Ocean's Breath Plateau augli

brave one comes plodding into the den with a new surprise; a little conch shell, and the mere sight of it glazes the mother's eyes with tears. that's beautiful, baby, she whispers to him as she pulls it closer to her, pausing to kiss her boy on his little round cheek. here, i'll make something really special with this.
red leaf invites him into her arms, scooping him up with one spindly forelimb and using the other to work. she starts by wrapping the thread around the caribou teeth, lacing it around the roots; a tiny hole in the conch shell allows her to entwine it, too, in the rather archaic-looking collection of items. the final touch is the lock of her fur, wrapped around the clunky thin, which resulted in a creation that almost mimicked a family wrapped in a pelt.
this tooth here, she points out the larger of the two to her son. that one is aapa. the smaller one is me, and you, my love, now she points out the shell. that is you. you make up the center of the amulet, like the way you make up the center of our world.
she sniffles, burying her face in her shoulder as a particularly nasty cough comes to her. crimson spatters across her already unkempt pelt, and she sighs as her gaze turns to her boy, the big baby blues that look up at her with such innocent devotion — a shaky, unintelligible sound tumbles from her lips as she buries her face between his ears.
she couldn't leave him.
she couldn't fail him.
these amulets are something your grandma taught me to make. they are very important to my people, your people, she explains softly. would you like to help me bless it?