Ouroboros Spine woza vumani bo

"hm. that is a good question."

and her face showed that she thought upon it, drawing from the respectful silence of the girl beside her.

"women give firemother her power. she was made to protect them."

a settling. "long hands of time ago, there was a young woman much disliked in her village. there are many stories of why she was disliked, from the breaking of several taboos around her birth to a dark secret the girl did not say. but she was shunned and chased away. her things were broken. and men sought to catch her."

kukutux did not say more on this, trusting that sobeille and herself would only share in that bleak communion for a moment.

"one day, the girl took a piece of red shell, and with her claws she made the mark of a tree." three lines, one straight, the others projected from the center; kukutux softly drew them in the dirt.

"and from the sea ice sprang a great red tree, and it spoke to the girl. 'when they chase you, hold the shell in your teeth. you will take my form.'"

a soft smile attended the duck's greying muzzle. "she did this, and when the boys jeered and ran after the girl, she carried the shell. and she became a red tree. and this tree stood tall upon the mountain when the sea rose, and swallowed the village who had tormented her. in power, she chose to remain there, and to become firemother to that land, as this one has come to ours."