Ouroboros Spine aliitchuk ⌖

open to all!

welcome, lovelies ≢

 

moonwoman carried a bundle of skins up from the lake. she had staked them there with stones for scraping, and now bore them back to the ulax to further strip and cure.

a sharp pain jarred through kukutux. she dropped her bundle; it fell to the ground. breathing now, eyes fixed onto the earth. it was time. she did not call for anyone; the duck took gentle steps, inhaling each time. but as she grew close, she called softly for @Aiolos, @Sialuk, for @Samani, for @Shikoba, for Lótë (@Wilwarin).

their children would be welcomed in the ulaq if they wished. birth was a portion of the cycle shared between all living things. the pain came again, and more harshly this time. moonwoman felt her throat tighten with a low grunt.

she did not bed down, not yet. kukutux began to pace, seeking the support of one wolf or another. the anguish grew harsher and moreso; time began to blur and to wind into a twisting maze. but her body remembered these steps, and so the duck remained afloat the black river of pain rather than sinking beneath it.

eventually she did seek the shelter of the den, curling herself against the furs as she closed her eyes and panted.

this birth is different, daughter.

the spirits of your husband's world have come to stand close.

they have brought with them salt and words from the ocean.

kukutux gave a strangled cry. the walls of the ulaq seemed to close upon her, and then it seemed as if they had opened, falling away to show her the expanse of land around the spine. snow melted. patches of green filled the world.

i have not yet walked here before.

her body contracted; she caught her breath in a long and low wail, and brought @@Callyope to first breath above the dark surface. light splintered the air and kukutux found herself anaa again, lowering muzzle to clean the daughter and bring her close. she bore her mother's pale coat, but there was a promise of hues to come.

@Ariadne followed in close succession, almost as if she could not be kept far from her sister. her coloration was similar save for markings like the inner wood of a coastal tree. if eyes looked upon her now, moonwoman was unaware. she gazed at the two little ones which had sprung from her body, and believed that this was the end of her travails.

twice she had borne two.

but this time her body moved again, and kukutux looked away from her daughters in surprise. the sea roiled and she parted her jaws for breath, arching against the furs of the sleeping place. but just as the agony heightened, vibrating into the very arch of her pelvis, a third child moved into the loving welcome of moonglow.

sun man had given moonwoman his spirit, and this child, @Stratos, carried this in his pelt, which already was the fierce color of sunset. a son. she placed him alongside ariadne and embraced them all for a moment. kukutux was wrung out, drained of energy, but delight limned every inch of her frame as she softly kissed each of the downy heads.