Ouroboros Spine sleet

he was a pleased man, one who ate with relish and clear hunger. kukutux was pleased to have a guest with such an appetite at her hearth, and heaped the strip of bark with more fat.

he spoke of loss and her face softened. "it is not an easy thing. and forever, you carry it here." above the heart. they did not need to say more, and the duck's green eyes flicked to akmaaksi now.

"Sedna is our anaa. mother," she translated softly, etching the sound into her mind. "the dancing lights in winter. they are many colors and it is where our ancestors and our dead travel. Sedna takes them beneath the ocean and swallows their spirit. for nine days we sing," she said, closing her eyes, "and when nine days have passed, the one we love is given peace and rest, hunting forever with the mother goddess and the ones who have gone first."

birdsong filled the silence between her words.

akmaaksi had stopped and hung her head, inching close when grandmother opened an arm to grieving girl. "it is good to speak of these things. it is how we do not forget our ways, adrian."