Moonsong Glacier annun ⤟

word had come from a man once disgraced within moonglow.

ariadne was building a place of her own, even as she healed. while kukutux did not care for chakliux, she was pleased quietly at this news, and amused, for she had done the same in moonglow.

her eyes closed for a moment; she pondered mauruk, her gone sea girl, and sakhmet.

fire-wife.

grief charred her edges. the duck put a wrap of bright foxfur about her shoulders and went out to find the place her daughter would claim. it was not so long a journey, another pleasantry.

but it was the scent along the borders which stopped the duck immediately. she knew it, and she did not. she knew it, yet she could not say.

how can a woman forget a child she once saw born?

was it —

the duck called now for @Fjall, wavering.

Fjall wasn’t sure what to make of a gentle call for him that did not come from Ariadne. The voice of Chakliux, or even Kannoyak, also could have been expected, but this song was not one he knew. Still, he hurried after the sound, his heart aflutter.

The sunkissed boy stopped short when she came into view: eyes like malachite gemstones and a foxfur boa upon slim shoulders. A moon-pale queen. The matriarch of the moonpacks. Though he had never set adult eyes upon her, he knew from all that he had been told that this must be her.

The wolf his mother spoke of, even when she could not quite remember who she was.

A gulp of air, an uncertain step forward; Fjall faltered in immediately closing the distance but did so anyway on tentative paws. He came to stand before her speechlessly, lowering his head to the small wolf, his ears falling shyly back upon his crown. He had no words, though seemed keenly aware of who she was and looked somewhat ashamed of his inability to speak.

kukutux did not stand alone for long. her springjade eyes watched a boy approach. 

oh, he was beautiful! he was lótë. her mouth did not stop its pleasant curving as he drew nearer and nearer, until at last moonwoman and forest-child looked upon one another.

he was quiet and did not speak. kukutux did not either, for a small time.

and then she said softly, "it is good to see your face, fjall. i am kukutux. your mother was as a sister to me. my sun man gave you the last name nuiruk. you are welcomed home."

a tear of love brief upon her face.

kukutux opened her embrace for fjall.

Fjall’s heart fluttered in the same way it had with Shikoba, the star hunter. Gravity felt finite in this moment, falling, petering, trickling away until he thought his toes might leave the very ground. The lightness he felt drew him in to Kukutux’s bosom as she welcomed him; he used her embrace as a delicate tether.

Fjall whimpered softly as she held him with the same tenderness as Lótë.

I am sorry, he grieved. I’m sorry I did not join you in Moonglow. I just- I wanted to find her, and then it, it felt like too much- too much to be around the wolves who knew her, who loved her, and have her not be there, too. He hoped she did not take his misgivings personally, but he (admittedly) did not know Kukutux very well since he thought that she could.

"do not be sorry, fjall. many things must call to your heart. but it is good to see your face," moonwoman said, offering a kiss to his forehead before she stepped away from treating him as too small of a baby.

he was a boy to be man.

"will you stay for a time?" her soft voice asked next, though she did not wish to press.