Ouroboros Spine taimani ⋗

a remembrance and sending-off ceremony for pinasut/little fox. set for may 1, singular replies optional! no posting order <3 @Aiolos @Shikoba @Vairë @Valiant @Galana @Ciri @Nasamiituuq @Peregrine @Asivaq @Kigipigak @Stratos @Faele @Kyrell @Malguk Sisamat (tagging @Nantahala @Lightfoot @Lariat for visibility! <3)

beneath firemother did kukutux and asivaq call for the others of moonglow. they had made a bundle; a wrapped-fur of herbs and small toys, soft leathers, treats of dried meats.

the sorts of things a boy might delight in.

"oh, firemother!" moonmother called out in the light of an early, cool dawn. "oh, sedna! remember this boy! let the love of his family be felt in the place of the dancing lights! let his soul be guided beyond the throat of sedna; let him join those who have gone before."

her face was warm with tears, and she helped her daughter to lay the bundle in a small depression dug beneath the tree.

"sing now, for little fox. we did not know him. but we feel the place he left. he was whole to us. let him be whole with you, sedna."

He came with the children in tow, settling them and making sure they knew to be quiet and respectful. Kigipigak did not obstruct their view of the proceedings but he had told them prior, as neutrally as he could, that this was something to make their mother happy.

That was the truth. They did not know of their lost sibling and Kigipigak did not see the value in sharing this with them; what would they remember? What would they learn? He was resistant to the ordeal of facing his own grief and so, when everything unfolded, Kigipigak kept quiet.

He watched Asivaq as she went through the social torture put forth by Kukutux. He wondered who had insisted on this - but focused on keeping track of the children.

It was a cold and quick gaze which bore into the back of Kigipigak's skull as he focused on settling his surviving children down at the gathering. Aiolos turns away swift, for his attention needed placed elsewhere and at his growing age he had no business trying to pick a fight! 

A place within the crowd had been found, likely so at a place somewhere more less distracting, like near @Shikoba. Vaire and Valiant would have their paws full themselves. Galana he left to make eyes at the Redhawk boy, if she so chose. 

Yet when it began, all would be quiet. All would be still, until finally they could sing out their sorrows and sing to guide the Little Fox's spirit on. Maybe Ariadne could finally find peace among the Sunshine People again.

"Bring things to my ulaq that would have pleased him as a child. Toys you meant for him. Furs upon which he lay. Anything that holds a piece of his spirit, we will sing these all to Sedna." Kukutux had instructed.

Asivaq had collected a handful of things: a bird skull, a worn piece of leather, and dried meat. When it was time to gather Moonglow's wolves, she helped bundle the items in fur to prepare them for the burial.

She watched the wolves assemble through teary eyes, finding it hard to believe the outpour of love she'd received. It differed vastly from Tartok's traditions, she realized as she sat at her mother’s side, and she found herself preferring the ways of her people over the ways of her husband's people.

She was thankful to be among family again.

When it was time to sing, she cried loudly, rocking back and forth as she sent a silent prayer to Sedna—keep him safe! It was all she could ever want for her lost son.

Stratos had never been a man in Moonglow. At least, he had never felt like one. It was why he had never stayed whenever he'd returned.

But though he had not returned this time with a wife, nor with children of his own, he felt older than he'd ever felt, and felt, in many ways, he had become a man without any of these things. He had searched for Ani and failed. He had found Ariadne, and had not. Though Little Fox was gone (a name more fitting than the number his father had named him!), had he not helped bring his sister home? Perhaps that was why Sedna had taken the boy away - though Stratos did not say it. Taken, so that Ariadne might return.

She was safe here. He had always thought so, and had always kept these things tucked away, knowing she would see in time.

He lifted his voice alongside hers, and sung the death song of their people, to raise Little Fox up to the skies again. He was already there, but now he would know how many loved him - many more than he and Ariadne, who had sung for him on the day he'd ascended to the dancing lights.