Firefly Glen tigugaa

Tags for reference, open. (*Note: smells strongly of Ariadne.)

Kilgitsuk traveled once more from the village and the cloud-woman; as the snow picked up, he kept himself warm on thoughts of her, in the crude way that men often do; he felt better now than he had in many days, and thought that with @Ariadne's blessing he could, and would, succeed in bringing everything together for her altar. He thought also of bride-price, and scoffed at the idea — not because he did not wish to have her in the spring, but because he could not trust that @Kukutux or @Aiolos would want him as a son-in-law.

He knew it would be best to go to them and to speak plainly. It was their way to have suitors ask for permission from the parents, and yet he felt himself above this, separate from this, as a Tartok man. It was Ariadne who wished for him to pay the bride-price to honor her people's ways — and he knew there would be many men to fight, to honor his own.

For now, he would hunt. He would keep his mind on his work, for now. There was plenty of time for the head of the village to explore her desires with him before the spring arrived.

with vaire named in heart and mind as inheritor of moonglow and moonwoman's wisdom, kukutux felt that her breathing had grown easier.

she had come to the glen for its memories, both good and ill. she did not expect to find kilgitsuk on the wind, and the scent of his body twined thickly with that of her daughter.

revulsion and rage warred for a moment in moonmother.

lynx, slinking.

i am your totem.

this kukutux knew, though she would not speak it in disrespect.

lynx licked a wide paw, her sunyellow eyes scorching into the mind of moonwoman.

how could i be your totem and you angered that your daughter chooses her own way, as i do?

her muscles tensed; she was prepared to reject it!

but in less than a moon she would see six years. it would be a discredit to them if she acted in ire now.

ariadne was the snowcat prowling upon her new slopes. she was moonglow and seawater. many men would seek her. kukutux must trust that her daughter's choice would be tested.

despite what she felt. despite the warnings she had given.

a breath; a twitch of her shoulders; she did not seek the winterhawk but went on, forcing her mind to thoughts of his son's marriage ceremony which would be hers to plan.

The snow fell thinly upon the glen, and Kilgitsuk stalked among the trees for signs of elk. He did not find much to suggest the hunt would go well - but caught the scent of the moonwoman so far from her home. The man paused and considered whether he should go on, and was determined to succeed in this hunt as he was determined in everything he did. Her presence would not dissuade him; her judgement he could contend with.

As he went now, there was an assuredness to Kilgitsuk that he put on display. He did not intend to ruin his hunt by intercepting Kukutux, but he knew she was here somewhere, and wouldn't it be better to face her? To tell her all about Moonsong and the ways in which he made her daughter sing for him?

He was thinking cruel thoughts now. A son stolen, a daughter taken. It was right, it was fair, it was Tartok.

springtime, in the place between winter and spring, when the sun had returned and the flowers had pressed their heads up through the snow.

you cannot stop her. she has made her choice. accept it, anaa.

lynx's voice echoed and then was gone.

moonwoman melted into the treeline which surrounded the glen and stepped into the land beyond, taking a circuitous route back toward moonglow. if kigipigak called out, she would stop, but unless this happened, she would only return home.

another was in the glen.
another had caught the tangled fragrances.
kilgitsuk hunted. ariadne had chosen him.
it was not in the culture of chakliux to be jealous, and yet he was;
he had wished to be chosen first and she had not;
his catch; dropped against a tree. he sang out for kilgitsuk to take it home to moonsong.
he did not notice the moonwoman in his conflagration of feeling; he had no right to feel as he did, and so retreated, though in goodwill he would leave this dove for the trader.

The voice of his hunt-brother carried through the air and Kilgitsuk stopped, listening, alerting in the direction before picking up his pace and going again. When he came along the trail through the snow that smelled of Chakliux, he found only the dove; he knew the message but chose not to heed it. He was not searching for this, this was not what would please Ariadne.

Still, it was a prize. He took the dove and carried it as the scent changed to that of Kukutux. He placed the dove at the base of an oak tree, and called to her with her daughter's words:

Anaa, I have words for you.
He would present her with the dove if she came his way; otherwise, after a wait, perhaps he would eat it and use the fuel.

the trader called out to kukutux with inappropriate familiarity.

she would not go back into the glen. she would see his eyes and his face on the open, here;

come to me. i wait.

moonwoman sat down to wait for the moonsong man, angered and yet veiling her features of all exasperation. more than ariadne, he understood the convoluted kinship ties. he knew that this was not a well-made match.

she believed then that he had done this solely to enrage her, and for that reason she would not give this to him.

After a moment she returned a message. Kilgitsuk readied himself; he gathered the offering and carried it to where she waited. He saw as he arrived that she was not pleased to see him and had expected as much, given the words they had shared before. Kilgitsuk felt emboldened by his recent good luck (with Ariadne, with Moonsong) and chose not to be bothered in the moment.

Placing the dove before her, he sat back and regarded the woman. This was not the ulaq of her daughter, there was no women circle here; only the pervasive scent of Ariadne which he carried. When Kilgitsuk spoke he said little, testing the air: A gift for you.

"this woman thanks you, ninauga."

she took the dove and tucked it beside one alabastrine haunch.

there were several ways to respond.

the first was thrown aside at once: anger would drive them together and assure both her daughter and the trader of their choice.

reticence would only affect her bond with ariadne.

acceptance was not yet hers; she had only just discovered this and must now speak with aiolos. the counsel and comfort of her sun man had soothed kukutux through many, many years, and it was yet another thing she doubted ariadne would find in the arms of this one.

the fourth then: tradition.

and it said this: once chosen, a man was expected to turn his head toward the family of the woman who had made the choice.

if ariadne wanted this one, then kukutux would not speak against it. she would only demand of him what rodyn had given, what argent would give. he was bound then, to respect her, for if he did not, he would lose face and status among the moonvillages which had sprung from her very own body.

it was an advantage a man would not see. silent. biding.

"what are the words that you have for me, kigipigak?" her jadestone eyes were contemplative, her anger restrained with long years of effort.

The word she uses is one he does not know and he will ask about it when he next sees Ariade. I'm doing so they will both see that Kukutux knows; that she follows I'm her own traditions which place the choice ultimately upon the head of village Moonsong. It is not acceptance but it is the first step; for now though, Kilgitsuk gives space and respect.

He clears his throat to speak.

I wish to... apologize to you and your Sunman. Kilgitsuk did not believe he ever had things to apologize for, as apologies were a sign of weakness in differing ways, but he saw fit to do it now. Not for Ariadne — but for this other matter on his mind.

You took in my son and raised him when I was not there. I came back angry, and I did not know the extent of my wound until we last had words. I know now he is a better man for having been with your sunshine-people. He lowers his head with the tilt of his chin, and after a long blink Kilgitsuk continues:

He has the blood of Tartok but the heart of Moonglow. His choices are his own, as mine are my own, and Ariadne, who has chosen me, his eyes say.

kukutux wished her anger appeased.

she wished her dislike would abate.

but because she felt this was a performance, she could not see it as sincere. she had not heard kivaluk call back to his father. he was away, making preparations for his own marriage. moonwoman was moved to hear his betterment recognized, for it was true that kivaluk had grown stronger and more willing to speak aloud in this past year.

"perhaps you will come to his ceremony of marriage, if this is his want."

her heart hardened to think of how broken sakhmet had been, and how kigipigak did not mention her even now, while moonwoman and snow-trader were alone together.

the blood of tartok. the heart of moonglow.

"and it is my want that you find an issumatar so you may have peace."

and that was not ariadne. she was not a tartok-woman. and sakhmet had not been. kigipigak did not put aside tartok, only a claim to his son that had already been gone. who then, could sate the man if not a woman of his own people? who could satisfy his need for blood? he was restless; sedna had not made him to stay in one place.

but the way now was open for the man to speak at last to the heart of why he was here. kukutux would not recognize it otherwise.

She knew. She must! He bore the scent of Ariadne proudly, garishly even; it would account for Kukutux' apparent chill towards him, moreso than their strained relationship around Kivaluk. Kilgitsuk did not appreciate the lasting frost from her as he tried to make some amends, and when she mentioned the marriage he saw another chance at this.

He had words in mind, and before he could speak them Kukutux spoke the word Issumatar as if he had not found one once, and now found a second. It felt more like an insult to the both of them: as if Ariadne could not be Issumatar despite being the Head to a village of men already; as if Kilgitsuk had failed once in his pursuit and would fail again.

He drew a breath.

I will bring a gift to Moonglow soon, and would speak with Kivaluk to see if he would welcome me, for Kilgitsuk now did not trust Kukutux, did not think she would speak kindly of him to his own son. He said this to ask permission to visit - but also to tell her he would be involved, going forward.

Kilgitsuk could ask about bride-price here and now, but thought better of it. He would wait until this visit to confront Moonwoman and Sunman, and see that they accepted him. Even if they did not, Ariadne had made her choice; in the way of Tartok, that was the end of it.

yes! she knew, because kigipigak had come in such rudeness to her, painted in the scent of her daughter's most intimate embrace. and yet, he did not mention ariadne! with each passing moment, he said nothing of it, and kukutux grew angrier, for it disrespected her knowledge of this fact.  a knowledge that he had forced upon her.

now he spoke of kivaluk again as if he were some suckling boy still tied to his mother; he had been sivullik for almost twelvemoon now! he had built his own ulaq and chosen his own wife. a gift, as if he were a little boy who might be persuaded to think more favorably of the man who had abandoned him.

perhaps kigipigak should have done this, kukutux surmised, before he lay with a daughter of the very own hearth which had raised his son! she loathed the impropriety of it; the traderman violated several things with his impulsiveness, his lust.

and still he did not speak of ariadne, and above his head did moonwoman put a count, in her mind: each day that kigipigak did not seek her and sun man to express his intentions, would be a day he lost more of her respect, which was not something that kukutux thought that the winterhawk felt he needed.

angry now too, with ariadne, for disregarding her warnings. but moonwoman saw her own failings in this. her moonsong girl had been gone for some time and had not been given the guidance of a women's circle. then she had lost a sister and fled the sea. her village was not only a sign of their continued nuiruk strength but ariadne's own growth, her own rebellion against the saltwater which had always been her birthright.

yes; she felt that this man would fail her daughter and leave her heartbroken to roam in search of something he had never found. this was the pattern which kigipigak had given her; she could think nothing else.

"moonsong is welcome in moonglow," moonwoman murmured, standing with a practiced grace to her feet and reaching a small paw for the dove.

When she spoke it was not warmth that he felt from her. It was a welcome, unwelcoming. Spoken as fact and fact alone. Kilgitsuk waited a moment to see if there was more to be said, and when there was not, he saw they had nothing else to offer one another. Yes, he could have spoken Ariadne's name, but still he savored what he had gained, and wished to enjoy it before going forward with the traditions of a family that he felt no longer favored him.

Kilgitsuk gave a bow of his head to Kukutux in a show of respect - and likely only a show. If you see Kivaluk, please tell him his father thinks often of him. And that served as a farewell. The man turned to go, his back to Moonwoman; he would return to his hunt and then to home, to convey to Ariadne what had now transpired.