Ouroboros Spine heifers and cows

for @Kukutux if you have time, but if not then AW! <3

the season was changing, perhaps too quickly for shikoba's liking. while the woman thrived in a warmer climate and didn't care much for the snow, she liked the problems that summer seemed to lack. 

shikoba knew that there would be courting males willing to violate the borders for the many pretty women that called the village home. and while shikoba held all within her heart as her family, she was unsure of who held the privilege to breed, if any. and even then, the woman was unsure if she would bring another litter into her hearth with inutsuk.

star hunter felt restless, though perhaps this feeling was not worse for the wear. the woman has become dense with her winter coat, though it is not just fur that makes up her mass. shikoba has become stronger with her constant movement and spars as of late, and hopefully strong enough to intimidate the males away from the borders.

<3

shikoba's powerful form moved ahead of her. moonwoman moved to the other's side.

she was silent for now, thinking of her vision. and then she turned her mind to the woman beside her. she wondered with a wisewoman's mind if there was peace and trust once more at the hearth of star-hunter and inutsuk.

or if they too were restless enough to part, as had kigipigak and sakhmet.

moon woman was soon upon her, quiet in thought it seemed.

"sister," she would whisper to her in the words taught from kukutux's own lips, "you are thinking, hm?" perhaps it was none of her business, but shikoba did like to wonder about what went on inside her matriarch. the duck always held such a mystical air around her, shikoba could never deny how curious it made her.

she smiled. "i am thinking of moonglow in the spring."

she turned loving eyes upon her powerful sister.

"and i am thinking of those who will be mother."

perhaps even samani among them.

but this hinting, this was for shikoba alone.

mother. 

anaa.

what a title to hold within the village. truth be told, shikoba did not mind the idea of having another litter in her hearth. yet, she wondered about the consequences that would come from such action. would mojag be hurt and feel as if he's been replaced? and did inutsuk earn his right to lay with his wife once again? truly, shikoba still lacked the answers to both of those questions.

"i have too," she admits to her, "who do you bless?" she would not be kind to the wanderers in search of an entanglement. and for a moment, shikoba wonders of sahkmet and what her journey with moon woman held.

"you. samani. sakmet. vaire, should she have the want later."

she looked closely at shikoba. "do you lie with inutsuk again?" kukutux asked plainly, for she felt as though she and the star hunter walked in circles around an unsaid thing.

she must then be direct.

the trusted and her own blood. it made sense. the others would be safely guarded, and shikoba would ensure this herself.

shikoba was a bit surprised by the direct path kukutux took when asking about her marriage. however, she reminds herself it comes from a good place of caring for one another.

her head shook for a moment. "no, not yet." for a moment shikoba feels her ears airplane out in a look of embarrassment. "i think of many things. if mojag would be hurt and feel out of place if we did. and if inutsuk deserves to be tataa again."

she had tried so hard to forgive him, but the wounds continue to feel as if they become infected and swelled with a stinging heat rather than becoming healed and fading as scars. and while shikoba has told her husband of her pain, he will never know the extent that moon woman would.

kuktuux nodded with wisdom/ "these are good things upon which your mind rests. only you can decide if inutsuk is worthy. but do not stop your want as mother because of mojag. he is almost a man. soon it will be time to find him a wife. your life goes forward, shikoba, in love and in understanding."

her eyes were gentle on the star-hunter. "does your heart feel that it has discovered healing?"

only with this could one move upon a new path.

the words of a true wise woman are spoken. shikoba has given life to her son, and now once again the season calls for her to bring life to others. she enjoyed motherhood, despite the challenges her pregnancy brought as well as the children who walked with the spirits before walking with their mother. when looking beyond all of the problems she allowed herself to drown in, shikoba knew her life was not finished and her role had not come to its end.

and despite the gentleness held within kukutux's gaze, shikoba feels shame burn away at her cheeks. "it has tried," she offers to the woman, "yet it still aches." she always complained of the pain she felt, of the wrongness that still occupied the place in her heart where inutsuk once lived. and secretly she must wonder if she can ever truly forgive inutsuk and if it really is something she wants.

it seems selfish to stay mad forever, not to mention practically impossible. but the woman still could not find a way to allow her husband to lay with her and bring forth more children that he may very well disappear on. "i want to heal, but struggle to accept inutsuk fully after... all of it." for moon woman's ears only, shikoba would never dare to whisper this to another.

"a marriage is only a bond when both have happiness inside it," moonwoman said softly to shikoba. "it has been much time since inutsuk has come back. now we welcome the time of greening."

she touched star-hunter's shoulder with a gentle brush. moonwoman sensed the great ache inside shikoba, reached out with sister-sense to hint upon the pain within.

"perhaps you spend some time away from inutsuk. ask mother sedna to guide your mind." goddess of hunters, knower of women: she could give much insight to the troubled mind of a woman, a wife, a mother.

it was true, time had passed since the return of her husband and yet shikoba has let the fires go out within herself. for that, she can blame herself. perhaps the foot forward that she has been giving has not been her best, at least what her husband deserved from her.

he had done everything that was asked, now it was up to her to hold up her end of the deal. when moon woman speaks of time away, shikoba ponders the idea. she knows that she cannot be too far from the village, but at least given a bit of space to let the spirits guide her.

her heart felt unchanged despite what has happened, and shikoba feels this may be the last attempt. she looks up for a moment as if hoping to find a message written in the sky for herself. "i have not spoken with spirits in many moons," she admits softly to her sister, "will they still guide me?"

she would never say that she was forsaken. but shikoba did fear that perhaps she was being punished for her own wrongdoings.

"you are a hunter and woman and mother of this village." kukutux touched shikoba's paw.

"go to the mountain that was once moonspear. make a sacrifice. your path will be shown to you, sister." of this she was sure. of this she was certain.

the protective totems of the village had not yet failed them once.

it would be done.

with hot blood and blessed bones, shikoba would make amends with the spirits who seemingly mourned the idea that she had forgotten them. shikoba places a kiss on the cheek of her sister, full of love and gratitude.

"i will leave soon," she would tell her, "and come back changed."

fading! <3

"walk with sedna."

she kissed each cheek of her sister's face and then would watch as star-hunter went to listen once more.

kukutux would sing for her that night.