Ouroboros Spine piviuttaktuk ⩸

please ping me if this assumption isnt cool!

she had heard the calls in the distance;

she had seen the change in her kinsman.

"@Kigipigak." the duck's voice was not harsh, only firm.

"you must let your spirit mend while you are here. when it has restlessness, your bones do not lie still."

a cluck of her tongue; she settled as close as he would allow. "kiggavik. it will not be forever."

It will not be forever.

Kigipigak shifted his weight when he heard the voice. He looked up when she settled nearby, and then reallocated once more to make space for her. It was difficult for him to remain still for long periods; more-so now.

It has been too long already. Kigipigak says, choosing his words carefully, yet still cringing as his lungs fluctuate between breaths. The syllables strain him.

kukutux nodded, a single movement. "it seems that way when there is a path to the things that a hunter desires." she crept closer, and looked toward the mouth of the healing-den.

"i heard the voice that said your name." she did not look to see if kigipigak would respond to this. "tell me about what you have gathered outside my village."

not an invitation, but not a demand. a firm request for the only trade in which she would let her kin engage while he mended his wounds.

The healing man did not know where to start. Suddenly it felt that he had much to say, no way to say it, and the feeling that it would be the wrong thing, all at once. There wasn't an ounce of bashfulness to Kigipigak. Perhaps that marked him as an adult after all, or he simply wasn't equipped to be demure about any topics of conversation.

Sakhmet, he drawled.

Dark, and red, and small. A sucking of the air, the hesitation of a wince. Lonely, sad. Wanted to make her la... laugh. The thought made his sides pinch and Kigipigak lost the tempo of his answer for a moment. His jaw set in a grimace until the worst passed.

A friend. Just a friend. They needed more time together.

a friend who was not. a friend who caused such emotion in kiggavik. kukutux would not assume more than she had been told. perhaps her kinsman meant to build a village with this she-wolf. the thought gave her much pleasure.

sakhmet. "she will not have sadness or loneliness when you are near to her again. rest. eat. you will heal." moonwoman's eyes were soft. "i will give you a fur for your sleeping place when you leave moonglow."

Kigipigak had hoped to return soon. The longer he sat and he waited, the less and less he believed that. The ache of his bruised ribs would take days to lessen but it was the torn flesh that needed the most time; he could feel the heat radiating from the wounds beneath their poultice, throbbing, eating away at him.

He had nothing more to say. A thankful look traced along Kigipigak's features for a moment as his chin sank to the dirt again.

At least he could come away from this experience with a nice fur, he thought, humorlessly. That reminded him of the day he had encountered Sakhmet, and so he began to pine anew.

last for me!<3

her kinsman had no more words. kukutux did not have those of her own. 

she smiled wanly, sadly, at his downed head. "i go to create more medicine." a pause. "remember that your dreams have power, kiggavik." a breath, and then moonwoman had turned.

outside the ulaq, she gathered her things and began another song;

aya, aya aya!

the handsome boy there, he is staring at your face!

do not look, do not look

i will say the words loud so he will hear them:

'"what did your father ask in trade?'"

aya, aya, aya!

now he believes you will be married!

see how he runs to find his own furs!

he will bring them to your father,

he will run to ask you first