Firefly Glen apuyyak ⚵

kuku has come to visit the young warriors <3

it was now time to put consideration to the glen itself. the last of her plans carefully laid, the seawife spent the better part of the time before dawn catching the long-legged hares that sprang about moonspear. only a pair fell to her, but kukutux was satisfied by this. 

she carried the limp bodies down the edge of the mountain into the cascade of emerald signalling the glen's beginning. there she paused. these were the young wolves of the spear, but she was not one of them, and it felt correct to observe their budding boundary. therefore she only howled a short note, tipping her pale ears forward to see who might come.

Since he had been roaming close when she called, Antares decided to answer--not immediately knowing what the pale healer could need here anyway, but he'd go find out. Hopefully it wasn't about bad news from the mountain. His low-slung prowl headed her way, his approach snaking along their boundaries.

When he could see her, prey in tow, he swept his tail against his knees in a silent greet. Though not a close bond, but he was plenty familiar in her company--able to relax, at least, and especially respectful of her place among the Moonspearians, and by extension, the family. You can come in, he said with a chuff, offering a swing of his snout towards their heart. How are things? the yearling asked, right to it, as he stepped near.

it was not long before kukutux was greeted by a young hunter she recognized not only in familiarity, but his streamlined careful build. "antares," she murmured, smiling into the face that promised to only grow more handsome. "i thank you." 

she nosed the carcasses she had brought with her. "mira remains missing," the duck said with a more solemn note to her countenance. "i will search for her today, but i had the wish to come here first." a shy wave of her pale plume and her green gaze, downturned respectfully but watchful.

Antares let himself come close to the pale, though loitered there next to her swaying his tail slow. Her nudge directed his sights onto the rabbits then, and his ears tilted back at the news about his sister. A slow sigh then. We don't have any news about her either, he shook his head, though admittedly, the yearlings were busy with lots of things--not all of them were always finding the fierce cub. Still, many of them were on constant lookout for any trace of her. I've gone north, he added like it might influence her course any. Others had been here and there too. No word had made it back to him, anyway.

As for the Glen, it was as it appeared. It's coming along. he mentioned, then gestured vaguely at the rest, wondering what she wanted to see here. He could share pieces of their own news otherwise. Maybe it would be of interest, and she could let the mountain know too. Someone new even joined us already--Osiris said. And Neverwinter has finally taken some notice, he detailed with a little hint of disdainful mischief there; a might bit keen to see that one play out in the months to come.

pale ears listened as antares spoke; it seemed his voice felt tight as her own did, and she tried to favor him with a reassuring smile. "she is strong. her spirit will protect her." a small girl in a vast world, but mira was no foolish pup. 

firefly glen had already begun to grow. kukutux was reminded of how the young hunters had formed their own bands, out upon the sea-ice during walks in the long dark. of course, they had all been men, and in the vein of moonspear, she did not think there would be a delineation here as well.  not a place for sialuk, whom the duck had managed to raise these past months with the proper cultivation for one who would be a wife.

the mention of osiris pleased her, as did the tone in antares' voice when he spoke of neverwinter. "tell me of them," she invited, knowing some of the politics from her mate.

Mira was strong but she was small still, and the world vast--especially where they could not find her. It was hard not to worry, though thinking of who she was certainly eased the notion. Strong and sharp, he agreed. No one was going to keep her down.

Then, given the details of his news he could elaborate on, he opted to expand on the Neverwinter subject. Osiris and Leta met one that tried to get patronizing--about how he hunted here. Though it should be no surprise... he sighed. Moonspear traffic in this Glen wasn't new, and he didn't feel much mercy for those who were off-put by their official statement in the works. There were other lands to hunt in when this one was Moonspear's. I don't think they're very good at keeping their pups in the woods either, was his next detail about them, generous for the usually quieter brother. Maybe because he had been stewing a little. Bronco was tangling with a badger here the other day and one of their little mottled runaways just happens to be there too, he griped a bit then. Sure, the kid's father had been close enough at hand, but his territoriality mixed with this opinion was not too soft about it.

Speaking of pups that were not misplaced, hers occurred to him: Anyway--how are Sialuk and Saviguk doing? he asked. He'd seen Jarilo lately, so that wasn't something he'd ask on right now. Not the young ones in their family though. Not much recently. And the Spear? he asked as well, although he was not that far removed from it to feel very out of the loop there.

kukutux listened solemnly, and when antares had finished, clucked her tongue with a gentle aya. "then it is good that you have made this place," she commended the young hunter. "neverwinter must learn what it is to be responsible." that mira had gone still weighed upon the duck, but she had been one while antares revealed this was routine for the pack she did not know.

bronco engaging with the grumpish, savage badger did not surprise kukutux, who feathered a small laugh. "a bear almost made claim to his life. since then, his heart has become very courageous. perhaps too brave." a breath, and then the duck was nodding. "saviguk grows into a tall boy. he will be a hunter soon. and sialuk, too, i have showed her to hunt. she is almost ready for an ugi," she said with a pleased look, trusting that he might know it. "no new things have happened. it is safe, and your siblings grow fast."

He agreed, and basked quietly in her shade of esteem. Now with Firefly Glen in their proximity, Neverwinter would learn, or else. Antares had to wonder what would come of this in the moon turns to come, but that was all he could say for right now. It was pending further development as far as he was concerned.

Her remarks on Bronco, too, set well with him--but despite the caution in the sentiment, he admired his bravery too. It was easy to see. Perhaps too brave would do him well to remember, so the next nod he answered with was slower, somehow more pensive. Thinking towards the Spear's youngest, though, came easier. Maybe they can hunt with us before long, the dark yearling suggested towards any and all of them. Already they had Meerkat here with them involved in just about anything and everything they did, including watching their larger hunts, so that had helped ease him into the idea of the pups expanding their horizons on what was technically his watch too. Plus they were starting to seem not so fragile to him now--Altair, who could now come roam with them, had proven that to him already.

On the other bit, he was.. not sure what he could ask. Would it be too much? He only knew a little bit through his uncle, understood why Kukutux had come well enough, but Sialuk was still young and he had not been subject to such a fate himself. Maybe he was still wrapping his head around it and there was time. He just didn't understand a whole lot about that given the nature of his own upbringing. Her ugi--that is the mate situation, right? Antares asked, hesitance slow to fade as he went on. Do you know where from yet? Even inexperienced in such policy between outsider sorts, he wasn't blind, so he had a good inkling that Hydra would seek some benefit in this, if it concerned Moonspear's own like this. Are there places I should scout...? he asked protectively, arcing a brow in all of his darkness if she needed help finding such.

mate. "yes, but she is not yet to that moon. the ugi is a boy who will be her friend. perhaps she considers him when she is older, or she does not." it was the precursor to courtship upon the island; inside a village, sialuk would already have known little hunters her birth-age. but moonspear was their clan, and a wife did not choose inside her own clan for a husband.

"i look to yuelong. there is a man with a son. he is also leader, and so if sialuk chooses his son in another season, it will be a good thing for moonspear also." she allowed herself a small bit of pride at finding such a match, before the inner spirit spoke softly, turning her aside before it could become hubris. "i thank you for the offering of your time. i will tell saviguk he may come here, if that is a good thing in your eyes?" the duck murmured softly in the next, tail arcing in a gentle wave. "antares," she smiled in a tease, "warrior for now or will you soon begin your own search?"

He didn't know what to say about that so well, not when it was a relatively foreign concept. Antares knew only just enough to know what it needed, but actual application, and evidently the facts about timing, that was all beyond him. Still, he listened but didn't muster a whole nod to say so too early on--it was about Yuèlóng that meant more for the dark Ostrega, and indeed, as his range grew, he was growing more aware of his birthpack's relations beyond.. then more interested to see how they played out, how they stood to gain or lose out here.

That he would keep note of, maybe find out more about those coastal wolves in the meantime--if it worked out. It had a sense of wait and see to it too. He wouldn't deny that it could be good for them, but he was young and felt possessive of theirs still; however if his mother and uncle agreed, he would stay open-minded to see it through. I think it could be, when you or my uncle would think he's ready. And I don't imagine my mother or brothers would disagree, he reasoned openly with her before the wave of her tail caught his eye, shifting his focus with the conversation's turn on him.

Antares had a distant look then, but nothing much to say about the matter of his plans for bonds either. Soon? Not likely. he answered pointedly, a warrior for now, while hoping she wouldn't pry him deeply despite her tease. He hardly knew women not related to him, and fewer close to his age and interests. Those he did? It wasn't like many women exactly caught his eye like that. When he was looking too long, it was not in the context of a mateship. Even if he considered those like Desdemona and Moriko who had been around a while, and the beautifully pale but woefully lost Izumi. There was even the sharp red of Scorpion somewhere in the thought too but none of it was like that to him.

such a place this was, kukutux marvelled privately. upon the island antares would already be an ugi to some eligible girl, perhaps from another clan. but his meaning, conveyed in the silent way of the ostrega warrior, was captured swiftly by the duck. she would speak no more of it. and in the end, such decisions belonged to his mother. 

"i think that it would be a good place for him to visit. i will speak with jarilo." there were boys the age of her son still in moonspear, his cousins, but for a child to grow to warrior, he must observe those older than he. soon it would be time to take both her ice crystal and her raindrop upon the winter hunts.

"what is the favorite thing of yours that you have discovered in this place?" the pale wife asked softly, wishing to turn the conversation to something less focused upon antares' yet unwritten future. he seemed pleased enough to be here, and she enjoyed the idea of the younger generations learning to work with one another in their own home.

Neatly, he filed this interest in Saviguk for later and would await his uncle's verdict on the notion--so said with a slow nod. As the youth beneath him started aging up, he was realizing a greater interest in what was to come of them. He was new at training with them still, but he liked their vigor, and all that they were about so far.. So it was best that wolves like him and his brothers further help hone them to be strong, and survive whatever the wilds had in store. They themselves were proof that they had the resources to make it work.

But, thankfully, his answer did not spark further questions on his martial interests--for his were.. absent, and he was too engrossed in what he had already to change that much right now. Her other question suited his present better. There, he could give something tangible. I've learned certain spots of the woods I had not paid enough attention to before, he replied, spoken low but true to himself while it might not seem like much. Some suit me well. Though most of all, he enjoyed the whole newness of it, and the security they were granting to the scene to finally solidify this. If you'd like to see.. or wherever else, he offered vaguely on a gesture of his muzzle towards the Glen at large. Now, or later, and he glanced at her hares too because he had not forgotten.

can fade or go on, up to u <3

antares gave a misted answer, which set his aunt's intrigue to traveling again. she had wished to see, and was happy when he extended the invitation. attention to detail also his lot; he had not forgotten her gifts. she was pleased to be hunter to them, to teach fennec whenever she wished a lesson, and to help the newly claimed glen in its thriving way wherever possible.

"that would be a welcome thing." she moved now to where she had laid the now cool bodies, gathering them back into her jaws. antares might wish to carry one of the two, but kukutux was happy to bear them where he led, and look quietly at the things he might show.

When she accepted his offer, he would have to decide a path to send them on. But, he had some time to get that in order still--the Glen was expansive, and there was plenty to find among its vistas. Already, he was awfully confident here; all of his ranging about had paid off, was willing to believe.

Once he reached to help carry a carcass, he set off and lead the way towards more.