Stone Circle When the party is over

Taktuq woke suddenly, stirring as Nanook abruptly disappeared. Bed-headed and bleary-eyed, she slowly lifted her head and watched in confusion as her mother fled from their den. "Buh...?" Taqtuk called after, realizing that she and her brothers were alone. Sleepily, and quite unsteadily, she pushed herself onto all fours and slunk towards the cave's entryway. It wasn't like Nanook to leave them alone, and the fact that she had spoken so firmly indicated to the young girl that something was wrong. 

She didn't get far from her brothers; Valette abruptly entered the den, temporarily stealing her attention. Taqtuk followed her aunt to where she and her siblings had been sleeping. There was an odd smell that clung to Valette, which she did not recognize, and she began to sniff gingerly to investigate. 

Screams sounded in the middle of her study, and she craned her next towards the den's entrance, and her ears lowered; her previous suspicions were solidified. "Bah...?" she asked, glancing up at Valette's underside. She had yet to smell any blood, but she followed up with a softer remark when she did. "... La?" Taktuq's words meant little, but her tone translated their meaning: "What's going on?" 

It was then that Taktuq remembered that Nanook had rushed off to where the smell originated, and she grew suddenly concerned. Something about the metallic tang of blood indicated to her that something was very wrong. Taktuq's fear grew exponentially, and tears began to gather in her eyes; she needed to see her mother and make sure she was okay. 

"...Muh... muh..." she began to babble, her voice rounded with sorrow. There was a word that Nanook had been telling them a day or so prior, one that Taqtuk knew would get her attention. "Muhhuuuuum!" she wailed; her first spoken word.

The accomplishment would fall on dead ears. Nanook was already gone.