Ouroboros Spine song-maker

Like his sister @Callyope, Stratos, too, often found himself with song in his heart.

Unlike his sister, the words were slow coming. He did not skip through Moonglow with a hum in his throat, though a smile often did accompany him. 

But today he had neither song nor smile. He had overheard @Mojag boasting of his coming hunt and this set the sun spun knight into a frenzied hunt for @Kukutux.

When he found her - or more, her scent trail, he rushed to follow with his boyish voice calling out, “anaa! anaa!”

It did not seem fair he could not have Mojag’s boast too.

stratos would find his mother just inside the trees nearest the ulaq, nursing her gumline. she had bitten a piece of hard leather too firmly and her teeth had reverberated upon its surface.

in the back, one had broken. she spit it out and stared at it in dismay. but as her son called, kukutux swept the piece of tooth back into her mouth and tucked it against her inner cheek. it would go upon her altar. "tigiganniak," the duck clucked, turning to bring him into an embrace. "what is the matter?"

“anaa!”

He found her amongst the trees, and when he saw her, he ran to her and fell into the comfort she offered, though other men might push away.

“Mojag is hunting!” he turned his face to see her, his bright eyes resolute. “I wish to go hunting too!”

Despite the sternness on his face, his tail thumped softy, betraying his hope she would say yes and all his crocodile tears.

kukutux chuffed brightly. "what shall we hunt, little fox?" 

it was not too early for he and mojag to find their way together.

she would see them hunt together.

"let us walk out into the forest and find what you seek."

”Let’s get something tasty!” he said, and his heart delighted in how anaa treated him: not like a child, but like a man in his making.

He squirmed a moment in pure delight and showered her chin with kisses. Then, he was on his feet and skipping the way before her.

The little knight stole a glance over his shoulder and slowed his steps to trot alongside her, face beaming in every way.

“Like a deer, or something!”

"aya, deer have sharp feet." she thought for a moment. "i will show you where kapvaitchiak cousin makes his sleeping-place. he does not have knives on his toes."

the duck grinned, turning toward a more shaded part of the trees, the evergreen branches growing close together.

If not deer, then what? He cupped his ears towards anaa. "Who is kapvaitchiak cousin? He must have another name! What do I call him? What is he like?" One day he would hunt the creatures with knives on their toes, and he would show himself a true hunter of Moonglow. But today, he would simply begin in the way.

Stratos followed anaa with a bouncing step, and eager eyes trained upon her face.

"his other name is 'weasel.' he has a long body. he is a trickster with a voice to make you laugh."

kukutux stooped over a small log. "look." she pointed to tiny rabbit bones. "here is where he stopped to eat."

Stratos couldn’t help but smile.

He sounds silly! he remarked, imagining a rich caricature of the creature anaa described. He would not be able to identify weasel with the image he had conjured up - but how was he too know? Yet this would be corrected in time. Does he hunt with his laughter, too? and he grinned, cheeky, sometimes Ariadne or Callyope say a thing that makes me laugh so hard I feel like I might die.

He peered down at the bones anaa pointed towards, noting how clean and unbroken they were. Weasel must not be very big, if the bones of rabbit could be so intact as that!

she laughed. "weasel is not big. but he is odd! his body stretches! so that he can fit into small places." stratos' blunt assessment of his sisters' character caused her eyes to dance.

"what sort of things do they say to you?" moonwoman chuckled. "weasel does not laugh. he is very quiet."

but they had come across a few hairs from his tail anyway, little black furs which glinted on the ground.