Ouroboros Spine sikkuktuk ⊮

sorry i didnt start this before <3

firemother.

kukutux felt her breath mingle with the icy wind that had once shivered crimson leaves.

she thought of akmaaksi and tautukpik, gone; and her heart was hardened against kigipigak.

it was @Arrluk she sought now, steps heavy in the falling snow.

Firemother was a beautiful tree. Even along the outskirts of the territory, it's great size stood out among all others and he would often look to it while fishing along the river side. 

This day, he had actually decided to travel to the other side of the river, so that he might sit under the great tree as snow fluttered around him. 

With the fresh snows, he didn't quite catch sight of his mother at first, having blended in. It was her crunching footsteps which perked him to attention. 

Anaa, It is good to see you.

"it is good to see your face." for a long moment she only held arrluk, marveling at his height. it seemed only some eye blinks of time had passed since he was a boy child, and now he stood before her, a hunter in his own right.

and, she hoped, a taataa in the year to come.

"what fills your mind?" kukutux asked, sidling beside her son as soft flakes of snow floated down around he and she.

Yours too. He says with heavy breath, his head drapped over the little woman's shoulder. Once, he had been dancing around her ankles. Now, he couldn't possibly, though she may under his own! 

Many things, some more now that I have returned here... Warm breath stirring in front of his face, he looks out to the heart of their home. I wonder where my brothers have gone. If they have made settlements of their own. I wonder of Galana and if she is safe. He didnt think of Sakhmet. He barely remembered her in the earlier moments when he suckled against her, for however briefly. 

I think of all my nieces and nephews, without their mothers... I cant imagine such a grief. I could never drean to fill the void. They were young, impressionable. Did it hurt less for them? Would it be any easier on Arrluk, when the woman at his side died, even if she had lived a full life? 

I also think of the future. How Sialuk remains a strong leader, how Callyope builds. How Vairë will stand as Moonwoman one day at your side. And after. Two sisters dead but five of them creators of their own village before then. Maybe one day he would have daughters so accomplished.

Spring. Another thing on his mind though one which he did not know quite how to mention to his mother.

arrluk had much upon his mind, and gently his mother took these things into her consideration. they would share the sound between them. galana — a breath drawn told her orca-son that she too thought of the girl and of the daughters lost.

there were many hopes placed upon arrluk's proud head. kukutux did not say them aloud.

there were many others for ajei.

the children who had lost their mothers filled her heart with keening grief. "i do not want kigipigak here, son of mine. he is no longer welcome." his costs were too great, and now a granddaughter who might once have built had been too shaken to stay.

kukutux reached out to the unknowable horizon.

"there is much pain. but there is the hope of beautiful things, arrluk," and with a smile here she paused, wondering if he might take up the vague strand of metaphoric sinew and bind it into a point.

His mother's breath catches. Arrluk's worries were his mother's worries and vice-versa. Then she spoke of the wolf who had been a burden to them and Arrluk nods, understanding what he must do if he were to see the man @Kigipigak again. 

Balance. He says to his mother's ending words. The world was not always kind, yet the world was not always so cruel. There must always be balance. There must always be a beginning and end. Samani's spirit had shown him this. Akhlut had spoken to his heart of this. Arrluk would always go on, so long as he had someone to go on for. 

They both spoke of the future, now Arrluk questions the past. When you and dad met, did you always know you were meant to be together? Had it been fireworks and sunshine at the very start? Or had their bonds been sealed, their love built with sturdy foundation first? 

When I think of Ajei, I know I will always have the will to keep going so long as she is by my side. Arrluk had meant @Ajei when he had turned two months old and now he was nearly two years. There was love that was wild and dangerous. Exciting and igniting like fire. A complete and unhealthy engulfing of themselves. He saw the flames in Samani's eyes. 

Arrluk felt such a warmth when he was by Ajei, but, it was different. It was one of coziness and calm. Comfort, endless and unspeakable trust. Of course, as children growing up together, there lacked the sudden hunger at the first sight of one another, but did that mean he did not love her? Maybe he didnt realize such a moment of knowing, because he always had.

it had now been said, and kukutux was filled with relief to hear it. "i do not think she will leave your side, my son. and I have the thought that it is time you asked her to be wife."

ajei deserved the formality of their sunshine ways. shikoba too must be pleased in spirit. kukutux searched thoughtfully the face of her boy, not a child any longer. not for many turns of the moon had arrluk been little, but still she saw a glimpse of the youthful hope in his determined eyes.

"when i made my first meeting with your taataa, i was round with sialuk and her brother. my husband was an ostrega-man. your father was kind to me. each time that i spoke to aiolos, i learned more of his heart." she shut her eyes, remembering. "and when the star fell and i was brought here, it was he who found me and gave me his love. i still held grieving. your taataa stood beside me and one day, the tears stopped and all that remained was love for the man who brought sunlight to chase away the winter of my spirit."

Arrluk knew he would not need to tell his mother how he felt about Ajei. How his feelings towards her had both grown and distorted as he aged from child, to teenager, to young man. His mother was a woman of great wisdom and there seemed very little which could slip past her attention. He need not try to find the words, for she would always have them. She had done well to fill in the blanks for his father for so long, after all! 

Arrluk listens to the story of his mother and father. How when they first met, they did not long for one another. Mother was pregnant by Sialuk's father. And unknowingly yet, Aiolos eyes had been on a foreign Jiāng woman. Disaster came for them and they found comfort and strength in one another. When the dust settled, love had bloomed. Arrluk thought of Shikoba. Then he thought of his elder sisters. He could only dream that he and Ajei could be half of what Moonwoman and Sunman were. 

I will ask her. But what to say? How to say it? He was never a man of great words, great speeches. He would not turn heads with his voice, not like his mother. And I ask to fullfill a bride-price, if it is her want. I know this was not her mother's custom, but she is Sunshine people too. And officially, hopefully, should she accept him. Just let me know what I should do, anaa, and it will be done.

it will be done.

"i will speak with her," she said aloud to her son. "it will be a good thing for moonglow and for those who stand."

quietly she considered that ajei must have other ways, and she meant to learn them, to bind the daughter of shikoba in a way that would bring pride to her mother's spirit.

her arms went to arrluk suddenly; her son! her son this man who had suddenly grown up before her eyes, in what felt so small a time.