Ocean's Breath Plateau make a man outta you

With the arrival of @Dutch and his party of people, Raiyuk felt the crowded nature of his father's lodge more and more. It hadn't been such a big deal until one evening, when he tried to approach the dark girl Sulukinak to try and sort-out a different arrangement, and she only responded with a flash of teeth which had startled him. The girl had run, and now that morning had come Raiyuk felt terrible about things.

He decided it was high time to find a place for himself, that would solve everything.

Rather than approach @Chakliux while he was preoccupied, Raiyuk slipped away from the lodge to do his usual routine and kept to himself for the bulk of the afternoon; it wasn't until the early evening that Raiyuk began his hunt in earnest for a place to build.

It would have to be close, he thought. It wouldn't need as many rooms though, because he did not have a wife and he did not need a place to prepare hides or meals; it would be his own space for sleep and for... well, he wasn't entirely sure what else. So Raiyuk would spend his time prowling for a good location, while also listening for any summons from his family if they should need him.

chakliux had his own vision of what the beginning to their many lodges might look like.
but raiyuk was a man. he was not a boy who could be ordered. and so it was with a man's respect that the seal hunter approached, eyes flickering with approval over the scars healing into the vaunted black marks.
he carried three light, wide curls of birchbark and two thin, long branches he had stripped of all leaves. these things he set down casually where he thought his son's lodge should break ground.
it was not a show of dominance, either way he only laughed out, and joked, "it is better if you do not bring a wife, raiyuk! that way we can help you build if you must take a rest now and then." he, of course, was asking if his son meant to pursue this path rather than that of a trader or traveller, and of course he was asking further if this woman might be @Seal. but there was a second part to this, and it was why he chose his words with care.
the building of a lodge was a loud and public thing. the building of a first-lodge was often sacred, private. chakliux had brought materials he hoped his son would incorporate into his own creation, but neither they nor the offer of help needed acceptance.
raiyuk was a man and he would do as he felt was logical. the seal hunter stood for a moment, facing the sea and thundering with so much pride he could not speak.

His father appeared, which would have usually been a good thing to Raiyuk. He was glad to see him of course, but he thought Chakliux had more important things to be working on; and he himself was a man now, was he not? Why would he need his father's help in this? Did he not have trust? He knew it was unfair to think this; it came and it went, and he smiled, and he accepted the gifts as they were placed.

He saw where Chakliux had placed his offerings and saw the goodness there: the elder trees, their good roots, the solid earth. It wasn't too far from the original lodge if he started here. It was good, all things considered.

Thank you, he answered with that smile and an accepting nod. He took some of the materials and began to separate them, organize them in to piles as he began to conceptualize what lay ahead. It had been good that Raiyuk had worked so hard upon his father's lodge, he knew now what was necessary.

The sound of splitting wood broke the stillness. Around it Raiyuk says, I will not bring a wife. I think it will be best for me to learn to be a man first, and to be alone. Or at least, to have my space. He would miss sharing the lodge of his father, but he could at least make his lodge spacious enough for Taggak to visit or anyone else.

it was odd, to be looking into a man's face, to think of how the sons inside the lodge would one day grow into men of their own, with their own scars and their own aims. he was considering these things as his arms flexed against the need to walk over, to help raiyuk begin his own space.
that his son would not seek a wife did not surprise chakliux. many boys were not yet to an age of interest in women even after they received their scars, and moontide was not a village filled with many beckoning girls who might rouse raiyuk's intrigue.
he felt almost useless as his son gathered the things he had brought; chakliux stood.
"i would like —" but he must no longer order his son as a boy!
"it would be good to hunt with the other moon villages in the summer."
by which he asked if raiyuk would help to lead this thing.
there was nothing else to say! he stood then, slowly, reluctantly.

His father listened, and then when he began to speak Raiyuk heard the familiar tone of authority in Chakliux' voice and spared him a look; it was not something negative, only an awareness, an alert quality inherent to children accustomed to listening rather than sharing their own opinions. He was quick to correct himself which Raiyuk also noticed.

Chakliux spoke of a hunt in the summer months; it felt like such a long way away, and Raiyuk was interested, but clearly he was focused on his work right now. He moved to shift some things around or to dig, or to organize, but he was listening and his ears were trained upon his father.

A summer hunt. I will keep that in mind. He smiles as he works, his shoulders tense as he pulls at one thing or another. It would be good to see everyone. Raiyuk thought of the other villages through flashes of memory, as he imagined the bison hunt, and seemed a little distracted by it.

well. there was nothing more to be said. he did not want to continue distracting raiyuk. chakliux could see that his son was busy, and was proud for it, but felt so distant suddenly that he did not know what to do.
he wanted to hug raiyuk.
he wanted to offer a hunt.
"i will be close," chakliux said instead; with a nod and a smile he turned before he saw whether or not his son acknowledged his words, and went back to the lodge.
would it be this way again, each time and many times over?