Ouroboros Spine imnaik ⩅

women's circle meeting!

@Shikoba (assuming she'd be back from her vision search! <3) @Samani @Callyope @Sakhmet @Kausiut @Bahiti (this is a Vairë tag srry;;) @Tulukiri @Skeetch @Nasamik, PPing ariadne & assuming everyone is present unless told otherwise! as before, no men or boys allowed :3

"hear my words."

they sat before her beneath the three sisters, a trio of great oaks which stood in a field not yet ripened with its purple flowers. the open of their meeting had been a full-throated call from kukutux, followed by a warning for men not to follow.

these things were not for their ears.

now she looked at each in turn, those established as mothers, those who would be, and those not yet ready but waiting.

"i have met many men in the forests around moonglow. if they stay in this place, they will want wives. if you do not intend to be a wife, when your time comes, stay here as nasamik has done." to the young northerner she gave a cluster of pine-blooms, denoting her as having come to this threshold again, eligible to be wife, older than those who were not yet ready but too, not a wife or a mother.

to samani she looked now, and then to kausiut, and then to vairë, and lastly to tulukiri. "if mother tooteega gives us her blessing again, then you too will join shikoba, sakhmet, and moonwoman in the sacred time that makes anaaq." her eyes lingered on her walrus hunter child, meaning to tell kausiut that this was not a path she must take. of these four neither kau nor tulukiri had spoken of a husband and kukutux saw it would be their choice.

to each of these girls did kukutux give a smooth oval of polished antler. "these are your womanhood talismans. when your time has come, you will give blood to these objects. you will keep them close. their power is tied to your spirit."

nasamik was old enough to have made her own womanhood talismans, but kukutux favoured her with a warm look. this may not be the way of her people. and in such personal places moonwoman did not mean to pry.

"only the mother and sedna give children." the duck glanced toward skeetch, callyope, and ariadne. this would not be their time, unless she had misjudged the age of the vibrating young she-wolf with the dark fur. she handed each a single stalk of the wild sedge which grows beside the lake early. "and they give you this time to decide if you will be mother or if you will seek other things."

spirit-talker. trader. warrior.

now moonwoman's green eyes looked at all of them. "if there are any questions upon the secrets of being a woman, ask now. the star-hunter and sakhmet and myself, we will give you answers."

the call came from the old oak grove, a place that tulukiri had made a point to avoid ever since the last meeting there. she came now with trepidation and kept an eye out for any vessels that might carry the strange water, because she would not put herself through that ordeal a second time. when she could see none, she came, and she sat behind the other women to listen.

kukutux spoke to each of them and gave them gifts; talismans, stones, things that held meaning to the culture of the village - but nothing for her, and she was glad to be omitted. the talk was of womanhood and of motherhood, both being things she did not consider for herself in the same vein as these girls did. if she was to be a mother it was second to being issumatar, and tulukiri was too focused on her hunting and her work to think of the future like that.

she did one day think of herself as being issumatar - but only now, after hearing talk of these girls becoming mothers, and hearing the name sakhmet, and thinking of how different this place was to the march of tartok's warriors as they lived their nomadic lives. tulukiri kept silent; she did not have any great plans for her future, but the idea was now rooted there as a seed to be tended.

There was women here who were anaa, and Vairë said solidly in the “to be”. Men had spoken to moonwoman, and the doe knew one of them was the man the spirits would lead her to.

She saw flashes in her dreams, sometimes, but she could not tell if this was just her wishing mind or the spirits who would tell her what there was to be done. The piece of antler she gently placed under the plume of her tail, well aware she had so many questions, but none of which she could give word to.

So she sat in silence, reaching back to adjust the fox pelt around her shoulders rather than raise her hand and ask a question first, with an air of “please don’t call on me”.

Nasamik came with haste, joining the circle.

As was her custom, to which Kukutux now knew well, the snowshoe rabbit hunter greeted moonwoman with a gingerly touch upon her shoulder.

It was truly an honor that she should be invited here, and her gratitude showed within her warm gaze.

Kukutux went on to speak of them, as women, as mothers, and as caretakers of the village. To Nasamik was given blooms of pine — and to the others a talisman of moonwoman's creation.

Then more words of womanly wisdom. The choice of whether they would stay or venture, and what it is they would pursue.

Born and raised as hunter, Nasamik knew her decision. Here. To stay in the village and act as one with the rest.

It felt odd, being included. The formality of being called upon made Skeetch a bit nervous, so she fidgeted while the women gathered, and found herself ill-fitting amongst them. The others looked so...Well, some of them looked poised. Some of the younger ones looked slightly nervous, avoidant even. Skeetch gulped, but flicked her ears forward and did her best to stop gawking around from wolf to wolf as Kukutux spoke. One of them had a fox pelt draped across her shoulders. Skeetch was surprised, but admired it nonetheless. She tried not to stare for too long.

She thought the meeting might be boring. Formalities, introductions, whatever it was she was needed for. They wouldn't have excluded the men for a hunting meeting, she thought- and very little else interested her. 

It took her some time to realize that this was a meeting for women- only women- and that it had to do with having children. Surprise showed in her features as soon as she realized what Kukutux was talking about. She was informing them what they should do when they came into heat. Her cheeks flushed hot. This was embarassing. It'd been so simple when she'd lived with her birth pack; none but the alphas were to breed. That was simply the way of things. This...This was confusing and conflicting. She panted silently, the only way to discreetly allow some of her nervousness escape. 

A few of the wolves were given something small and pale. Womanhood talismans. Something Skeetch had never heard of before, and she suddenly felt as if she was in a bit over her head. All of this was new, all of it was different. They were supposed to put blood on the talisman and keep it with them? How did that work? What if it got lost? And why?

Her panting sped up, but remained silent. 

She inhaled sharply and nearly choked on her own tongue when Kukutux directed the conversation to her. She was given a sprig of something that smelled fragrant, and was told to think of what she wanted. Who was Sedna? She wasn't even sure she knew who 'the mother' was. Men gave children, didn't they? Maybe she meant that only mothers had children...That much made sense. She looked around, hoping perhaps one of the wolves gathered was Sedna, and might give a nod or something at the mention of her name. 

She would be two years old in the summer, but the rowdy girl was appalled by the thought of having her own children. She had no questions on how children were made- she'd spent enough time palling around with boys to have overheard their lewd chatter. So she pursed her lips, and remained quiet. No children for her, nuh-uh.

her time away at moonspear was something that felt like a fever dream.

yet shikoba was ever present in this women's circle. she listened closely to the words of moon woman and the value they held. with so many wolves now present within the village, more hunting would be needed to feed everyone. even more so when it comes to the young that will be whelped later in the spring.

though it seemed the crop of younger girls within the village held no true desire to open their hearth to men this season. and perhaps that would be best to avoid the troubles that came with such activities. either way, shikoba stayed silent and watched the other girls, seeing if any had any concerns to voice.

Kausiut joined the meeting only out of obligation to Kukutux. Of all the wolves in the pack she was the only person, whom she obeyed without asking questions, because both within the Walrus hunter village and here - the most experienced woman and mother was respected. The rest - were tolerated, until they proved their worth in the wayward child's eyes.

She observed the company of unknown women quietly - her golden gaze going from one to the other, taking in the details of their faces and adding names to them as well. It was highly likely that she would have forgotten their names by the time they encountered each other next, therefore this exercise to memorize was done purely to form first impressions. With the exception of Skeetch - none particularly stood out of the crowd. All were calm and composed, listened in solemn silence and thanked Kukutux for gifts and wisdom. The dark wolf, on the other hand, was visibly nervous and Kausiut wondered, why that might be.

She was drawn out from her contemplation, when mother gave her a gift. She looked down at the piece of antler, but the time, when she was fascinated by toys had long gone. Sure she would take it and save it somewhere, but for her it held hardly any meaning, while it seemed that the rest gave the items more importance than there actually was.

last round! will archive if no replies <3

no voices lifted.

each young woman and each older of them lost in thought, she believed.

"if you have words later to speak, come to me. come to us. we will teach you."

a nod of her head. they were dismissed unless they wished to stay, and she gave all a sweet smile.