Ouroboros Spine turtle was asleep in the tall grass

It had felt as if life went on without him. He was here, of course; Mojag did not stray far from @Shikoba when she needed him, as he was dedicated to his mother in a way that dwarfed his attention to all others of the Spine. He did his best to be attentive towards @Inutsuk, although he was rarely alone with the man, and could not often find words to share with him - but he was as friendly as he could manage, and often busy. There was a time that Mojag would have sought out @Chakliux for stories from a hunter's mouth; but those days ceased the moment the man was sent away from the village, leaving Mojag a touch bereft. He felt detached from everyone else, and grew to miss his would-be mentor greatly. Perhaps it was this change which began his withdrawal.

Knowing, too, that his birthday had come and gone sometime during the passage in to spring, he had the inclination that some part of him was indeed missing. If it was the hunter's spirit (in the form of his friendship with Chakliux), if it was something more paternal (which had been missing for far longer), or something more far-reaching (and when he thought hard enough, he thought of Heda, and @Bartholomew, and the isle), Mojag could not be certain. He knew of many changes to the village which came after. That one of the girls had taken a husband and had departed, for instance.

And here he stayed. Here, beside his mother. He hunted with her, he watched for dangers that never came to the village limits, and he felt his spirit stagnate.

Once, Mojag had spoken vaguely of his desire to be different. He had been afraid to speak against his mother's lifelong pursuit to be a hunter, and had allowed himself to fall in line with that which she expected of him; he did not think to go against that now, especially knowing that their family would soon grow by many mouths; he would be a big brother soon! Mojag could not disperse from the village in good conscience, knowing he was the man of the family (as he had steeply discounted his father's role, given his poor relationship with the man). It would be up to Mojag to teach his siblings to hunt, to protect, and to find their place! As excited as he was for the future, Mojag found himself unsure - even dreading it, to some degree.

Thus his days passed with mediocrity front and center. He took longer treks around the village limits; his hunts often went without spoils; and slowly, he became more distant from even Shikoba - choosing to sleep beneath the stars somewhere high upon the mountain, or down among the foothills, rather than near her ulaq. His bed (made with many scrapes to the soil) could be found some mornings - although on this particular one, he was still laying lethargically bundled against the dirt.

The bright voices of many song birds lilted from the trees, as they had been singing since sun-up; but he did not appear interested in them, laying there with a distant expression upon his glum face.