Ouroboros Spine gently nudging your soul

for @Löté to replace our deleted one if you have time, puppies of course allowed to join in as well <333 

 

it has been a moment or two since shikoba had spoken with löté after the children were moved and adrastus left behind everything he knew and seemingly cherished. though the scarred woman would gladly rip his head clear from his neck, she has a feeling that violence cannot answer to this problem that ripples through the chamber of the morning dove.

so instead, the woman treads lightly towards the ulaq of the cloudberry woman, a single partridge in her mouth from a previously successful hunt of the morning. she hopes to catch the woman and simply check in on how she is doing. her gifts of nourishment have yet to be turned away or denied, so shikoba intends to keep providing as long as she is needed to

lótë heard the soft tread of footsteps and rounded the bend of the ulaq. she had been at the back, tending and examining the herbs she had drying there. medicinal ones to be sure, harmless enough, though their use was something the dove didn’t entirely understand. only that kukutux and the other healers might have use for them in the cold season. 

”sivullik, she murmured softly, respectfully. moonwoman had chosen well. no man who preceded the pheasant tail had been half as worthy to hold the title. ”i greet you, sister,” the cloudberry tea woman padded forward to brush her temple against the guardian’s own in kinship. she had become as much since the birth of the mother’s cubs. 

her emeralds dipped to the gift shikoba had brought and with a shy, secret smile flitting on her lips she wondered of the spring to come. kukutux had hopes but the herd-stalker didn’t think she could ever lie with her sister’s husband. perhaps in the next warm season, shikoba would become mother instead and it would be lótë who brought game to the mothers. 

Wilwarin didn’t see Shikoba at first, having become invested in the vertebrae of a deer. A toy of sorts for the children, they clattered and clacked like blocks as the shaky pale nestling batted them about. At her mother’s words, her pallid head poked out of the den before she left her napping siblings behind. 

She raced out to the women on trembling legs, already winded by the time she got to her mother’s side. No noise escaped the girl but her lips parted, forming the words, ’Anaa ‘oba!’ In truth, she viewed the woman as an aunt of sorts but her young mind must have been more confused than she let on, for the runt thought of all women — save for her older sister — as mother on some level. She did not yet recognize the distinction between aunt and mother.

shikoba is well-received, the gentle brush of fur against one another brings a soft smile to the woman's face, soon enough dropping the bird off to löté's paws in a gentle manner. "shikoba greets, how is löté?" the role of anaa is one that requires many skills and talents, many of which the sivullik does not think she has within her. though, of course, more consideration could be given to the notion later if shikoba perhaps pursues the idea of a husband and her own brood.

but for now, she is content seeing one of children come forth with an attempt to voice her opinion on the matter. wilwarin soon starts making her way over on her little legs, and a silent word is muttered from her lips. the native smiles for just a moment as she reaches down to brush her nose against the top of wilwarin's head. perhaps talk of the spirit bear will be pushed back as long as someone is here to distract shikoba.

lótë smiled — warm but bashful. it was odd to feel as though everyone tiptoed around her, or else acted as if the bulky nanuk had truly died despite their good intentions. it was a cruel thought but the mother could not help but think that might have been better. marginally easier to swallow than to be left with the knowledge that she had been cast aside, worse yet that her children had been spurned as unworthy. 

she forced the vindictive trail of thinking aside to answer, ”i am doing well. brother sun shines upon my children, they grow tall and laugh often.” that was enough for her. ”how are you liking your new position?” lótë asked, wondering if it meant more responsibility for the huntress. before she could ask whether shikoba might like some help tracking the herds, wilwarin burst from the nest and beelined towards her favorite guardian. 

lótë could not help but smile, not minding that she was bypassed in the slightest. the cubs saw her everyday. besides, it was quite endearing to see them branch out and form relationships with the other adults in their lives. 

The runt’s pale features lifted with her joyful grin, eyes crinkling as her lips parted in delight — though it was silent as  every other expression and interaction, no laughter escaping. She booped her own nose against Shikoba’s chin in response, rearing back on her hind legs not unlike a gopher in order to do so. She tumbled to the side immediately after, still chuckling  mutely as she rolled onto her tiny paws.  As the adults descended into boring talk  — at least to a child her age — of herds and hunting, she found herself wandering closer to the thing that her mother’s friend had brought.

Wilwarin circled it, sniffed it thoroughly, batted at its feathers the way a cat might a toy, pounced on it, bit it. Still, she didn’t know much more than that it was a bird.

When there was a lull in the bubbling stream of the women’s chatter, the nestling glanced up and lightly smacked her paw against the ground twice — as she often did when she wanted to catch someone’s attention. 

Once she’d locked eyes with one of the she-wolves, she glanced down pointedly, expression openly curious. ‘What this?’ she mouthed in question, looking back up for answers.

"it asks much, but shikoba always give." a workhorse position, but shikoba is never afraid to put in the extra time to make sure something is done right. with all of the recent events moonglow had faced, she takes pride in her position as the first hunter and intends to keep the family well-fed and protected, so long as she is able to stand and breathe.

while her lips parted to ask of something, the little sound of paws tapping against the surface brings shikoba's attention away from löté to look towards the little child beneath them. an inquisitive look upon her face as they tapped towards the catch shikoba had brought as an offering. 

"partrdige," she whispers to her as she looks towards wilwarin, "food." so long as löté does not stop her, shikoba beings to gently pluck the feathers from the bird in hopes of encouraging the child to join along. learning to catch was one thing, but learning to clean was another. "must clean before wolf eats."

if one cannot clean their kill, then fur and skin and feather get in the way of protein and blood and flesh. the palatability of the meal goes down and thus the value it brings. a smart lesson, but perhaps not her lesson to teach.

Lótë watched the interaction with a hint of a smile dancing on her lips, their conversation forgotten for the moment. Seeing Shikoba's hesitance, she nodded and offered an encouraging smile. 

The entirety of the village had helped rear and feed her brood, she could offer no complaints for what they taught her children -- even if she had wanted to. Within good reason, of course. 

"The good stuff is under all the feathers and skin," she quipped softly to the pale child, moving a step closer though she did not move to pluck the feathers. She did not wish to crowd the Sivullik as they shared a moment together. "Feathers and furs and skins can be kept, turned into soft things to line one's sleeping place."

"You need not worry, my friend," she murmured after a moment, for Shikoba's ears alone. She smiled gently. "I would trust you with their lives. I do not mind that you have grown close to the cubs, I'm happy they have you looking out for them."

The nestling blinked wide eyes up at her aunt before turning them back to the bird. 'Partridge.' She shaped the word with her silent tongue. The rest of her mother's and guardian's words were taken in with the same solemn intensity that seemed to constantly possess the young girl. 

Following Shikoba's lead, she slumped onto her pudgy little belly and began to tug at the game's feathers. It took her a while to master the technique but before long, she was plucking feathers just like Anaa 'oba. She grinned a toothy smile of self-pride up at the women, down clinging to her inky lips.