Ouroboros Spine sleet

Hospitality warmed the air about him,  presented as exotic food and ornate displays.

His eyes widened at the assortment of delicacies he tasted and never tried. Both generosity and wealth expressed through one thoughtful gesture.

Why - thank you! It was hard to choose what to sample first, but his claws finally landed on the salmon, wetting his palate with something familiar before venturing to the unknown. Happy eyes danced to moonwoman and her daughter, visibly pleased when the elder Kukutux took a sample of salmon herself. A meal shared was better company than one eaten all alone.

And how often, had he eaten all alone!

He listened as Moonwoman spoke, chewing thoughtfully at each detail she revealed. Many more stories lay wrapped up in her words. Tales of grief, and of pleasure. When her eyes pricked, he saw, for a moment, the face of another - a woman, weeping for her husband, of children fallen ill. And for a moment, the salmon felt dry as it slid down his throat. A Kukutux laughed, he raised his paw to his mouth and choked out one of his own. Sympathy, empathy, and guilt mixed together.

Though she left many blanks, he pieced together what she had given, and the way her granddaughter turned away when Kukutux mentioned Moonsong's helm.

Ariadne must have been one who this Sedna had claimed. His heart reached out for her. Didn't he know what it was to lose a parent.

It is hard to fathom a village that reaches so far. We hardly saw such strength in the village I was born. We, too, suffered loss...

Adrian splayed his ears, uncertain of he wished to tell much more. Uncertain, if he needed to. I... know what it is. To lose family.

The rest, she didn't need to know.

Who is Sedna? he asked, eager to move away from grief, but wanting, still, to linger. It did not sound like the name of an enemy, not in the way Moonwoman spoke of her. He pulled an urchin from the birch wood this time, and waited for her to speak before he took a bite.