Ouroboros Spine Working along

For @Faele

Kyrell was quiet within Moonglow. Doing as he asked and simply observing the moon wolves when off the clock. The trip with Valiant and Ciri was swift and soon enough he was back within the spine. Watching the world here move by. It many ways it was like a beehive. Truly, there was always something to do.

The woodsman dedicated much of his spare time exploring the spine and admiring the moon wolves' craft. Novice as he was with preserving skin and pelt, he still managed to alienate himself mentally from the pack he had joined. In his mind, he did not stand there as a packmember but a long term guest.

Today he sat by the lake. The lap of the waves filling his ears as he basked in the warm daylight.

She liked this little world. And though now her window was becoming shorter, and shorter, that was okay. There was another year. Another time, if she could fly high enough to reach then. Even if, and she hoped very dearly that she was not, that she was rotten by then. The women would discover her often damp from bathing late in the night, and rolled in wildflower petals.

Maybe it would be how she scared the hearthwood boy in a whisper, or how she appeared out of nowhere in what must've been pixie dust, that changed his day. Behind him, she sat with a tapping tail and a smile etched across her face. "Are you enjoying your time here? The water is always so clear. I love to look through it and watch the fish chip away at the hide. Its a lovely art." Embarrassed, she imagined her sisters, and how  they would despise her for admitting such a silly detail. Well, Faele supposed it was very silly, and yet she loved it all the same.

Light glinted off tagged ears as they swiveled to the source of the quiet, little voice. Head craned over his shoulder, the mousey girl would be greeted with a smile. His tail hit the ground besides him in invitation. He only offers a thoughtful hum to her first question. He himself was still deciding how he felt of it all.

It felt different. There was life in Moonglow that did not exist in Hearthwood. Well, perhaps it was lively to start and just changed before his eyes. He could hear the chatter. He could see the movement of the community and was able to follow trails that were well-maintained. It was already established after all. A grace the little willow pack was not granted. The activity in Hearthwood was out of necessity. He was needed to work hard. It was different here. He wasn't needed in the same way.

Was that better? Still undecided, he listened to her soft comment about the water creatures.

Fish, huh? A lazy swipe of his tongue crossed his teeth as he leaned over the waters edge, peering into the clear water. Sure enough, small fish swam back and forth. Those caught in his shadow darted away to safety. Despite the timid creatures moving out of sight, Kyrell was nonetheless impressed by the ingenuity of it all. He settled back with a low whistle. So that's the secret.

Have you been helping with the work here? I often see wolves by the lake in passing.

Gladly, Faele joined him! She kept her tail to herself so she did not touch him on accident with a bushy tail tickle. Often times, she was sure that she had forgotten how to speak until her mouth started to move. Then, it would not stop, and she could go on for absolute hours. Even now, she felt as if she could talk for hours, but she was far more invested in listening to the man speak. He was curious to know how it worked, and Faele had been around in moonglow long enough to had learned a secret or two in their crafts.

His whistle made her laugh. "Yes. I hear the village people speak of it when they come to put out their hides. I have not had the chance to help." The tips of her ears ran a soft red. Embarrassed, because she didn't..know how to ask about it.

"I don't think I'd be very good at it. I..clean. I like cleaning! But I love watching the others work away."

Her voice gained some in volume. Still soft, but it did not seem as she hid it away from him as much anymore. A playful gleam danced within his eyes as the emerald gaze returned to her. If you're good at cleaning I'm sure you'd do well working away at a hide. He playfully nipped at a soft, surprisingly warm, ear. Pulling his legs to his body as he assumed a crouch. Tail twitching behind him.

Oh—don't tell me— are you perhaps scared of the little fish? Don't want to get your feet wet if they're there to nibble your toes? His tone was teasing, but he made sure to give the shy girl a bright smile. It was all in jest.

Pulling himself to his feet, he stepped into the shallows. Sand stirring underfoot and scales flashed as fish darted away. He glanced towards the hides left further down the shore line and opted to move away. He wasn't keen on ruining a good thing. Not again.

He glanced back to Faele, tail wagging low. Coming for a water walk?

Nipped! An attack! A most awful, terrible attack upon her ear! Never fear, if the toymaker man had any intention of keeping her alive, he had certainly killed her just now. Faele was certain she died somewhere along the way in the onslaughts of heat across a warm touched face. She smiled very sheepishly, ear flipping in his direction, pressing down firmly into the bedding of her cotton coat, before slowly peaking again. A laugh trickled down the edge of her lips and into the river, before catching his emerald eyes between a taupe star mark.

"Well, I- No, I don't think I am scared of the fishes." A bubbly smile threaded daintily as she tucked her muzzle to her chest, Faele knew she couldn't reveal her terrible secret to him! A most awful one, really, and he was a damned man when he walked out into the shallows. She was scared of the fish! Oh, but how exciting anyways? Another quieted laugh. "Okay!"

So..daring! The first step of her paw into the water felt frigid. So chilly, just enough to garner a reaction of her breath and hesitancy. The top of the stream felt silky along her wrists! It felt nice, in a ticklish kind of way. The red of the mans pads and the dark of his feet disappeared into the stream.

"I don't think I've ever gone on a water walk before. It feels nice. Do your paws tickle?" For not, she certainly wasn't opposed to it now that she was in.

Oh dear! He had chased the poor thing back into her shell. There is a skip in his heart as he waited apprehensively for her to recover. And recover she did! He beams to her as she timidly wades out into the water to join him. He is earnest with his encouragement. Just keep coming in, your body will adjust and the water will feel warmer. He shuffles a little further into the lake to accentuate his point, water lapped halfway up his forearms. The tip of his tail trailed along the surface, making a shallow wake as he moved. He began to guide their walk along the edge of the lake.

Ticklish? He considered her question sincerely, Not really. The sand is soft and the water is cool on a hot day. I think it's nice. He offered her a shrug and continued, It's certainly easier than wading through a marsh. You never know how deep the mud is until you step into it.

His eyes lazily trailed from the rippling water and the light that danced atop each crest. You've never just took a walk along a lake before?

Despite knowing better, he considered lakeside adventures to be a universal experience. His mind drifted to long gone summer days of diving into clear water with his siblings and splashing after desperate frogs. He kept a level eye on how high the water reached along her body, keenly aware that she was much shorter than him. Have you been taught how to swim before?

“Never.” Wolves did this? Perhaps it was for men only! That or, well, she had just not done so because she had not thought to do so.

“A marsh?” Then, Faele wondered with utmost intensity what it would be like to tread through the thick of a marsh. It felt.. Strange! And foul, maybe, in the strangest of ways, because she had never been through such a thing. Maybe Kyrell had been born in a marsh, and that was where he’d gotten his colors from. Of course, she knew the silliness of thinking such a thing, it was enough to get the quietest laugh from her and a curve on her lips.

“I’ve never..” The deeper in the water they went, the colder it got. The fur touched the guard hairs on her chest, and the cloud woman had her head there for a moment while she tried to rush through her memories. Swimming? “Why, no, I don’t think I have been tak-taken swimming before. What’s it like? You seem like you would be very good at it.” There were many skills that mother taught her. Like, the best way to clean her flank, and the best way to plate a deer after it’d been skinned! “My mother would’ve never let me swim!”

Not once did she believe that she would warm up and adjust, but now she noticed that she forgot she had been chilly at all. If only she could say the ticklish sensation had gone away with it, but the longer she was able to speak, the longer that the tickling didn’t feel to tickly. “I think I like ‘water-walks’.”

Never? He parroted the word from her statement thoughtlessly. A frown pulling at the corners of his mouth. Never swam before, as in, not ever? Did your mom not like having a bunch of wet pups in her den or something?

He scolded himself. He really shouldn't have been surprised. Faele just said she hadn't even walked in the shallows of a lake before. He was listening to her, wasn't he? Nonetheless there was a knee-jerk reaction at the notion. He would want to take his pups swimming, even if they were miserable about it. Anything to reduce the likelihood that they would drown. It didn't take a lot of water to do so.

He turned to meet her gaze, frown easing as she expressed her enjoyment of their little venture. He kept his internal commentary on the matter to himself. Best not to scare the poor thing right on out of the lake, never to stick a single toe in again.

I'm happy to hear that. Maybe one of these days I can teach you how to swim, if you'll let me.

"Well, yes!" Wide eyed, she nodded. Of course, she was sure her brothers knew how to do all of those things. Swimming, being fierce hunters, and dabbling in knowledge that surely would not fit right in her head. "My brothers learned many of those things. We were so busy, my sisters and I, doing oth-other things."

There she went off again, running her mouth. Talking about things he likely did not care about, but she just kept going! The girls cheeks and ears were all sorts of hot, hot, hot, simply because it was horribly embarrassing. It was also quite silly, too.

"I've washed off before-" for whatever reason she felt the need to say that in the moment, it made her feel sort of stunned. Of course she washed off. Oh! Oh! "Often." Oh no! Oh no! No more talking, Faele! If he thought she wasn't dirty before, her mentioning of it certainly made him question it now. Oh no! Oh no! She smiled gently. "But I guess it never occurred to me to swim, or try."

Behind her, her tail thumped splashes in the water, fast. Swimming? Her? "It sounds rather exciting. I think I would love that. L-lots!"

There is a tug at his brow as she explained that the time had been taken to teach her brothers. It finally dawned on him that they experienced very different upbringings. Experiences and skills that he considered of value did not appear to be important to other families—so it seemed. Perhaps the notion of such skills being cherry-picked and distributed unfairly bothered him more.

He thought back to his own puphood. His sisters were right there in the water with him, weren't they? What was Faele learning that they may not have? His head canted as he looked beyond his mousey companion. Eyes unfocused as he made to dive within his own memories. Of course, as he did so the static that droned in the recesses of his mind grew louder. Oh. It had been a while since he thought about it. He had forgotten that he didn't like to recall it. His mother, his brothers, his sisters, his father. All there.

No. He didn't want to think to hard about it. Not now.

Oh, Faele wanted him to teach her how to swim.

Emerald eyes lowered met hazel once more, the corners crinkling. He didn't need to think of that right now.

Her tail splashed against the water's surface. There is delight in his eyes as he backed up deeper into the water, lowering himself until the water spilled over his shoulders.

I'd be happy to teach you. But first, he lifted his forepaws off the lakebed, spreading his arms just beneath the surface, you need to get used to getting wet! Kyrell surged forward, arms skimming across the water to splash a wave in her direction.