Firefly Glen Ut in ditt indre ventar bratt ein sti.

Towhee had never been a model patient. In her defense, she didn’t think she’d been hit by the lightning directly, just flung by the blast. The strike had singed her a bit, really aggravating her scars in particular, but she felt fine otherwise. She stayed in the healing ulaq for a few days mostly to humor the pack’s medics but quickly grew restless.

Making sure the coast was clear, Towhee padded into the neighboring glen. During her downtime these past few days, she had thought a lot about the plans she and @Kukutux had discussed. It was time. Watching some pups play and swapping stories would be a great distraction for the invalid.

She found a cool, shady spot near where the three territories dovetailed, settling down in the grass there. Towhee then raised her muzzle and called for the “moon woman” and her kin, then her own: @Sable, @Towhee Jr, @Orca and @Seal. Of course any of the other villagers were more than welcome too.

Cameos are entirely welcome! Once we have an idea of the number of participants, we can do rounds or maybe even spin-offs? :)

Sable heard, but did not answer.

He rather couldn’t. In his learning of living, he’d come to find out that where others could speak, he and his sister could not. His voice did not come out as anything more than a wheeze when he tried, or a whisper if he didn’t.

He did not answer, but he did come. Slipping down the mountain to the Glen on paws that were learning their own limits.

The boy was getting bigger by the day, looking more and more like what he would when he was fully grown.

He slipped from the brush to stand beside his mother, fixing her with a friendly wave of his tail and a raised brow.

Meerkat chewed at her lip when she heard Towhee’s call. She seemed okay but she didn’t think she’d be able to scrub the sight of her mother’s flesh steaming in the rain out of her brain anytime soon. In any case, the howl didn’t sound urgent, just invitational (and, of course, earsplitting).

She and Njord had divided and conquered today, each grabbing one daughter to take on an adventure around the mountain. Meerkat nudged Seal away from the spring where they had been wading after a hearty lunch and guided her downhill toward the healing den.

Towhee wasn’t there, though it wasn’t hard to find her just a little ways into the glen. Sable stood beside his mother, looking quite grownup. Meerkat woofed a greeting to both of them, striding in their direction.

Is it story time? she guessed, remembering her mother’s mention of this plan. Her eyes traced over Towhee’s back as she added, How are you feeling?

Seal chose that moment to fling herself at her grandmother, prompting Meerkat to wince and hover her forepaws over her child. She was entirely prepared to gently drag her off Towhee if the matriarch showed any signs of discomfort.

That didn’t happen, though in the next moment, Meerkat said, Why don’t you two gather some playthings before the other pups get here? to both her daughter and her younger brother.

a time for celebration.

a summer feast of a kind.

to @Aiolos and @Shikoba the moonwoman had spoken of this day. now she gathered @Arrluk, @Galana, @Massaraq, and @Kassuq for the gathering. "speak kindly. share a soft meeting. you will know these names in the years to come," she instructed her brood.

if @Ajei and @Chiteo also wished to come, she would help to watch over them, ensuring the small daughters were not lost among any wrestling or ferocity between the children.

and so in turns they came to the glen, and kukutux chuffed; "run! play!" and turned her eyes upon meerkat and towhee. "i greet you," the duck said softly, though her eyes were soft with worry to see the injuries upon the older redhawk mother. 

she pulled the wrap of soft grey rabbitskin from her shoulders, offering it with a smile.

Ajei was told to go and thus she did. But there were so many. Such loudness and the way the other puppies caterwauled around. She slunk as close to Kukutux as she could her tiny fram against the woman's hind leg, shaking and unsure. She searched for her mother or her brother someone to help her. Even Kukutuxs brood she didnt seek out.

Ears flat to her skull and small teeth chattering.

little cameo! Just figuring out what to do with sad boy Stratos lol!

He did not belong here. Once, but not anymore. Why did he tempt the stars today? Why did they taunt him back?

Stratos heard the rally call. A gathering began. The Moon packs had grown. Voices he did not recognize. Names he did not know, save for Moonwoman — but he did not know if he counted himself worthy to call her even that.

Why did he follow the sound of their calls? Perhaps because in his heart, he was still a boy who longed for his family, longed to see what they had become, even if he did not think himself worthwhile to call himself a part of it.

Stratos drew nearer, and from the shadows, he watched, and when he caught a glimpse of anaa with tiny children all about her, a longing scorched through him. For home, family, for belonging once more.

But he stayed in the cover of the tree line, in the darker parts of the Glen. Yearning, watching, remembering those days — and coming no closer than this.

Three months had gone by so very quickly and already Arrluk played the role of gangly juvenile. He was beginning to go further and further from the den. He was beginning to learn new things, like border patrols, fishing and learning dangerous flora and fauna to avoid within the wilds. This would be his first time outside of the pack territory and although Arrluk was excited with a youth's curiosity, he was nervous all the same. 

He kept close to his mother and when not there, close instead to @Galana who was quiet as he. The nervous air stirred around Ajei and he moved as though to go to her, but even he was dismissed as she seeks out the comfort of her brother and mother. Quickly though, Arrluk's attention was grasped elsewhere, with all that was going on. 

There was one which he did not know at all and he stood out vibrantly despite being further along the dark treeline. He was like a beacon. White and brightly gingered and eyes like warm tropical waters. Arrluk stared in silent interest of him, unknowing of the first son of Aiolos and Kukutux.

feel free to skip me! <3

Her body fatigued after the frequent coupling, Sialuk had found rest in the past two weeks. And now that she eased into her third week, she found herself nauseated when she awoke this morning. While it was an unpleasant sensation, she knew what this meant. She had seen it in anaa before.

It was Kukutux she sought first at the meeting of children, a glow about her as she wore the red fox pelt Argent had gifted her. A knowing gaze went to the moonwoman, and Sialuk touched her mother's shoulder with her wet nose. The spirits have blessed me with children, she said, a smile wide across her face as her heart swelled with joy.

feel free to skip Chi

Chiteo ran off with his sister to play, finding a lot of other wolves around, and immediately attempting to engage with them.

Massaraq had no concept for how quickly he was growing, but his world was quickly expanding. And as the days wore on he found himself with energy to spare, desire to run about, and more and more wolves and other less tangible things filling his awareness. But he was still young so when presented the opportunity he chased after his siblings and friends with abandoned, a wide smile and taile flagging behind him. 

skippable, just wanted to throw him in here!

Her youngest son slipped from the underbrush to stand beside her. Towhee reached out to playfully bat at him, aiming for his forelegs like she was trying to cut them out from underneath him. Maybe it was her way of asking him to sit down beside her.

Meerkat and Seal arrived next, the latter pouncing Towhee. She immediately wrapped her arms around the girl and squeezed her tightly, even lifting her off the ground a little. Sure, her back complained, but she was happy to pay the price of admission.

When Meerkat urged the kids to go gather some playthings, she let go of Seal and asked nobody in particular, -“Where are y’all’s sisters, anyhow?”-

It wasn’t long after that that Kukutux’s people began to show up at the small, sun-dappled clearing. Towhee sat up to watch them come, tail tapping in the grass. The sight of so many pups was some sort of panacea.

A bashful little girl caught Towhee’s eye right around the time Kukutux approached her with a greeting. She took one look at the gnarled flesh on the Redhawk’s back and offered the wrap from her ivory shoulders. Towhee laughed and shrugged it over her own shoulders.

-“Thanks. It’s good to see you and all your—”

Her voice cut off and her eyes widened when she saw a young man who looked so much like Orca, it was uncanny. Towhee looked around for Meerkat.

-“Are you seeing this? Where’s Orca?”- she said to her daughter before looking back to Kukutux and quipping, -“Hey, aren’t you a matchmaker? One of my granddaughters looks just like—is he one of yours?”-

Other youngsters milled around them as Sialuk came forward and said something to her mother. Towhee’s head cocked, not catching what was said, but quickly fixed her quizzical expression into a welcoming smile.

-“So-o-o,”- Towhee said after a few minutes, -“if I herd them, would one of you like to tell a story?”-

Her eyes skipped among the adults, though they settled on the “moon woman,” sensing she was probably the best storyteller among them. There was just something about Kukutux that screamed raconteuse.

-“Or we can just, y’know, let them run amok until they wear themselves out. That’s always an option too.”-

Feel free to post freely! I’ll start another round in a week. Latecomers are welcome anytime. :)

moonwoman kept ajei close to her and sat comfortably alongside towhee.

these children, together! it satisfied the village-maker's heart.

and she was pleased, jadestone eyes glimmering, to see herself addressed as atsak.

"he has the name of arrluk," kukutux said, watching her son look into the leafy branches surrounding the edges of the glen. "orca." 

sharing a conspiratorial look with her friend, kukutux turned her shining gaze upon sialuk, who —

she held the dancing lights inside her eyes!

the strike of red against snow-pale, and then the words. "aya!" kukutux exclaimed; she stood and laughed aloud as her eyes filled with joyous tears.

"paniga!" and she put her arms around her ostrega-girl, the one who had helped her to build that first village and would now be anaa in her own. "pukak," and such joy filled her face. "to be mother is to have the goodness of sedna become part of your blood," kukutux said reverently. "i will help you in this."

"i will tell a story," kukutux said, motioning eagerly for sialuk to sit as she reached to kiss the snowy cheek. "come, ajei. you will stay here also."

and then to towhee she looked, and stood. "they share the name orca," she mused again, a little curve to her mouth. "you have seal hunters also on the green mountain, and a daughter of your daughter who is called seal."

another connection.

"who will hear a story?" she called out.

Ajei settled near moonwoman and the other who had given no name yet. But she knew Moonwoman so that was enough. 

Though she heard them speaking of Arrluk and it was then she looked for the shadow and light boy. Chiteo too. 

But her brother was busy running with others and though she wanted to run and play too. There was a tight ball in her chest. And Arrluk was staring into the bushes, though she couldn't see what he found.

There were other puppies that shaded different colors in the pack lands. More little girls like her. A woman that smelled of stone and rock who knew Moonwoman well.

Ajei's wars lifted at a mention of a story. How exciting!

She’d attended a good number of meetings in her life, yet Meerkat could not recall ever seeing so many puppies in one place. The sight made her heart smile, then do a flip when she saw a young boy who looked just like Orca. Towhee noticed him at the same time and made a joke, which Kukutux fielded along with giving his name: Arrluk.

Meerkat was just thinking of going and fetching her other daughter—her husband too, of course—when Sialuk said something that elicited a strong reaction from the “moon woman.” The envoy watched this exchange curiously, smiling as if she understood, though of course she didn’t know much Aleut.

There were more comments on the children and their names, then Towhee queried about whether they should organize an activity or just let the pups play among themselves. Kukutux decisively hailed everyone to come hear a story.

Catching her mother’s eye, Meerkat said, I’m going to go find Njord and Orca. I don’t want them to miss out on this. I’ll be right back, and then hailed down Seal to tell her the same thing before making a hopefully brief departure.

Sialuk joined them, nearing to Kukutux. Chiteo and Massaraq zooming off to play with the other pups. Then another spoke, Towhee and Arrluk is forced from his attention on the unknown wolf and onto everyone else buzzing around him. He gives a sheepish smile to @Towhee, who he caught staring at him. His tail waving low behind him. Arrluk had grown to be a bit self conscious of his looks, given he looked much differently then the majority of his family- if only he knew there was someone out there that happened to look just as odd too! 

He drew nearer into the group again as Towhee and mother spoke of a story. He would come to settle near Ajei who was near Kukutux too. His eyes fluttered all around, looking to the other children with a fondness though wasn't the type to engage right off the bat- that was friendly and bold Massaraq.

Kukutux’s remarks on the children’s ironic monikers earned a grin from Towhee, though she was shortly distracted by Meerkat waving for her attention. She frowned lightly and glanced up the mountainside as if her fiery gaze might conjure her son-in-law and granddaughter.

-“Hurry or you’ll miss it too!”- she hisspered.

The “moon woman” called out to the crowd of youngsters, though Towhee didn’t quite catch what she said. Her gaze bounced from one pup to another as they came closer and began to settle around Kukutux. She caught Arrluk’s bashful look and winked at him, then slung out her arm and gathered a giggling Seal against her.

Sprawling in the grass, Towhee adjusted the fur Kukutux had lent her so that it draped over the little girl’s dappled back. Her nose touched the top of Seal’s head before she looked up and tried to catch Sable’s eye. Would he come sit near her too?

Once settled among the kids, Towhee’s attention drifted to the storyteller, orange eyes fixing attentively on her lips.

I figured it was time for another round! Everyone can post freely and I’ll post again in another week or so. :)

One saw him.

A boy, dressed in black and white and looking nothing like anaa or tataa - yet who could he be, but a child of Moonglow? A what did that make the boy but a cousin? A brother?

Stratos held him in a quiet stare. They held each other, watching one another, until the pack must have said his name and the patched pup turned away to hurry to anaa and another woman he neither knew nor recognized.

He could hurry, too. Step out and let anaa see the man her boy had become. A sullen, broken thing. He had lost his friends and even if they had found their way home, he had failed to find them. Failed to protect them, failed to care for the girls who were meant to be his to care for, provide for, protect.

If only he had been there when Ani had fallen through the waters.

Kukutux’ face smiled down and around at her family, and though he wished he could be that small again, a little firebrand plopped down at anaa’s feet, he was a man now. One whose boyhood still draped along his shoulders like shame.

He would not sit before anaa today. One day — but here, Stratos turned away.

"once there was an angry man," kukutux began.

her people were known for their story-telling, for the cadence of limb and lift of paw that accompanied shifts in tonality, in eye, in body, shoulder, pelt, muscle.

"he was a very angry man, for he loved the sea so very much he had isolated himself from his people. 'you are wolf!' they told him. 'wolf hunts in the ice, in the forest, on the floes. wolf does not wish for the long salt to drink.'"

"but the angry man did not listen, and one day, he ran from home."

eye to eye, each of them; her chest swelling with a breath and with pride; "he stayed with the sea so long that the sea ghosts grew hungry. they began to eat pieces of him each time he came into their waves, and soon he had become no wolf at all, but something that swam fast."

"one day, this changed man returned to his village. but they did not know him, for he had become Akhlut, a wolf and orca, a thing of great power and hunting magick. the people did not believe he had been chosen, only that he was monster. and so they drove him away."

kukutux paused, lids fluttering.

"if they had listened, the man would not return to his anger. if they listened and saw his changing first, he would not have become Akhlut. we will all change as we grow. listen to the new part of the spirit as it speaks. share your anger with your clan. do not become something else."

Ajei listened closely and shifted nearer to Arrluk it was scary to hear about an angry man. But it also made her so sad that no one listened. Her mama always listened to her. Why didn't his mama listen to him. she sniffled a little. It wasn't very fair that he had to be angry because he had no mama. Because that was all she could think. He had to not have one, or she woulda listened.

Probably by design, the “moon woman’s” first line immediately hooked one’s attention. Towhee arched a brow curiously and then exchanged a look with Seal. She glanced at Sable again, lips pulling into a moue when there was no sign of Meerkat’s return. Hopefully she would only miss the one story.

Her eyes returned to Kukutux in time to catch, “—did not listen and, one day, ran from home.” Towhee didn’t want to miss anything else, so she hunkered down and went still, orange eyes riveted to her friend’s pale face.

It was kind of a dark message, though Towhee totally approved of using scary stories to send a message to the young. She smirked a little, still bummed that Meerkat and Orca were missing this story.

-“You and I will have to memorize this story to tell your parents and sisters later,”- Towhee muttered against the cup of Seal’s ear, her voice louder than intended.

A wink from the large black, red and white woman and Arrluk smiles sweet to her, dipping his muzzle down in ways he had seen his father do. Respectful and acknowledging. 

Then, mother's story began and Arrluk's attention is direct to her. She spoke of an angry man, a man which longed only for the sea. Father spoke of the ocean often. Of the Goddess Moon and Sea. Arrluk had not met Sea but knew one day he would, if not by Aiolos then by his sister's villages near the long salt. Arrluk already felt so drawn to water of many kinds- river, rain, lake, would this be the same? 

Arrluk's ears perked in hearing the ghosts of the sea picking off at the man, eating pieces of him until he was less wolf and half now something else- orca, the killer whale. He was Akhlut. Arrluk's ears fold back, his head lowering as he feels a lump in his throat. Fear. Worry. 

It made Arrluk think of his own self, named after the great sea hunter. It was a powerful thing, what this man had held. Was Arrluk destined to be so powerful? The angry man could have done a greatness for his pack, had they not shunned him, had they not been accepting of his different nature. He was a wolf of the water. Not the snowy mountains or deep forests. So instead, he became a monster. Akhlut... He wouldn't become this, he promised himself quietly.

Better late than never!

What a fun day!

Moonspear and her sister, Moonglow, came together for a telling of tales. Seal arrived with Meerkat and quickly engaged with any and all who were willing to tolerate the boisterous girl.

She found a playmate in @Chiteo! The biscotti colored by were the same age. Together they chased and tousled, equal in strength because of their age. Then, she played with @Massaraq. The others meandered together, though some were shy. Seal gasped when Towhee pointed out @Arrluk! Truly, he was the spiritual twin to her sister!

Seal suddenly found herself a wee bit bashful!

Thankfully, the matriarch Kukutux called the group to order.

“Me, me, me!” Seal crowed when asked who would hear a story.

Momma left to go find Da and Orca and so Seal snuggled up beside Towhee on the opposite side of @Sable.

Da often told tales to his daughters and so Seal found her imagination ran with the moonwoman’s imagery. Anger! Isolation! Sadness! Seal clutched Tohwee’s arm, quiet as her little mind digested the themes of the story. Towhee urged her to remember it well, and so Seal nodded and assured her Grandma through sign that she would never forget it.

YES TO THAT!

 

Humiliatingly, Orca had gotten stuck. A growing girl, she would today realize it was possible to outgrow things in the physical manner. While she had gotten into her favorite log (after a bit of a struggle), getting out was a bit of an issue. She wasn’t really worried about it until grandma called—her own howl back was more than a bit muffled by said log. 

But hopefully someone had heard. And indeed, soon enough came da. After a bit of work, he managed to chew the log to the point where the “pain points” of the thing she could squeeze back out of. Orca had never been given any cause to fear, so well had the issue been managed—and then there was @Meerkat coming to them both! I got stuck, she lamented in the burr she shared with her father and sister, tail sheepishly hanging behind her. 

Nuzzling her da in thanks, she leaned into her ma afterward. Looking rather unkempt, was granted a few minutes to step into a stream and dunk her head beneath the water to cool off. Shaking out her furs, she declared that she was ready before she was led to where the party was. 

Orca knew there’d be wolves there, but this many? Seal looked at ease, which was where her gaze first went, as did her family… while she knew she ought to take a page from them, there was some resistance to go forth and mingle. The only thing that helped was that the scents here were not entirely unfamiliar, even if some of the faces were. 

With Seal looking preoccupied, Orca peered up at her parents.

She was gone longer than she would’ve liked, though soon enough she led Njord and Orca back to the not-so-little powwow in the glen. Meerkat immediately made a beeline toward her mother and Seal, crouching down beside them with a brief touch to each before she glanced back to catch Njord’s and Orca’s eyes.

Did you see him? she whispered in the latter’s ear, angling her snout to point out Arrluk without being too obvious, she hoped. Maybe after story time, you can go and introduce yourself? Meerkat added in the next breath, then nipped fondly at the pale fur lining the girl’s cheeks before training her attention upon Kukutux.

the story ended.

she looked down into the small quiet faces, noted the expressions of the adults.

and then she smiled, brightly "stand up, stand up," moonwoman urged. "now we will sing a song."

a pause as she waited for them to attend. "this singing is about a man who hunts a seal but almost falls beneath the sea. the seal brings him home and he agrees to hunt no seal again."

she lifted one paw and then the other, demonstrating a back and forth motion meant to imitate swimming.

her words would be hard for them to say; she spoke slowly for this reason:

"i am a young man and i am strong."

my arms are strong. my teeth are sharp.

she showed the flex of her shoulders and the flash of her teeth to those watching.

"i will go into the ocean. i will bring back brother seal."

a dancing step to the left.

"bring him back! bring him back! bring him back!"

a singsong chant. her eyes were bright with it.

"i go into the water. but she is cold! mother sedna! help me!"

another of the movements, to show the swimming. she laughed.

"brother seal is coming! he has found the hunter!

brother human, you are not made for the sea. i will take you home."

kukutux showed how the seal drew the hunter to the surface and they both swam back.

she sang the song once more with her inflections and expressions, slowing it for the moonspear wolves.