open to anyone! tags for ref or joining! <3
her sons grew.
she preened
@Massaraq, nudged
@Kassuq back to her belly, pulled
@Arrluk from where he tried to climb away.
she shared her milk with little
@Galana, keeping her closest at hand so the small girl would not have to contend with her fat robust brothers for a good meal.
kukutux kissed
@Sakhmet often, murmuring over their children. and for
@Aiolos her eyes glowed; the sun man, a father to many once more.
the afternoon was warm. she sat outside their lively
ulaq, thinking of the daughters that had gone their own way.
her heart was full. kukutux closed her green eyes in pleasure.
For Massaraq the world that he was born into was very warm, the littermates that were close to his size were warm beside him, and the larger sources of food, comfort, and safety were also warm as they enveloped him. He would wiggle his body and use his legs to try and squirm his way closer to that warmth and as he felt his paws get more and more beneath him he could even totter about in the direction he wanted to go.
He felt a gentle pressure around his ruff and along his fur, it was not the first time it had happened but there was a desire to know more about what it was, about this world that seemed to press in on him from all sides and at times shift and move away. And when his eyes finally opened he discovered that the world was bright as well. The details were fuzzy but there was a world there and he valiantly tried to gather up his paws beneath him so he could bury his face in the brightest thing in the afternoon sun, white and warm and familiar.
A high pitched rasp escaped him, bubbling around his throat as he tried to make sense of it all. It was there and he was there, but all of that existence was tiring and he felt his legs fold beneath him again but he tried to keep his eyes opened to take in more of it as it was happening.
feel free to skip him! - he'll just be looking around and occasionally doing his darndest to walk XD
the cold would not be something little galana would feel now. her were days full of warmth, a full belly, and contentment. she was not a loud child, instead rather quiet and rested.
today was different than others as she was nestled beside her brothers. another woman sharing her milk with galana was not a concept she could understand just yet, but they certainly smelled different, felt different. though little did she know, moonwoman would be her mother as well. her senses were different this morning as well; tiny eyes were opened. perhaps her brother's as well?
small whimpers were all that came from the ruddy girl. there was nfo attempt to walk as her wobbly head moved around. the first glimpses of her family: white, red, black, and other shades. galana did not know this yet. her fondness for them would only grow.
Kassuq spent most of his time asleep. When he was awake, it was to release little shrieks like a bat trying to ecolocate, before he’d drop back to sleep. And, even then, those shrieks only happened when he was moved or disturbed in some way.
So he was calmly sleeping when he felt movement. One of his eyes slowly cracked, and the boy raised his fat little head for a moment to peer around, then stopped.
Oh.
Oh.
He could see little shapes, blurry but there, moving, the light on the wall. He could see it all, and his other eye opened to show he could see more! Kassuq reached out a little paw to press into the large white shape next to him, inquisitive peeps leaving his throat.
they saw.
the four children born to the hearth of aiolos found their senses. moonwoman heard the stirring of the trees and among their branches the ancestors whispered, that they should have their spirit names.
the words touched her tongue again: "it is time for me to give you the names of your spirit. you must not say this to another wolf who lives. and when you are old enough, i will speak them again to you."
first, a nudge to massaraq. "you will be taliriktuq. strong arms on the ground." then a kiss to kassuq. "the name of your spirit is tingenek, smooth ice walking."
for arrluk, she brushed his head and murmured, "anuniaq. wisdom hunter."
and last, galana. not the child of her body but no less her daughter.
"aqpalibaaqtuq," kukutux decided, enfolding the child closer. "girl who runs a fast race."
she was weary now; she drew them all closer and thought upon the names they had been given.
Massaraq felt the nudge of something large and caught the color of his mother's eyes, they were bright and different from the sky. Her mouth opened and a flurry of sounds poured forth, they were warm and comforting but he did not know what to make of them so he let out a mewl in reply as if to mimic her but it came out high pitched and lyrical more than anything. The sound was different to his ears and he did not try again but listened as intently as he could and watched the blurriness of her as she motioned to the others and snuggled closer to his siblings as she drew them all together. Wriggling a bit to better position himself he saw the flash a block of red and a flash of it as well as the colors of black and white and though these were not familiar sights to him the feeling of them near was comforting.
Arrluk was quiet, like his sister. Happy and rarely ever complaining, even as his eyes began to open, even as the world was blinding and painful because of it. He closed his eyes back shut and burrowed his muzzle deep into Kukutux's side as he found a place returned near Galana. Arrluk hadn't the same interest to see the world, to gain his footing and to venture. He only sought the comfort of his siblings, his mothers, his father.
Mother speaks, her words a comfort to him, as always they were. He did not know what she was saying, but knew that he was happy here, with all of them, always.