Moonspear back to the forward command center

a little 'o' of surprise on kukutux' parted lips, almost comical as she looked directly toward hydra for a shocked moment. the leader had achieved a great deal, and not on basis of love. she prized strength as kukutux had been taught to do, though the pale girl's young heart ached for the warm blossom of a husbandly affection she had only just begun to taste.

then the seal hunter had been killed. then they had all died. 

she would not think of it now. 

the wolves of moonspear valued ability, loyalty to one another. they were tightly knit, as had her family been upon the aisle. all interelated through one form or another, blood, marriage; it made no difference. they of the dark water and the seals, they had been as one, hunted as one, breathed as one. died as one. except for kukutux, and she had been too young then to carry away the seed of her homeland even as she grieved.

she must start over anew, and lowered her muzzle in a nod as hydra instructed her closely that she and the man she chose must come before the blackbear. kukutux could dream of no world in which she defied this powerful creature, and was pleased to find that a glimmer of warmth had begun to grow in her chest for the nightpelted regent with the piercing stare. 

"i hope the same for any children that i have," kukutux said softly, feeling somehow more confident in their discourse, but decided to leave off the subject for now. "are there others here who might be in need of a midwife?" she asked softly, assuming that hydra had already whelped in her years, anticipating more children would arrive in the spring, a new generation of the large family that had claimed the beautiful moonspear.