Hoshor Plains rich in the mind that's why i'm making deposits

if u have time <3 can be backdated/any timeline

there was a woman that walked among the men as if they were grass at her feet, her fur the glissade of moonlight on winter-snow. she stood smaller than her peers but it did not matter -- spiritually, she was larger than any man.

every step practiced and concise -- her face framed with a pair of glittering eyes sharper than any seaglass.

sobeille was mesmerized by her, and when the rigor of the hunt had died down and duskfall brought quiet to the camp, she stole along after @kukukux's shadow in silence. what dat be aroun' your neck?

by the sharp scent of brine upon the girl-child, kukutux knew her to be from sapphique. the green eyes blinked when she was addressed; she pulled her wrap from her shoulders and showed the young one its soft fur and cured skin.

"i have the name of kukutux. i am moonwoman of moonglow village."

the pale ears cupped forward. "you have come with mireille?"

sobeille inspected the offered garment with a feral wariness; while woman, she was strange -- and sobeille was not one to bend her neck for another's blow.

a thousand scents laid their intricate tapestry in the fur of this strange skin. before sobeille could ask of its nature, the moonwoman gave her name and a question. yes, i be wit mireille. sobeille puffed her little chest. i be sobeille. 'ow come you carry dat around, do you ever lose it?

silently did kukutux lay out the fur upon the snow for the child to inspect, showing how the grey rabbitsfur was clean and silken on one side, and scraped smooth upon the other.

"it warms my shoulders. it says 'here is a skilled woman of village moonglow.' i have lost wraps before. it is not so much to make another if you know what is to be done."

a skilled woman. sobeille's eyes lifted in hunger.

though she was young, even she could see that moonwoman was more than simply her name: the way she walked among the coven spoke of a hidden power sobeille wanted all her own.

'ow did you become skilled woman of moonglow? can you teach me to become a skilled woman?

the springjade eyes were alight with warm curiosity. "i built moonglow from the winter snow into a village, with my first daughter, sialuk. i made my ways our ways, and the ways of those who followed. and i had many, many children," the duck laughed softly. "i can teach many things. but to be a skilled woman is only to be a woman who knows her own mind and decides what she will seek, not a woman who is led by any other."

sobeille leaned in as moonwoman shared a glimpse of her long legacy in the woods. sobeille was not so interested in having many children, but she drank in the rest with somber curiosity.

'ow did you make a village. do i 'ave to 'ave children if i want to also be a skilled woman? sobeille found kukutux's eyes for a brief moment, an unknowable cloud of something passing by her gaze before she looked away. 'ow do i know my mind?

the girl warmed as pupil.

moonmother warmed as teacher.

"sit with me," she murmured, smiling at the sea-child as she settled upon the thick grasses of the plains. "you spend time alone to know your own mind. you make a path to those places you have not been. you share words with those you have never known. these things will help you to understand self and heart."

"i made a village after mine was destroyed. and yes. children are the fastest way. choose a strong mate who will be with you every year. this is the first step to make your own place."

sobeille drew to an obedient sit, eyes upon the moonmother.

she spoke of many things; some sobeille felt she had already at least started doing. a glimmer of hope settled in her heart — for she was often alone, and look at her now, conversing with strangers!

she thought of ajei. how different that girl’s life was from her own. she felt sorry for her at first, but now she wondered if that was not the same thing ajei felt for her — how sorry it was to be raised by a pack that was in her perspective cold and barbaric.

sobeille shifted. what ‘appened to your village - who destroyed it?

her pale head moved as if to say that was not how it happened.

"i lived upon a large, strong mountain. many were in our number. a star fell from the sky, larger than anything i have seen before. burning. it struck the mountain. many were killed. a man who had the name of arcturus, kin to my husband, found me. he brought me to this place. at last my daughter sialuk came down. and another, and another."

arcturus.

had it been three years already? so much had happened, time moving in constellations upon the bowl of age.

a breath; "but my husband did not return. and my son did not come back. it is not only teeth which can break a village, papiktuuk."

kukutux told a story of a mountain and a star. sobeille's eyes involuntarily shifted upward, tracking the invisible thousands of stars beyond the cloud cover. new fear unlocked.

she shared that a man -- pfft! -- had found her, but that her husband had been claimed by the star-strike. a quiet gasp escaped the small girl as the story continued, ending on a profound edict sobeille would not soon forget.

so you made new village wit' new people. sobeille connected. kukutux deserved empathy for her loss, but the girl had spun clear past that page, focusing instead on the rising dynasty that followed. what did de star look like?

"yes. we did not know the faces of those who came to build with us."

the star!

"i did not see it. i saw —"

a bright light, surrounding her with a glow, filling her eyes and killing every shadow.

"there was a great light which ate the sky and dimmed the sun. it remember that the light grew and grew, and then i woke up away from the mountain. the bone in my leg had been broken. i remembered no more than what i have said to you."

a star that swallowed all, including the light of the sun.

sobeille's eyes widened as kukutux shared with her what she remembered, and when her voice trailed off and the darkness closed in, sobeille was left to wonder.

what moved a star?

maybe dat star was a blessing. sobeille answered at length. you make a new village - better, even. maybe dat star was your agent of change. of cataclysm. for a small girl, sobeille could sometimes be insightful. and now you are wise moonwoman.

maybe loss was the cost of wisdom.

a smile unfurled across the wise, ageing features.

"perhaps you are right. perhaps i would not be a wise moonwoman had the star not come. for this change, i give thanks."

she gave the girl a thoughtful glance. "there is a place in my village beneath the one red tree, firemother. it is where i go to pray. to give thanks to the above world and its beings. maybe one day you will see it."

while it would be a long while yet before sobielle had words for it, she understood one universal principle; destruction was the agent of change.

she smiled to herself to see the moonmother’s face change; a softening of expression that for a second, instilled the youthful beauty that had since fled her features.

firemother. there was so much about the moonwoman’s culture that fascinated sobeille, who was only just discovering the wealth of her own. she leaned forward in bridled excitement. can i see it in de spring?

a grin;

"yes. come and see it. i will show you this tree, and i will show you other things."

the bright face of the girl reminded her, achingly, of days gone now, small daughters at her flank, learning.

but.

perhaps not.

tooteega snorted a laugh.

"i will wait to welcome you, sea-going-girl."

sobeille’s dark face briefly shone with excitement. she envisioned a great tree with a cloud of red leaves, at its feet monstrous roots where wolves could climb and sit and direct their inner thoughts outward.

okay. she resolved, the briefest of tail flicks the only true tell-tale to the current of excitement under her skin. i come in de spring. sobeille promised to elder moonwoman, prizing her new nickname above all else.

sea-going-girl; an epithet sobeille carried with great honor.