Ocean's Breath Plateau kestrel

at last chakliux rallied. he woke one morning quite well, and gathered light into his eyes with a delighted grunt.
@Puffin was embraced in fatherly hug; he stooped to wrestle with @Kilalurak and @Sea Hunter; teased @Chagak with a playful paw, and another jesting pat for @Sirmiq as well.
his voice shouted for @Raiyuk and @Taggak; they ate heartily inside the lodge, and his eyes were warm upon @Tullik and @Marina.
he announced he would go fishing, over any demands to the contrary, and limped outside with vision slitted to the sun. but it was good to be here, and chakliux stood for a long while drinking in what he had missed before he sought a task to make himself useful once more.

Hope you don't mind me <3 got some developments to get going

Marina mirrored her husband's warm look in spite of the exhaustion which clung to her like so much cold water laden heavy in her fur. It was good to see him well again. That alone revived her some.

But her own gaze was often clouded of late. Even her protests against Chakliux's insistence on fishing were weak, subdued; eventually she gave up and trailed him with a disapproving look — but one still filled with affection. She settled along his side, pressing her flank to his and leaning her head against his shoulder with a soft sigh.

I'm happy to see you improving, Marina murmured quietly. Under the words lurked what she would not say: but I'm not. And I don't know that I will.

Let him heal first, she told herself tiredly. Let him heal before I wound him again.

not at all <3

chakliux had indeed wanted to fish, but he forgot every goal he had possessed when marina joined him there upon the shoreline.
the arm he put softly around her slim shoulders noticed how narrow they had become, how her voice had quieted with weakness. his wife had always been a delicate sort but now she was ebbing, and his worry deepened.
but the seal hunter said none of this, only kissed her velvety temple, breathing in the welcome scent of his wonderful marina. "you are next, wife! i want you to witness the sea ice before so long."
he let himself think of this, of their little clan, not so little now! traveling to the great frozen ocean where raiyuk had taken his seal.

The sea ice. Marina closed her eyes under his kiss, smiling softly. Yes, she would heal. How could she doubt that? She was still so young, a mother with her children's whole lives ahead of her.

The fatigue loomed.

When I was a girl, my mother told me stories of witches from the sea who wore the skins of dolphins - not seals, not like selkies. Healers, She exhaled quietly. She said that if I ever found myself sick and failing to heal, I should go to the sea. Her people were of the sea.

They were just stories, I'm sure, Marina murmured, though there was a wondering quality to her tone that suggested she wasn't as sure as she'd said. But I wonder if I should - go. To a healer, until I'm well again. Her eyes found him then, filled with all the worries lingering on the tip of her tongue. She did not want to go. Their children would miss her, and then they would forget her, and then — no, no.

But what else could she do?

"i will do whatever you wish, my wife. but i will also trade for healers to be here, at our lodge. that way you will not have to leave the little ones," he murmured, echoing an unsaid thought of her own as it occured to him also. how could the pups understand?
chakliux knew his fear was surging forth. he could not consider that marina would not be here among these lodges. "your mother was right, i think. the sea has great power. but perhaps a new place upon the ocean calls you."
for a moment he was silent, and then, "moonspear has healers. i stayed there when i was injured. sialuk tended me. there is moonglow, there is —" he kissed her cheek once more, wending his arms about marina until he had gathered her back against the beat of his heart. "i will take you to the sea ice. i will bring you to a healer. say what path and i will walk it, marina."

Her heart filled with warmth for the husband who was always ready to move mountains in her name. For a moment Marina was only quiet; thoughtful. Whichever path she chose, Chakliux would lead her down it as steadily as he'd led her through each part of their life together, she knew that.

Take me to the sea ice, then, Marina decided after a moment, listening to his heartbeat, feeling it against her cheek. The sea has great power. If nothing changes, we'll find a healer on the way home.

I'm not giving up, She promised, her own arms tightening around Chakliux. Steady as he always was, Marina felt his fear, could almost taste its bitterness in the kisses they shared. That fear was what sustained her even now; his fear and her love for him, for Tullik, for the children they'd created together. Her own strength might have failed long ago if not for that.

900 for u <3

the sea ice. it called every day to chakliux, singeing cold heat into his blood and sending him vivid dreams of that place on a far-off shoreline, where winter was eternal upon the sea and the crowberry flowers grew in great bursts of color.
such sights would feed her eyes, he felt, nurture her soul. and then a healer; yes. he would pay whatever was asked for a wolf with such knowledge to reside with them near the sea, just for a time as marina recovered.
"nor am i." he kissed each side of her face firmly, her forehead besides; "it is not a matter of if, but when. and when you are yourself once more, and you feel strong again, all of moontide will rejoice for you."