Frostfire Ridge sedem

backdated closer to this <3 if any details aren't ok, lemme know!

above the qeya river laid the ridge. she had figured that none might bother her and @Ksura here, but it was not so far from saatsine as to draw any suspicion. maybe they would only spend a night here and return to the cove at the lake within their clan's claim.

for now, she was tired and reclined herself along a bed of evergreen pines and hardy mountain moss. they could see both the glacier and the river if they walked just a few yards ahead to a clearing. yet she had not made her gaze for the landscape.

ksura... she summoned his nearness as she stayed upon the earthen bed.

For seven days, they would have only each other, and yet even as they set a course for a place where none could disturb them, he couldn’t help but wonder what Senka felt about the entire process. A bride she would be for six days and in seven, she would be a wife. He too would cast aside his identity as a single man. A father he would be- but he would be a husband now, too.

Travel consumed the majority of their first day together, as if it was a projection of the days to come in their life together as caribou hunters. When they reached the ridge, they found their freedom and at last- the time to rest, and begin to spend time together as man and wife.

He smiled at the sound of his name. Senka, He responded. He was reminded then of something Sun Eater had told them. We’ll need a new name for when we go back, he said, but as such was a chore that was important but not urgent, he shrugged, and moved closer, to sweep her into his embrace with a faint laugh. Though we have lots of time to figure that out. He said, pressing a kiss to her cheek to imply that they had more important things to do with their honeymoon time.

she was held and she held him back for it. seven days, she responded with as she allowed her nose to touch his cheek and then his neck. it was not as if she had never thought of him like this but...now it could be free. she could admire him, she could preen his fur as lovebirds.

six at this rate, hm? she teased with a thump of her tail. her teeth reached to work through the pale furs of his shoulder.

ksura. already father once. now hunter and husband, too. maybe father again but...she felt such a time was not now and the conversation could certainly wait, couldn't it?

I’m no good at counting, He murmured. He was even worse at counting when his mind was so preoccupied, and with a light groan he surrendered to her touch, melting like warm butter as she combed her teeth through his fur. 

They would mind the days, count them by memorable moments high up and away from everyone else, where they could speak without being overheard. Treasured former-names could be uttered, sighed and screamed from where they spent their honeymoon without any worry of someone hearing.

kind of suggested a lil time skip, lmk if not okay!

and so no moments would be counted, only remembered.

she would remember the feelings of safety and warmth that she had discovered within his arms in the moments after. maybe marriage had been to secure both of them and tie them to one another for safety, but there was something here. that much she thought to be true.

do you wish for another new name? but this time for us, for our marriage.

that works for me!

He savoured their time together, delighting in his heart that they had found something they could share- that was not simply a hidden grotto at the edge of the lake. They belonged to each other now, and he would cling to her tightly as if to the branch of a tree in the wind. 

They would have to return eventually, though- and with them, they could bring a new name. 

Their instructions had been brief; while Ksura nodded, and was pleased to share something with his wife, he had to grit his teeth and admit some confusion. 

Of course- if you want to, He said. Did he mean like…Choose new first names together? Or did he mean for us to choose a last name that we share? Sun Eater’s requests, traditions and knowledge were all new to him- and he fumbled with them like a child would with a new toy.

i do not know if last names matter. she confessed with a bit of swirling humor in her voice and eyes. we are all saatsine now. there was gentle acceptance in her voice now. she imagined it might have been very difficult to be angry about anything here, with ksura, with their love washing her in a glow.

maybe new first names. i would no longer have to be stone crier, you no longer sheep killer. what did he think of this? had he grown any kind of attachment to his new name?

she listened for his answer with her head against his chest.

Saatsine.

It was who they were, now. The world had changed, and they had evolved along with it. He rarely thought of their former life- aside from the moments where he pined for his children- choosing not to dwell on thoughts of grief, or the harrowing thought of vengeance. If he considered how Saatsine came to be, he would be drawn back down into a sinkhole of cowardice. 

New names, He said. I didn’t really like the ones we were given, to be honest, He admitted. Though I don’t know if I’d be any better at coming up with new ones.

then we pick ones we would like. ones that we want to use always.

she did not mind being senka to him or him ksura to her, but this new chapter in their life required devotion. they must be whole and if that meant being new then so be it.

i might call you...Ridgeback. she mused softly. for i remember you scaling the cliff ridge of the river with me and how your colors create a ridge along you. a memory in the name for me. something obvious for others. her voice was warmer now and she found she might very much like this new name for him.

yet he must like it too.

Ridgeback. 

His ears flicked forward, having accessed a memory from his childhood. An uncle of his, detailing breeds of dogs, how they varied, and what their strengths were. That his own Malinois blood would make him hyper-focused and driven, that heelers were ankle-biters, that Pyrenees were serious guardians, and that ridgebacks would take on the world, if it meant protecting the ones they loved. Of course, he'd never seen one, or crossed the path of one- but the name had been remembered, reverently. 

His smile was faint, crooked, as if lost in a reverie for a moment before he realized he'd spaced out. I frickin...It's perfect, He gasped, and pressed a kiss to her cheek. 

Now, she needed a name too- and in the wake of such an excellent choice, he felt likely to fail, horribly. I....Think a lot about the time we went swimming in Brightsilver Lake, He confessed. How you could dive, He said with a smile. I dunno. Like an otter, He said. But like...For a name? Otter...dive? Silver...lake? I think I called you 'Ogopogo' at the time but that's...You don't want that name, He laughed. You're going to have to make up for me in some ways...And naming is one of them.

she grew warm beneath his praises and his affections. her face pressed tighter into him for a moment while he spoke.

they pulled memories of one another. his was of the lake and she would be a liar if she said she did not think of it often, too. she listened to him sort through his thinking aloud. ogopogo! no, it was not a name she thought she could wear, but she liked it rather much.

for a moment she imagined little ones between them. ones that might be affectionately called their ogopogos.

she turned her head to place kisses along his chin and cheeks. Ridgeback and maybe... she drew out a warm hum as she considered his words. a small puff of laughter. how easy it had been to think on a name for him! yet to name herself? it humored her too greatly.

Ice Diver? her gaze looked to his own face now, searching his features. the waters we love are cold and you will remember my great swimming each time you call for me. she beamed with some flirtatious grin now.