Hoshor Plains pavva ≖

Moondoe was quiet, for a time. Just watching, waiting gently until the agitation in the air settled to a simmer. She breathed, in and out, working through her own thought.

Then, she swayed to one side, leaning against her anaa in a way she hadn’t since she was a child. She tucked her forepaws beneath her, her eyes locked onto the underside of Kukutux’s chin.

She reached up to lick beneath it, once, before settling again.

When we return to the spine. Here, she paused. Her mother looked so tired, so downtrodden by this, and Vairë felt a bolt pierce her very heart. She should not be this way.

But she would not usurp her before she was ready.

What will you do? Half thought experiment, half desperate wanting to turn the conversation to lighter topics. To turn their thoughts away from tupilaq, from the dark spector over their heads. From Vaire’s own thoughts, distant now, thinking.