Ouroboros Spine anittaima ◬

much rain. upon the northern border of moonglow, where the stone walls sloped to the soft green of well-watered grass, kukutux discovered the wreathing steam of a small hot spring. its surface was punctuated by the falling water, but moonwoman tested its warmth all the same.

a gift from the spirits who live upon moonspear. kukutux remembered the pools of hot water that had been within the mountain, among the proud green trees and ledges of stone. she did not allow herself to think of this for long, placing her forelegs into the water and eventually sinking her body within it.

thoughts of aiolos returned, and summoning beyond her sense of self, kukutux asked softly that @Adrastus join her where she lay. 

Is it OK if we forward-date this to now-ish? :3 I should be able to keep up with it now.

With much on his mind, Adrastus roamed throughout the Spine, having decided that it was time that he and Kukutux met to speak about their plans for the year. As she had told Adrastus when he had first joined, Kukutux was to be the Mother of the pack- and it was only with her blessing that certain decisions would be made. And so, he went off in search for his leader, following her scent to where the mist of warmth rose above the waters she had chosen to seek comfort in.

Having caught her summoning, he moved forward to enter the warm waters himself, sighing gently in pleasure. With the soft, cool splatters of rain water still falling on his back, he didn't feel overheated by the hot springs.

He lifted his gaze to meet hers, and found several thoughts and questions come to mind. They had much to discuss, it seemed, and both of them knew it.

absolutely <3

was it right that she felt so? kukutux felt she might forever be ridden with the perception that there was some wrongdoing in how her spirit had, somehow, healed.

what if he comes back?

what did you tell sialuk during the death songs?

if the blackfox came now, it would not be him, only a malevolent spirit who would wear his coat and his face and his voice, and cry out to the duck and to the raindrop. he would tell them he was real. but they must know it for a trick. the spirits of the boy and the man hunted among the dancing lights.

when she returned to herself, it was to smile in pleasure at sivullik's appearance. "it is good to see your face." trepidation, then — "have you shared words with lóté?" jadestone eyes warm, direct, respectful as he had always treated her.

He couldn't be sure, but he felt that there as something more vibrant about the jade green of her eyes, now that time had passed- and since he had become aware she wanted to be a mother again. Now, he thought, there was a clarity which had cleared away the haze of mist from her gaze, like dew melting away in the morning light. Perhaps the sun had begun to shine on her soul again.

She mentioned the name of the woman he had chosen, and he nodded. "She has told me she would approve of this union," He said. And now, here he was; Kukutux had said that in the absence of a father, she would be the one to decide what was fair. "So I would ask you, now, what would be the brideprice." He said. "And I would want to know as well...That you are certain of Aiolos. If he is the one you would want me to choose for you," He said, "Then it might seem that we have both found the one we want."

kukutux favoured him with a look that soon swept into joy, and then a deep girlish flush beneath the velvet fur of her pale visage. first, to the cloudberry woman. she shifted in the warm water, observing how the ripples crossed the small surface and shimmered to life around the shoulders of adrastus.

"she is ready to be wife to you. bring to me three furs like snow from the rabbit brothers who live high. it says your future is ready to be painted with what you make together." an easy enough task, she suspected; he had hunted lynx, after all! "in my ulaq, in front of my eyes, give them to her. say your words. she accepts them, and you are her husband. and she is your wife."

ach woman wished her own message. lótë was not a warrior; she enjoyed the small and beautiful things that created a larger world. he was hunter. and the painting-woman walked with deer. two parts of a natural world. 

aiolos. kukutux could not keep the delight from the curve of her mouth. "this woman would have happiness if sivullik chose the sun man for her hearth this year."

tentative, and blooming with gratitude that both men should treat her ways so well.

The gleam to her eyes was not a figment of his imagination. Like gemstones they sparkled when she informed him of the price she asked; and while he felt relieved that she tasked him with hunting something which normally wouldn't have presented an issue- had she not specified the colour of the pelts she wanted. White like snow...Even in the higher mountain ranges, he suspected that most of the rabbits would have lost their winter coats by now. They would be fawn-coloured, he thought, like the woman he chose to wed. He frowned softly; did she wish for him to delay his marriage for a year? Or was this a test to see how well he knew his quarry? Was she asking him to do this to see if he would travel back to the North from which he'd come, to hunt down three white rabbits? Even by the time he arrived where the sun never slept- the rabbits would no longer be flawless and white.

He hadn't expected himself to want to bargain for a different brideprice. After all, there were harder things to hunt, and rarer species to track down than three rabbits...Still, he was surprised to be tasked with hunting something that he wasn't sure he could find. It was frustrating, how simple the task seemed, knowing all the while that it would be nearly impossible for him to find three white rabbits this time of year. He sighed softly and nodded; though the frown on his lips deepened.

He couldn't help but feel a bit slighted to have been given a steep brideprice, even though he did feel that she was worth every bit of effort it might take. Perhaps he should have asked Kukutux some time ago roughly how difficult a task it might have been- and he might have begun collecting such particular pelts then. She asked of him, then, that he give his blessing for her to take Aiolos into her hearth; and for a moment, in his disappointment, he considered denying her what she wished.

"I will consider it." He said. He'd need time to think, given the crushing disappointment he currently felt. He was quiet for a moment, his gaze cast out through the mists that rose from the hot springs. "Please forgive my disappointment...I will find three white rabbit hides; but I will not find one as white as snow until the snow falls again this winter...Even to the North where I am from, they would be the colour of slate and fawn by now. I had not expected for our marriage to be delayed so long." He confessed.

the smile remained, though kukutux allowed it to fade in respect for him. this was the way of things: a barter was a barter, even in the way of bride-prices. he was good to resist, to speak his mind; it showed more than the impossible pelts, the riddle of them she had remembered and given to adrastus. 

kukutux lifted her chin. the glimmer of jade in her gaze met the disappointment in his own, but she meant to reassure him. "if you had said yes to this, you would have chosen to be held back many months. a man who does not wish to be married says "i will wait until winter to have a wife," and then he does not."

a pause. "it is the question of a mother to the man who will marry into her clan. and it is a question for the spirits to hear, and to know the answer of that man."

if he took insult, she would explain further, but his intelligence was a good part of why he had become sivullik. "lótë and i spoke of this. i have already told her to ask you for the thing that she wants. if i was her father, i would ask you instead for otter-skins."

moonwoman moved again in the water. "but i have had much thinking. the lynx fur. it is beautiful, and ready. it smells of the pines in the snow, still. if she wants to be wife and you want to be husband, then in moonglow i will not be father, and demand skins, but mother, and only give her my sister's kiss. the blessing of women. you have already shown her your strength. and to my eyes as well."

it was done, kukutux meant to say. she need only hear it before the eyes of the spirits, the decision from the mouth of them both. and then she would add their marriage-stone to her high altar, where the ancestors might see and given their favour as well to the new union.

Truth be told, it took him a few moments to understand that he had, in fact, been given a test. So well she had veiled this that he'd nearly wordlessly complied with her request, and allowed months to pass before he would be able to fetch the price she'd asked. His furrowed brow smoothed, and the relief he felt flooding his breast showed in the way his dark lips relaxed. In spite of himself, he uttered a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected for her to test him in this way.

"You are right to do this," He responded. A light, amused smile tugged at the corner of his lip. He was surprised and pleased that he had chosen to protest the challenge he had been given- and now, it seemed, he would have what he desired. And his bride-to-be, as well. The mention of otter skins he took as a hint, as it seemed she would demand nothing of him; while he felt that Lótë had already expressed her willingness to marry him, he did want to have something to lay at her feet. Otter, the wisewoman had said. Otter it would be, then- but not as a bride-price.

It would be left to him, then, to make the final proposal now that they had the approval of their alpha. "And what of Aiolos?" He asked. "Is he to bring you an offering as well?" He asked. Kukutux had no father or mother here to set a price for her- and Adrastus wouldn't have even known what might have been a fair price for one so precious. Her approval might have been all it would take for him to earn her favour, but Adrastus cared enough to want to make sure that he was worthy of the match she wished to make.

there it was, his understanding, and kukutux felt herself and her grin blossom again. what a beautiful thought! the first marriage within moonglow, and she to say the sacred words over the new couple. secretly she hoped that she would do such a thing with the respect and skill it would demand. she would ask knowledge and wisdom of tooteega, then.

adrastus' smile lit the hue of his eyes, softened his face, so that she saw all his expression, and knew perfectly what had drawn the cloudberry woman to him. and inside her own spirit she was pleased not to trade the painter as she had been done before arcturus in moonspear. 

closing her eyes, leaning back against the pleasant warmth of the water. it enveloped her crown as she shook it gently, lightly. "aiolos brings with his question a respect for me. it is that he is ready to make a kinship tie between yuelong and moonglow. after this, they will be part of us."

she looked back upon careful, confident adrastus. if the redsun wished to be her husband, how could they be this without sharing the same village? yet he led the island, and she would not leave the spine. it was something to be decided another time. for now, she could give sons and daughters to both their blood.

While he felt it was valuable to have allies, he did not quite follow why a blood tie between packs was necessary to do this. For the wolves of Yuelong, there was only benefit to be had; the knowledge that their bond with Moonglow existed in the form of children that would be born in the Summer, that they might visit and enjoy once the pups were old enough to be met or travel. But for the wolves of Moonglow- Kukutux in particular- there came the privilege of having children, yes, but also the burden of caring for not only the pups themselves, but their mother who would need support and nourishment.

"Their respect and kinship is good," He began, figuring it was best to begin with something positive. "But it will not feed you when your hunger doubles, nor will it bring you food when your body is too heavy or sore to hunt. Our pack will be capable of taking care of you- but I do feel as though there is...Somewhat of an imbalance." He admitted. He was shrewd- but he didn't feel as though he was being selfish. The wolves of Moonglow should be able to take care of Kukutux- but that didn't mean they shouldn't ask for help. If a drought hit, or some sort of natural disaster frightened their prey away, they would be in need of help to support two potentially pregnant or nursing women. "They should send you a nurse. One fit to hunt for you, and tend to you during your final weeks of pregnancy and afterwards until the pups are weaned." He said.

a nurse.

kuktutux tried to think of what this might be in moonglow. adrastus had explained his own meaning, but the duck wanted a word for it, one that fit into her own mouth. aya; another time. "this is why you are sivullik," she praised the man softly. "i would not have made the words to ask anything of yuelong." 

new to the ways of alliances and bartering over such things. warmth in her gaze as she regarded adrastus, and how his immediate dedication to her own ways had strengthened her own knowledge. her own commitment to what was right for moonglow, not only for moonwoman. 

"before the leaves change their colors and lie upon the ground, i have the want to travel with you to the glacier. it is called moonsong." a pause. "there is a burial place there. he died before the mountain was struck by the star. it was the beginning."