Moonspear when the sun rises in the west

maybe @Saviguk or @Sialuk ?

 

Hydra, now and then, would stop by the rendezvous to bring them food and idly roughhouse. She would teach them little things, and see what it was they could remember the next time she arrived; Hydra was never sure when memories truly took root, but she still tested them all the same. Things like, pay attention to the wind. Sometimes, you might smell me coming, from here—but if I come from this direction when the wind blows, then you will not; and how to best be quiet when hunting crickets, butterflies, and the like. How to effectively kill a spider, and how to watch the grass to know if there might be a snake near: look at it ripple, like water might. It is an abnormal pattern... either kill it, or find an alternate route. As you cannot yet kill a snake, you must ensure you steer clear of it when there is no one else to kill it. 

She taught the same things to her cubs, @Mira, @Mintaka, @Caelum, and @Altair—but it was still difficult to know when things had truly begun to stick. All the same, Hydra would point out these things when she observed them. 

Today, the matriarch came with a dead coyote she had found sniffing in one of their caches that the waters had opened; after moving the food left to the deeper reaches with the mongrel in tow, she made way toward the den of Kukutux and Jarilo, where she hoped the cubs would presently be. Arriving, she chuffed, dropping the dead thing where she stood as her gaze scanned the site for them.

Sialuk's voice had been found, and she used it often now. She asked questions of her mother, her father, and of anybody else who would listen. A curious girl, the little raindrop was constantly making inquiries about the world around her, the wolves around her, the way life worked, and what was to become of her future. She daydreamed often of the day when she would find her ugi. Anaa had told her it would be after the snow, so each day she went outside and expected it to be there on the ground, just as she had heard of. Alas, there was only water there, no white flakey stuff to speak of.

When the raindrop caught sight of ajaukuluk (a new word and title for her aunt, taught by her mother), Sialuk's features brightened and she quickly made her way over to Moonspear's leader. Hydra was to taataa as Sialuk was to Saviguk. Ajaukuluk! What have you brought? she asked, sniffing at the creature that lay on the ground. It looked similar to her own kind, but the proportions were off, and the smell was quite different. Did you know I am speaking now? Anaa says I will have a husband when the white hawks come. She says you brought her here for taataa.

And what of Hydra's ugi? Sialuk scarcely knew him; he seemed a more distant figure. What is your ugi's name? The raindrop could not conjure it up from her memories.

The young ice crystal was thrilled that his raindrop counterpart had begun speaking at last! As their vocabularies expanded, they could express their ever-growing curiosity, share stories of their own mini adventures and of course, as all siblings did, get into harmless little debates. Just as exciting was when their beloved ajaukuluk, Hydra, stopped by to entertain and educate the contrasting pair. 

Today was no different. When the familiar blackness of her fur broke up the patchiness of the greens and browns all around them, his comically large ears pricked up with recognition. His now seafoam eyes filled with an intense gleam of delight. He had been preoccupied with studying the long-deceased body of a fat mouse dropped off by one of the older wolves, but now his interest shifted.

What was that thing she had brought with her? It looked so very wolf like. Displaying the right instincts, Saviguk bristled upon his initial inspection, sniffing the dead coyote. It smelled differently than the meat he was accustomed to eating. Ever the observer of detail, he even noticed the unnatural twist of its neck, succumbed to Hyrda's jaws. "What is this? It's like us...but different." He had heard the whole bit of Sialuk getting a husband before, so that part went ignored. Though when she inquired of Dirge, Hydra's mate, that got his attention. Curiously, expectantly, he looked up to see what answer she might provide.

Sialuk was talking indeed, now; Hydra listened, with interest, to all the child had to say. Oftentimes they did not know how to be quiet, she had found... but you could learn much from them in these times. The girl proved her right, speaking of husbands and white hawks. Is that so, Hydra drawled, the sharp blue of her gaze drifting toward the direction Kukutux last bedded as she considered. To who? And did she think to send off her niece without a word to her? She who granted her even this right? Hydra looked back to Sialuk once more, humming, I cannot wait to meet him. Her ears twitched atop her head as Sialuk spoke more of her mothers native tongue, lapsing into some words Hydra did not understand. In turn, Hydra rejoined, I cannot understand you when you do not translate, 姪, she drawled, and, lowering her head to look at Sialuk, she hummed, that is what you are to me. My niece; daughter of my brother, she informed, and his wife, who became my sister for it. Taataa,... is that father? she inquired, looking to her brother, too, who could answer as well as Sialuk. I have not heard of ugi, either, she hummed, prepared for her lesson through young Sialuk and Saviguk. You will have to teach me, as I will teach you of the things I know, alright? She encouraged, with a wave of her tail. 

Saviguk was wise enough to point out what she had brought, and Hydra hummed, they are like us with their paws, and their snouts, in some ways. Their young can be difficult to tell apart from our own. But their spirits are foul, and their nature is loathsome. They are thieves, and they can be quite cunning. Coyotes, she introduced, pulling the larger body toward her, are the more clever, between the two. But do not underestimate the fox, she started, circling to place her paw upon the red-furred one, watching the duo to be sure they were listening.

Sialuk acknowledged her brother briefly, but most of her attention was focused on her dear aunt. She could not even pronounce the word that Hydra spoke, referring to her, and she did not attempt to. The sounds used to make it were utterly foreign to her, and she had never heard them before. Hydra correctly guessed that taataa was Jarilo, and Sialuk nodded encouragingly. Ugi is husband, she clarified. Why don't you speak like anaa? Er... mother? she asked. Even taataa seemed to know all the same words that Sialuk did, perhaps because he had picked them up from both Kukutux and his two speaking children.

Saviguk seemed more interested in the dead thing that lay at Hydra's feet, and Sialuk's own attention was drawn to it now that her aunt spoke of what it was. What does cunning mean? she asked. The word sounded familiar, and not foreign like the word that meant "niece," but it was still not one that Sialuk knew. She moved closer to the dead coyote, sniffing at its corpse to memorize the smell that it emitted. It was different from them, although the difference was slight.

Sea glass eyes fixed on Hydra, their Aunt, the ice crystal was left with many things to consider. First, of how the dark Matriarch was unable to understand the terminology they so often used, passed down from anaa. It is not her first language. He realized this, but not as with as much depth and clarity as an adult would. Next, was all the talk his sister stirred up about an ugi, or husband. Shooting the pale raindrop a glance, his brows pinched together contemplatively. What...was that exactly? Did he have to have one? Well, in any case he would have to take Sialuk aside and pry later.

Directing their attention back to the deceased coyote under her paw, the tidbits of information she conjured earned a distasteful, bitter frown from the boy. "What'd it do to end up like this?" His tone implied he wanted details. He added, his eyes cold and judging on its unmoving form. The concept of thieving was beyond his reach. He had never witnessed a cache being raided, innocent. He sat down, ears flattening. He already didn't like the smell of the darn thing.