Qeya River KIVGURUK

This is long and there is some PP, which I can change if anyone would like. This was discussed in the MO forum earlier, and now it's making its way IC. Replies are not necessary! Feel free to reference this post if you'd like; for now it is private between Kigipigak, Kivaluk, and Kukutux with references to members of Natigvik.

There had been some resistance to having the Moonglow wolves so near their land, and it came from an unlikely place. Kigipigak had not expected @Akkuma to be so withdrawn around those he considered to be their family; he had tried to speak to the boy only to be met with silence or a sullen demeanor, and that only led to a firm tone from Kigipigak himself, and things got worse from there.

It was hard to discipline someone for doing what was right for them. Kigipigak could see that the myriad of new arrivals strained something within Akkuma. He did not know how to correct that, or to remedy the boy's spirit in a way that made him open to those Kigipigak cared very much about. He left it to @Sakhmet to remedy for now - and for a time she was there instead, being the mother, speaking in her way with their son to try and fix whatever Kigipigak had strained.

Perhaps he deserved this. He had gone off to serve Tulimaq without any involvement with his own family; this could have been backlash for such a choice - but, there had been no choice! It was that, or the warrior would have demanded his sons go alone too, and then what? It was a point of contention Kigipigak had to stow, and he tried not to let his worries interrupt the time between the two villages.

He would go out and hunt and be friendly with Moonglow; his son @Kivaluk would train with Tulukiri. Sakhmet would do her best with Akkuma, and all would be well. That was what Kigipigak thought, until night fell. There between the Issumatar and her chosen, there was a discussion; it did not get so heated that their voices would raise or be heard by those of Natigvik, and certainly none of Moonglow would know of this until morning.

It was decided, by dawn. Sakhmet would take the boy Akkuma away from the village and they would retreat from this busy place. In time they would return and hopefully by then, Akkuma would be whole, or at least at peace, with some sense of fulfillment that the village could not currently give him. Kigipigak shared the news with Kivaluk first and the family would together mourn this change, in a way. The man would kiss his wife, and share a moment with his forlorn son, and they would be off.

That left them down two able bodies - as well as their Issumatar. It was midday when Kigipigak chose to alert the rest of Natigvik, calling for each of them (@Amalia/Sadey, Lestan, and Tulukiri); and in private before his own sleeping place, with Kivaluk at his side, they shared the news. He then sent Amalia off, asking for her to bring @Kukutux to them if she was not yet busy for the day, so that another difficult conversation could be had.

This was meant to be a time of shared hunting! Of joy, of feasts, of friendship and family. Instead, all that Kigipigak could think of was the absence of his beloved, and the reluctance of his son to be among them. Whatever words they had shared during their own discussion weighed heavily now upon Kigipigak's spirit. He would look to his remaining family - Kivaluk - and then away, to watch from the sleeping place for Kukutux's arrival.

moonwoman came as she was called.

"kiggavik," she called to her kinsman. she nosed him gently; her jade eyes were worried, and searched for sakhmet.

and their family.

if there had been tension among those in the river village she had not seen it. but now she looked for its details and at last set her eyes back toward the sangilak.

Amalia had done as asked. Her own heart hurting. Her found family was breaking, fracturing and she couldn't fix it.

She settled near Kukutux and waited quietly and sadly. Though she tried to keep a stiff upper lip for their guests and until there was more told.

once more, kivaluk finds the world beneath his paws shaky and unsettled: though it was with the departure of akkuma and sahkmet that cause the tremors this time. and... though he had missed kigipigak it was the absence of his mother and brother that cut him the very deepest.

perhaps he should've seen the foreshadowing. his brother had been isolated and withdrawn for many months now and though he understands their mother's desire to go with him, to help him heal whatever invisible demons he was battling ...it does not mean that it doesn't feel like knives to his heart.

still, he does not wish to be selfish; which he knew childishly begging her to stay would've been.

with eyes heavy with sorrow he was trying to hide and heart wounded he looks to his father for a long moment before kivaluk's gaze cuts to kukutux — and then to amalia very briefly but does not linger. though he desires to scowl at the ground and bury himself in patrols and hunts and sparring he remains by his father's side; dutifully.

Before Amalia returned with Kukutux, the two men were alone together. It was brief. In those moments Kigipigak could have said something - perhaps should have - to alleviate what the boy might have been feeling. Sakhmet was the heart that beat for their village, not Kigipigak. He did not know how to counsel the boy. He saw how much Kivaluk struggled to hide his feelings and in a way, approved. If only because it took some of the ownership of the moment away from Kigipigak himself. He could claim the boy did not need or want to be consoled; he could use the age old excuse that men aren't meant to speak of such things. This was no womens circle.

Before he could say anything, Kukutux was among them. She moved to be close to the sangilak and appeared worried. Kigipigak gave her a look that was briefly forlorn, but glanced next to Amalia, uttering a soft thank-you which could've been a dismissal; but if the warrior woman wished to linger, Kigipigak would not send her away.

He looked to Kukutux fully now.

Thank you for coming. I do not mean to alarm you. We have had some... changes, to the village. He did not want this for Natigvik, but there was no avoiding it. You have not met my other son, Akkuma. He and his mother have gone away to mend his spirit. He has been troubled lately. It felt best to Sakhmet that they go off together for a time.

This was a fair assessment but did not answer some very important questions. As a result, the village lacks an issumatar. Our numbers are too low to handle winter - especially so, given how harsh this land can be at that time. Idly his gaze shifts between the moonwoman and Kivaluk, and back again.

If you are willing, I would like to ask -- He could not finish the question. Something of a strangle hold had overtaken Kigipigak's throat for a moment. He knew he was not showing weakness by asking for help, but at the same time he could not fathom how this might appear to his son. It was momentary.

I ask that my village become yours. Let my people leave this empty place and go with you to Moonglow.

her breath was a gentle intake.

she had not expected this.

she saw how kivaluk was pained, and her mother's heart went to him. "yes," she said, her heart aching with the pain of the journey that sakhmet had been meant to take.

moonwoman thought of kausiut.

"come home with us," she said. for it had been his home also. "we will live as one."

and it would be so.

she knew it was a hardship to ask. she honored kigipigak for it by veiling her gaze and offering a woman's demureness.