Much had come to her mind as the snow fell, and with each day her thoughts pushed her forward into daydreams and fantasy. She made herself blush as she considered the Rite which she hoped might bring her some sense of belonging, amid wolves whose ways seemed palatable to her. She would experience all she could, and learn to live in such a way so that she could be a part of a family again. Her old ways had not been forgotten, but had simply been left behind; she welcomed the thought of true belonging.
A hearty wind screamed high in the slopes, and the sheepish valley-dweller was shepherded down the mountainside and away, into the lee where she sought refuge in one of the neighboring packs. Of course, she had other motivation for having chosen to visit, but the harrowing wind had been the spur which had set her in motion, finally.
It felt odd to cross the borders of another pack but she was assured that as a woman of Moonspear, she too would be permitted what would have otherwise been a trespass. As she passed beyond the scent markings, she smiled faintly, though it grew more with each step. She was doing it- becoming one of them. And it felt right.
moonwoman was angry but moreover she feared.
pride had not been a stumbling block for her before; now she thought she had allowed pride to ruin much.
firemother called. kukutux would go to the red tree, would give her offerings. shoulders wrapped in silver fox, but before she went on, the sight of an unfamiliar woman caught her eye.
tentative step; the wind brought her moonspear's scent, and she approached with a face that was warm but did not smile. "has sialuk sent you? or have you only come to see the village of her mother?" now a soft look. "if this is so, i will take you to rje lake."
The first wolf whose path she crossed bore a pelt upon her shoulders, and she reveled to see yet another use of the pelts that the crafty wolves made. She tried to hide her apprehension, offering a timid but honest smile when the woman turned to greet her. Simbelmyne got the impression that she had perhaps distracted the woman from more important business. She pricked her tufted ears and tilted her head to the side as she registered the woman's voice, but turned them back sheepishly.
"No," she admitted. Sialuk had not sent her, she had come on her own. "I came to speak with other women, to meet the sister pack," She admitted, though her voice became quiet. "I do not wish to interrupt," She said, willing to be dismissed should the alpha have other duties to attend to.
"you are welcome here."
her features softened; she outstretched a paw to the young woman. "come. i am kukutux. sialuk is my daughter. ariadne is my daughter. rodyn of moontide was married to my sea-walking-girl."
moonmother.
her intuition took in the mountainwolf's nervousness. "there," she said. "brother lake, or anik."
maples and giltpole birch, autumnal year round, and between their tightwound trunks could glimpses of the mirror-clear lake be seen.
Kukutux was warm, and her presence was inviting. As with the others who had welcomed her, she moved forward to graciously accept the invitation, feeling a humble glow light like a soft lantern in her chest. The woman she met was the mother of many, the matriarchal figure from which stemmed many saplings. She was reminded of her own mother in ways- a woman who had brought many children into the world, and who spoke of them with pride.
"Peace be," She replied, remembered her own familial way of greeting another with a tough of fondness and reverence. "I am Simbelmyne. I have been with Moonspear since the harvest moon," She added, so the Moonwoman might know of her longevity. Perhaps she was late in visiting the other packs- but she had many changes to grow accustomed to.
She took note of the word for lake, and of its distinction as brother. She wondered why, but decided simply to accept rather than question. What she could see of the water was glassy, reflecting the ring of mountains, the forested foothills and the sky above. "It is beautiful, so calm," She said with a voice barely above a whisper.
kukutux agreed in silence, allowing the moonspear woman long moments of silence as the lake beckoned.
in time she stepped toward it, and eventually the trees parted to reveal the small clearing where moonwoman did most of her peltwork when the sun was still warm.
two small stacks of caribouskin were perched in the soft grass. plucked fur and stripped fat had been carefully gathered into a pair of piles: one to cache and one to use for bedding materials in the snow.
she set her arms into the icy lake and looked toward simbelmyne. "i have put two hides in the shallow water here, to soak. will you help me to pull them back?" muzzle, ducking into the frigid surface. they would be thick with wet and a strain on the neck; it was one of many things kukutux was finding more difficult to complete.
Like a quiet shadow she followed Kukutux to the clearing, her gaze drawn immediately to the skins that lay in piles- stripped already not only of fat and tissue, but of their fur as well. Nothing appeared to be wasted, only set aside for the time being. She had to wonder how long the fat would last, but did not question that the leader undoubtedly had plans for it.
When asked, she moved forward, wordlessly slipping into the the cool water and looking down past the mirrorlike surface to see what it was Kukutux wanted drawn out. She held her breath and squeezed her eyes shut as she pushed her muzzle into the cold water, reaching out to feel for the hide with her nose before grabbing onto it with a firm, but gentle bite. Her grasp slipped, at first- the hide was much heavier than she had anticipated, and she'd been too afraid that she might pierce it with her fangs. While it was waterlogged, it was not easy to shred, and she managed as well as she could to help the matriarch pull the hide from the water.
"I have been learning some from Seal," She commented with a wave of her tail. "I know so little about this...What do you do next?" She asked, keen to learn.
the moonspear woman proved to be swift in her willingness to help. one hide, another. they lay waterlogged upon the cold grass and she rolled her shoulders to rid them of the tension. tomorrow she would feel the haul. for now she only glanced in appreciation at simbelmyne.
"we scrape the skin first. twice. it takes many hours. when the hide is ready, i put it in the water so that when we bring it back to the surface, it is much cleaner."
she ran her paw over the pelt-side of one caribou skin, misting droplets into the air. "now we stretch them with stones and dry them. and then we will chew. grind until it is soft. this one will need more jaws than ours. i mean for to the hair to also be plucked away. a bare hide. best for the bedding of babies."
moonmother began to move around the lake clearing, searching about. stones, four, would be needed for the edges. and while she had many gathered, each hide demanded new. "my jaws have grown weak. it is wear to your teeth. but the things made are beautiful."
She could tell that this was a task Kukutux had done many times, but that it came with a price. Her skill was likely unmatched, but she rolled her shoulders in complaint from the strain. She touched her muzzle to the wet skin, to feel its softness against her lips and whiskers. She canted her head so she could run her gaze along the fabric, and see how clean the skin had been scraped. There was no way anything she had ever worked on had become this clean; she really must have meant it when she said it took hours to do, especially with pelts this size.
Simbelmyne was quick to pick up on suggestion, and began to search for stones as well, watching Kukutux to see what size of rocks she was looking for. "Because it will be easier to clean?" She asked, with regards to her comment about using a particular skin for new children.
She found what she thought might work as a stone, and pried it out from among others with her claws, rolling it forward. She tilted her head in a silent question of is this the right size?
She liked that Moonwoman put so much effort into making such beautiful and practical things. "Did your mother teach you this?" She asked, then.
"my mother. her mother. her sisters. her cousins. i learned from all women how best to prepare a skin."
simbelmyne's stone was given a silent nod.
eventually the skin was stretched taut against the lakeshore, held down by the weights at each end, pelt side down.
"a bare pelt is best for the mess that babies create. when they are very young, they must often be cleaned. you will lose many pelts with one litter. you will replace skins. one this size can also be cut into smaller pieces, so it will last a longer time."
So it was the women who led this craft; something Simbelmyne decided then that it was important for her to learn, if she wanted to blend in with these wolves. She took satisfaction in knowing how useful these pelts could be, even if they did need to be replaced. They felt softer, more comfortable than bedding made of fluff, leaves and down.
The topic of children brought warmth to the woman's cheeks. "I have not had children before," She admitted. She swallowed, lightly, and continued to follow any direction she was given for the pelt. Shyly, though she sought to venture into another topic which, she had been told, involved the women of the packs as well.
"I was told...To seek someone for my First Rite, and that you might know who would be a good choice." She said softly, her heart racing.
first rite — and moonmother's eyes filled with the mossgreen misting of memories almost lost now to time.
a seal hunter boy, asking for her.
a remembered girlish flush, for it was in this time that kukutux as a girl had been told of this rite.
"i have only a few names. my sons are not yet men," kukutux said, though she looked sidelong now toward the pretty trailwalker. "i am atsak. matchmaker."
though it was not the sort of match that simbelmyne sought.
”Matchmaker?” She whispered, eyes hopeful. She had mentioned her sons- too young yet, but she seemed to know of others. She wondered if she had met any of them yet.
”I…” Had she not been told that she could choose for herself? And that it would be good to find one for First Rite first? A true match could come later- she knew Spring would rush toward them soon enough, and it would be better for her to have had her First Rite before her body began to sing.
She dipped her head low. ”I would be honoured if you would offer names…For me to find one for my First Rite.”
"alaric, in moonspear. dutch, in moonsong."
a pause; pointed;
"chakliux, in moontide. but i think that you have already made the knowing of him."
so like a seal hunter, to seek to turn women toward the delights of his people!
"i collect names of men who wish to be married, though this is already one of them. for this ceremony, i once saw women go into the wilderness for it, as they coveted too many of the faces around them." soft. teasing.
Alaric; Dutch; Chakliux- of course, though the seal hunter had hinted that she should choose another, so they might not have to stay apart to shed her heart of feelings.
The thought of choosing a stranger made her nervous. She wished to follow the Matchmaker’s guidance.
”What is your suggestion?” She asked, then. Chakliux had made himself known, but Kukutux would likely take that into consideration. Moonspear’s allure had faded already, having been received with such warmth by the matriarch of Moonglow, who made the former pack seem nearly cold in nature. Privately in her mind, she hoped for one name to be mentioned- as it was the only one of the three that did not involve something or someone she already knew.
guidance for this kukutux could not give, for simbelmyne did not seek a marriage, a bond with one man.
"out of these three, i would choose alaric." the man was gentle but handsome, with no marital connections as chakliux possessed. and dutch — his desires were silently elsewhere, though kukutux felt he was not ignorant of woman's charms.
"dutch, second."
she did not say the name of the seal hunter, thinking him far too prolific. "the First Rite is for your pleasure, not their own. it is why their names do not matter so much. better to choose one you will not see again, rather than one known to you whose face you will see again and again." kukutux paused. "the first man who touches you will not be one you forget in all your days."
she was old enough for this, but did she truly understand?
The name given was the one Simbelmyne was the least familiar with- and knowing his ties with Moonspear made her fret silently. Would it be awkward to choose the one who lived on the mountain, or would it be unwise to do so, considering she harboured plans to leave? She wondered if Kukutux's choice reflected her own preferences, or her fondness for each of the men. Perhaps in mentioning Alaric's name first, she meant more than she spoke. Perhaps she felt Dutch was better kept as a friend, one she could see often. She would have to decide for herself if she felt the same way.
Regardless, the choice was hers to make, and Kukutux had presented her with her opinion. While she wanted to choose someone for their familiarity, it seemed everyone she spoke to advised her to choose someone whose face she would remember, but not miss or long for. Alaric resided on the mountain; it was Dutch she would want to meet, to see for herself if she could trust him with her body- or perhaps more than that.
She moved to nuzzle the woman's cheek, her tail sweeping from side to side in slow, relaxed movements. "I thank," She said, her voice catching. Something about Kukutux's scent reminded her for a fleeting moment of her own mother, and it made her realize for the first time since she had left that she missed her. She smiled, tufted ears tipping back in deference. "I am very grateful for your advice," She finished.
kukutux took the gentle gesture of respect with inclined head and closed eyes. it was as if a daughter was touching her, she felt, and suddenly she thought deeply that she would like to see simbelmyne again.
"when the sun returns, and i think when you have seen this rite, you may be ready to settle among women."
it was a hint, an allusion that kukutux believed simbelmyne would not only have what she wished, but become a mother this year. in many ways, the quiet and deferential nature of the young woman reminded the duck of herself when she had first come to the wilds.
"but for now, we will go to my ulaq. these skins are still wet, though they have some dryness now," she said, testing them with presses of her small hard paws. "i have the want to know more of your people, if you will tell me of them."