Nova Peak [nd] Impǐdze

There was dancing, an abundance of meat and merriment and laughing. Yet the mother can think only of those little three lives waiting for her upon the mount. Not long after they’d been tucked in does Ayovi slip away from the festivities, returning to the den within the stoneface. Outside the snow falls in cool sheets but beneath the mountain’s cradle the air is warm and stirring in tiny breaths.
The huntress noses her way beneath the bearhide and gathers her children against her breast. The scar crusts along her belly, sutured flesh still tender to the touch, but she cannot keep herself away.
They rest so peacefully. Skorpa’s children could sleep through a snowstorm, and though she wants desperately to nurse her pups, Ayovi will not awaken them. Instead the mother seeks to ornament their dreams with a serene hum.