Ouroboros Spine kasruktuk ≍

@Callyope was a child filled with much happiness.

today kukutux took the singing girl to mamattuk coppice. she let her daughter carry a length of deerhide. moonwoman bore the rest. "we will soak the skin n the water to make it soft."

there was a small creek winding ribbonlike between the evergreens. she set her bundle down upon the bank, pausing to soberly investigate the too-new track of a bobcat.

Callyope knew only joy.

She sung to the morning sun, she sung to the women's work and the men's hunts. When her mouth was full of toys or her own work, she still found it in her to hum.

She knew only harmony and the bliss of Moonglow.

Today was no different as her mother gave her a strip of hide and instructions. Callyope, too full of bliss, did not pay as much attention to the tracks as her mother did. Instead, she dipped her front end in the water with the hide between her jaws.

Soak the skin, make it soft. Soft, soft, soft.

A tune, poorly sung around the deerskin.

kukutux laughed softly in spite of the potential danger.

moonglow was strong and had allies in the forest now.

"brother rain makes his bed, aya aya." she dipped her own offering, holding it below the surface with small white paws. "sister mist kisses his head, aya, aya." the pelt bubbled but soon grew heavy with water as the air pockets disintegrated.

on impulse the duck leant over to kiss between callyope's little ears.

Moonmother always had better songs.

Callyope clung to them with a fierceness. Soon she mimicked her mothers motions, paws on the skin so it was fully submerged, not just hanging from baby teeth.

Aya, aya, She softly sung-mumbled as her mother kissed her crown. Mother moon! What she do? Bouncily asked in the cadence of the song her mother had started.

"mother moon, she fills her arms."

"with the water fallen from stars,

she pours it out upon the world

and makes good things to grow again.

aya, aya, when you see her face in the sky,

say mother moon, do not pass me by."

Callyope bopped in the water, skin alternated between clutched with her teeth or pinned beneath growing paws. She now cleaned in the rhythm of her mother's song.

The girl's spirit sung lively too.

Do not pass me by! This she mimicked like a mockingbird, eyes turning to Kukutux now. Bright and shining as they dared to exhibit the amber shade they would soon fully blossom into.

"do not pass me by!" kukutux chirruped back.

callyope's eyes were like those of sunman. she saw the gold upon the water of the ocean.

"do you have songs of your own that you would like to teach your anaa?" the duck asked with a grin.

I am not good with the words to make new ones, She confessed with a smile. Giggling softly for her own failure in that musical branch.

I like the hums. I like to...remember the pulse of your songs. She would pause as she briefly rattled her memory. Not that her memory was very deep or wide, but she did learn every day.

Then she would begin a hum of a lullaby. One of polar bear mother and the iced sea. She would seek to hum it through, if her mother did not stop her.

callyope hummed. 

kukutux lifted her ears in wonder when she recognized the song. 

she looked with new eyes upon her crane bird woman, the child she was beginning to take the blessing of her spirit-name. did she know? moonwoman wondered.

Callyope found herself somewhat shy under the wide gaze of anaa. Although there was a bloom of pride in her chest to, to think she might have made her mother very proud! So proud to seem stunned!

One day, I will sing like anaa, She offered softly, tail gently swaying between her ankles.

"one day your voice will be heard when the sun rises and wherever the moon falls." she nuzzled callyope gently.

there were seasons between now and her next fire-time, but now she mused aloud. "would you like to be older sister one day?" the duck asked quietly.

She cherished these moments most.

The soft, veiled assurance of her mother. The thoughts of a future from now. Callyope was not in a rush to grow, but she did deeply look forward to the days when she was more like anaa.

Me? She gasped softly, some sense of excitement and embarrassment.

Will I be good older sister? She whispered back to her mother.

"i think you will be very good older sister. you will teach them all that you know. you will show them our ways. you will keep them safe in moonglow. they will call you atauraga."

she clucked her tongue.

"in handfuls of moons, your sisters may have children. then you will be ayaruksaaga to them. and all the little ones born between you will be katangutiq."

Callyope enjoyed the thought of it very much. She could teach others, she could show them the things her (their!) mother showed her.

There would be more mouths to sing with her, more paws to tend to skins, more bodies to hunt with. She suddenly favored the idea of more siblings (and cousins) more and more.

Will I do this too one day?

"yes." she grinned.

"but it will be many moons. and none of them must be rushed. come," kukutux invited.

"i will show you where the berries hide. we will put this skin in the water."

fade? <3

Many moons.

She wondered how many, how would they pass, but anaa said they would not be rushed. Callyope found no desire to rush them either — besides the curiosity. Perhaps it was time to visit an older sister or speak with other women who weren't anaa.

The thought made her sheepish.

Okay, She whispered, happy to follow wherever moonmother went.