Moonspear lawmother

Her teeth chattered together as if eager to taste the seal fat, though her jaws fell still when he mentioned having a son. Her tufted ears pricked and her head tilted to the side as her curious gaze swept over him again. Sure, she may have misinterpreted his mannerisms as being flirty, but she found it difficult to believe that he could be old enough to have a son who would be a man in the Spring. A second consideration of his physique revealed very little to her, in terms of his age- the youthful glimmer in his eyes and shine of his thick coat showed nothing but health. He could be a couple years older, for sure- all she could tell was that he appeared to be in his prime. 

She parsed from his statement that his eldest was not his only child, and then wanted to know more. "You have children," She stated, her observation an acceptance that she was still comfortable with their established rapport. "T-"

She was about to ask more about them, when his gaze fell to hers again, and he asked about what she hunted. So trivial a thing, compared to the family she wished to know about! She blushed, wishing to shrug the attention, but politely dipped her muzzle. "I fish in rivers, and stalk the birds that nest on the ground," She said. Spruce grouse were a favourite of hers, as well as wild turkey though they could occasionally be quite ornery. 

"Tell me about your family?" She asked.

it was not hunting which simbelmyne wished to discuss, it was his family. the brightberry eyes were radiant with surprise and delight; he saw her acceptance of his words as promising for future returns. "my son, raiyuk, was born to the lodge of my first wife, nasamik. he is a very good hunter and he will earn his scars when the snows come," chakliux said with immense pride, gesturing to his own shoulders.
"he was born here," the seal hunter reflected. "both ice and mountain are in raiyuk. two baby spirits found peace too in moonspear," chakliux said, exhaling beneath the joviality into something like a shard of pain. he did not speak often of these little ones. he was not certain he had ever told tullik; he did not want her to think of lost children while she carried her own.
"sialuk called me to her sleeping place for a time," chakliux murmured, implying that one or both of her children might have him as a sire. but on that front he said no more. maggak and acrux belonged to the spear and their mothers and their chosen-father. he no more dreamed of bringing them to moontide than sialuk would have allowed it.
"nasamik has been gone for many months." the wind rose every guard hair into a pike of alabaster. "my second wife, she has devoted herself to becoming a seal hunter woman. she is also from this place," chakliux said, amused once more at his seeming devotion to the stone-women. "i hope for many more children. so long as i can hunt for them all, may oil father bless me."

He spoke with warmth and pride of his firstborn son- perhaps the one who might carry on his name and legacy, she thought. Her gaze fell to the long scars down his shoulders, and she understood now that they were a mark of skill. She wondered if she would see many others in Moonspear with those same markings, or if this was something that had come from his family, and belonged to those who hunted seals. Her gaze lifted to the bridge of his muzzle, wondering if those were a mark for something else. 

Nasamik was the name of his first wife. She blinked, surprise to infer that there would be more. It was not something she was accustomed to, and many questions brewed in a thick haze in her mind but she hushed them and listened intently. She would frown when she was told that Nasamik had disappeared, leaving behind her mate and son.

Her lips pursed lightly in confusion when he mentioned two more children, only to realize a moment later what he implied, and laid her ears flat against the back of her head. He cared for them too, she could tell; enough to mention them, and honour their importance. She had never spent much time in prayer, but felt compelled to wish well for the little children, wherever their spirits roamed. 

Sialuk was mentioned, too. She gauged by this that perhaps he had sought-after bloodlines, though he did not speak of any children by name. Given the pride with which he spoke of Raiyuk, she assumed then that he might not lay claim to any children he'd potentially sired through Sialuk...Either that, or he had been denied the right. She had much to learn about the customs of the wolves of Moonspear, and found it a little bit dizzying. 

He did not speak of his second wife by name, though she existed still. If she was from Moonspear, did she live there still? Had he come to visit her here? 

The questions whirled in her mind, but she couldn't separate one from the rest, and smiled, looking a little bit stunned when he admitted that he wanted more children. 

"I hope you are as successful in your hunts for seal as you are in your hunts for brides," She said with a girlish, joyous laugh. She was impressed by the man who sought to grow his family, who could speak so fondly of his wives and children, and so openly with someone he had only just met. He kept few secrets, she thought; and it made her believe that he felt quite secure. "What is the name of your second wife?" She asked, keen to learn more about the man and his fascinating family. "Is she here in Moonspear?" She added, already curious to know the woman, who might speak of Chakliux from her own experience.

throughout it all, the mountainwolf's expression sweetly and openly mirrored the words spoken by the seal hunter. by turns, he found her earnestly worried, confused, surprised, and interested to hear more. "her name is tullik. she fell here, upon the mountain," chaklixu revealed, "and she has been staying in moontide with me."
"she wishes to stay. and i wish one day to make a seal hunter village of my own."
ariadne came to mind, lighting his eyes for a moment. simbelmyne offered support to his goals, and chakliux found her laugh beautiful, a cascade of tiny ice pieces along the front of a cliff streaked with green.
"you must come to moontide and meet her," chakliux dared. "or perhaps you will see one another when tullik and i come to tell sialuk she is leaving." in the time to come, his wife would proclaim her want for the seal hunter tattoos, another reason to visit moonspear. only a spirit-woman could make these marks. he hoped sialuk would do this for tullik.
"a seal hunter man wants to be chosen, and many times," he explained. "i am hunter, tracker, warrior. i am a father. i am a protector. and i know the ways of love." roguish teeth in a roguish grin. "seal hunter men are chosen."

She didn't notice the wind anymore, not when they stood so close and spoke of things inseparable from his heart. It was as though the profundity of his words could cast a shield over them. It toyed with the tips of her guard hairs, but did not soak in to touch her skin. 

She listened as he spoke of his second wife- Tullik- noticing the fondness that had not resigned whatsoever since he had spoken the name of his first wife. She might have wondered if there was some heirarchy among them, or if timing was the only reason for them to have been given a numerical order. She would assume such, until told otherwise. 

She pondered for a moment what might be her own fate on the mountain. If Tullik had fallen and injured herself seriously enough, it meant that her own trepidation was wise. She would have to take care to try and avoid such a spill herself. 

The invitation lifted her spirits. "I would enjoy this," She said, her tail waving. She was keen to see what sort of women it was that drew Chakliux's eye, and how he acted when he had a wife in his presence. She also hoped for a conversation with the woman in a circle where they could speak freely- so she might know of what it was to be in these packs as a wife. 

At first, she thought he boasted because her remark had been playful- but there was sincerity in his voice despite the toothy grin he gave. Something about his assuredness made her blush deeply, and lower her gaze. She still smiled, though it was perhaps a more private expression. She felt more aware of her own lack of experience in such things now that she knew he expected to be chosen. Surely there were many who would look to him, and want him. Those who had trades and skills and experience; those who might turn his head with their ability to craft fine things, and to keep a family well-fed and happy. Perhaps women who had had children before, and had proven that they were fit and capable of doing so again. Worry threatened to steal her smile. 

"I am sure you will be chosen again," She said, lifting her gaze and shrugging the worry aside. She giggled softly. "And often."

"this i hope," chakliux told the shy simbelmyne with a smile that held many things beneath it. she did not know men; this was clear to him by how he said such things overtly, and how she withdrew in shyness. but it was not without interest, and this also was clear.
he did not press; his laugh was soft and only for the two of them. there was no need to suggest that the mountainwolf choose him, it was clear enough. 
"there is a thing that is done among certain seal hunter villages." he vied now, dipping muzzle to seek her eyes; "when a woman wishes a man, she says so to the women of her lodge, and they choose a hunter for the First Rite." he did not elaborate, he would allow her mind to reach for its own notions. the young women sometimes believed themselves to be in love with that first hunter, but such a marriage would be discouraged. and so this rite was sought only for certain reasons, and not so often. its event was a reason to feast and to celebrate.
the wind was rising again; chakliux rolled his eyes in faux irritation at the break in the moment and grunted, pointing with his chin in a gesture that said they should descend back down to more level ground.
"the ice will arrive. if it hurts your feet, wrap them in rabbitskin. slowly you will become used to the feel." his teeth glittered in another grin, the wind lifting his fur, and slowly turned to drop down the ledges.

Naive but curious, Simbelmyne listened as the seal-hunter spoke, wondering exactly what it was that he was trying to tell her when he mentioned something called the first rite. Not fully understanding the custom, she felt a bit confused, thinking he was telling her that if she wanted a husband, she would have to ask the other women of the pack- who would then choose a man for her, to perform some kind of hunt. 

"I...Do not understand," She admitted softly, turning with him to move down the mountainside. She would keep his advice about wrapping her feet in mind, though she couldn't help but wonder how exactly she was supposed to keep rabbit skin fixed to her feet and walk about on a mountain's slopes at the same time. She felt more and more blind to the ways of the world, the more she learned about it. How was it that she had been so sheltered growing up?

She nimbly sidestepped a boulder, and picked her way carefully through a section of scree. "If I want a husband...The other women of the pack choose one for me? And the hunter- the one they choose, does...What is the first right?" She asked.

the stones, he too overstepped. his mind thought of how best to frame what he had said for a woman who did not know his ways. "pleasure is first. marriage is second." the first rite, or rite of first pleasures, chakliux explained, was a singular ritual. a young woman wished a man, but for whatever reason, found herself too nervous to proceed. perhaps she was only curious. perhaps she wanted to know but without the expectation of marriage. many times, she was a woman many moons out of girlhood, who had waited.
she spoke to the women, to her older sisters, her aunts, her mothers. in turn, they chose from among the hunters a man who was gentle and would expect nothing once the evening had passed.
it had become a ritual around womanhood, of sorts; the rite was controlled. deliberate, a sharing of knowledge which would form a cornerstone for a future marriage. 
but even a seal hunter child understood things that it seemed simbelmyne did not, and for this reason had chakliux tempered the openness of his desire with his devotion to share his ways.

Her cheeks burned; she understood now what was meant by First Rite and her heart fluttered. She blinked several times, as if trying to rewrite the ethics she had been raised to know. It made sense now, why Chakliux was so freely warm toward her- this might be a place where shame did not follow those who succumbed to their physical desires. She had sequestered those urges for so long, having learned that it would be improper for her to adventure with another into those experiences without being united in marriage- and it seemed that she might not have to endure those restraints much longer. 

"I want to know the touch of a man," She admitted, her heart thundering within her chest. Perhaps it was foolish of her to want something the moment it was declared proper, but she had also suffered what it had felt like to turn her back on temptation for the sake of her reputation. "...But must I let someone else choose who it is?" She asked. Quickly, she added "I will, if it must be so-" she was willing to follow their customs, to be a willow dipping its supple limbs into a river and allow them to be bent in its direction. But with the abrupt admission came the implication of something else; the desire to choose, if it was allowed.

how quickly simbelmyne changed! her face lighting, her voice softly eager. "this is how it is done among the seal hunter people. but we are not there. so you say, 'i want' and you seek him yourself." older women of the village knew every man, including those who did not live among them. it was to these women that younger wolves went to seek counsel for many things. in this instance it was the act of pleasure unaccompanied by a demand for a mate. 
maybe she was not ready to marry but did not want to be surprised by the wedding night. other times, she was only curious with small thoughts of marriage. still others, it was a young woman who already had chosen her man, but wanted to be more skilled when they came together.
"a man does not often marry the one who chooses him simply for First Rite," he said softly, entertaining the thought of simbelmyne working in his lodge. "it is because the first time can create an attachment in her to him, or in him to her, one not good for marriage. jealousy. anger. the mistaking of pleasure for love. that is why they must be separate after for a long time."
a breath, a wind; each seal hunter wished to be chosen, but perhaps a man of the mountain might be better. unless she did not wish to marry for some time; then this buffer of months protected them both from impetuous movement. best for each to find more than one lover before committing to marriage.
his eyes said he wanted her. but this would be her own, and important, choice.

She could have a choice, then- but she foolishly fell into a sort of satisfaction then to know she would be able to have some influence, only to learn that the Rite was nuanced. And that whoever it was she chose, that she might need to be separated from them for a while- a means of protecting both wolves involved, it seemed, from the chance they might develop perilous emotions, reaped only from passion and not from an intimate knowledge of one another. 

She considered then, her own tactics. It was too important of an event in her culture for her to be comfortable with a stranger, and yet she knew if she chose Chakliux, they might be denied the chance to see one another for some time. She saw acceptance within his eyes, should she voice her own longing- and yet...She would deny him, at least a bit longer. 

"You would know the hunters in these lodges," She said. "I would...Want to meet them for myself, first, if it is allowed, but...Who among them do you think..." What? Who would be gentle? Who would be friendly? Who would even be acceptable, and would he volunteer their names?

his grin was surprised, was roguish, intrigued. "there is kilgitsuk, a trader. there kannoyak, a path maker, though i have not seen him in some time. alaric, of the spear. i imagine more men will gather here as the winter goes on."
his breath was warm, his voice teasing. "i have hunted with them all. i lived with kannoyak. any of these men will be kind to you, simbelmyne. gentle. quiet of what has gone on."
he found himself anticipating; when she had known First Rite in the arms of another man, she might seek the seal hunter thereafter for more, and more he could provide. not only physicality but companionship.

She paid attention to the names, and how he offered them with a smile. She had expected perhaps to see some spark of jealousy, if he wished to take her for his own in spite of the distance that would be placed between them. Instead, he seemed...Not relieved, exactly, but willing enough to offer her suggestions that she thought perhaps he wanted for more.

It didn't exactly help her make her decision, as it did nothing but heighten her want for the seal-hunter. He might see it in the way her fluttering gaze now tracked from his eyes to his lips, and back again. 

A name she knew came up first, and her expression would say it all; light surprise, and a slant of her gaze as she recalled the face of the man who had come to the mountain only days earlier to hunt. He had made himself fairly well known, it would seem; familiar to both Chakliux and Sialuk. No wonder his name came first, if he traded so readily among the sister packs. 

She weighed them against one another, made heavier by the way the seal-hunter spoke of them. Kilgitsuk was mentioned first, and was a face she knew to see, though she had not warmed to him as quickly as she had to Chakliux. Kannoyak was one that seemed esteemed, though it was not clear if the hunter remained among the sister packs. Of Alaric, nothing was said apart from the pack he belonged to, and thus she believe he'd gained the least favour from the man before her. He did not seem to suggest one in particular, but she thought it might be because he did not wish to know. 

"I will not be...Less desirable, after it has taken place?" A moment of doubt; from him, she sought reassurance.

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less desirable? chakliux fought the urge to laugh, caught off-guard as he was by this notion. "it means you are even more desirable. sometimes women wait until their time to choose a man for this. sometimes she conceives. a woman who conceives in pleasure is blessed. a woman who brings forth children is a woman any seal hunter wishes to be in their lodge. it shows you are full of desire and fertile. the man who marries you claims your children as his own, and that is the first important kinship tie. among my people, it does not matter who put the child there. only that they are given a name and celebrated, along with the woman who gave them life."
chakliux, his voice dropping to an octave made husky with want; "it means you are ready to receive pleasure, to give it. a seal hunter woman who has seen her First Rite paints the soles of her paws red, to say she is wanting more. we dance before her. we hunt for her. we ask to be chosen."
on impetus and boldly, chakliux smoothed his muzzle very softly across simbelmyne's cheek. "it is good to be chosen for First Rite, yes. it is better to be chosen after. it means that after i am chosen, i can bring her that delight many times, for many days, not only a single night."

He swept away her concerns with a gracious explanation of what it was to adopt their customs. She thought of her own, and how shrewd her ways seemed in comparison. Life was celebrated here. Intimacy was welcomed and encouraged. Children born were a blessing, not something that could potentially mar someone's reputation and ruin their prospects. She felt suddenly as if she had stepped from antiquity and into a modern world, where reason forged the path rather than the words of old fathers. 

"I have had my- uhm, second spring," She wasn't sure what to call it, or what word he might have for it. But it had come, and it had passed; Simbelmyne, surrounded by a gaggle of beautiful and delightful sisters, had been overlooked. She knew what the longing felt like, and while it had long since passed, it had left her with a feeling of curiosity that she had had to hide, as it would have taken root in shame had she let it show. "I am ready."

He touched his muzzle to hers, and she closed her eyes, now free to remember what it had been like to want, and to be permitted to want. She did notice the change in pronouns- exchanging he for I caused her to arch her brow slightly, the corners of her lips following suit. Silently, she accepted this as a bid for her attention. That he would want to dance before her, when her paws had been painted red. 

Her eyes fluttered open when the touch finished, though she wished for more. "I am not seal hunter woman...But this will be done for me, too?" She asked, then.

the touch lingered, went on until she spoke again. "you do not need to be a seal hunter to paint your feet and curve your hips," he said with a flashing grin. "i will dance before you." secretly he wondered about gathering others, spreading a quiet word through the moonvillages that simbelmyne searched for a man.
there was no way in which she could be displeasing to the senses of any hunter. he exhaled across the base of one plumed ear and then at last, reluctantly, put some inches of space between he and she.
"i must go for now." he did not move.
"i will see you again." there was desire between them, enough to where he did not rush to have her now, quickly. 
chakliux had no way of knowing so much would greatly change; he waited now only with dancing eyes for her dismissal.

Briefly, she wondered how seal hunter women might perceive her- an outsider, who now sought the attention of their men. She could only hope that they would be charitable toward her, and accept her. Perhaps they might be grateful for new blood, and accepting of her ignorance. Chakliux gave her hope and she had faith it would not be misplaced. If he lied, she might lose more than just her dignity. 

She uttered a soft, disappointed sound when he spoke, and surprised herself. She'd not expected to find someone quite like him, and she certainly had not thought that she would toss herself so willingly into a new way of living. And yet, she began to feel as though her path had been the right one to take. Here, she would be more than just one of many elegant sisters. Here, she would be seen. 

She lifted her gaze, taking a moment to trace the scars that led between his eyes, before she smiled and nodded. She couldn't trap him here, but she knew he would return. "Soon." She added.

simbelmyne did not wish him to leave and chakliux did not wish to go. his teeth were a quick grin; he stood proud beneath the perusal of her eyes and met them.
"soon."
he cut a proud figure as he descended the mountain, glancing back once to see the distant figure of simbelmyne silhouetted against the power of moonspear.