Ouroboros Spine in a battle, that's all you get

@Sialuk @Kukutux

his leg still ached; especially when he went on long journeys but wintersbane was not an idle man and used the pain as his point of motivation. it proved he was still alive and he had much to do. borders to finish marking; recruitment drives to be made. it was such that brought him back out to the great bear wilderness; hoping he'd find survivors from moonspear and firefly glen. offer them a home if they had not found one already.

the landslide had smoothed out a side of the spear and his heart aches every time he turns his glacial gaze in it's direction so he wanders closer to the spine, suspecting that one day he might have to return. he doubts anyone would be lingering in either territory and yet, it never hurt to check. presently, he was still easily spooked by the ordeal and tells himself he would return when his leg was healed. 

familiar scents draw him from his wandering thoughts and he pauses; drawling them in. kukutux. her's, he definitely recognizes. without much thought, he tilts his head back and lets out a howl; wandering if this is where the wayward souls of moonspear and the glen had decided to rebrand.

A call. Not for her, but for anaa. Nevertheless, Sialuk found herself hopeful. If they knew her mother, perhaps they could help. Her feet quickened upon the ground, and soon she picked up his scent on the wind. The faint smell of the spear was upon him, and she felt joy in her heart. A Moonspear man. He could help them. Relief washed over her as she approached, her tail swinging low and a sad smile tugging at her lips.

She did not know him, but any wolf of the spear was kin. A survivor.

I greet you, brother, she said when she was close enough. Are there more survivors with you? Is taataa with you? Brataa? Have you come to aid us? she thought, but did not say. She braced herself for disappointment, but there was a flicker of hope welling inside her chest.

while it is not kukutux that comes to greet him, there is enough resemblance and difference in age that wintersbane is left with the assumption that this must be one of the children she spoke of last time the two of them spoke. his heart warms at her approach, glad to see that kukutux did not have to bury her young. hello, wintersbane greets the young girl with fondness and relief. no. the word falls from scarred lips apologetically; heavy as the weight of the sky. i had called after — wintersbane's breath catches. after it happened. none had answered.

i have settled in duskfire glacier. and managed to gather a few to him and his plight, though they were not survivors.

Sialuk had not heard his call the night of the strange storm. She had been frozen with terror then, shock setting in on her once she had fled the light and sound. Shock had been replaced with grief for those who had not come down from the mountain. Now there were a mixture of feelings, a majority of which were negative. There was no word of taataa or brataa.

He explained that he had settled in another place, and her optimism that he might fend off the men here faded. He had been a newcomer to the spear, and though she wished to beg for him to stay, she knew that she could not. It was useful to know they may have allies, even if they did not live in the same place.

If Jarilo or Saviguk find you, tell them that Kukutux and Sialuk—that is me—live on the ring of small mountains. They are blood kin to us.

What is your name? she asked.

kukutux rose from a fitful sleep to hear the voice of wintersbane. she had not known him well, but understood he was an experienced and ambitious warrior. she thought of the men that had come through the ring of mountains. and the one that had settled. 

"sialuk, please bring wintersbane to the ulaq," she called suddenly, on a whim. she had no knowledge of their conversation or his intentions to settle elsewhere. kukutux saw only that they were alone, and she had found him trustworthy. a pragmatic thought began to emerge in her mind. if in two more sunrises her husband and her son did not come down from the ruined mountain, it would be time to begin the death songs. nine days to sing a vigil. and after that —

she did not wish to think of it. rolling in the snow had cleaned the worst of the grime and blood from her coat, but wintersbane would still find her wan and grey, injured, completely unlike the woman he had met upon moonspear.

i will, wintersbane promises her. that much he can do for her and kukutux. you have my word. he does not wish to think of that night but still it haunts him; creeping into his nightmares and his waking hours when a crack of a twig beneath the weight of the snow or snapping under his own paw spooks him. he is a warrior and cannot help but be embarrassed that he is so easily shaken ...but he could not have protected moonspear or firefly glen from the events that happened. there had been no prediction of it; and mother nature left him shaken up.

it would take some time before the silences were not too loud and he regained mastery over his reactions at each loud noise he hears.

i am wintersbane — he says; and no sooner has his name left his lips did kukutux call for sialuk to take him within. i would like to see your mother. he might be settling elsewhere but he sees no issue with speaking to the matriarch about a potential alliance. he does not have much to offer them, aside from his teeth, his respect and pack immunity. he hopes it would be enough.

The spirits would bless him generously for his kind words. Kind words were one of the few comforts Sialuk had left in this world. Her ear pivoted to catch anaa's call, and she nodded at his request.

Come, I will take you to the snow ulaq. She began to make her way toward the icy home, weariness in her steps. Her belly ached for more food, but it would have to wait. Wintersbane's visit was a priority, and she could find more food later. Perhaps the spirits would lead Sixsix to another animal laid to rest. Winter had brought them frigid weather, and Sialuk knew the oldest and weakest would die from it.

there was nothing to give him. the small bit of meat that she and sialuk had managed to save must belong to them completely, for winter was long and they were alone.

the duck sat outside the ulaq. every so often she looked up from her quick grooming to search the distance for her pale daughter's elegant stride and the confident way that wintersbane walked.

at last they came, and somehow against the backdrop of snow stretching long, wintersbane was far larger than she remembered. "i greet you," she said when they had both drawn near, motioning for sialuk to sit alongside her and for their guest to also be seated.

healer's-gaze flicked over his tall frame, noting the limp that had carried him here. "we both escaped with life but not without wounds," she commented. kukutux had no medicines to give wintersbane; it pained her not to offer. "where will you go now?"

wintersbane follows after sialuk as quick as he can though his limp is persistent and restrains his speed; making his proud stride crooked. nevertheless, he is determined not to let it stop him even if it does slow him down. hello kukutux, wintersbane greets her, offering her a sad, soft smile that does not touch the glacial kiss of his gaze.

to his injury he offers a soft shrug of his shoulders. this is not the first time life has thrown a curveball at him and though it would take some time ( for he hadn't lost family in the destruction ) he would get over it. getting over it feels like all he knows these days. wounds will heal, wintersbane says softly; though he imagines it isn't much comfort.

i have settled duskfire glacier and even recruited a few. it was too bad, he thinks, that the landslide had separated them, for if it had not he might count himself among one of them; but he has his own designs and to them he must remain faithful.

It was abundantly clear that they knew one another better than Sialuk knew Wintersbane. This settled her a great deal, and she found her heartbeat more calm than it had been since Raimo arrived. She settled alongside anaa, feeling the warmth of her mother's shoulder against her own. She let them speak freely, though she was glad to be here for the conversation. Mother and daughter together were stronger than either of them on their own, even if one of them was young and the other was injured.

Wintersbane repeated that he settled on Duskfire, and Sialuk awaited anaa's reaction, which she suspected would be similar to her own. It would be better for them if he stayed here, but they could offer him little in return. If anaa had been able to walk a great distance, perhaps they could have joined Wintersbane and his recruits, but Sialuk knew this was not possible for months at least.

the plan she had made with cool thoughtfulness curled black against a resolute frame. he would want his own land. he had not yet grown into the moss and stone of moonspear. this was not a wrong thing, the duck knew, but could not help the disappointment that entered her belly. yet she swept it away in the next instant. there was no time to dwell upon how felt inside, only what was best for sialuk. they were not safe here.

but she could not send the girl with wintersbane. sialuk would refuse. and kukutux knew she could never do such a thing, for a daughter's place was with her mother. "it pleases me that you have found good things after what has happened. sialuk and i must stay in sight of the mountain. we wait for my husband and her brother to come down."

the words tasted now like ash as she spoke them. "but it is important that we have found one another. how many days away in number does duskfire have?"

kukutux's daughter settles by her mother and falls into silence and for the moment, wintersbane turns his attention solely to kukutux. he accepts kukutux's words with a grateful dip of his head and thinks to himself that he hopes it lasts. he has known nothing but hardship since the hour of his birth; too early into the world. he can only hope that he is strong enough to continue to stand against the witchdoctor's curse as it continues to haunt him again and again; then again he is the witchdoctor's son and what else is he to expect?

eventually, something had to give and peace would find him. perhaps even happiness for more than a few weeks.

i hope they find you soon. wintersbane tells them both sincerely. the not knowing would drive him mad; but he understands that the spear might still be unsafe, the land unstable. about three, maybe four days. wintersbane says.

skipping w permission!

she wondered why wintersbane had come, if he was beginning another village almost a paw of days away with the snow. kukutux wished she had a store of fat and berries to offer; she long to be hospitable again. a thoughtful thump of her behind she and sialuk, like a drumbeat. "help us to dig a deep cache, one that does not thaw when the sun comes back. send your healers to me, and i will give them training."

kukutux knew her worth as a woman of medicine. she watched wintersbane a moment. "we will give between one another. you have always had kindness for me, since we were in courtfall. i wish to give this back to you when i am healed."

i can do that, wintersbane responds, with a dip of his head; contemplating what he can give in return. without knowing what kind of skills the wolves he gathers might have he only knows what he can offer at the moment. i do not know much of the few i have gathered thus far, time would change that, wintersbane knows. likewise you can send your warriors and guardians to me for training. his status as 'master warrior' had to have some kind of merit.

and you and yours will be welcomed in duskfire glacier's land always. it doesn't feel like enough, but given the tight and sudden circumstances it was all he could offer temporarily.

"then it is a good trade." her heart swelled with the pride of it, for she felt almost as she had at her mother's right side, listening to the barters happen. "this land is good. it will give the things that we need." for she had lost her medicines, her sacred plants, the beautiful furs she had cured. the sticks of meat. the cache. the smell of juniper. the scent of her --

"will you rest before you return?" kukutux inquired. "or must you leave now?" it would be good to speak to him even of the mundane, the familiarity of his scarred face a surprising but not unwelcome respite.

kukutux agrees to what he offers and a soft smile tugs at the edges of wintersbane's scarred lips; though it does not touch the glacial snap of his gaze. that is all we can ever ask for. wintersbane muses upon her words of the land being good and providing. if nothing else, that is all that wintersbane comes to expect out of life: food, water and shelter; and so long as he has those things he will survive — though a younger and more hopeful wintersbane might've argued that surviving wasn't living but life has been plenty cruel to him and he knows nothing is owed to him. not truly.

though he desires to stay and rest a bit; he knows he should keep on. it was a long journey back, made longer yet by his infernal limp. i should return, he rasps out loud, finally. but i appreciate the offer. he informs with a grateful dip of his head. i'll visit again once my leg is more healed and the journey isn't so ...arduous.

kukutux nodded in understanding. even a day was a long while to be so far from a newer claim. "may you travel in good health," the duck said softly. he would be well. moonspear would return to itself. this she must believe.

with sialuk beside her, she would watch over the land as he departed,

and when he had gone, the moondrop drew a gentle breath and turned to her daughter. "wintersbane will be a good ally." she wondered if it was prudent to make such claims when she did not intend to stay in this place. her husband would return, with the ice crystal. then they would be reunited.

Last one from me!

Sialuk sat silent through their conversation, though she drank it in like water. She knew little of alliances except the glen and the caldera. And even of those she did not know much. Were there packs who were not their allies? And what was she to do if she encountered one of them? Those were questions she was more like to ask her father when he returned to them. And he would return from the spear and answer her questions. And when he did, she could drink up that information, too.

The raindrop pressed close to her mother, already feeling sleep beginning to trickle its way into her body and mind. She waited at least until Wintersbane had vanished from sight, and then she settled herself down for a much-needed nap.