@Sialuk's song greeted the newborn day. kukutux rubbed sleep from her eyes with a crooked ankle; she nosed
@Jarilo with a kiss and unwound herself from the warmth of his body to go out in search of her son. often one or both of them would return to the
ulaq, but their growing limbs carried her ice crystal and raindrop far across the kingdom of moonspear these days.
the air was haunted with the frost-spirit. kukutux inhaled a great gust of it, tossed about the fur along her shoulders. and then she was running, along upward-slanting paths that carried her to the meeting-place where she had first allowed them to be free.
Saviguk was already awake this morning. The daily morning song from his sister never failed to rouse him. But for once, he had beaten her to it. Now that she had found her voice, he took some small pleasure in listening to it at the start of each day. While his anaa and taataa still slept, he snuck outside, quietly. He was at that age where he wanted to explore, further and further afield. To learn, to study more. Each day, something new caught his attention.
At the very fringes of the open glade where he and his sister had first been unleashed, the ice crystals dark form sat, hunched down over a gently flowing stream. No more than two or three feet deep, it posed no danger in whisking away a sturdy young boy like himself. He was peering down into its waters intently, bright eyes darting back and forth. The object of his fascination? Tiny, silver bodied minnows. Dozens of them, swimming downstream. He wondered...where were they going?
kukutux flew along the paths she had come to know. the inner spirit chided her for lack of decorum, but the taste of a delectable freedom before unknown to her pleased the woman immensely.
it was not long before she slowed for a rest; kukutux drew up saviguk's trail and followed it to where her strong ostrega-cub sat curved over silver leapings in cold water. silent, gentle as not to disturb her son's intent or scare his quarry, the motherduck settled close to watch with a quiet fondness as he stepped toward becoming a new hunter in moonspear.
Sensing the approach of his mother by his side, who watched his observations in silence. Crystal bright eyes darted back and forth, watching the rapid little movements of the minnows, fighting against the current. Rather than pounce, than dive in for his first attempt at a catch, he had a curiosity. A question.
Dark ears turning back, his neck craned to allow his head to follow suit. Searching for his mother's gaze, he spoke with a deep rooted, but quiet interest. "Where is it they are going...?" He asked, so unaware of how every lake and river eventually led to the sea.
saviguk reminded her already of jarilo, a careful and observant man with a deep kindness and a jagged plain of ferocity running deer-trail across his heart. these were qualities any mother might treasure in her son; for kukutux, it affirmed again that she had been blessed to become his choice for wife.
"they go to find food. little fish hunt beneath the water." she gestured across the way to where a late moth had fluttered down for a drink, and how in the next moment the flickering arc of water drops saw a fish leap to grab its prey.
The instant the glimmering scaled body leapt out of the water, Saviguk lurched forward. His jaws snapped, growing teeth clicking. They sheared against the silvered form but fell short of a true bite. The growing Ostrega still had to refine his hunting technique and aquatic prey was quite different than that of the small land mammals he had been practicing on thus far.
Un-deterred by his miss, he pressed on. Seaglass eyes darted from one little fish to the next, while processing in his ever-evolving mind how to best secure his prey. "And where does this water take them? Does it go on forever?" He asked, oh so full of questions. That head of his always seemed to be in motion, never at rest. He was indeed, his father's son.
"it goes to the sea," she told him softly, gesturing in the vague direction of the oceanplace. soon she must take them both to the salt, and smiled at the idea of it. their small clan together, away from moonspear. she enjoyed the thought of it. "this small water joins those that are larger, and they become a vast shape together." she kissed his eartip.
"i have told you about sedna, yes, and how she welcomes all the fish and the animals that return to her," the duck observed softly, questioningly; she would always tell him again.
"The Great Water..." He repeated, more to himself than his mother. Aqua eyes fell down to the water around his paws before sliding closed. In his mind, he tried to imagine what the ocean was like. Having lived far inland amongst the peaks of Moonspear, Saviguk had never laid eyes on the rolling waves before. Learned that all water connected to the sea at some point, he was pleased to have attained such new information.
"Yes, I remember." He affirmed, nodding. "Are there wolves there too?" With a curiosity in his eyes that ran deep, he gazed towards her. Then past her shoulder, in the direction of the far-off coast line. "I think...I would like to see it someday."
kukutux watched him carefully consider her words. saviguk was a personality unto himself, half jarilo's contemplative nature, half questioning as sialuk did. but where the raindrop might have a dozen questions, her son puzzled things himself before asking, so it seemed.
"there are," his mother answered, thinking of yuelong. "they learn to live with the sea and her choices." a smile came at his words. "i would like that also. you can learn many things there."
Last post for me in this thread. Then we can archive?
Her words only intrigued him further. Saviguk wanted to see these wolves who lived by the sea, to study their ways and their lifestyle. And she too, seemed eager...willing to fulfill his wish. He smiled up at her, a soft line on his lips. "Let me know when you feel the time is right to go!" He chirped, dark tail wagging excitedly behind him. He turned back to the flowing stream, a far cry from the vastness of the ocean. For now, as he refined his fishing skills, he would be content with dreams of the seaside.
<3
"i will."
kukutux sat with her son for a long while, in both silence and in speech if he inquired after something, sharing the day with her growing young hunter. as mother she did not long think these times would be here forever, and would take all enjoyment from them that was possible.