It was Asivaq that led the family among the ulax to choose a place for the children to nest and to sleep, and after her own sleep Kigipigak saw her away; she went to visit her sister.
Kigipigak was left to watch over Atausiq, Malguk, and Sisamat. Of the three it was the boy that slept the soundest — dropping as soon as he touched the sleeping furs. For a time the father watched his children and sank inward to the well of shame he carried.
He had failed as a husband. He had failed as a father. Those of the Moon knew this, saw this plainly now. No doubt remained in his heart that he had done wrong by Asivaq by choosing her. Now home among people he could never truly understand nor hope to understand his own culture, Kigipigak knew also that he would fight against the impact of Kukutux for as long as he must.
He watches the trio sleep, vowing to keep the strength of Tartok strong through them. The grandmother would not take another of his children away with her spirit-talking. She should be pleased to have her daughter returned to her at all, and know better than to insert herself here.
The news Valiant delivered had disturbed him, though he could not quite say why. He'd decided, ultimately (and with much rambling about it to
@Simbelmyne) that he was glad to hear that Ariadne was alive and well. But he didn't know what else to think about it.
He had not forgotten about Kigipigak, either — though this was not the name that Dutch had known him under. He'd appreciated the other man's stalwart presence right up until it was gone, leaving him to question where the impression of stalwartness had come from. But, ultimately, he didn't know what had driven the man from the Great Bear Wilderness any more than he knew what had driven Ariadne.
The panther announced himself as he came to the borders, hoping that
@Ariadne might here and make herself available to him. He didn't know if he expected apology or explanation, but he found himself wanting to look upon her pretty face.
He sought her out, catching her scent and following it to the thicker scent of a family home. When he was still a ways off, he called out in a low
woof, hoping to be met peacefully. He had come to see that Ariadne was not among them after all, but he thought he might rather speak with Kigipigak, anyway.
He was in a state of hypervigilance as he watched over the children and organized the sleeping place. It looked no different from his usual focused, somewhat stern self. When a call rose by the borders Kigipigak elected to ignore it, as his job was no longer centered around being a leader or ferrying people around his village — his village had failed and fallen, again.
Some time later a shape darkened the proverbial doorstep of the ulaq and the man was there, quickly; he expected Asivaq's mother or one of her sisters, maybe the Sunman to be standing there. Instead it was Dutch, which was a surprise.
Kigipigak stepped from the ulaq and gave a friendly tip of his head to the other man. He was surprised, but glad to see a friendly face. It slipped Kigipigak's mind to be wary here too, given the way he and his wife had eloped.
Dutch, welcome.
Welcome.
The greeting, friendly as it was, took the panther by surprise. He'd expected some sort of resentment or sheepishness in light of all that had happened, and it occurred to him now for the first time that he'd likely not crossed Kigipigak's mind nearly as much as the man had crossed his own. Their burgeoning camaraderie had been cut perilously short by his hunting with Chakliux. He'd not been a fixture in the man's life for some time by the time they'd departed.
That didn't mean he was immune to the hurt this dismissiveness left in his heart. He wondered, though, if he wasn't being to sensitive about the whole ordeal.
"Welcome back," Dutch replied, matching his tone and his expression to the trader's. To the former trader's, rather. The scent of pups marked him now as a father, and Dutch wished his own children were here already so that he could say, me too — and have something more to talk about with the man. But it was not so. "I am glad to see you well," he told him, quite honestly, "And your family expanded!"