Ouroboros Spine siglikiraktuk ⦅

samani sought to know her man.

callyope sought to know the spirits.

stratos had left moonglow to find his way as a young hunter.

ariadne kept close to home.

kausiut surely had become a hunter.

and sialuk communed with spirits. 

callyope would follow her.

kukutux thought of her first son and closed her eyes. snow rose around her in a whorl. 

i have not forgotten you.

He had slept very little after his return.

The young man was overjoyed to see his mother, regale her with stories of his adventure: arriving to the island, meeting Bartholomew, the sad woman, and his hunting; he mentioned Heda too, and found his cheeks burning, and soon the tale pivoted to Inutsuk and the beach.

When he dreamed it was of the island, astride a turtle's back. When he came to, @Shikoba had gone back to work - or to see his father, he was unsure which; and Mojag was left to his own devices.

He roamed very little from the ulaq, but when he saw the familiar figure of Kukutux the man was quick to approach - then coy, realizing he was witnessing a private moment. She resembled a person in prayer, and he wondered who she was speaking to.

Tag for ref; I'm gonna try and do some posts so long as my meds don't interfere haha

<3

when she turned, another of her sons stood watching.

he was not her milk-child and yet she saw him with those same eyes. and she saw how he stood taller and quieter and more of a man than a boy now.

"nuak," she said to him, coming to stand closer. "how is your spirit, now that you are home?" did he still think of this place as being such?

For a moment he was reminded of Bartholomew; it almost hurt to see such a familiar air of mysticism and care, there. Kukutux spoke of spirits and the boy smiled thinly, letting his tail sway.

Happy to be home, to see my mother- and you, and... here Mo tapered off, as a sharp thought came to mind which he knew he should not voice, because he was so freshly returned.

What do you know about... God?

kukutux looked at him. "i know spirits," she said simply.

she gestured that he should come closer. "you are young, mojag, but you are no longer a boy. it is time to become a man. it is time to go on the long hunt and seek a vision."

she lifted her chin. "what is god to you?"

Kukutux spoke in riddles. Spirits, visions - The long hunt?

What is god to you?

He was quiet after that. Thoughtful, slow to respond. Unlike his usual boisterous self from when he was a wee boy; so far apart from the gregarious energy that had once infected him. The question brought to mind the sound of the tide against the beaches of the island; the sight of a giant turtle crawling the sand; the memory of racing across the isle with Heda and Bartholomew as he hunted with them.

I don't know, he answered lamely, unsure, but also coveting these little things; Mojag did not know how to transform these feelings to words - and he wanted them kept secret, almost. They weren't bad memories or anything, but they were precious.

What's a vision quest? He redirected, but couldn't help the glum expression that overwhelmed his features.

kukutux gave him a motherly look.

"the long hunt is when a young man goes out to seek a kill. he stops where his heart tells him and he makes his offering. and then he takes into himself a spirit-plant, and there he seeks the spirits, to come to him. to tell him what his heart knows but he does not. to shape him and to guide him."

"when he comes home, he is a man."

she studied her son as she spoke, this son of hearth not body and yet loved in the same way.

It sounded to Mojag like a mixture of his mother's ways and that of Bartholomew, which somehow felt right. How could he find common ground like this between such different people? Perhaps they were not so different; perhaps this was the act of god, leading Mojag from one spirituality to another, and to this vision quest. If he was meant to go on this quest to become a man in full then he could not ignore the significance.

It sounds very important, he muttered obliquely, and went quiet again. His thoughts were a tumult.

Can I go on this hunt now? Or am I still too -- little? He was not little any longer, and had not been for some time, but Mojag had no sense of himself. He did not know how his body had changed during his time on the island - he knew he was older, but he was disconnected from that self awareness.

kukutux nodded. "you are ready to become a man, mojag. i feel that you are ready."

her eyes blinked green light toward him. the journey of boy to man was not one she had ever taken or would ever understand. she could not know all of his thoughts upon this.

she knew only that mojag must go. it would be the connection of a green tie between himself and his village, one that had been strained during his time away.

He didn't want to leave like this, so fast, without at least speaking with his mother or his father. He had only just come home and gotten settled. He knew Kukutux did not say these things to send him away - it was his choice - and so he would hold fast for now.

When? His head tilted slightly, looking childish for that moment before he righted himself. How? He asked next, wondering what his journey might look like - and not realizing that Kukutux would not be privy to these details exactly. She was of the women's circle, and that set her at-odds with his boyhood.

"when you are ready to walk far beyond this village, to the mountains, then you will be ready?"

"i do not know how, my reindeer moon-boy. you will become a hunter. i am woman. but i know that the spirits will come to you in the same way."

she looked into his face, still so young and yet strong.

She did not know.

She did not have every answer to every question, and it was unfair for him to think she would.

The boy smiled, and nodded, and understood that there would come a time where he was called beyond Moonglow. Not by the hunt for his father or some childish notion, but by something deeper.

Mojag leaned against the moonwoman and gave her a careful nudge to her chin as thanks, and then withdrew. It was clear by the look upon his face he had much to think about and his thoughts were heavy.

kukutux let him go with a chuff.

her eyes followed him, her milk-son, down the path.

and then she sent a prayer for his guidance. she could not show a boy how to become a man.

but those spirits of moonglow could do so.