sialuk, samani, and vaire would all be bringing new life into this world.
kukutux was beside herself with pleasure.
this day she measured out three good hides of fair quality and began to fill them with things: teas for an easier childbirth, toys of soft leather for small mouths, dried fish and deer-meat, a summertime bounty of fresh raspberries picked from outside the village.
soon she would go to visit her daughters, but now she thought of who to take.
A short time had passed since visiting Ajei but pups grew fast and the youth had not been so small when she had met her last. Knowing who she would be seeking out the wolf had come more prepared. She had taken the skin of a fawn she had scavenged and filled it with the bodies of two rabbits she had hunted on the plateau. Gathering it up she had made the trek towards Moonglow quickly, passing through now familiar paths and paying only enough attention to ensure the path would remain familiar with her the next time she made it.
At the borders she hesitated, but not for long and slipped in carrying her bundle. Eventually she picked up the trail of the wolf she sought, interwoven with other scents of the pack, and followed it towards its source. "Hello Moonwoman." Her head tipped briefly in greeting as she set down her pack.
"it is good to see your face again, heph," kukutux said with feeling. the scent of meat hung around the moontide woman, and she glanced curiously toward the package of fawnskin but returned her attention quickly to their visitor.
there was no urgency about the other, and so kukutux did not think she was here upon word of samani.
"i have gone many years without being grandmother. now this year comes, and i will be one three times," she said, gesturing to the three bundles of her own. moonwoman was unable to keep from the exultation which delighted her at all times.
Heph smiled, eyes light and teasing even if she was glad to see the other wolf. "It's good to see you too, and your lovely visage." The joy of the news was unmistakable, even if the number caught her by surprise.
Samani she knew was having pups, and Sialuk she had heard of through others as well, but the last she could only guess. "Three? Sialuk, Samani....Vaire as well?" With Rhaegal and Vaire's marriage it made sense, and with the other pack so closely settled she would have to visit to offer them congratulations of her own and perhaps a gift she could find something suitable that might help.
Setting down her own bundle the edges fell open at the sides revealing the rabbits within. "Congratulations are in order. I brought these to thank you for the matchmaking but I think they'll suit celebrating new life just as well."
the rabbits were happily accepted, and moonwoman indicated that heph should sit with her. "yes, these three. sialuk is first pregnant, then vaire and samani. it will happen close together, i think."'
it meant much traveling for a woman who was beginning to feel her age, but kukutux did not mention this. "in the spring, do you have the want to marry, heph?" the other had no children of which she knew, and her jadestone eyes were curious to know the desires of the moontide wolf.
Heph settled back at the indication and took the time to glance around once more. She had visited Moonglow only a few times prior and only briefly each time, but every time she visited she tried to see something new. The question should not have been a surprise given what she had come here intending to find the other wolf for, and indeed Rodyn and Atka both had asked her but she found herself unsure of how to answer.
"If I find the right person for it, I'd like to." Though children would tie her more firmly to Moontide's borders she was willing to curtail her trips for a time to see them grow and perhaps bring them along on her adventures if they were inclined to it. With the right partner she felt that between the two of them and the pack they could provide for a few more mouths.
kukutux considered this answer.
heph was not old but she was not a girl. her words were careful, but then the fact she was not yet mother suggested to the duck that she was often cautious.
it would not be any handsome face then, not simply beauty which interested heph.
"tell me of the one that you would like," kukutux invited, wishing to create her own perception of this man or woman.
Heph had given the matter some thought after talking to Rodyn and Atka, after seeing their partnerships as well as others. "I don't need someone the same as me, but someone who could keep up if we were to travel together or hunt side by side." Atka was a healer and Dreven more of a fighter, and yet they complimented each other well, and were able to stand side by side.
She hesitated over the next words. Her past had taught her that nothing was certain, and yet Moontide had given her constancy. While she felt it was impossible to ask anyone to stay she was unsure if she would be content with someone who felt no sense of relation to those around them. "Life is unpredictable and while I can take care of myself well enough I'd like it if we did have a litter that they would be dependable." She did not need the an exceptional hunter, she trusted both in herself and her pack members, but there were other considerations. It was a difficult task to parent completely alone.
A spike of unease wormed its way into her chest as she waited a response, wondering how the other wolf would judge her replies.
a thought.
a name.
the jadestone eyes were soft.
"i know a man who is called phox redhawk."
he was not someone whom the duck had met with her eyes; instead, she knew of him through sialuk. kukutux explained the extensive lineage the man possessed, of an older age but often traveling.
he had helped to raise many children, and the loss of one leg did not exempt him from anything masculine.
"i can find other names," kukutux said quietly, but she saw the settled nature of the redhawks, and wondered if this would be of appeal to heph as well.
Heph considered, she had not heard of this wolf but that was not a huge surprise. His family was of little concern to her, if only because she would be bringing only herself to any partnership but it spoke well that he had maintained contact with his relations. While his age made her curious, after all chasing after new partnerships was something she thought of as the game of a younger wolf she was intrigued, he had continued to travel so perhaps his age was not indicative of his vitality. His own history of having fathered others before gave her pause, but it did not sound like she would have to content with the other mothers as competition, not that she would wish to enter into conflict with any.
Shaking her head softly at the other offer she responded, words slow but deliberate. "No, thank you." If Moonwoman had heard of him she assumed he could occasionally be found near, although she was not sure how to go about tracking him down. She wished to stay close to Moontide while Samani was due. Perhaps once autumn or winter started thinning the herds and their caches were filled as much as they could be she would wander further to bring back prey and also seek out this wolf. "I would like to meet him." After all even if Heph found what she heard to be promising that was no guarantee he would find her equally interesting.
kukutux studied heph.
she found the moontide woman to be thorough even when the other was not speaking. she had the mien of one with shared wisdom though she was not a mother. in another place, another village beside the sea ice, heph would have been asked to be irnisiksiiji.
it was not only a place for mothers to be.
a smile alit her face. "tell me when you have the wish for this to happen. i will make sure he is close to our villages."
Heph smiled in turn, excited and all the sudden more impatient than she had been before. With a new all the sudden it felt like she had someone to meet, something more concrete than a vague desire to see where the day took her.
"Is the beginning of Autumn, after the children have been born a good time? I wish to help Samani and Rodyn and be close to Moontide until then in preparation." Though she was eager there were many things keeping her busy, she had waited this long and could wait longer. A reason she did not say out loud, but perhaps revealed itself in the question was that her children would most likely grow in or near Moontide (if she had any), and thus any potential husband would have to visit at least occasionally. She wished to know whether or not her friends would approve and he of them as well.
little does she know... :'(
right :( ;;;
the jadestone eyes were bright. "this is a good time." it gave many days for kukutux to plan, to search for phox if it was needed.
"i am happy for this meeting." impulsively she reached her paws to heph, seeking a familiar and intimate touch shared only with family.
Heph blinked in confusion for a moment, not registering the motion, but a heartbeat later and she returned it, surprised at the offer of familiarity but not wishing to let the moment pass. "Me too, thank you. And I am excited to meet this Phox." It had been a strange time, relearning that though she did not need a pack to keep herself hale and hearty that she missed the familiarity, and bonds that came with a village. And yet it was hard to deny that her heart beat in gladness at the wolves she found within.
kukutux beamed. "i look forward to hearing of this meeting, heph."
she would extend good words and a longer hospitality to the woman, introducing her to whatever half-grown children wandered close to the ulaq.
they would speak of the redhawks, and moonwoman would laugh, not knowing that a time came for her where there would be no laughter.
Heph grinned and nodded. She was glad to meet whomever happened across their paths, and laughter came easily to her in the company of moonwoman. There was a tentativeness there at receiving the hospitality, not knowing what she had done to warrant it but an unmistakable lightness to the visit. She soaked up eagerly any words of the redhawks and would share in turn how Samani and Rodyn prepared, and anything she gleaned from being so close to Vaire and Rhaegal.