Ouroboros Spine ⟸ algaak ⟹

would love @Sakhmet to post next! then puppies & dad <3, then aw! @Sialuk, @Samani, @Metis (vaire) would all be welcome as part of the womens circle even though theyre not in MG <3

kukutux nuiruk expected the pains when they came.

her body for a week had whispered that her children were ready. with the studied ease of an experienced mother the moonwoman had gone out to walk, to walk, to walk.

but she had not expected the crush of pain which drove her down to her knees before the ulaq shared with her sun man and fire-starter. a slow dance; a rolling of pelvis toward earth as she sat up, head tilted back and belly hardening steadily.

inhale; stay back, monster from the sea

inhale; stay back, those who would come for them

inhale; the thought of sakhmet

eventually moonwoman returned to the ulaq but she did not find relaxation.

it was for her grandfather at last she cried, in the old unsaid words of the sunshine island, aware of those around her but with eyes affixed elsewhere and then shut;

her heart pounded ancient drumming; blood rushed with familiar anguish and then pressure, splitting her into bone and sinew and moondust.

@Massaraq, born first, the steady flow of winterdeep ice against the duck's wilted feathering.

scarcely time to cleanse him, to think of the roil of deep blue water before @Kassuq joined his brother in a welter of fluid and beneath the guttural grunts of long breaths taken by his mother, the calm of white frost upon lapping ocean.

two sons.

her head swam; she whispered words for their souls.

but from the cleaving sea of the duck's body came a third; he cut from her bones and rolled heavily against his brothers. @Arrluk, salt-wolf between the ice nature of the first two.

massaruq, slate-grey; kassuq pale but for a shock of aiolos' coloration upon his name; arrluk marked by striations of black and white.

oh! but more; her voice called for the sun man as her eyes looked for sakhmet.

It was not meant to happen like this.

She had thought a walk would help, that it would ease some of the ache until whoever lived within now was truly ready to emerge.

Yet each pulse was a stab, a sharp presence along her body.

And in each rolling wave of pain, it felt like a debt paid elsewhere. That she was stabbed for her sins in this life and any life before or after. She had started to cry at some point as the world felt blurred around her vision and rain.

She had been late to return back to the shared space and when she came it was with no words.

Only the crushing pain in her abdomen and the wish for support. She knew she would find it but it somehow felt so far away in the haze she swam through now. Last time her pain had morphed into euphoria.

This time it only stayed pain. Long and low.

Until a dam broke once more and she too would bring life into the space. A tiny thing (@Galana) that seemed the same shade as what she had come into the world with. Quick was instinct to guide the second-time mother into setting the girl comfortably, cleanly, against her side.

The dawning realization that it would be only the one.

One single daughter.

She reached desperately for her wife in the space.

There was a moment of coldness, so much sensation, notable if only because it was not the earlier sensation. Eyes and ears closed to the flurry of activity around him. He wriggled and felt warmth again, a feeling he did not even know to want at all, but there and all-encompassing. So many somethings not even half-formed thoughts as he first felt the world.

Just one from me - let me know if I'm not supposed to post in these threads :)

Arrluk's life was simple. He knew nothing. There was only warmth, liquid, sleep. None of these things which he comprehended either. 

When he is birthed, Arrluk whines lowly, but does not wail. Already from the moment of his birth, he showed a quietness. A silent, beautiful, killer whale.

Unlike his more quiet siblings, Kassuq was displeased by this new situation. He squirmed in the dirt as he was cleaned, rolling his pudgy little body about beneath his mother’s tongue.

His first noise, once the membrane over his nose was cleaned and he could draw breath, was a drawn out shriek, held for an impressive full five seconds. Just to ensure everyone around him knew his opinion on the situation at hand.

Went ahead and posted to keep it moving if that's okayyy.

Kukutux and Sakhmet's connection had gone beyond, to where they had their season together and now to even going into labor together. When new life was brought into the Nuiruk Ulaq it was done so by both women. Aiolos was amazed by it, such connections and he had a better understanding now of Kukutux' want for second wife. 

Aiolos paced in front of the den, all the while yowling out for any who might be of service to the Moonglow mothers, should any medical attention be needed by them. He listened carefully, should any cry come out from the mothers that suggested something was wrong. Something different then what he had heard year after year from Kukutux. 

Then, when the whines and cries of pain had eased and the smell of birth filled the air, Aiolos knew it was okay to draw nearer. 

He did so by laying down at the side of the entrance so others could pass by and in as needed. He crawled closer, head sticking into the opening. At Kukutux' side, three large, rounded pups: one of silvers and grey-blue, one snowy, savor a red scruff and then one patterned in black and white. To Sakhmet, a sole pup molten in fiery bright tones. Small, but moving with much strength. 

Aiolos is quiet but his smile is deep.

so sorry this took so long! <3

she would be named galana, one single daughter to sakhmet. the world was something she did not know as she began to squirm and cry beside her mother. it was when she was nestled to her mother's belly she grew quiet.

there was much the miniscule girl had yet to see, but for now her mother's side was all she desired; though the girl did not yet comprehend this.

assuming that's all the bebes, but can edit or delete if need be! 

shikoba knew not of all the important and intimate details between moon woman and sahkmet. but perhaps all she did know was the fact that she was happy that they found peace within one another sharing the hearth of sun man.

so when she could hear that the ancient ritual was once again recurring within the spine, shikoba comes to the outer part of the ulaq. she would come to brush her muzzle against the shoulder of sunman to show that she was there for him if needed. and soon would come to poke her own head into the whelping den.

she could see them all, the newest additions to the spine. they were healthy and happy -- what more was there to ask? if allowed and invited, she would come to offer her support and comfort with gentle grooming and come to bring meat should there be any desire.

she would leave when asked, doing her best to avoid running into anyone with her massive belly.

last for me! <3

in the place of the sunshine isle, men had not been part of birth.

kukutux was glad she had put such things away from herself and from moonglow.

she and sakhmet had seen through their trials together! she looked to him in sleepful love and then kissed the brow of her wife.

"it is good," moonwoman whispered. when shikoba came, the star-hunter was invited closer, embraced, made part of this moment, and kukutux saw it was near to her own time.

the village would go on.

for now she nestled the suckling boys at her side and closed her eyes at last to sleep.

just one from me, since i know she'd be here. <3

Again, Sialuk was at the side of anaa when she brought children into the world. Again, she marveled at her mother's strength. Sakhmet here, too, and Sialuk carefully observing what she hoped this year would bring to her, too.

Three brothers new, and a single sister. Sialuk kissed them each once upon their heads, and then pulled from the den, passing Aiolos with a knowing, proud smile on her way out. This would not be the same as the year past, as she had a village of her own to look after, but she knew that she would come and see them whenever time allowed.