Ouroboros Spine you look so worn, so thin

it was late and the time of tears and greetings had passed. now a hot flash followed, loathsome only of herself. galana felt as if a tension surrounded her, a line being pulled and strained by her own choices; past choices or not, it was heavy and distressing for the girl.

she stalked alongside the river, planning to look to the stars from beside anik lake. there was confusion on how to soothe this pain. it was an internal, aching pain homely inside her chest. frustrated, and blurry eyed, she continued to walk and question herself. galana felt a prickling beneath her fur when she would think of what she had missed, what she hadn't learned, the maturing of family, and traditions she didn't experience. the itch continued to worsen.

Galana had always been a quiet girl. Soulful and seemingly wearing melancholy like a cloak over her vibrant shoulders. 

Even now, many moons having past between them, she walked with the same air still. Arrluk woofs into her direction when she nears, Arrluk having been napping by the riverside. He had missed his sister so very deeply. Everyone had. Finally, she wss home. 

Arrluk would never push to what had happened to her, where she had been... He was only ever happy to have her now.

she had to look upon his face before the recognition settled in. their voices had changed, but she still offered a little smile to him.

❝arrluk,❞ she spoke his name fondly and choked down the lump that had risen in her throat.

she continued to step up to him, taking in his new form. his fur and face was all that remained familiar. galana would note he held his preference for solitude well. the ambience of water flowing settled nicely on her ears, the sound of the night surrounding them. the shadows and moonlight that filtered down only further decorated arrluk’s patterns.

it was a scene she would’ve pictured him in when she was in his absence; an easy remembrance of intricate markings and comfortable silence. now, he held the newborn intensity of a man. her brother had grown. galana’s head remained kept downward, and her tail gave a lowly wag as she approached.

His name breaks the silence in the night air and it is a voice he does not recognize. It was her pale gaze which he remembered. It was how her deep red torso faded into ginger legs. It was the image of her flurry tail in his mouth as they played. 

Now, they were both grown. Still so far from adulthood, yet so very long had passed between them, most of their lives thus far. Galana had already missed so much. 

Arrluk didn't know what to say, yet he never was one to carry the conversation. His tail padded the earth and he lifted a paw to tap it on the ground, inviting her to sit with him.

galana remained still until accepting arrluk's invitation to sit beside him. she kept an ear tilted his direction should he speak, but her attention settled on the flowing water. the pearly lighting adorned the stream. the moment held a stillness she respected; she tried to piece words together amidst the silence. so much was to be said, but it was so hard for her to know what those words were.

❝i'm sorry you know.❞ it was almost a whisper, but she was sure he heard.

she didn't know what else there was to say, but galana wanted him to know. she wanted him to know she would change how things happened if she could. the ruddy girl decided she wouldn't miss anything else.

It's not your fault. Arrluk murmured back, his focus on the lake out before them, though he watched her from the corner of his gaze. 

After all, she had been just a puppy still when she had gone missing. Had Sakhmet taken her somewhere? Had she gotten lost without her, searching for her even, and someone picked her up, wanting to help a long lost pup? Either way, whatever happen was out of Galana's control at such a young age. 

I don't think you've missed too much. He said with a small, sheepish smile. Galana would catch up with things for sure, but what mattered was that she had made it home. Arrluk had lost one sister this year, but was returned another.

his response seemed so- casual? galana didn't understand why it agitated her; she did not desire his anger. the girl looked ahead, following where his gaze settled with an awkward diffidence. the idea slowly crept into her mind while she stared ahead: no one blamed her and no one was angry with her. this self-loathing was unnecessary and keeping her spirits in the condition of her battered body.

❝you'll have to tell me sometime, what i've missed.❞ perhaps she could listen and insert herself into the stories.

what would she have said and done? galana could annul the memories and convince herself they'd never happened and replace them with the moments she'd missed in the spine. it was a pleasant thought, but she knew it was unlikely she had it within herself to forget.

❝do you think you'll stay here?❞ galana paused, thinking of a way to elaborate on her question.

she didn't understand her own question fully herself, but maybe arrluk understood. had he seen what he'd wanted in this life? was this it?

Yes. He answered with a sureness. Arrluk had adapted his concise ways from his father, perhaps Galana had too. She had always been quiet and observant. She and Arrluk in their youth would sit and watch as their brothers tugged at the ears and tail of Chickadee as they romped. She was still this, but the pain in her eyes are obvious. Arrluk lacked the words to comfort. 

After our elder sister died, a deep sorrow fell on the moon tribes. Mom said it was time for us boys to go on our journeys to become man. Arrluk spoke and in this, telling her some things she had missed. Kassuq and Massaraq I think both went far. Gone far longer and both came back injured. I barely left the Wilderness, went south, circled around the mountains and got back to the coast. 

He pauses, his eyes shifting away from the lake water and back to his sister and the new scarring on her face which she held. Their mother held scars on her muzzle too, and shoulder. Vaire did on her cheek. It was nice enough, to see new places, new water, but all I wanted to do was get back home. I might spend time with the other tribes, I think, but regardless, my place is right here, with family. "Right here" meaning among the tribes, where there family spread so vastly.

arrluk had remained beside her since the start; he was a steady presence should she ever reach out. guilt registered in her stomach at his mention of their eldest sister. galana struggled to share his grief, she had not know her well. 

galana did grieve however, in her own way. she grieved the connection she could’ve had, one that was lost. ruddy ears twisted downwards once more, flattening against her skull as he continued. her brothers stepped out into the world with the loss of two sisters. kassuq and massaraq may be seeking something still out there, but galana felt comforted with an idea that arrluk would be here, steady.

she felt his eyes rest on her once more, and galana turned to look at him again. the girl felt his gaze trace over the lines embedded into her skin. 

❝i told him i wanted to go home.❞ galana explained, not wanting to leave him wondering whenever he looked upon her face.

she couldn’t understand the anger, she was a scared girl who wanted to go home. 

❝he apologized after, but i started thinking about how many of those i would get.❞ apologies. 

❝i’m glad after you’ve seen it all this is still- home. i want this to be home too.❞ she followed with a curt turn to the conversation, nervous of the silence after she’d shared something from the months he hadn’t known her.

It was true, Galana did not know Samani well, yet Arrluk's pain, despite Galana feeling that they might, was due to feeling exactly the same as her. That he did not know Samani well either. It was this which hurt him most. Because he hadn't gotten to know his sister. Because he hadn't gone to visit her more, know her now and now... now she was gone. Like Galana had gone. Like Ariadne had gone. 

It was something Arrluk could not control and yet he still couldn't stop the feeling of regret. (Not bothering to think he was only but a child when all this was happening) He needed to do better. He needed to act quicker. Now, Galana was back and he would be damned if he took advantage of her presence here ever again. 

She explained the new scarring as he took to focusing in it. However vague the explanation, maybe that was it. She cried to go home and so he bit her in the face. Arrluk tensed as he heard it, but after a moment, You wear it well. Like mom and Vairë. It was a reminder of her pain, but also a reminder that she was still alive despite it. If she didn't think to remember that part, then Arrluk would. 

I do too. He said, adding a little grin as well. Then, his eyes swept from her and to the river flowing into the lake and then up to the dark sky and the stars within. You know dad had said that the stars form shapes and that there is names for them... 

a pensive smile poorly communicated the twisted sense of pride she felt having kukutux's and vaire's names mentioned beside hers; she held them in high regard. they were powerful. pain, scars, any of it would not leave them frightened and quiet. she thought of them as ones to scream and roar in the face of it. galana saw them far from being vulnerable little girls, but that is what she saw when she looked upon herself.

arrluk chipped away at that picture with his statement, even if it was slight.

❝yeah?❞ it was her gentle push to arrluk. go on.

her sideways glance to him prompted her to follow his gaze upwards. galana wanted him to tell her of the stars and their names. he didn't have to say anything special, she just wished to hear him speak. arrluk's voice offered security; it was safety from the fear he was what felt like years away again.

Vulnerable little girl. Arrluk would never think it. Little, well, yes this was true, but many of the women around him, including their mothers, were little. Galana was from a matriarchal colony. She was Nuiruk. Hell, she was Melonii. She may be little and even quiet, shy or even awkward at times as Arrluk's own self, but vulnerable and weak did not apply, especially so now that she had been returned to the strength of her family.

Arrluk himself? He had most certainly absorbed much of his father's persona and watched him carefully growing up, adapting even the protective, yet submissive role among a female voice. Kukutux had always been the speaker of the pack, the one who people looked to for answers. Aiolos was a rock. A strong shield to the sword.

I find it hard to tell which is which sometimes. Dad too. Some, you can really only see when the sky is completely clear or others sometimes only certain times a year I think... He tried to recall it as Aiolos had spoke about it. Their father just speaking only, while his pup's cuddled up for a nap under the night sky. That one... He murmured as he jut his muzzle up. It's the northern star. Supposed to be the brightest. Help to navigate.

a tired smile graced her features as she rested herself on the ground beside him. she knew the northern star, it had brought her home after all. looking at it brought feelings of hope and despair that died in turns. we're here, galana. come home. the stars always prompted all sorts of dreaming, but those words were true to her. it was as if her soul directly was spoken to; it was unlike the songs and words she'd imagined in her mind. the nuutuittuq assured her they were steady, that they were out there, and the star was right.

❝i remember.❞ her voice was growing quieter as the sweet embrace of sleep opened its arms. ❝the nuutuittuq.❞

❝brought me home.❞ she mumbled and rested her head on her paws, her words slow and lazy with contentment.

❝tell me more.❞ stories, lessons of the sky, what she'd missed, any of it would be well received by her ears.

Yes... Arrluk nodded as she spoke of following the Nuutuittuq home to them. Arrluk then shifted, moving so his backside aligns along his sister's body, laying on his side as he looked up to the sky. Her warmth mixed with the cool breeze along the water side was ever soothing. 

That's Ullaktut or Orion's belt. It represents three heroic runners chasing down their prey. His voice grows softer as his sister's consciousness fades. That cluster, it is called Leo- the lion. Our dad once held this nickname... It held a special place in Aiolos heart.

sleep lapped at her, as if it were water surrounding her and gently tossing her with it's waves. she conceded with ease; ease of her heart, mind, and body. arrluk's side to hers, talk of truth, and the good health was all galana needed.

galana had all that she needed here, in ouroboros spine. life was only just beginning for them both and she was hopeful that these conversations might happen often.