Ouroboros Spine Tell Me What I Don't Know

Wibbly wobbly timey-wimey…

Njord had traveled outside the perimeter of Sapphique to track the Broken Antler Herd and happened to run into a lone wolf passing through the taiga. They had just come from the South and were the friendly sort. The two shared information in passing… the quality of the herds in the grasslands, the quantity of fish in the streams… but most peculiar was a tale the loner had of a peculiar pack nestled in a spine of mountains. Fortune tellers… medicine women… matchmakers. At first, Njord chuckled in disbelief. They said their goodbyes, but as Njord returned to Dragoncrest and fell asleep in his den, he couldn’t shake the thought of this mysterious clan.

Different things plagued his heart… things he didn’t have answers for. Though he wasn’t one to put great weight on the ethereal or magical… something tugged at him. In the middle of the night Njord set out at a good clip South, arriving at dawn a day later. Yer crazy, he thought to himself over and over, wondering exactly what propelled him forward.

The dawn was dewy as he stood tenuously on the borders, smelling the air for signs of pack-life.

a man with a red tail. kuktutux watched him from where she stood crouched in the trees. she had been worshipping; she was loathe to come now, to be seen. the stranger did not seem intent upon trespassing, and so moonwoman made her way out from beneath the heavy twined branches and approached.

pulling the grey rabbitpelt around her shoulders more snugly, she went down to approach the man, a hmming sound strumming from her mouth. "i greet you," she said in their way, stance guarded even while she remained open to whatever he might say.

Goosebumps prickled the hair along his spine as he waited in silence, wavering between staying or going. There was something ethereal in the air, but the seafarer couldn’t decide if it comforted or unsettled him. Just as Njord was about to turn back home, a figure of pale white apparated from betwix the jade-colored foliage.

‘i greet you,’ she said. Njord regarded the woman who was cloaked in rabbit skin. “Ahoy,” he replied amicably, usual cheerful bravado absent from his voice. He paused a moment, knowing he should explain why he was on their doorstep. “Is this Moonglow…?” he asked tentatively. “I ‘eard about yer pack from a travel’r. Said you can see tha future… or know one’s heart.”

His ears orbited, questioning, wanting…

kukutux felt pleasure then, to know that word of moonglow was spreading. the young hunter stood before her, wanting to know the darker things that sialuk and her blackfeather did in secrecy. a nod. "this is moonglow."

"you search for my daughter. she works with a crow god to know the future of those who make the question to her." springjade eyes watching the man. "but i know the rituals to bring love to one's life." a grin. what sort of talking did he seek here with them?

The moon-colored woman affirmed his inquiry and Njord’s ears perked up in attention. Mother. Daughter. Crow God. Future. Present. Love… all these key words resonated within the seafarer. He leaned into his posture like a fish on a line, completely hooked.

So fascinated was he, that Njord found it almost impossible to hold back the torrent of questions he wished to ask. Then he remembered he barely knew this woman… it wouldn’t be polite or proper. He had lived with his own thoughts for too long.

His head ducked. “Ah-” he blurted, “Can ya… can ya help me? I want to know… I ’ave so many questions, ya ken?” He paused before adding, “M’names Njord.”

njord. it was not so far from her own sounds, and she wondered if he too had come from some far-flung island. "i am kukutux. she is sialuk." her stare was curious upon his handsomely earnest face, and the ribbon of fox-red along his tail. it was the color of spirits. her gaze became more wondering now.

moonwoman nodded. "i will give you my words. for a trade." her mouth curved in amusement that she veiled swiftly beneath the slow deferential meld of woman with bowed head before a hunter. "what will this man of the long water give in trade? all offerings are given my thinking. what is right in trade may not have the form of a thing that can be touched."

the small smile, dancing.

Njord’s ears cupped to better hear the beautiful woman’s soft voice, drawn in by her coy demeanor and enigmatic aura. He could feel the goosebumps on his skin, fur prickling in uncertain excitement. Kukutux, Sialuk. The intonation and tempo of her speech implied she was from a Northern colony on the ice. An old memory of a trader visiting Meares island flashed in his mind.

“A trade?” the word almost broke the spell over him, and it made the seafarer wonder if it was smart to be indebted to another. Her thin smile egged him on.

“What do ya ‘av in mind? I can bring ya things from tha sea. Food, or kelp fer healin’.” He paused, “treasure’s from tha beach. Beautiful things.” Another memory: the blue shell he had brought Valmua. The fossil Erzulie had showed him in the sand. His nose dipped, trying to measure her reaction.

he offered beautiful things from the sea. kukutux was tempted. it had been too long since she had seen the water. the ocean now reminded her of aiolos, and this brought a small, secret grin to the inner shores of her heart. "i have the liking of songs," moonwoman said softly. "perhaps this man will sing to her of the waves."

kelp. food. the offerings of the great saltwater. 

what she wished, however, was the story of how this traveller came to be connected to it, the image of his footprints in the sand. some part of it carried within him.

she was a cunning duck. would he allow her his secrets?

A song! Of course… what is right in trade may not have the form of a thing that can be touched. Njord smiled sheepishly, shaking the nerves and skepticism from his pelt. The seafarer eased into a more relaxed posture - singing was something he loved and could barter in abundance.

The seafarer chuckled, “ya ‘av asked tha right man.” He assured her, clearing his throat and humming to find the correct pitch. He began to sing in a low voice and moved closer to the pale Kukutux, pacing with a rhythmic one-two step.  

Farewell to Meares Island
Adieu Seawatch Hill
And the dear land of Heather
I bid you farewell
I'm bound off for Teekon
And ready to sail
In hopes to find riches
In hunting the whale

Farewell to my comrades
For a while we must part
And likewise the dear lass
Who first won my heart
The cold coast of Teekon
My love will not chill
And the longer my absence
More loving she'll feel

My path is well mapped
And I'm ready to sail
Myself, I am anxious
To follow the whale
Where the icebergs do float
And the stormy winds blow
Where the land and the ocean
Is covered with snow

Farewell to Meares Island
Adieu Seawatch Hill
And the dear land of Heather
I bid you farewell
I'm bound off for Teekon
And ready to sail
In hopes to find riches
In hunting the whale

Njord's voice waned as he completed his song, gaze falling to the seer.

moonwoman filled with a tangible pleasure as njord began to sing. it was a good trade, riveting the duck as she watched the way his mouth formed each word. for there were several she had not heard before.

and he danced as he spoke! and though it was all unfamiliar to kukutux, the cadence reminded her so starkly of home, and the hunters returning, chanting and dancing as they came back to the village.

the sound of it haunted kukutux, though not in a chilled way. she was reminded of how merrit had held his words close to his heart, and the cloudberry woman did not share so often of herself. it was a song that was clear in its longing, turning toward a new sort of vision even while caught by the beauty of what had come before.

her own eyes were wet as njord ended his words.

she was overcome, and only looked at him then away with trembling mouth, though somehow still the watered jade was bright with approval.

Njord was surprised he had moved the moonwoman so deeply – that she would wear such emotions freely on her sleeves. His stone-colored ears cupped forward in concern, fearful that he had reminded her of some sad tragedy. Yet there was a light to her watery gaze. He appreciated her authenticity.

“A song my Da’ taught me,” Njord explained quietly. “Though I’m sure ‘e changed tha words. Meares Island… that’s where we’re from.”

He paused for a moment but then continued with a soft voice. “I’m ta be a father, me’self… and I’m filled with such joy,” there was pride in his expression, but also pain. “But the mother, she is not mine to ‘av… for she is the wife of an’other. Together they are tha capt’ns of my pack.” His gaze drifted, floating like a stranded boat out at sea. “I ‘av love for her. An’ I think she ‘as love fer me… but it is not tha same as the love between partners.”

Valmua entered his mind. “Moons ago, I was courtin’ a lass… but it was not meant ta be. An’ I can only wonder… am I sup’pose ta ‘av love in me life? Sup'pose ta share my life with another?” He thought bitterly of Kigipigak’s bite. His head ducked, unsure of himself. If only Rosencrantz was still alive… maybe his mentor would have some advice for the red-tail. Though he was very much a man, Njord still felt like a child at times and also very alone.

a woman he would not have. and yet he was to be father. kukutux did not understand such an arrangement, though in all places it seemed that children remained beneath the honor of their mothers. this one, a leader. and njord, caught between the new life that would come to his hearth, and this ebbing love for a one who had come before.

quietly she pondered this, and when she opened her mouth again, moonwoman spoke carefully, but with a plainness she did not mean to distance from. "we have many paths to take, but cannot know the end of them all. if it is love you want, njord, then it will come to know you. but maybe it cannot be known until you learn what it means to be father, first."

such things could perhaps be related, but she was no spirit-talker.

"you keep the song of your people, taught to you by your father. think of this."

Njord waited for Kukutux’s thoughtful answer, but when it came the seafarer could only let out a deflated hiss. He wasn’t exactly sure what he had expected… but certainly something more concrete than the tribewoman’s esoteric wisdom. Maybe a lead on someone who was searching for a man like him? ‘Learn what it means to be father, first,’ did resonate, however – though he struggled with taking this advice like bitter medicine.

His posture slumped, disappointed with the thought that he would have to endure more time without a partner, despite Kukutux’s assurance that it would find him if he kept his intentions straight. ‘You keep the song of your people, taught to you by your father. Think of this,’ He thought of his kind and gentle father, Valtyr. Njord, as a rebellious adolescent, could never level with him. Maybe he needed to tap into that part of him… the patient, serene part. Not this scarcity mindset which festered, now.

The red-tail straightened. “I thank ya fer yer wisdom, Kukutux. But… don’t ya, ‘ave a charm or potion… somethin’ ta help me on this path?” he smiled sheepishly with a whisk of his tail.

it was a bad trade. she had been distracted by the crash of sorrow upon her, waves upon stone. "wait," she told njord softly, and lifted to her pale limbs.

when she returned, it was with a near-perfect stone of pale and delicate pink, perhaps the size of mid-paw, and cool to the touch. "i do not know how this came to be. i found it upon a place that is near the sea, in a bed of sand."

she showed it to njord, passing it over with a paw. "i took it to my sleeping-place, and dreamed of a face that spoke only in words of love for me. i took it to my altar, but it wished to stay close to me. it is a good thing. a good omen," she told the salthunter gently.

the small stone, pushed his way.

"remember the song of your home. this will draw to you to the woman who will hear its sound, and know you are for her."

The moonwoman heard the seafarer’s words and disappeared, only to return with a smooth, bright pink stone. His eyes widened when he saw the luminescent gem, and heard about its mysterious properties.

“Aye, I shall,” Njord agreed with a smile. Maybe this would be the key to a love filled life. “Thank ya, Kukutux… I shan't be wastin’ this gift.” He picked up the totem and gave the Moon glow tribe leader a bow in thanks. He would linger a moment longer before turning back towards Sapphique.