Ouroboros Spine There lies the heart of sunrise

He reclines to his haunches, angled in a way that allowed sheepish glances inside of the spacious den, and allowed also for his attention to shift with Ajei's movements, and attentive to her.

I see her in you, sister. His smile is there again, but tighter, as if his tongue has more it wants to speak aloud but he will not let himself.

You are loyal to the village, and I know she would be glad for your devotion. I do wonder sometimes if she would be happy with me, too... as a trader, with no wife and no home to be loyal to; an empty hearth, when he should have a wife by now and perhaps even children to carry on Shikoba's ways—their family's ways. I once wished to be Star Hunter, like her. When I was very small, and I did not know much about the world. And now I have been many places and met many people—I know so much more now, and yet... I wish I knew more about her, and about our people most of all.

How much had Ajei learned? No doubt more than he, as there were things Shikoba could only teach a daughter. For a moment Mojag is quiet and wondering about what he had missed out on while on the road; and he beheld his baby sister who had grown in to an adult in her own right, over all that time he wasn't in the village.