Ouroboros Spine ukijijuk ⏧

kukutux brought a dripping hide from beside the ulaq, dragging it to where its wet surface could be held down with the four stones. she ran her bottom teeth along the underside, scraping tissue from the skin slowly. these strips she spat aside, then went over this space again and again, until all that could be removed had been.

it was long going, and her neck began to ache before she spoke again, rocking back onto her haunches. "do your people have songs, lótë?" kukutux asked with polite curiosity. surely they did, and perhaps the cloudberry-tea woman might share the words. such sounds made heavy work lighter.