Ouroboros Spine sleet

for @Adrian! ill post kuku after him! <3 backdated to nov 11

firegirl brought grey man with the lake eyes to village moonglow.

singing rose from beside the lake; birdsong was sweet in the air, which hung itself with a tasting of frost.

of snow to come.

akmaaksi moved along the well-worn path past the three oaks and toward the ulax where surely grandmother waited, her shrewd green eyes always alight in a way the girl did not like.

She led him to a ring of mountains, of ancient forest encased by walls of earth and stone. It was another world, sprawling in the golden rays of the late autumn sun. 

It was as though the winged choirs had prepared for his entrance - prepared, perhaps, for every entrance made by outsiders like him. The birds lifted their voices and seemed to guide him deeper through the reaches of this land, as though having conspired of it with his flame touched guide.

So distracted, Adrien didn't notice the tell tale signs of the den until firegirl stopped, and he breathed in the chill air to catch the warmth of others on his tongue.

He blinked at the shadows, excitement rippling through him.

<33 Thanks for starting!

when kukutux emerged, it was with surprise. "aya! akmaaksi, who is this?" but her face was alit with smiling; she looked closely at the dove-grey man and then toward her granddaughter.

"i am kukutux, moonwoman of village moonglow. has akmaaksi brought you here for some reason?" kukutux inquired with clear interest, and perhaps some trepidation.

much had gone on.

her springjade eyes waited.

akmaaksi is skippable! <3

grey walker seemed pleased to be here in a way akmaaksi had never felt.

she put aside her fox and looked toward the man adrian, shaking her head once toward grandmother's worry. whatever the wanderer wished to know could be gotten here, she felt.

hawk's-eyes blinked as she moved back and aside, beginning to skin the vulpine with plucks of fur wafting into cold air.

The welcome in the elder's eyes disarmed him and if he'd had any reservations in following the girl here, he felt it dissipate like dew. Her first words lifted in a language he couldn't understand, but when he tipped his ears, he found she had shifted to a common tongue.

Moonglow, he breathed.

Relief washed through him, and he shook his head alongside Akmaaksi - what a curious name! - to soothe the worry rimming Kukutux's eyes.

For nothing more than curiosity, Adrian admitted. Perhaps she might think it strange he would follow a stranger so deep into packland all to satiate his need to know. Or, he reasoned, perhaps she will admire my courage!

My name is Adrian Alban, he said with a low bow. If only he had a title like moonwoman's! His lone nature hung across his shoulders for every wolf to see without needing to name himself a wanderer. I dispersed from the north in search of a new life, my own life, he shared freely. Delight sparked in his eyes, and he spike, hushed and emphatic. I was admiring the woods not far from here when Akmaaksi found me - she is a very good hunter, by the way, I watched her catch her fox! - anyway, I'm sorry, I'm losing track of myself - you get a little lonely in conversation when you've been on your own - but ah, here I was, simply curious after the wolves who lived here, and Akmaaksi was there and now has brought me here. To you.

He took in a breath. What is Moonglow? Who are you?

Adrain wondered what she might think of this. Would she would chase him off or entertain his wonder?

He hoped for the latter.

adrian alban. kukutux enjoyed how the sounds flowed together, and her eyes grew more interested the longer he spoke. he was a man who sought a life, a young hunter with his own gaze glowing in great vitality.

small worn teeth shone whitely at his smile, his loquacious being; he had a storyteller's heart, she felt.

"akmaaksi. bring the salmon which we set out to dry at the beginning of autumn. and the sea urchins," kukutux clucked.

in obedience her granddaughter moved, and soon a wide strip of birchbark was set with these foods. 

the duck added a chunk of deer fat from the latest hide now soaking within anik lake, and pushed these all before adrian.


"i am kukutux. i am moonwoman. moonglow is my home. my daughters have claimed moonspear, moontide, and moonsong, though Sedna has seen right to take two of them." a hurt there, a pain covered by a laugh. "you see? many words of moon. it is in our name, nuiruk."

a strip of salmon, savored. "we are hunters and spirit talkers and warriors. akmaaksi is daughter to ariadne, who held moonsong."

kukutux did not see her granddaughter's face contort, for swiftly the fox-killer turned away, back to her skinning.

Hospitality warmed the air about him,  presented as exotic food and ornate displays.

His eyes widened at the assortment of delicacies he tasted and never tried. Both generosity and wealth expressed through one thoughtful gesture.

Why - thank you! It was hard to choose what to sample first, but his claws finally landed on the salmon, wetting his palate with something familiar before venturing to the unknown. Happy eyes danced to moonwoman and her daughter, visibly pleased when the elder Kukutux took a sample of salmon herself. A meal shared was better company than one eaten all alone.

And how often, had he eaten all alone!

He listened as Moonwoman spoke, chewing thoughtfully at each detail she revealed. Many more stories lay wrapped up in her words. Tales of grief, and of pleasure. When her eyes pricked, he saw, for a moment, the face of another - a woman, weeping for her husband, of children fallen ill. And for a moment, the salmon felt dry as it slid down his throat. A Kukutux laughed, he raised his paw to his mouth and choked out one of his own. Sympathy, empathy, and guilt mixed together.

Though she left many blanks, he pieced together what she had given, and the way her granddaughter turned away when Kukutux mentioned Moonsong's helm.

Ariadne must have been one who this Sedna had claimed. His heart reached out for her. Didn't he know what it was to lose a parent.

It is hard to fathom a village that reaches so far. We hardly saw such strength in the village I was born. We, too, suffered loss...

Adrian splayed his ears, uncertain of he wished to tell much more. Uncertain, if he needed to. I... know what it is. To lose family.

The rest, she didn't need to know.

Who is Sedna? he asked, eager to move away from grief, but wanting, still, to linger. It did not sound like the name of an enemy, not in the way Moonwoman spoke of her. He pulled an urchin from the birch wood this time, and waited for her to speak before he took a bite.