Ouroboros Spine sanniktigijuk

when/if u have time! <3

down the edge of the spine kukutux roamed, slipping more than a few times as she glanced between the sea, to moonspear, and to firefly. 

emotion caught in her chest — a mournful sound strangled to almost nothing in her chest. she thought at once of saviguk and @Sialuk; would the spirits demand them next?

another slip, this one harsher; she slammed her right shoulder hard against an exposed stone, and stumbled upright with a trickle of blood running along her flesh. a gasp; kukutux sought composure, palestruck ears falling back in frustration.

Maybe writing will inspire me to do some actual work.

She hadn’t been consciously following her mother, but Sialuk realized she was on the trail at some point, and it put a bounce in her step. Things had been quiet at home, but not in a bad way (at least not for her personally). Elke’s family had not returned, but Sia was glad her cousin had stayed. She could feel a friendship growing there. Perhaps the first one outside of her immediate family. Sure, she was friendly with plenty of other wolves, but Elke was close to her age and seemed more personable than the others.

Sialuk winced when she finally caught sight of anaa just as she slipped. The smell of blood was faint, but it was there, and the girl quickened her pace to catch up.

It’s slick, she said matter-of-factly. The cut doesn’t look bad.

kukutux had not meant to be seen, and her ears wilted at the sound of sialuk's voice. she had grown to a height and was beautiful, but it was her confidence that finally relaxed the healer. so her skills had been passed downward, and she sat in the snow with a small smile. "would you ...?"

clean the wound, she trailed off, for she wanted to assess sialuk's training as well as be mended. and yet there was resistance in kukutux to be seen so vulnerable. aya, it did not matter; if her raindrop saw anaa tangled in birth pains she would see a true rawness there.

She nodded silently at the request, quickly going to work to clean the small wound on anaa's shoulder. It would not need anything further than that, she surmised, but her mother would know to keep an eye on it. It was pleasant, this time getting to bond with and help her mother. Kukutux and she had always been close, and she looked forward to the warmth of spring ahead. That was where her happiest memories lie, even if she'd had many happy ones since then.

Were you looking for something out here? she asked when she was done, stepping back to look at the now-clean wound.

"i had come out to commune with spirits," anaa answered in their tongue. "i came to ask why grandfather bear had taken so much." it was not her place to question, and even less so as a woman, but she could not keep it from her breast all the same, this pain.

"and i came to see what i could find for an offering." she had not yet shown sialuk the altar high in moonspear, believing it too great a source of anguished power, and one that might sour her raindrop's dreams.

She frowned, thinking of the wolves who had been taken by grandfather bear. Perhaps they had done something to upset him, although Sialuk could not imagine what that would be. Nature had a way of fending for herself, she was coming to learn. Perhaps there was something in her mother’s stories that could explain why such terrible things had come to pass.

Her ear flicked at the mention of an offering. She did not know much about that beyond the offerings she gave to Sixsix for the bones he acquired for her.

Did the spirits answer? she asked softly. She knew better than to ask for the answer itself, and maybe the offering had been the answer in the end anyway. As she awaited the answer, she gave the wound another look, making sure that she hadn’t missed anything.

kukutux meant to say no, but then glanced to her shoulder, to sialuk's gentle ministrations, and then beyond her raindrop's shoulder, thoughtful.

the lingering ache of pain in the rent skin reminded her of the things that grandfather bear had hunted in the glen, in moonspear: blood.

the red stain of it against her fur. neck prickled with a sudden wariness. "perhaps i was not meant to seek them. there are only spirits with which men may speak, pukak. they will not answer in a way that i understand"

Sialuk frowned. Why would the spirits only speak with men? That seemed... not wise. In planted a seed in Sialuk's mind, though it would take some time to linger there before it grew. She did not question her mother further on it, but she did give her a solemn nod. She reflected on what Elke had asked, too. Who was speaking to her through the bones? And if they spoke to her, was she not meant to hear them?

I could ask the bones, she offered, unsure if anaa would like that or not. She seemed, in some small way, fearful of what they could say. Sialuk had not yet asked a question for her mother, primarily because the opportunity had not presented itself. This, however, seemed like the right time. Sialuk did not take readings lightly, although she did spend much time pouring over them.

the bones. the idea of it chilled kukutux, though she did not have anger. it was more worry, for the way of the spirit-path was often forbidden to women. and sialuk was still a girl, though grown from a baby.

but it seemed as though her raindrop had been given the right to it. the duck pondered all for a moment, and then nodded. "i will listen." perhaps the ancient ones chose different ways to speak in this place.

She had not expected anaa to take her up on the offer, but she was hesitantly optimistic when she did. A soft smile lifted the corners of her mouth. When they returned home, she could ask the bones. They were kept safe in the ulaq, free from prying eyes or teeth who might wish to chew their delicate surfaces.

Perhaps an offering would still help. Encourage the spirits to come forth when we talk with the bones. She thought it wise to do everything in their power to please the spirits who spoke to her. If her mother thought an offering would increase their chances of getting a clear answer.

"you are right. i have never sought grandfather bear. but i think that he wants blood." she motioned to the laceration she had sustained, and then glanced around them. "take the snow, there," the duck instructed, motioning to where a few red drops had fallen alongside the sharp stone. "make a little circle of it. now he will see it with his eyes that are still tired from winter."

and yet, she dreaded the idea of the grandfather coming upon them. she was not a spirit-talker, and sialuk might be seen as coming too close to the taboo she had chosen not to enforce.

Sialuk did as instructed, carefully crafting the circle so that it might be taken into account when she attempted to read the bones. As she did so, she wondered why such things were reserved for men. Who had decided this? And why had they done so? She pondered on that as she worked until the offering was complete, and she stepped back to look it over. She gave anaa a questioning glance, hoping she had done it properly.

Will it do? she asked. The other questions stewed in her mind as she awaited the answer to this one.

she nodded, moving closer to breathe onto the wet red snow. "we call upon you, grandfather bear. we ask why you have raised your jaws against moonspear and against the glen," she whispered slowly, a prayer for quick sialuk to remember, along with a gentle gesture of right forepaw in a semi-circle against the earth, to ward any any false spirits who might hear the words and come eagerly.

Sialuk listened to her mother's words, putting them to memory so she might repeat them again and again while she worked the bones. It was not often she saw glimpses into anaa's spiritual side like this, and she took note of the semi-circle, the movements, the way her voice changed when she spoke. The whole ritual was soothing in a way that reminded her of how she felt working with the bones.

kukutux held her breath, but no crashing step came, no bellow that would announce the bear. slowly she relaxed, glancin around at the silence that surrounded she and sialuk. "he does not answer this time," the snow-wife said solemnly. "let us leave this offering here and return home. grandfather bear has no word for us today."

We can wrap here. <3

He may not speak to them here, now, but Sialuk believed he would speak to her through the bones. That would come later, though. For now, she followed anaa back to the ulaq. There, she would work the bones and chant the prayer her mother had said. There, they would find no answers, only vague hints to what had been, what was, and what was to come.