Ouroboros Spine it'll eat away at your knees until you are left with nothing

whenever you have time!
current weather: 60ºF and rainy
current time: mid-morning

shikoba is often a sleepless being who suffers from terrible nightmares and haunted dreams. last night was no different as the woman is visibly sleep-deprived. burning eyes now subside to a shallow ember glow as her fur looks unkept from her lack of grooming. the mottled woman has made her rounds through moonglow, remarking the territories and other duties before looking out beyond the spine. the place where the boy had tried to escape before she burrowed her teeth into him.

she thinks back to the moment of her personal weakness, but soon a frustrated sigh escapes her lips. shikoba turns back to head towards the ulax in a steady lope. though, she does not intend to head back to hers in hopes of falling asleep again. instead, she is at the mouth of the den that @Kukutux calls home with her brood.

a soft chuff, to let her know that the native is present and hopes to talk, if she is home that is.

slowly moonwoman recovered her strength. the daughters of the sun man fed often and greedily at her breast. where samani was smooth calm, kausiut was a crying storm.

it was at the start of one such wailing that shikoba sounded her appearance. but kukutux set herself to soothing the girl.

once both had been laid at her side, she sounded a chuff back, inviting shikoba to approach. she hoped it was not bad news of nuak that had brought her sister.

a frown etches itself onto her lips at the sound of the cry, the native has disrupted the slumber of one of the twins. though, kukutux is swift to quiet the girl down before summoning shikoba to enter the ulaq. shikoba quietly enters and carefully watches where she steps before she settles down in front of the kukutux.

one would think about using pleasantries before talking, but sadly small talk is not a skill acquired by shikoba. "kukutux," her voice is quiet to not disturb her brood, "nuak tried to escape." perhaps it is shikoba's fault for not telling the matriarch sooner, but with all of the recent excitement, it is hard to try and talk about seemingly less important things in the new mother's life.

"shikoba stop him, chase him back to peak. wounded his shoulder." her memory begins to expand as she rethinks the past event, heart thudding against her ribcage. "nuak won't stay forever."

it was about the boy after all. kukutux' features were somber as she listened.

"zane does not think he should be killed. and sivullik has come back."

perhaps

she thought a moment. "go to firsthunter. tell him that i and you seek his words on the name of nuak. tell him who nuak is. and what he has done."

above all else, she wanted to look upon the face of the ice wolf herself.

"you are a strong fighter, shikoba. i will say to him that you should be second."

she is not sure who this zane kukutux speaks of, she has seen him around but has hardly even spoken a word to him. beyond that, shikoba never likes it when someone disagrees with her ideas and plans. had she known about the bad mouthing he had said about her, shikoba would have a hard time controlling her temper around the man. thankfully, she is woefully ignorant of what else was spoken between zane and kukutux. 

"what does zane want then?" surely the other man must see that letting nuak go does nothing. if it was the tupilak, her head would be ripped clean. yet this boy gets a pass, and for what? perhaps it is the ostrega spirit kukutux sees in him, perhaps even zane can see it too.

finally it seems the duck crafts out what to do, and shikoba dutifully nods at each request made by moonwoman. seek out andrastus, ask for his opinion, and move from there. when it comes to the compliment, shikoba bashfully shrinks for a moment. despite her growing pride within herself, she still has a hard time taking compliments.

"shikoba will." but before she dares to leave, shikoba looks towards the twins for a moment, eyes softening for a bit, voice even quieter than before. "how are they?" 

kukutux waved a frustrated paw, though her eyes showed that this emotion was not for shikoba. "to let him live. but zane is pilannulik. bitter grass knife. it has the meaning that he is content when he has nothing to do."

"he was secondhunter when the man raimo was in moonglow." pain welling, strangely, sharply, to think of him now, the man she had so wanted. "but he would not be sivullik. and he would not make the choice for nuak."

and so it must not be his choice to make. "i honor his word only because he has helped in his way to build moonglow. and because it is fair, that nuak has one voice for him."

lazy.

perhaps that is a better word to use than pilannulik. though, shikoba must come to respect the fact that the duck must listen to all in her court, whether they come to agree or disagree. besides, zane holds seniority over the native, so perhaps it makes sense that his words are respected. "if moonglow trust zane and let nuak go, he could bring the tupilak back for revenge." 

and surely, that is the last thing that kukutux would want to see at her doorstep. provide the boy enough time out in the world and he may craft his revenge and grow into learning how to use his size against everyone. 

though, the duck make's a final claim that catches shikoba's attention. a voice for nuak. in a way, shikoba thinks of it as unnecessary for the boy to have somebody on his side considering the damage he has done to moonglow. stealing an artifact, bringing upon the tupilak to scar kukutux, and insulting shikoba's trust and good nature to try and listen to him. 

"shikoba trust kukutux, always," she starts off, "moonglow trust kukutux too. but nuak is danger to kin, to moonwoman and to löté." whether this boy will grow to be a man or a monster, shikoba would rather not wait to see. "if nuak let go, he must bear moonglow's mark. permanent, to weaken him so he cannot come back stronger." an option rather than death, something shikoba has eluded to many times.

kukutux listened to all. "you and i have had the same thinking: that letting nuak make a path from us would only bring back the tupilak." a look of her eyes to shikoba, reassuring; moonwoman let out her breath and thought for a time longer, silently weakening beneath this new burden.

unless kukutux ordered it, no one of her village would kill the boy. and she knew she could not order it.

shikoba's words were true. fair. 

"we must do it before all the eyes of the village. they must know his face and that he is outcast."

"but," and the duck breathed a moment, "i would like to let him make a path back. to ah, re-deem. redeem. redeem him," she attempted. "nuak has done a thing that is very wrong. but he was led down a bad way by evil."

moonwoman glanced to shikoba now, wondering how the hunter-woman might accept this compromise.

if shikoba was a psychic, perhaps she could see the possible and unforseen damage this act of duty may cause. but she lives in the present, the future can wait until she is there. for now, she recounts the sin of nuak from the past and intends to rectify them in the present. kukutux's words are in agreement to shikoba, with a minor compromise thrown in.

while shikoba would shoot it down, she can only think about why the moon woman goes through all of this trouble to begin with. it is because she sees ostrega spirit in him, a spirit of someone dear to her who is gone now. the pheasant tail only hopes that this is true, that nuak truly does hold something of moonspear in his blood. a saving grace that would not work had it not been for the duck intervening with her own neck.

"let it be done," she says with an affirmative nod, "if tupilak no longer in nuak, after all of this, moonglow trust him." a final test of nuak, to see if he will be worth the trouble that the duck is willing to go through for him. if not, then he will never return to the spine unless he wishes his death date to be rushed. "will first hunter mark him?" some may consider it an honor to bear down on the boy while others may think of it as a cheap opportunity. for shikoba, it is a chance for her to redeem herself.

kukutux did not know, and so shook her head. "i think he will remain with his wife for a long while." she had not yet seen him since his return, and was not sure he would come to her again.

the greenstone eyes blinked.

"it will be you who gives nuak this mark." it was through shikoba she had found guardianship, strength, and compromise. why would this not be the choice of the spirits?

so the firsthunter is still unfit to lead it seems. but shikoba bears no ill-feelings towards andraste, she knows that his time away from his wife and children has left his spirit weary and his body sore. it makes sense that now only the native is the wolf who must fill in the position, as the bitter grass knife wouldn't be willing, perhaps nor any of the other women and men in the circle.

perhaps it is fate, perhaps it is luck, perhaps it is destiny. either way, shikoba will answer the call to duty once again. a solemn nod to kukutux, she understands what must be done.

"when? how does shikoba mark but not harm brother's spirit?" thankfully, her memory serves her well despite her older age. ostrega blood, wherever it flows in nuak's body, must not be spilled. shikoba wishes to find the most honorable way to let this event happen.

kukutux was silent for a long hand of seconds. "you choose where it is done. but i want his mark to be seen, by all."

those outside of moonglow would see what nuak had done.

"soon i will call for all of our village. then we will do what we have chosen today." kukutux attempted to rally for the sake of shikoba, but only sighed.

"come to my ulaq. i will show you the daughters of the sun and the moon."

so sorry for the late reply! i've been moving stuff for my trip back to university so i've been away from my desktop and wifi :O 

her answer is somewhat cryptic, but it seems the choice made by the native will satisfy the village and its leader. shikoba is content, curious, and perhaps even confused. the boy is going to be given a place of challenge and humiliation, and he will have to choose to either grow from it or let it mark him forever as shikoba's teeth will grace his skin once again.

after the choice is made and shikoba nods her head to kukutux, the moonwoman encourages her to follow back to the original ulaq where shikoba slept her first night in moonglow. to see the new twins. shikoba is rather unsure around children as she is always afraid she will hurt them with her sharp and playful nature. but despite this, she goes to follow kukutux. "lead shikoba."