Ouroboros Spine weep for me, for I have no tears left

she had not planned on taking another husband, nor probably bringing another litter into this world after the troubles with her first. she could not bare the sight of more stillborn from her womb. even more so, she had planned on having her bride price paid, as something to prove inutsuk was the hunter shikoba expected him to be. she had talked to moon woman about this. "mojag never saw inutsuk as tataa," she says to him, settling to speak, "he disappeared sometime after you." she can feel her heart twisting itself but she manages to keep her words calm and straightforward.

it was true, mojag had never truly gotten too close to inutsuk. a few interactions when he was young, of course. but as mojag aged, inutsuk was not present for such milestones. not for his first hunt or anything of the sort. shikoba has raised him by herself, and it has been the family of the spine who has stepped in in replacement of the father. both sun man and rodyn have been part of mojag's life consistently, if not from the beginning but during the critical times of his development. that was something inutsuk would never be able to get back.

she turns her head away from him, lips pulled up in a pained expression. mojag had calmed her when she had meant to speak to him about the disappearance of inutsuk. her son was more of a protector than her husband. and for a moment, shikoba snaps. "I tried to help," she says through gritted teeth, "but inutsuk always pushed me away." she remembered the day that she asked about names, and the cold shoulder her husband had offered. 

she turns to face him, tears burning her skin as they are caught within her tufts of fur. "How do I trust you again? To stay here with Moonglow? With ME?" shikoba cries out, frustrated in so many ways yet still holding onto the hurt she has tried so hard to bury.