Ouroboros Spine you don't call anymore

She thought the good vibes might wear off gradually as the hours passed, though she was in for a rude awakening. Rain poured from a dark sky as she crashed with heart-stopping abruptness, the sense of well-being ripped from her like a warm coat in subzero temperatures. Her mood plummeted and all her problems seemed even worse than before. Mindless of the downpour, she curled in on herself and wept until she puked, then cried some more.

By daybreak, she'd recovered from her crying jag and her mood had leveled out with the end of the rainfall. In the light of day, her problems didn't seem as horrible as during the rainy night, though she still felt pretty low. Meerkat wasn't even sure why she felt this way. It had been a difficult year, for sure, but she'd been feeling pretty okay until just the other day, when her mixed feelings about Bronco's and Fennec's family life had really caught up to her.

She licked her lips, her sour stomach lurching. Had Fen given birth yet? Meerkat had only been gone one night, though Fennec had looked like she might pop any minute. The yearling drew in a shuddering breath. She wasn't sure she could face that reality right now. She didn't want to dip on her mom or younger siblings, nor hurt anyone's feelings with her absence, but Meerkat slowly realized she might need a bit of a break.

He had scooted free of the den that day. A slow, long and painful process. He had tried his best to lap up anything for the pain that might have been nearby him in the ulaq before he departed. It would take time for it to settle in, but he hoped it would be soon.

Settled on the ground, legs a tangle as he was unsure how to casually rest the hind ankle that was held in place by two pieces of wood.

It was there he noticed someone he had not seen before. Granted that came as no great surprise when most of his time was spent in a den. She seemed...well, he couldn’t put his claw on it. Time away from others had dulled his empathetic side.

Hello, He started soft and slow, testing the waters. Perhaps she wished to be alone. He could hobble his way back to the den if she did.

She knew she was in the right place, if she needed somewhere to take a respite for a few days. Even as the thought crossed her mind, Meerkat blearily peered at her surroundings. She thought she vaguely recalled @Kukutux coaxing her further into the territory and adamantly refusing her hostess's hospitality, though her mind was a bit of a mess right now. Maybe she had only dreamed that part. She did know they'd spoken while Meerkat was under the poppies' influence, she remembered that much.

Before she could try to piece together any other details, someone approached her. Meerkat hastily sat up straighter, turning her body toward the stranger. He walked in a way that was altogether too familiar, though Meerkat had never sported a wooden brace on her own ankle. She stared at it in curious wonder, her attention only snapping back to his face when he spoke.

"Hi," she said, her voice a hoarse croak after all that sobbing and vomiting. She cleared her throat. "I'm Meerkat, a friend of Kukutux's and Sialuk's," she introduced, then waited for him to offer a name.

Her voice, paired with her words, made him wonder if Kukutux and Sialuk had saved her too. Perhaps from some sickness. Perhaps she was just exhausted, in need of a new place much like he had been.

I'm Iḷitqusiq. It came out slow, tired. Yet it was important to declare. It would be his first time having introduced himself as such to someone who wasn't the moonwoman. Kukutux is a friend of mine, as well. She saved me from...this. Nose gestured to the weak left hind leg.

Are you apart of Moonglow?

He gave his name and Meerkat thought, That's a lot of syllables. Her lips twitched into a faint smile when he told her Kukutux had saved him. It made her think of Eldritch's talk of a sanctuary. She held nothing against the dark woman, though she felt that Kukutux embodied that whole notion much more. Moonglow had always been a safe haven, after all, a refuge for the remnants of Moonspear and Firefly Glen and now a proverbial ulaq for anyone who needed it.

Maybe that would include her again, though presently she shook her head lightly. "I used to be, though I live at Redhawk Caldera now," Meerkat replied. "How did that happen?" she wondered in the next breath. She really didn't feel like talking about home right now, plus she was genuinely curious about his injury.

Redhawk Caldera.

He was not familiar with it. Perhaps, with permission and healing, he could venture that way. See more of who Moonglow aligned themselves with outside borders.

I was foolish. Quiet, but not filled with much emotion other than telling a fact. Ventured during a rainstorm and slipped on a mountain side. Kukutux found me in the glen, led me here with the help of Sialuk too. Not that she had asked how he had been discovered, but he felt inclined to tell her anyway.

Well, she could certainly relate to that. Her lips twitched into a faint smile as she recollected her own trials with her own bum leg. The original injury had happened on the side of a mountain. Meerkat's face fell a little when she remembered that was what had led to her first use of poppy seeds, via Eldritch. The high had been so good, the drop... not so much. Meerkat didn't think she'd ever like to touch the stuff again, though even as she thought about it, something tugged inside her.

"They're great, aren't they? Kukutux can empathize, since she hurt one of her ankles earlier this year," Meerkat said, ignoring the feeling and focusing on the conversation at hand. She wondered if he already knew about that. "Wait, were you near Moonspear?" she asked in the next breath, which caught in her throat a little.

She'd frolicked through the glen just the day before, blithely oblivious to the tragedy and pain she had suffered earlier in the year. The poppy seeds had granted her immunity from it all. But they were out of her system now and she felt a pang as she thought of her fallen homes of yore.

He was...almost certain he had been told that by her. When she had spoke to the healing process. Yet most of the things he had been told early on had faded in a hazy brain.

Oh, um, maybe? I don't really know the names, but is that the mountain side by the firefly filled glen? An apologetic tilt of his head.

She seemed traveled (if only from the way she spoke of other places and did not even live here, residing at some Redhawk Cladera) and he felt...incapable in knowledge. Unable to provide her the names she offered him.

He wasn't sure, though as soon as he described it, she exhaled and said, "Yeah, that's the one. That's Moonspear." Meerkat paused to take another few breaths before explaining, "There was a tragedy there, a landslide that killed a lot of wolves in Moonspear and Firefly Glen. That's why Moonglow was founded, from the refugees of those packs."

And the land was still quite treacherous, judging by his injury. Meerkat was glad she'd only cavorted through the glen yesterday, rather than trying to climb the mountain. Not for the first time, her mind drifted to the ravine, with the cave she and Bronco had called home before moving to the glen. Was it still there or was it under a bunch of rubble now? She didn't think she would ever find out.

Thinking about her brother inevitably made her think of Fennec again. Meerkat licked her lips, willing the intrusive thoughts to leave her alone, at least for a little while. To distract herself, she asked, "Hey... Iḷitqusiq." She sounded out his name carefully. "Have you eaten breakfast?"

It was harrowing to hear about.

He had not been exposed to the apparent tragedy that had hurt...presumably a lot of wolves here. Two names were given. Those who survived from either Moonspear or Firefly Glen became Moonglow. It was hard not to wonder if the land was maybe cursed now. Haunted.

Morbidly funny that he had heart his ankle in the slopes and had been found in the glen.

Lucky for both of them that she spoke on a different topic. No. His head shook softly. A meek smile as he looked to his ankle. I've only just started to get the hang of moving again. Which meant most meals had been brought to him up until now.

Are you a hunter?

"Oh, no," Meerkat responded with a light huff of laughter, "no, not by trade, but I bet I could find us something. I'm hungry too. Wanna wait here while I go rustle up some grub?"

That was actually a fib; she wasn't hungry at all, despite her empty stomach. What she really intended was to hunt something fresh for Iḷitqusiq, then ask him to offer the leftovers to Kukutux. She wasn't sure where the woman had gone and Meerkat was a little embarrassed after putting her friend through... that. But she was grateful too, so she hoped Iḷitqusiq could deliver a token for her.

His tail tapped against the earth and a toothy grin spread on his face.

That would be amazing. Thank you. He would stay practically still as she went off on her search. Eager to see whatever she could bring back.

She wasn't sure if he would accept her offer, since they were hardly more than strangers. Fortunately, he thanked her and Meerkat dipped her head and turned, quickly moving away. It may take her a while—it might be more of a lunch than a breakfast—but Meerkat was determined.

A few hours later, she returned to the spot where she'd left Iḷitqusiq, two baby squirrels dangling from her mouth by their tails. She set them down at her feet and panted a moment, having jogged all the way back after raiding the rodents' fallen nest: a lucky find that hadn't required any particular skill from her.

"There were three," she told him untruthfully once she caught her breath, "so these are for you and Kukutux. Do you mind giving it to her when you see her next? I think I'm going to go for a walk along the borders." They weren't hers to patrol, of course, but Meerkat needed some time alone to think of her next steps.

He had partially dozed off while she hunted. Truthfully, it was good for him. To slumber out in the open instead of in the den.

Although he was easy to wake when she returned. Roused by the sound of her approach and the promise of food with her arrival. Blinking the sleep from his eyes to see the two rats she carried with her.

I don't mind at all. Warm. While he wished she might have stayed for longer — he was desperate for varied company these days — he would not stop her either. She had been kind enough to him already.

Enjoy your walk! Happy to leave it at that and take the meal back to the ulaq.

Where he would make sure to save the other for @Kukutux and noted its gifting from Meerkat.

"Thank you," she replied, not bothering to try pronouncing his name again but sure to add, "It was nice meeting you. Take care." She might see him again sometime, especially if she stayed here or even if she just kept up her occasional visits. But Meerkat made no mention of any of that, just smiled and turned to begin a contemplative walk around the spine.