Moonspear alianiilik ≡

blood on the surface of dark water, spreading out like melted seal fat.

kukutux shut her eyes.

evening on the tenth day that she had come back from her vigil beside the trader's body. he had begun to return to the earth by the third day; the snow-wife had closed her senses to the devastation of him. it was the odor of death that drew down the ravens, and kukutux looked away as they entered the death ulaq.

she had scarcely eaten during that time, aided by @Keres; though in her numbness she had no words for the guardian, her heart held gratitude. by the fourth day, kukutux, having sung all she knew of his life, lost her voice, but kept the winnowing breath in her lungs. shoulders stood out angular from her pale pelt, hips had lost some of their gentle roundness. 

kukutux had not thought of arcturus, nor her flagrant anger with wraen. that rage seemed so very distant now. illuktuk. 

eddies of water around the woman's shoulders. his bones would go back to the womb of the earth from which all things were born. sedna guide you, brother. sedna, who takes all anarniit beneath the ice with her into peace, and lights their trail skyward. a breath of her own, trembling in the living world to which she must now return. to @Jarilo, to whom she had forgone her oath as wife with her disappearance; to @Saviguk and to @Sialuk. back to life as mother and as mate. 

rain softly sweeping through where she lay half-submerged at the edge of the stream, gaze drifting shut again as water coursed through all of her, washing away the ochre that is in the veins of all things, the end of a spirit.

YAY SHE HOME.

Each day, Sialuk had asked the bones where anaa might be. Each day, they gave her a different answer. None of the answers were clear, and even if they had been, Sialuk did not think she was old enough to trek out on her own. Taataa would not allow it, and Hydra would become angry if she was lost, like Mira had been. Sialuk did not wish to cause more anguish, so she found comfort in the qanglaagix bones, wishing her mother back. In her sleep, she dreamt of the bones. In her dreams, they moved and clacked and clattered. Sometimes, the crow himself spoke to her, though by the time she awoke, she had forgotten all that he said.

The Omicron meandered along a stream, and the moment she caught her mother's scent, she bolted after the trail. When she spotted anaa, Sialuk blinked a few times as she ran, trying to make sure that it was not a dream or one of the ancestral spirits playing tricks on her. Could they do such a thing? If so, they were not doing it now.

Silently, she fled to her mother's side, ignoring the icy chill of the water to press herself against anaa's flank with a splash.

Just a lil' protective cameo!

After their long stay together, Keres would have been hard pressed to leave the medic on her own. While few, if any, words had been shared between the two, there was a different sort of bond that had formed, one of Death and Mourning. The silver valkyrie had stood by the willowy woman with nary a complaint, providing and protecting where and when she could. Though she had not participated in the ritual as intimately as Kukutux had, she still felt soul-wearied and tired.

Even now, though, she lingered near her packmate friend sister as the young Sialuk rushed to her mother's side; while not close enough to hear the words of reunion they shared, Keres still kept an eye on the woman, wanting to make sure she would be alright before she retired to her own den.

It was a fine line that he had found. Jarilo was a barely contained wreck over the lengthening span of Kukutux's absence from their slopes, and even their foothills where he knew all could be well. He only knew enough about the why to keep him from a complete tailspin into a greater grief, because in these times, he knew where he must be instead. The finest details were not for him yet, though he was patient, it was becoming an endeavor to keep it together for Sialuk and Saviguk. His worry was getting deeper and more difficult to navigate by the day. Should he find her out in the wilds? How long was too long? How long had it been by now? His throat hurt when he thought about what the answer to that was.

He remained devoted to keeping his offspring close, and otherwise, busy to help pass the hours--hopefully, without aching for their mother's absence, or getting any ideas on searching for her themselves. Naturally he worried worst for Sialuk, but for all of his worth, he tried to give her comfort and space in equal measure. It worked to soothe his edges sometimes just to have them near. Least of all, he just didn't want them getting lost now--mentally, physically, or otherwise.

It was his daughter he trailed now beside the stream at first. The realization this start brought him towards spurred in him a similar reaction to her own. As soon as it dawned on him what his nose was picking up, he was off. Faster, he had to get there.. and in his rush, he found them both at the water's edge soon. Keres, too, noted with a flash of a glance. Sight of his wife swelled a strange relief, for it was still discolored with dread that he couldn't ignore in that instant. It stung dimly behind his eyes, but now wasn't its time..

Jarilo didn't think about the cold waters and made it to her side opposite Sialuk. He whined low for all of his sorrows, and nosed his muzzle into her furs--desperately needing to prove to himself that she was not only returned to them, but alright as well.

keres in her devotion had earned one of the duck's secret names. nataak, she who sees all in the night with her great sight. one day she would muster herself to speak it aloud to her sister. though she would not sleep here, the idea held a great temptation for her. the streamwater with its breath of ice licking at her limbs, pouring into the empty place inside her soul.

kukutux lay her head back against the edge of the bank, but the sound of legs churning within water wakened her again. "sialuk," and the darkened world brightened at its ends to see her raindrop again. somehow taller than the last time kukutux had set her eyes upon the girl, but that was the way of time, even a short while. it had felt an eternity, however; she lifted a dripping foreleg to press her sugar-snow closer.

and then the warm press of jarilo; kukutux felt the breath inside her throat gather a long moment. had hydra told him? or had he only existed her with no knowledge of why she had been away. "uiga." she chanced a look into his handsome face with its verdant expression; she traced the lines of him with her gaze —

— haunted by how the trader's own had been gathered solemly by the ravens 

— returning to herself and to keres and to sialuk and jarilo to to saviguk, she hoped, glancing beyond for her ice crystal. "i am sorry i was away for many days," the duck whispered in the hoarsened fatigue of a voice given to the death-keen. and then no words could come, for what must she say next? shifting against her raindrop, expecting to feel the damning pull of jarilo's question in the next moment; her heart at once both filled with love and smote with pain.

Her mother's voice was a greater gift than all the quanglaagix bones in the world. She stood there, pressed against the woman who had carried her into this world, Sialuk felt that the brief absence was one of the true moments of confusion and grief she had felt in her short life. It was a credit to her father that she had not been more worried, or that she had never faltered in believing Kukutux would return, unharmed, to Moonspear. He had kept his cool around both of his brood, and it was a testament to his capabilities as a parent and guardian.

Saviguk was surely not far off, the raindrop imagined. His absence, however brief, was noted, but not in any way to admonish him for failing to be there as quickly as Sialuk and Jarilo had come. His sister believed him to be simply unaware of anaa's return. Normally overflowing with questions, the raindrop found them absent from her throat now, content to press herself closer and bask in the presence of her matron.

As loathe as he was to steal a second of Kukutux's attention from Sialuk, it was too good to hear from her in any manner. His tail answered for him firsta and Jarilo breathed deep; next he went reaching to press small anxious licks across her dampened cheeks and whatever else he could find. He had worried of course, and he knew already it had not been without harm to her, so he had not been wrong (right?). But this was going to get better from here, somehow, and he'd have to make sure.

Their daughter was notably quiet, and his ears slicked back flat as she apologized. Jarilo had to remember to find his voice again and felt himself still locked in the keep it together for the kids mindset. I'm just glad you're back with us, he drooped with the heave of that sigh, for that was just his best place to start despite all his thousands of questions. He was sorry that she had endured what she had, knowing only the half of it, surely. If that. We missed you too much, the dark Ostrega nodded, far steadier than before, but awfully relieved that step was finally over. He could compartmentalize the rest of it later; she was back, first and foremost. Is everything alright..? I can tell Saviguk to meet us at the ulaq, if.. he drew off with a searching look to her face, then a hot-second of another glance to Keres. For right here and now, he only barely understood the honest state of things past what his nose could find out, and was too infinitely glad to feel she still inhabited a warm body back here with them--let alone everything else he wanted to know about what had taken her away from here. Hydra's details were the bare bones only..

But now, he just wanted to gather whoever he could and fret properly further into home, somewhere dry, cozy, and safe.

she wished so greatly to tell jarilo now, to beg that he remove from her the great burden of feeling. and yet he could not do such for her; kukutux quailed in the weakness of the moment, and she could only nod. let her be gathered at her home with her husband and her children. the details of it all could be given when her tongue did not want only to scream that the tortured trader come back, come back from the dancing lights to live again.

"it will be a good thing, if you tell him to come there, jarilo." all was not well, and so she could not claim it to be so; she shook her head in silent answer to his first inquiry but began to shakily gather herself from the water, leaning upon him. "i longed for you when i was away," she said to her mate, to her child, before casting a glance toward keres. "she was warrior, watched over me when i — before i came back to moonspear."

your brother is dead, her mouth begged to say, but she only stifled it with a strangled sob and began to step out of the icy stream and its tempting qualities of numbness.

Her parents passed words between them, and Sialuk listened. There was tension there, a sort of uneasy stream of questions that she could sense were not being asked. She wanted to ask more, to know more, but it was clear it was not her place to do so. Always the good child, always polite, always proper and socially aware. The girl did not know what role Keres had held, but what she could tell was that her mother appreciated the warrior. Sialuk made a silent note to herself to bring Keres an offering of thanks when she was able to do so.

Sialuk stepped out when anaa did, feeling the chill in her bones when the wind hit the water that clung to her skin and fur. She wished to wedge herself between anaa and taataa, but she knew that they would need time to bond again. The raindrop knew the importance of their marriage, and she worried that this time away may have worn away at the link between them. This, she knew, was not good for them. Although it was not her place to mend it, she would be there to support them. Perhaps the bones may even be able to shed light on how best to mend the impact her mother's absence had on her father. Maybe this was what she, as a daughter, could provide.

I will find braataa, she said. As much as she wished to remain by her mother's side, Saviguk needed to know that their mother was home. The girl pressed her nose to her mother's cheek before bounding off to track down her darker half.

Pulled in by the gravity of her grief, he couldn't stay away long and offered himself to help steady her from the icy grip; as seconds passed, he used any start of it to deepen the contact. Though, her time away had stolen from her and this only reminded him more, but he would face it all the same to help her get back to them.

He had no objections when Sialuk volunteered to find her brother. We will meet you there, he assured her, though in the next heartbeat, hurt to see her go. All the more motivation to not dawdle. I wanted to find you, but Hydra did.. and, he took a deep breath that he felt shake down his throat. After that he had at least known she was still alive, and vaguely where thanks to what his sister had found out. He had steeled himself to stay put for Sia and Savi, lest he risk losing them too. I didn't know what to tell them.. besides that you would be back, he added quietly, glancing in the direction their daughter had gone. Not how long it would take, or what explained the entire absence beyond that there was something she had to do. Was it good enough? Likely not, but he only hoped it softened the blow somehow.

As for Keres, his gratitude was immeasurable. He was thankful she had found Kukutux, and not some foe. He squeezed shut his eyes for a second, picturing warmth. We are lucky to have her, he breathed quietly, about the sterling guardian. Thank you, he said in her direction and if he were not so wrapped up in getting his wife on and out of here to higher, drier grounds, he might be less brief. But he was sure she wanted to get to her own places, too; they all deserved a rest, he sensed, and he wasn't going to be one to stand in the way of that if he could help it.

sialuk was perceptive, thoughtful. kukutux had only time for a nod, a squeeze shut of her eyes at the kiss, before the growing raindrop turned and was gone. alone with jarilo now, for keres had watched over the duck so long she accepted the grey-sister as part of the watchful shadows, a sob at last clenched in her throat.

"i am sorry, husband. i —" a swallow. "to have left you in such a place with them." and now the truth of it threatening her eyes and ears and lips; she buried her crown against the side of his chest. "your brother is dead," she wept, not understanding why she felt so torn for a trader she had only known for a handful of seasons.

kukutux omitted having done magick upon the edge of moonspear. jarilo would not understand, and the duck did not wish to speak of the curse she was sure that she had laid. "i knew he must sleep there, and not come back to moonspear. his spirit would be angry. i stayed with him until i was sure it had gone."

a drawing of a trembled breath; secure in the warmth and regard of her husband, tiredness traversing into every part of her depleted body.

He was not sure how to take her apology, and it felt heavy in front of him. It's.. okay, he sighed, quietly, half an assurance for himself too along the very way. It was fine, he wanted to say but he couldn't relay it just yet. Not as the magnitude of the rest came and that was.. it, something that struck him close to the heart when it concerned his few-remaining siblings--especially one as conflicting and complex as what they all shared with Revui. He swallowed thickly and looked away, eyes, throat burning. His brother had been so far removed from them for so long, it was not easy to imagine his present. Even the withered shape of him that had mended on their edges had seemed more like a husk than the sharp-toothed last brother of his he had once known and watch grow from nothing.

And like so many instances, he was coming to know, he couldn't know understand why it had come to that. What had happened, what changed, to force this rift..? Jarilo tried to relax once he realized he was gritting his teeth and a deep breath later, he had to pull it together so they could get home, dry, safe, comfortable..

His thoughts felt flooded, he tried to lift his heavy head a bit--because, right, somehow.. he had come not to belong to them any longer. Jarilo, left here now, forced to understand. The rituals of the dead.. he only dipped his toes in because someone had to, and guesswork at that. You did what you must.. All because of his brother. I am sorry you had to, for him, but.. he felt his voice want to waver again, sorrow thick and too heavy before it could turn to worse, he quieted. At least Keres had been there, and Kukutux had been there for Revui when there was no one left for him. He deserved any peace in the end, he murmured, and maybe, it was what their parents would have wanted.

After a long pause, he felt it had not set in yet but the fact remained. Revui was dead, Arcturus lost.. all proof that nothing good awaited any of them off this Spear. Do you think..  it was from the injuries that had brought him here? he dared to ask, low. He didn't know what type of life his brother had made away from here--not after leaving them on the bad note he had. Or did something else happen? Considering he was not about to underestimate his brother's penchant for chaos, it could be any manner of things.

how could she tell him of her frozen blood high upon the mountain? the words far too vague that she had spoken, the way that she had broken first from arcturus, then the greystone man whose name she must never say again. if ever there was a vengeful spirit, it would be him. and so he must not be called down, called close. kukutux could not say what might befall moonspear, only that from then on she would believe every storm, every flood, every breath of frost to be the foreboding to whatever he might bring if he heard his name spoken.

he had died in pain and in fear, she believed; the duck knew, in the marrow of her, that she could never share the truth of the light draining from his pupils with any other. it was an image she must forever carry, and it singed in her mind even now, the trickle of life ebbing from his tormented body. 

"it was his wounds. he had many scars, beneath. he —" a swallow. "he did not know how to live without violence." and to it he had returned in the end. kukutux closed her eyes, wanting nothing more than to fade into the nothingness of an exhausted sleep and wake with jarilo near her. 

she had done what she could, had done what she must. for a fierce thrumming moment kukutux felt a shard of pure gratitude for her husband spring through her weary veins. he had always sought to accept her ways even if he did not understand them. it was more than she would have asked a mate taken from the clans of this land. "i am home now."

and he walked the dancing lights.

It wouldn't even surprise him if more trouble still followed his brother after the grave. Who knew what enemies he had made in his time away from the mountain and Jarilo was not about to underestimate his ability to bite down hard on anything, anywhere.

She answered, and.. he knew. It still pained him to hear, and burned behind his eyes. Revui's violence was what drove him from them, but what had made him impressive. Jarilo remembered seeing it young. How fast it had come and how as middle son, he had seen it elsewhere--knew exactly where it came from, when it glimmered in his sisters for that second, or terrifyingly, his parents--his mother. But it consumed his sterling brother worse than the others, or was able to run more rampant in his beastly flesh. He always was, he whispered. It was too heavy to think that it had come crashing down on him so very soon. A considerable wound to a family's heart already splintered and scarred.

But despite that, she was home again, and he tried to be graceful in his understanding of what was not of his realm. Heavy, anguished steps or not, he felt it important to keep making them forward. Indeed. Welcome home, he finally spoke against her warmth, before receding in silence, and a sigh of relief. He was anxious to reunite them all soon, to see their son and daughter again already. Revui still weighed so mightily on his mind, but, there was nothing more to be said; what was done, was done.

He stayed by her side for as long as he was able.