Moonspear kaunaksriruk ⦿

aw but esp to those in/near the den! @Sialuk @Argent @Elentari @Rodyn @Maggak @Acrux @Panuk @Rolayne <3

having sent @Ariadne to moonspear some days ago, an afternoon found the moonmother slowly making her way up into the slopes of the village her daughter led.

her eyes were drawn, smudged in exhaustion; her fur lank; her steps that of an old woman, now, at last.

but kukutux was determined, and took herself to the den where her grandchildren were nurtured by the strong bonds of love atop the spear.

the duck was bone-weary; she sat down to rest, tears springing to her eyes.

A new face peers into the den, that which Maggak was not currently in. She had been busying herself with a stick nearby, milkteeth and gums itching furiously as she wets it with saliva and lets out a series of high grumbles. The shadow distracts her long enough to pause, head swiveled, tail thrashing into a loose wag. Kukax!
Shifting awkwardly to her feet, she toddles up and toward moonwoman, a cloud of dust and pine needles behind her. She bumps her nose rather confidently into the sky-dusted lower back. Hi!
Oblivious was she, still, to her very, very dead aunt.

when he wasn't out playing or off on some imaginary adventure, acrux was often found snuggled up against a warm body in the ulaq. the days were slowly becoming cooler, and he often found the most comfortable place to be was right beside a warm body. 

he'd been deep asleep and pressed against presumably one of his parents when maggak came over with words that stirred him. "maggiii," he groaned as he shifted his weight and lifted a paw to rub tired eyes. "shhh," came the whisper from his lips as he let heavy eyelids flutter open and closed. still half asleep and not fully aware of the visitor amongst them, acrux rolled over and lay belly up as he slowly escaped from the weight of his slumber.

In a few weeks her son and daughter would be two months old. Oh how time flew by. But she had been there for every minute of it. She marveled each day at their progression. How their features changed, their ears and paws growing. How they learned new words and phrases, sharply picking up on Sialuk's native tongue. Their personalities were shining through. Maggak and Acrux, a blessing in of themselves.

But they were not alone. In a twist, and bitter one at that, the grieving father and husband, Rodyn, brought to the ulaq, two precious young lives. Rolayne and Panuk. Dark furred sons, their mother so tragically lost. It pained her to think of what would happen if she or Sialuk could not in their children's lives. Of how such loss would impact these boys, but their extended family as well. Brothers and sisters, cousins and a mother and father, mourned. 

They were not her own by blood. But the bond between her and Sialuk was stronger than that. They were the Star woman's kin, after all. That made them hers, too. So it was only natural that she never once hesitated or faltered in caring for them. Playing her role, feeding and bathing them when her lover needed a break. Rodyn was close by, she knew. She assured the heart shattered father that they were being well looked after.

With the weather turning cooler, especially at night, she was extra doting on the brood. She had not been inside when Moonwoman came to visit. Instead, she was returning from a quick trip to her personal ulaq. There, she had retrieved her most prized pelt of black, silver speckled fox skin. A plush, luxurious gift for the children. To burrow into on crisp nights, or enveloped in warm, silky blackness. They would want for nothing.

Elentari had never felt happier until she was a mother.

Then there, outside the ulaq, was Kukutux. Maggak too, greeting her excitedly. But the Moonwoman was worn, tired. Weighed down by grief, with the telltale prickle of tears at her eyes. Elentari rushed to her, whining softly. Dropping the fox pelt at their feet, she pressed in close, welcoming her into a comforting hug. She had no words. Not for such a loss that cut so deep into one's spirit.

the first to greet her was a child who looked so much akin to sialuk that her tears gave way to a small croon of answer. kukutux, who had turned, now smiled down toward the little one. "anânsiak," she said to the small palepelted girl, touching a paw to her own chest to indicate the word.

elentari arrived now, put her arms around the stricken moonwolf, and kukutux felt the thin cries start their eruption in her throat. but she refused them; sent the sobs away. she leant heavily into the nightfurred wife of her daughter, then cleared her throat.

"i have come to visit them, to see how you are. i will seek my daughter. i will stay for a time. then i will return to moonglow," kukutux said quietly, settling once more.

Why was everyone so sad?
What was there to be sad about? The little lumps of black and brown were growing swiftly, had warm milk in their bellies and were doted on just the way Maggak and brother Acrux had been. Sheltered, loved; if one were to ask the pale girl, she would have said it was a time for celebration!
But she is not so oblivious that she does not, in some way, feel the heavy blanket of grief as the strangled cries and sickening silence settle into the ulaq. Anang Ele sweeps kukax — an-ân-see-ak? — into her arms; there are few words shared. She, decidedly, wedges herself between the two women in a silent hug of her own. Maybe that would help.

more words stirred him from slumber, but these came from a voice he did not recognized. immediately curious as to who the voice belonged to, acrux rolled from his back to belly and wiggled himself free from the confines of the ulaq. there was mother, sister, and a face he did not know. and yet despite the unfamiliarity he knew instinctually that she was family. 

he rose to brush against his sister, offering a nudge to her shoulder before moving on to sit neatly next to mother. there was where he remained, focus set on the figure he did not know. she felt warm and cold all at once, as if the candle that held her spirit had been extinguished by a great wind.

last for me!

in her grief, kukutux took solace in her grandchildren.

little maggak. small acrux.

babes born to the hearth of her daughter, and therefore her blood, hers to teach.

today there was only one lesson: that weeping in open grief was good, and allowed bad spirits to pour from one's heart.

Maggak and Acrux joined her with Kukutux, as if sensing the wise Moonwoman's grief. Elentari kept near, pushing her raven body gently into the fold. A subtle craning of her neck to rest over pale fur in a comforting embrace. Dark lids hooded over night blue eyes.

Silence was the only language of today, with grief and comfort as their teachers.

Solid like the stone of the mountain itself, the Queen of the Stars would be here for her immediate and extended family, always.