Ocean's Breath Plateau oil father

mostly for reference!! anyone can reply w one post <3

wet snow.
the wind rimed ice over the top of the water, upon the outside walls of the lodge. one morning the seal hunter awoke, and tasted this, and knew that the day for @Raiyuk had come.
he found @Tullik and @Marina, kissing each of them before he told his wives that he would now take the boys far east to where he knew the sea ice could be found.
seven days once they had reached it.
@Matteo was encouraged next. he sent the boys with fresh hunting to @Heph, @Rodyn, @Panuk, @Towhee, and @Phox. he visited @Iseul and @Aleysa and @Raindrop with his own kills, not forgetting @Iiana in this.
small gifts of meat for those who stood in moontide.
he offered salmon fat to the death ulaq.
i will come back.
the lodge was stocked with stored roots, drying fish, what remained of their caribou-share, pieces of frozen fat, good pelts, and what they did not have they could trade to have.
the boys would carry small packs, he decided, but not so much. hunting could be done along the way.
"wa-how!" whooped the seal hunter as moontide grew small behind he and his sons. "we go to meet with the spirits of the long dark."
only once did chakliux turn his head in longing, but then raiyuk gathered his gaze and he went on, spending the next hours teaching the young wolves a seal hunting chant that had been first sung by waking shark.

The time had finally come for Raiyuk to embark on this quest to become a man, and he was eager for it. His hip was healed, his lodge brother and his father were with him. He was ready.

As the last of the preparations were made, the boy was resolute and increasingly serious about every matter. He wanted it all to go perfectly. He wanted to prove himself and to make his father proud and to show he could be strong, a good future brother to those that would arrive in the spring. He thought of the seal hunt and also of Seal, and how she might see his scars and finally witness these strengths and these changes.

He took the pack of supplies and readied more things among them, then walked with his father, and let his tail wave when he heard the man hoot and holler; but he did not show exuberance, only that serious mein.

The day had creeped up quicker than Matteo had expected. He delivered the meat as instructed, before hunting down @Iseul and giving her a tight embrace. They would be back soon, he promised. Then he readied himself and his pack and bumped shoulders with Raiyuk in an encouraging manner - and they were off!

Despite the excitement, his mind cycled through scenario after scenario where things could go wrong. Suppose Raiyuk failed his hunt. Maybe the sea would prove to be too cold, or the seal too strong. But he trusted his father's judgement and his brother's readiness. Matteo doubted it would come to it, but he was more than prepared to step in should things go south.

He smoothed his worries behind an exuberant laugh as he trotted side by side with the others. Part of him would miss their boyhood, but he reminded himself quickly that Raiyuk was growing up and so was he. When they returned, his brother would no longer be a boy, but a man.

iiana hadn't expected the gift, so her eyes had shone a brilliant gold when they set upon the gift that the young boys gave her. thank you. she'd said, so warm it felt as if the winter turned to fall momentarily.

they were on a long journey now, she remembered as she watched the trio disappear over the horizon. same, but different, to her own journey of self-growth. every wolf has one, just in their own flavor that makes them unique.

but who was she to think so deeply about these things, she had food to chow down!

Heph received the gift surprised, a custom she had not anticipated but she took it with a smile. "Go with grace." She spoke, she would not wish them luck that they would not need, nor did she want them to think she doubted them in any way during this important step. For awhile she would watch them go, hearing perhaps an echo of Chakliux's call in the distance before returning to her day. In time she would wish for a safe return.