Ouroboros Spine plagioclase

fed now, and having bathed, and having washed the fox pelt that he carried carefully upon his shoulders, tautukpik had decided to give akmaaksi a wide berth; but he kept his ear out for her, and his eyes danced across familiar paths in case she came to him again.

mamattuk had become his latest fixation. the forest wrapped along the western contour of the central lake and grew up in to the mountains; tautukpik had yet to explore the whole of it, but he tried often enough. it was rare to find many people here within the forest. most of the daily goings-on of moonglow happened further east.

he did not like the lake. in fact, tautukpik made a concentrated effort to keep away from the water whenever possible. he drank from puddles when available, or chewed on grass and ate wild berries for his daily water. as a side-effect, he held a constant ache that sat dully behind his eyes.

this wasn't the lake that took his anaa, and he knew that, but he did not trust it all the same.