem.

Nobody had asked her that before, and the corners of Sialuk's mouth turned upward at the question. Pauk is 'soot,' like when a tree burns from lightening, Tiuttuk is 'chirping bird,' and Kaujimaq is, ahhh... 'knowing all of it.' she replied. Again, Sialuk smoothed the shell with her three-toed paw, wondering what life this strange creature had lived in a world she could never know.

Sobeille had found more than the single antler to decipher, and the Ostrega listened keenly as the young girl shared her troubles. Oh, how she wished she'd had her own tutor when learning the bones! But she was happy to have this opportunity with the young seawoman, to pass on her learnings to another eager spirit.

Have you asked more questions of them? Sialuk asked.

the names and their meanings were very pretty. sobeille imagined she could picture the three of them, a bundle no less lumpy than her own siblings.

sialuk spread her toes across the ruined shell. i ask de bones questions yes, but de answers are confusing. sobeille’s eyes settled with turbulent emotion. ’ow do i parse de answers from de noise?

Sobeille had been practicing with the bones, and Sialuk knew well the struggles of the vague answers given. The noise is one piece of the answer, she replied with a gentle smile. If the answer is not clear, it is just that: an unclear situation. Many times, when I pose a question, I find myself with ten more questions and no answers. If this happens, you dive deeper, ask smaller questions with smaller answers until you find the root.

Uncovering layer upon layer of meaning was something that would come with time and practice. Learning to ask the right questions would come with time, too.

smaller questions. sobeille tried to wrap her mind around this new token of knowledge, marveling how infinitely knowledgeable sialuk was on the topic of bonescrying.

reading from the bones was like unearthing a secret the earth did not want to let go.

she looked to the healer suddenly, a new slew of questions on the tip of her tongue. ’ave you ever asked de bones ‘ow you die?