Silver Creek nutaaq

When the time came for her to whelp, then he would help to find her a place, or to dig one. She would be warm and protected and in time, their children would grow and emerge from the earth to see what they had built. He was certain that this time, his village would thrive. He had found himself an issumatar within Asivaq and trusted that all would be well.

As she lay beside him, Kigipigak thought these things and even reached forward in time, to ponder the future when the children were older still, as Anneriwok, the way his sons should have been. He imagined their white coats, or reds like autumn; he saw the green-eyed stare of Kukutux briefly and corrected that, because his children would be golden-eyed for sure. Strapping boys that would grow to be proper warriors; daughters who would go on to form their own villages and be matriarchs to their own broods.

He saw a future with Asivaq. Without a word, he began to groom her face and take small moments to comb the fur of her neck and shoulder, and to hold her close.