Firefly Glen nuna ⦆

@Issorartuyok :D

moonwoman took her first outing since the birth of her twins on a morning gilded with the slight change of leaves from green to gold.

all around, summer still held its firm sway. upon her shoulders was a dark pelt, still fragrant with the scent of crushed raspberry leaves she had used to cure it.

she had come to pay homage among the graves upon the glen, and sang a low song of soothing to any spirits who might still have lingered as her steps carried her slowly through the empty place of fireflies.

The sweet fragrance of raspberries was the only trail that the northerner could find. The aroma of them made a path that was marked by wolf paws. Upon the air, the traveler could sense that another wolf dwelled in the very same area.

When her song struck his ears, Issorartuyok found his voice joining. It was not uncommon for the wolves of his home to sing for their lost spirits, for those who still lingered upon their lands.

Prowling forward upon large paws and broad shoulders, Issorartuyok found his earthy gaze landing on a pale figure – a woman’s shape. The northerner stared unabashedly at her beauty, even the marks that had been left on her face.

Issorartuyok woofed a low greeting.

<3

before her song had ended, moonwoman found her voice melded with another's own.

she did not drop the notes of the song; she held them until the prayer had been finished.

jadeite gaze was curious and open upon the stranger as the echoes of her spirit-whispering died away. he was piksiksuk, and the rich loam-hue of his eyes cut without shame toward her.

suddenly she was shy, and veiled her own gaze below a deferential lowering of lashes. "this woman greets you."

The bow of her muzzle and the shift of her gaze beneath the silk lashes was not missed. She offered a greeting, polite in tone and posture. The northerner drew his broad skull upward and made a presentation of his broad chest, his thick frame.

This one returns your greeting, Issorartuyok returned her phrase comfortably. The stranger woman was captivating in more ways than one. She sang songs for her spirits and her nature was familiar, like the wolves of the northerner’s homeland.

You are of the moon. There was no room for this to have been a question. Issorartuyok made a statement, still unmoving with the confidence in his brown eyes.

"pikati taqqiq."

he was large and strong. he spoke of the moon before she had mentioned it. kukutux felt the pull of her spirit as a knowing cadence.

the snow upon his high shoulders reminded her of a mountain. moonwoman did not yet dare to meet his eyes. but her pale ears listened, and she waited for his address once more.

The woman’s statement did not miss him. Issorartuyok reared his head and scoffed, only softly. To be of the moon was different, he knew. She claimed to be the moon itself. The northerner had never heard such a thing. Even he, who’s family name was from the moon.

Tell me, moonwoman, what is the earthly name you use?

Issorartuyok wondered if her calling was lofty, if it was fitting of a woman so porcelain, so fair that she could convincingly say she was the moon itself.

her small teeth showed in a smile. he did not believe her. and yet he had said her title. "kuktutux. i am moonwoman to village moonglow."

he was one of her own. a kinsman, though the way that he looked at her was not the manner of a cousin or friendly relative. she realized it had been many hands of months since a man of the north regarded her in this way.

"what is the name that you have, piksiksuk?" the duck asked, pulling the charcoal fur more securely around her narrow shoulders.

Kukutux, moonwoman, moonglow, the broad figure repeated to her with an understanding nod of his head. She was a leader to her people. The northerner was impressed by this, impressed and unabashed in his admiration of her physical beauty.

This one is called Issorartuyok, Tatkret – not the moon, but of it.

Tatkret was the only portion of the broad wolf’s name that suggested he had ties to the same heavenly rock. First and foremost, Issorartuyok was the leader dog. The northerner wondered how far the moonwoman traveled before finding her claim, her Moonglow.

"moon-dog leader," kukutux murmured. their words did not have to be from the same island to be understood. it was a fitting title, for he had the hard build of a hunter.

at last she allowed her gaze to reach toward the solid ground of his eyes. he had the look of a leader as well. 

kukutux thought suddenly of how he might be among aiolos and kigipigak. 

and if he would expect hospitality for his visit.

"where do you make your path, issorartuyok?" the duck asked, wondering what spirit had led their trails to cross.

A faint smile tugged at the edges of his dark mouth. She did not need to speak the same dialect as his people, she understood. Kukutux was a woman of the northern snow, he knew it almost instinctively. There was a string that tied their tongues and cultures together.

To lead, the answer arrived simply, bluntly. Issorartuyok regarded the pale moonwoman carefully. There was some wonder in his gaze regarding the home she had made, Moonglow. The northerner imagined that she had gathered a group of wolves who shared the northern cultures all to one place. This one will need followers. Snow, too.

Issorartuyok could not do with the heat of summer air for much longer.

You share stories of Moonglow? Would she tell him of her home?

he wished to lead. there was no room in moonglow yet for another chieftain. she thought of keyni, who had gone, and sialuk, who would be ready for a husband in the springtime. 

a nod.

"there is a sacred place, close to moonglow. it is called moonsong. a place of ice. a restless spirit walks there."

"it is my brother who lives in moonsong. he died when he was angry. i sang nine days of death songs. but maybe he will listen more to the voice of a man."

There were many moons in that foreign land. Issorartuyok was impressed and surprised by the number of territories that carried the moon with them. To know that this woman had lost a bother in one of them felt like a curse.

The northerner knew that it was dangerous to die with anger. It did not rest well.

We do not speak of the dead, Issorartuyok remarked dryly. He did not know the pain of losing a sibling. All of his family was still strong, still to the north.

Kukutux will show me the moonsong. I will sing for moon brother.

the voice of the snowstorm was like crushed rock. the duck nodded, letting her gaze fall once more. "we do not speak their names."

she wished to take him back to moonglow, to show kigipigak that their kind still lived and stood strong. "i will take you there," kukutux said softly. her green eyes searched along the horizon for their path.

"if you wish to make your home in moonsong, i ask only that you keep the place of his bones quiet and respected."

The northerner had never been fond much of spirits, or the deceased. He had spent enough time with his brother, howling prayers and songs to their people’s dead. Issorartuyok had laid enough angry warriors to their final sleep to feel flustered at the very thought.

Kukutux agreed to take him to the moonsong place. The northern wolf smiled faintly, pleased.

As Issorartuyok took a steady pace at her side, moonwoman stated that she would like for her brother’s resting place to be respected. The dark-face bobbed in agreement, he grunted so she would know. He still did not like speaking of them.

How long have you been from the north? Issorartuyok intended to change their topic of conversation.

he did not speak of them. she would not mention the dead again.

the face of her brother shone in her chest all the same, and the duck drew a long, soft breath. "i have been here for three cycles of the sun."almost. "what told you to make a path here, issorartuyok?"

he was handsome and strong, determined. again sialuk came to her mind, but this time kukutux only smiled softly to herself.

That was some time to be away from one’s true home. He wondered if she felt her nature had shifted or if it was easy for her to carry the traditions of her original village with her to her existing one. Issorartuyok had never considered something of that sort.

The winds that blow, he answered.

There had been nothing beyond the scent upon the breeze that had carried his spirit to their wilderness. Issorartuyok had sought his home, a place for which to claim and raise a family for himself, but he had no idea where it might be.

I cannot seek my claim with much prejudice. I must be smart, I must follow the sound of my spirit’s calling.

"you will need a good woman. you cannot hold land without a wife." kukutux spoke far more boldly than she had meant, but dowturn of her lashes would surely soften whatever surprise might be felt. "when you have listened to your spirit, and stand upon the land you wish to make a home, come to me. i will make a match for you, ilaanu."

and she saw straight the path of wisdom for moonglow, and for the way that kukutux saw now the swiftest ways to bind any of her kith close.

"the moon-dog chief who follows the wind." she smiled.

What Kukutux spoke was true, Issorartuyok knew that he would need a wife at his side to rule his desired terrain. He would need to make a home for a family who would be raised as true northerners were raised. It was good to know that Kukutux honored many of the same traditions, many of the same beliefs.

This one would be honored, he spoke earnestly, voice gruff.

Curiosity sparked in the back of his mind. Issorartuyok looked to the moonwoman with a stern expression. How many of our people have you found here? In this wilderness, you are the only northerner I have happened upon.

the way that issorartuyok looked upon her now reminded her of the expressions upon the faces of her home-hunters. he had been raised as she was, and his voice was a command. kukutux obeyed.

"the man kigipigak. we do not share blood. yet he is my kin. he lives now in moonglow, but his spirit is too restless to keep him beside me forever." a small smile, to show that she did not mind this.

"and my daughter. i have raised her with my ways."

Kigipigak was a brother of the north, Issorartuyok understood well enough. The moonwoman said that her daughter was one she had raised in her image. This interested Issorartuyok, just as much as her casual way of releasing the man Kigipigak into the wild. Did it not wound her to let go of those remaining ties?

Your husband? He is not of the northern tundra?

Issorartuyok wondered if it had been difficult to share her culture with someone who had not been born into it, had not lived the way they had. To have had children was a great occasion. Do you have only a daughter?Question after question, Issorartuyok was eager to have found one of his own.

she shook her head. "but he is of the sea. the village of my birth was beside the sea ice." between she and aiolos, there was enough shared. "he has respect for my ways, even if he does not understand them."

"two more daughters, born this year."

the jadestone eyes were wondering. "you do not have a wife. but are you father?"

Hmm.

It was still a curious thing. Issorartuyok was forced to remind himself that he was not in his homeland anymore. The village of his birth was a thing of the past and the winds had guided him to a new future.

I am no father. It seemed for a moment that this would be all he might say on the matter. Issorartuyok turned to Kukutux with a new warmth in his gaze. Mother raised me to be strong and swift. She made me promise to be honorable to my wife and only my wife. When I am with my one, it will be forever.

"kigipigak also feels this way. see? you already have a sameness between you." moonwoman's laugh was brief and sweet, a few notes of delight carried off by the wind. 

and then she became solemn, gently slipping into a more controlled expression. "you honor your mother. this is a good thing in a man."

"what do you seek in a wife?"

moonwoman's eyes were lit with amusement once again.

Issorartuyok laughed softly at this similarity with the wolf Kigipigak. There was a feeling of kinship for a man he had not met, but he did think it would be worth his time to visit their claim.

Kukutux appeared to find pleasure in the northerner’s remark on his mother. Issorartuyok felt that he owed her a great deal. She taught him what it meant to be brave, even in the face of peril. The northerner could only hope that he might share a fraction of her soul.

She will be kind and good. She should have a way with words, for I certainly do not, Issorartuyok answered and then smiled in a humble way. It was not a common sight.

aya, and he showed himself in favour of this. kukutux suddenly felt powerful, as her mother had been; she realized that she had spoken to issorartuyok as a wisewoman might have done. their words had been questions, answers. direct. seeking. a trading of thoughts.

"i have two names for you then. you will hear them another time." a grin, to match his own.

kukutux pointed westernmost with her muzzle, to the curved edge of the mountains. "that is moonglow." ahead, north, to the forest that had once belonged to the wolves called neverwinter. "go through the trees that are there. you will see the place of snow and ice that has the name of moonsong, once you are past."