Ouroboros Spine Rivers and Willows

Ajei had been mostly quiet in her mivements of the packlands. There was much going on. She had wanted to go with moonwoman. But her own mother kept her back. Not on purpose. In fact Shikoba would have supported her daughter, but Ajei saw.

She saw how her mother slept later sometimes. How she walked in pain. How her muzzle had begun to grey. And it worried her. She had known her mother was an older mother. But now she saw it intimately and it scared her so much. Shikoba was her safe space, love incarnate. The woman she strived to be like,  to make her proud.

Ajei settled by the river. The trees billowing in the wind. There was still a sharp bite to it, but there was the scent of spring on the end. She closed her eyes and let the wind brush the tufts of white cheek. The sun dipped down across fiery head. She wasn't ready.