Ouroboros Spine rootless tree

@Peregrine @Tierra for visibility, but don't feel obligated to join! <3

Once he'd gotten to Moonspear, it was fairly easy to track a well-worn path between it and the spine—made by Sialuk, unbeknownst to him. He could only hope that this was where the spear's remaining wolves had decided to stay. Calling for Towhee directly would be of no use, considering her lack of hearing, but calling for an audience seemed perfectly acceptable.

It was a chilly, but not unbearably so, afternoon. Cloudy, but no chance of meatballs. Phox settled onto his haunches and played the waiting game.

His paw was still on the mend, so Caracal continued camping out in the no man’s land between Moonglow and Moonspear. He chatted with Sialuk every day when she brought him food and medicine, when he wasn’t busy worrying that @Killdeer thought he’d ditched him. Surely his nephew knew where to find him when he didn’t turn up in Emberwood like he planned.

He was pretty bored and lonely today, so when he saw a dark figure approaching the spine, he hobbled toward it. Howdy! Caracal crowed perhaps overly loudly, before he abruptly realized, Hey! It’s… He blanked. Uh, you!

a man of ash and cloud.

a red boy.

kukutux moved along the borderline. her sides were more pronounced now. the pelt along her shoulders was hung in soft black fur.

the duck flagged the proud white banner of moonglow as she moved to a halt. her greenstone eyes moved over each of them; over the youth of the boy and the scarring of the man's face. "i am kukutux. this is village moonglow."

she waited.

There was no mistaking the elevated tension surging through the village.

Whelps were to arrive in the near future.

It was to be a time of joy, but also of great caution. Nothing could fall amiss. 

Upon hearing a new call upon their border, Inutsuk was quick to abandon the work within the shared ulaq. A few of the pelts lining their sleeping area had become sodden. They would need to be replaced quickly so that Shikoba could sleep comfortably.

The tawny man hastened to the scene, finding three entities facing one another.

Kukutux. A wolf of coal dark shade. And finally, a second wolf draped in a reddish brown tunic.

He approached warily, quickly finding the pale woman's flank. With a brief nose tap to her shoulder, Inutsuk would greet her first before turning to regard the two strangers.

As most often the case, he was present merely for aide. From here on, he would keep silent unless directly spoken to.

Duh duh na nah!

Here comes Killdeer, come to—complicate things?

Nevertheless, he came a-running, hoping to connect with Caracal, whose tawny form he spotted immediately.

Cal! I found Towhee and—

They weren't alone. He gawped at the beautiful pale woman before turning to the man, whom he recognized. . .

Vaguely.

But he was ready to get back to Towhee, and he bounced in place, looking between all of them.

feel free to skip around olo.

Aiolos followed the trail of Inutsuk and Kukutux both, with only caution and concern on his mind. Kukutux was a woman who was well capable and known for being able to take care of herself yet the children within her was an added reason for precautions. 

When Aiolos came, he stood to Kukutux other open side, close, but his attention directed to the two-now three-strangers. He had originally thought to stand silently as added guard but he knew one of the wolves who visited them now. Phox. He glanced to the two younger wolves but did not recognize either so then back to him. It's been quite some time...

hello everyone! let's do no posting order since there are so many folks in this thread, and i don't think it's gonna be a conflict thread.

It had been a minute since Phox had been around this many wolves, and he suddenly found himself surrounded by five of them. Mostly familiar faces, including Aiolos. "Mixed feelings" was a bit of an understatement for how Phox felt about him (and Mou and Maegi), but this wasn't the time or the place to get into that. They had kept his children safe, even if under deceit.

Then there was Caracal, one of Towhee's kids. And—Phox squinted—was that really Killdeer? He was huge. And he knew where Towhee was!

Hi, uh. Yeah, I'm Phox Redhawk. I came looking for Towhee. He turned to Killdeer. Is she okay?

A little abruptly, the party of two became a party of five. Along came a woman who looked a lot like Sialuk, accompanied by a man who didn’t say a word. Her name was Kukutux, and she wore a pelt draped over her shoulders. Caracal stared at her, only for Killdeer’s arrival to yank his attention away.

Hey, man! he said, also cutting himself short due to their audience, which had just grown by one. Phox, he mumbled under his breath when the latest arrival spoke his uncle’s name. That was right. This was Towhee’s brother. And he was looking for her.

Oh yeah, she’s fine. She stayed here for a bit but she’s living within Mereo now, Caracal said, meaning to say “with” or “in” but saying both in an awkward portmanteau. He then looked to Killdeer for the latest news. He’d just come from there, after all.

kukutux watched the man with the two young hunters. they asked after towhee. "she set her path far to the east. the mountains."

moonwoman gestured toward the far stone teeth of the range unknown to her as the sunspire.

"you are kin to her?" she asked of the three, her attention upon the man. he had said he was of clan redhawk as well.

Feel free to skip over Inutsuk unless he is directly addressed.

More joined them, both of unknown and familiar relation.

Inutsuk gave a short greeting to Aiolos, Sunman, before returning a heavy stare upon the trio — mainly the one who called himself Phox.

Towhee? Redhawk? He knew none of these names, but then, why would he? Aside from knowing Moonglow and Duskfire Glacier (now Atautsikut), he was still relatively new to the wilds.

Questions, he now had. But there would be time to ask later, of Towhee and Redhawk. Kukutux knew of them. She would have answers for him.

It was a little chaotic. His head was on a swivel, taking in the even more wolves that joined the scene. He beamed at Caracal's greeting, and was about to butt in to say exactly where Mereo was, except the woman with the pelt beat him to it, and—

She's fine. She's great! Killdeer exclaimed. His eyes were on Phox, now, who he was starting to recall a little more firmly now. His grandfather, he thought—Fennec's dad. And Mereo is super cool. They're soldiers! It's totally badass.

He then turned to Caracal, nodding toward the ground. How's your leg, man? he asked. It looked fine to him. He was going to be super put out if his ruddy friend wasn't able to make the trip back with him.

Hey fam, I’m posting to wrap this for us. :)

Once Towhee’s whereabouts were established among the group, Caracal and Killdeer stepped aside to catch up. He grimaced at the question, if only because he wished he had better news for his pal.

It still hurts. Sialuk says it’ll be a while before it’s healed properly, he muttered to Killdeer. Maybe you should show Phox the way to Mereo, he thought aloud, using his good paw to pat the stouter boy’s shoulder apologetically. I’ll catch up with you soon.