Ouroboros Spine ¤kalipqit

When he had encountered other adults of the village they had been accommodating to Tautukpik, or outright enthusiastic to meet him. This was the first instance where that did not happen - and also the first time he has seen a man kept far from the collective. He did not smell like those of the village; his was a salty, dusty scent which Tautukpik could not place.

He was unafraid.

Sneaking closer, he settled in the shadow of a stone ledge. His gaze flashed with muddy green-blue, still in transition.

Are you sick? Maybe that was why he was up here, and so strange smelling. But the healing place was closer to where the boy and his family slept. He accepted the idea, regardless.

Is it your tummy? He pursed his lips in the way his grandmother did sometimes, as if he knew the answers.