Ouroboros Spine phases

Tarot draw: VIII Cups, Page of Wands, The Hermit
No need to match length!

Seven days.

Today was day six.

Sialuk looked upon the spear longer now that she had in the six days since it had fallen. No black blood kin of hers returned from the mountain. No Jarilo. No Saviguk. Tomorrow would be the last day Sialuk would speak their names if they did not return. The last day before she and anaa sang the death songs. She tried not to think of it, but the thoughts bore into her mind.

The raindrop returned to the spot where she had buried the chips of wood in the snow. Digging until she found them, she pulled them out and piled them nearby. They were not as delicate as the bones, but she also did not feel as close to them. Sialuk rested her eyes on the chips, trying to bring the same meditative mindset as she had with the bones.

She closed her eyes and brought the images of her father and brother to her mind. Anaa likely would not have approved. Speaking to spirits that may or may not have gone to the dancing lights felt taboo, but Sialuk craved answers. With a paw, she swept at the chips, sending them skittering across the top sheet of hardened snow.

There, she read them. It took longer than it would have with the bones, and it required a great deal more concentration and detangling of what they meant to say.

The first meaning she found was strength. The second meaning was that of change and the future, specifically her part to take in this. The last meaning was an echo of the second, changing the course of ones destiny.

As usual, the cards did not give her the answer she wished, but they did give her the answer she needed. If taataa and brataa did not return tomorrow, she and anaa would make a new life for themselves. Their strength would pull them through, and with these changes, they would create their own destiny.