Ouroboros Spine i am made of memories

he's looking for @Aiolos but all welcome!

the days grow colder, the nights colder still. winter is crawling towards them at an alarming pace.

after a jaunt outside the territory, keeping close tabs on the local herd, he circles back along the spine; seeking the sun king as he was instructed to; chasing away the chill that hangs like an omen in the afternoon air.

he hadn't done so right away, mostly because he was keeping himself busy hunting for the caches and peppering sorcha with gifts not tied to the bride price but simply because he could!

Aiolos was in better spirits then he had been in quite some time. The coming of winter had brought travelers looking to settle down for the season. Stratos and Inkalorë had returned to the family, though he wondered if it would be fleeting like with Nǚwū and Lote. 

Since last winter, the season had brought more stiffness in the man each early morning, though Aiolos would be fine with this if it meant winter bringing more of the family together. Soon, they would be doing their winter hunting in the far north too. Not to mention, the island he had lived on for years was far more north and with far less protection from straight winds off the sea. Anyhow- 

Aiolos was sucking it up and strolling around the lake at the southernmost portion when Kivaluk came his way and the red wolf woofs out to his kinda-sorta step-son.

it is not long before his path crosses with the sunking's and when the older man lets out a woof of greeting, kivaluk returns it with a wag of his tail and a bow of his head.

always, there had been a weird sort of lack of certainty on how to view aiolos — sunking, husband of his mom but not husband to his mama ... was ( somehow ) just easier.

even if, realistically, he was the only real father figure that kivaluk had left; had pretty much grown up around.

has mom told you that i'm courting chickadee? kivaluk asks, and then adds before the sunking has a moment to answer. she told me to seek you out. ... mom did, i mean. though why perhaps, is a bit of a mystery to kivaluk.

It was really an odd thing, how the two standing here were related-not related. Through marriage but not really. It was like Vaire and her siblings which thought Aiolos as their father but in reality was not. At times, Aiolos found he had more pups who thought of him as father then he even realized! And it all came to one thing - the connection everyone had with @Kukutux. This place wouldn't be the same without her. Hell, maybe it wouldnt be anything at all without her. 

Kivaluk spoke of he and Chickadee and before Aiolos could answer, another string of words about Kukutux having told him to seek Aiolos out. Did she now? The man spoke with a tilting of his skull and a 'hmmmm' on his lips before adding,And yes, she did. He said with an added smile. But of course! They told each other everything BTS. ;) 

As mother to Moonglow, Kukutux has always governed the bride price. Has she explained to you what might be asked of you?

it doesn't truly come as a surprise that the sunking is already informed: it seemed like an important part of marriage, the communication. perhaps, even, one of the most important parts. kivaluk shifts his weight, considering the last time he and kukutux had actually spoken of bride prices and what was expected of him as suitor.

i... i'm sure she did. he begins a bit sheepishly. but last time we spoke of it truly, i was very young. a refresher would be nice. he admits this with a soft burn of his cheeks, though it felt silly to be so hard on himself for not remembering. as he'd said: he'd been young. too young. and other things had taken up his time and thoughts until he'd been ready.

i know i am to visit chickadee's birth place, brecheliant. tell them my intentions and offer any work they may need done to prove my worth.

That is correct. He said with a nod. Often Kukutux has taken price in the form of hunting, as our village is one of hunters. He explained. A bobcat pelt, a ram's horn... @Rodyn was gone some time collecting what was asked and has the scars to prove it.

What Chickadee's parents may ask could be different. It may not be by hunting at all... His muzzle tilts up, a 'hmmm' on his lips. Of course, I did not have to seek a bride price myself for Kukutux. She was already woman, already once wed. He had avoided the "inlaws" all together completely. Aiolos might not be as much help with this.

the sunking tells him of the bride-price rodyn had paid to wed, and explained it was because their pack was one of hunters. kivaluk wonders, though, if it was a hefty price because it had been kukutux's own daughter.

a lot of uncertainty lingers in the realm of brecheliant. would they accept him as their son-in-law? would they honor the traditions of the moonpeople? surely, even if they didn't, they would accept the gifts he brings to them. but then again, perhaps not.

i almost envy you, that, kivaluk admits and then adds quickly, not because i don't think chickadee's worth a bride-price. she is! but because i am nervous.

It is good to be nervous. Aiolos says, as he lifts a paw to press it to Kivaluk's rose-grey shoulder. It means that you care. 

After a moment he rest his paw back down, looking to Kivaluk with a gaze of hopefulness, acceptance. He had thought to have a conversation like this with he and Kukutux first son, but it seems it was meant for Kivaluk instead. 

I think the most important thing is that you are there for her, always. Even if you dont know what to say or two do. It is that you are there.

of course i care. kivaluk says quietly, mostly to himself than to the sunking. even when he'd first expressed his desire to be husband, many moons ago before he'd even turned a full year of age, he had never imagined chickadee. or that someone like her would love him. but here she was! his sun and his moon and his stars. his very heart beating firm in his chest!

i want to be the best husband i can be to her, and the best father to our children. w-when we have them, of course. and those titles meant more to him than anything. more, even, than first hunter.

kivaluk takes a soft breath. sounds easy enough. he murmurs to the sunking's advice, even if he remembers bits and pieces of the rifts that tore his parents and family apart as a child.

Husband. Father. Many men would think them to be mundane titles. Especially so when there was a whole world out there! Why remain settled and confided to a den space with screaming pups when you could be climbing the heights of great mountains, going on expansive hunts, riding the tides of the sea...

Aiolos had done all these things yet he had never been more happy then being here in his little village (though little no more) at @Kukutux side. He could only hope that this way of living might instill in some of his own children, though he knew it would not be the way for all. Stratos, Callyope and Kausiut, all came and went. 

You would think... Aiolos murmurs, his mouth tightening into a line. But I've witnessed too many men walking out on their wives. Some intentional, some not. Shikoba's mate, Lote's, Vairë and Kivaluk's own mother. Even Aiolos and Kukutux son, Stratos, had wandered off and left behind the one he thought to wed- Chickadee her very self. Maybe the brokenness of what Kivaluk's father had caused would keep him on his toes, to remember how it had deeply effected him growing up.

i am so sorry for the delayed response in this! <3

thickly, kivaluk swallows, trying not to take aiolos' words personally. he doesn't think the sunking necessarily means it like that, but all the same he can't help but be a little insulted by them. they smart against his flesh, burrowing in his heart.

i know. he had witnessed both his parents leaving him, leaving each other. and even now, when he is well grown and facing becoming a father himself, it still leaves its scar upon him.

it was his own personal template for what not to do.

the only thing that will take me from chickadee and our children would be death itself. he says this with a bit more bite than he means but he means what he says all the same. i've been left. and there is no force on this earth while i draw breath that would make me put my wife or my children through that.

It's quite alright!

'I know.' 

Words which speak sharp and certain. It was these words which equally meant that should he wander off, Aiolos would be left with the certainty that Kivaluk had indeed, died. The customs of the Moon tribes were clear and should he return, would be thought if as an evil spirit. Either way, he would be dead to them all.

Kivaluk had but one life to live and one chance to live it. 

I'm glad for it. The Sunman then speaks, lifting a red paw to place it on Kivaluk's shoulder.

there is a weight to kivaluk's words; to the vow he makes, which would tie it to the vow he makes chickadee. but he couldn't accept or imagine anything that would take him from chickadee or their future children. the idea of putting them thru what he went through made him physically ill; souring his stomach and leaving a bitter, acrid taste in his mouth.

i should get back to chickadee. kivaluk drawls on a breath.
thanks aiolos. kivaluk offers the sunking a gentle bump of his muzzle to his chin before parting ways.