Ouroboros Spine Driving through the red lights

Inutsuk had seen little of @Mojag since their return home.

But it could not stay this way. They had been apart so long. The time was long overdue to attempt in rekindling their relationship as father and son.

The hunter looked for the boy, soon to be a man. It was hoped that he would be found near their ulaq, but if not, he wait patiently for his son's return.

He came to the ulaq out of breath and panting hard. He had been running; there had been something for him to chase after a successful tracking venture of the lower mountain, but in the end Mojag had not been successful in his hunt, and he was forlorn because of it. He had thought to come home and seek out his mother for advice about his efforts - but when he neared the sleeping place, he saw the figure of his father instead.

Mojag stopped short, mulling over what to do. His father had not yet seen him. He cast his eye to the path he had followed as if he might turn tail, and he knew that would not be right. The boy had spent so long hunting for his father once — and now he was here, and the family was whole again, so why did he dally?

With a deep breath to steady his spirit, he ambled closer. As Mojag drew up to the ulaq he feigned not seeing Inutsuk until the last moment and then spared him a shy glance, but said nothing. What does one say to a father they did not know?

The boy, soon to be man, returned panting. He had been hard at work. Inutsuk could not help but smile as he approached. There was much in Mojag that he saw in his mother. Yet another reason for him to share the same love for both.

You look as if you have been out hunting. How did it go? Or maybe he had not been, for he returned with nothing. Then again, he could not be so quick to judge the boy's efforts. The catch could have been left in their cache.

The man took notice of his empty jaws, his laborious breath, and asked an inane question that Mojag wished he could ignore. He felt heat flood his throat and a tension line his jaw. His eyes dropped to the path and he looked in a skewed way to the door of the ulaq, perhaps wondering if Shikoba was near, if she might overhear this - but she was not there, it was only himself and his father.

He took a breath and felt his heart hammering. I saw more trails than targets, spoke the boy in an exasperated way. Clearly he had failed in his hunt or he would have a prize to show for it, and a real reason to have come to the ulax - such as the tanning of a hide.

The boy looked around again as he walked, striding by where Inutsuk was stationed.

Where is mother? I was to go on patrol with her, he lied readily, and swung his head as if to search, but really Mojag was feeling very nervous and could not look at his father. It felt strange to be alone with him.

Everyone fails at times. A hard truth, but rightly so. It was nothing for him to be ashamed of.

Mojag asked for Shikoba. Inutsuk's heart dropped slightly within his chest. He knew that his son would be hesitant, but to so boldly prefer his mother in a time he thought they could share alone. It saddened him.

Heaving a defeated sigh, he rose to his feet. I'm sure she will return soon.

He would turn to leave, then. Clearly the boy was not too fond of having him near and he would not press Mojag into anything he wasn't comfortable with.

The man's words struck a bitter chord within Mojag. He saw the look that crossed his face as he glanced there, and looked away, knowing his own expression was only going to darken. He could not look at his father; too many feelings which had been seeded in his infancy now had grown to nettles, stinging.

He stood and turned to leave. Mojag could only think, Yes, of course, things aren't going your way so you run away again! And this of course shocked him, as Mojag did not usually hold such strong and vitriolic reactions against people, least of all his father. He was surprised by himself; but the surprise swept through him so thoroughly that he could do little else but hold his tongue and watch as Inutsuk stalked off.

The boy huffed to himself, kicking at the gravel. He looked to the ulax and then with a heavy soul, turned away from them too and went back the way he had come, to resume his hunting or to find a patrol route that would take him far.