Ouroboros Spine Her every thought, her only thought.

Maybe @Kukutux?

Ciri clearly remembered the day her family arrived at Moonspear. Her gaze had lifted sheepishly to look beyond her mother's shoulder at the proud snow-capped spire that reached for the clouds, and vividly recalled how small it made her feel. The mountain had been grander than any she'd ever seen in her young life: powerful, impenetrable. It was to become a home to her, she'd been told, yet the sight and size of it served only as a reminder of how small and insignificant she felt. She'd timidly lingered at her father's flank that morning, fearful of the unknown, but time and patience had begun to warm her to its heights.

Upon her return, she found it in ruins. Her family, lost. 

Gone.

The blackbird turned her face away at once, grief-stricken, biting back the tears that pricked her eyes and the sob that thickened her throat. Whatever had made the mountain fall could not have been survivable, though she held onto that tiny sliver of hope that her mother and sister may have escaped such a fate. Ciri made her way quietly back the way she'd come, back toward the land where she'd detected scents reminiscent of Moonspear's pack.

At the outskirts she lingered, numbed, and inhaled deep the strong aroma of a claim. The yearling canted her muzzle toward the treetops and released a mournful call, requesting the attention of anyone who might've made it out alive.

wildfire raced beneath her nape, and the duck finally knew.

yuelong was no more. 

she looked in the direction of the sea, sighing once. how great a blow for the redsun, to lose the place that he had built. but he had come for her; he had not stayed at the great water.

kukutux pushed beneath the overhang of her ulaq wash day, @Iḷitqusiq gained more strength. the wounds upon her face would scar, and she had accepted this now.

a cry, rising for moonglow. kukutux did not at once attend, wary, but eventually found her way along a pinewood path to meet the young woman upon the borders. recognition dawned; she pulled the soft gray rabbitfur more closely around her shoulders and stepped forward with curiosity. and wariness. "tell me you are not a spirit."

No voice rose to answer her call, and Ciri could feel her heart beat wildly within its cage. She peered through the leafy foliage, hopeful to perhaps see a glimpse of someone - anyone! - who once belonged to Moonspear, but not a soul moved her way.

Dread settled heavily in her gut; time ticked by, confirmation that her mother and sister had failed to regroup there or anywhere close by. Emotion clawed its way up her throat in a strained whine before, breathless, the swallow hung head in defeat and made to retreat.

And then, movement. Ciri lifted her crown to turn toward the sound of paws padding in her direction, wide yellow eyes swift to find the pale figure of a she-wolf. Recognition did not slacken her tense posture, not until the jade-eyed pearl drew closer.

She knew that face, but could not recall a name to match it with.

Silence lingered, uncertainty hanging between them until a question broke the stillness. Ciri's response was stalled as she considered the words. "I-" she faltered, almost, on the first note that fell from her tongue.

But there was no time to fumble over her own retort! She had to know, despite her fear in the truth of her family's downfall. So Ciri simply asked, her voice trembling: "what happened to Moonspear?"

ciri. that had been her name. why did she remember? kukutux flushed with something indiscernible. this girl had not been upon the mountain when it fell. she had gone into the snow and not returned. 

was it possible she had not been spirit? only lost? 

"a star fell from the clouds and killed the mountain's spirit," the duck began hesitantly. "only myself and sialuk remain. norah also, but she has made her own path."

a breath. "do you have the memory of your name?" for she must know; she has learned not to trust those who walked in the world of spirits, and would test this girl.

A star fell from the clouds,

Ciri sucked in a breath, held it. She felt her heart skip an uncomfortable beat, heard the thrum of it pound in her ears. Her body swayed and she shifted to better root herself, keep herself from crumbling to the ground at the pale wolfess' feet.

and killed the mountain's spirit.

A lump swelled in her throat at the image conjured in her mind's eye: her entire family, devoured by flames. Sunflower gaze swam suddenly with the threat of tears, but Ciri averted her eyes to blink them away. She wanted to ask if her mother or sister's bodies had been found, if they'd been respected with an appropriate burial.

If she had somewhere to go, to be close to them.

Did it even matter? She would never hear their voices again. She would never have the chance to reach for them, tell them she loved them.

Sniffing sharply, the swallow steeled herself. She sought the pale features of the duck as she asked after her name. "Ciri," the young Ostrega answered, an undeniable tremor to her voice. "I'm sorry, I... I don't...?" I don't remember yours.

a breath that shivered, drawn coldly through her lungs. ciri. the girl who was perhaps spirit did know the name her mother had granted. "kukutux of ostrega clan. we are family." she did not have the strength to discover the exact nature of their kinship ties, only that they existed.

"your mother —" a voice, hesitating. "she did not come back when the snows left us. we believed she searched for your path. she was not upon moonspear when the star came down." not for a moment did she believe that this would soothe the younger wolf. but she had returned, in a way. perhaps the woman who had borne her would also return to their holy places.

"this is the village of moonglow. i will not forget the mountain."

the duck was still unsure if this child truly existed, or if she was only a forlorn vision.

Kukutux. That was her name. Ciri knew she would not have been able to guess anything even similar, and guilt swam in her solemn features as she regarded the duck in silence. She carried on with something unexpected: Nyx had also vanished into the snowstorm, presumably to follow her trail, and failed to return. The young Ostrega lifted her watery yellow eyes to seek the pallid features of her former comrade, curious to see if her words to be veiled by deceit purely to provide the comfort of a lie.

She did not believe her mother would've left Elke alone on Moonspear. If Nyx had not gone back for the first of her daughters, then she had surely perished. If anything, not knowing where her dam's body lay was more painful than believing it to rest alongside her sister on what remained of the last home they'd shared together.

The swallow did not respond to Kukutux' mention of Moonglow, not yet ready to move on from the awful truth of her family's fate. "And my sister," Ciri said, her voice soft as small as she battled with her own flaring emotions, "is she...?"

the wilting of the pale ears.

"as i knew it to be, elke was within moonspear."

to be the giver of such news. she stepped forward, racked with a maternal affection, the suffusement of old wounds opened yet again. a memory now, hazy. "i have news of your father. moons ago, before —" a pause to collect herself. "my kinsman, kigipigak, told to me that he lives in a place with man who has the name of mahler, ah, east," and here the moon gestured. 

"he was making a way to find elke and you," the duck added gently; perhaps there would be some hope discovered here after all.

The assumption of her family's fate had been unbearable, but to hear it from the mouth of another was something else entirely. Ciri felt the searing heat of her emotion run rampant through her, claw at her from within the hollow of her chest where a whole heart once resided - without fracture, without having been so brutally battered.

Velvet ears splayed backward, pinned firmly to her raven nape as she continued to battle with her body's overwhelming urge to crumble in despair. She wanted for nothing more in that moment than to wish herself away, to disappear and scream into the abyss:

Why her?

Why them?

The swallow wondered what terrible thing she might've done in her short existence to deserve such a devastating blow. Sniffling, trembling, her solemn eyes looked to Kukutux beneath the farrowing of her brow. She spoke of her father, shared news of his vague location, but Ciri didn't understand what she meant with the mention of a name she failed to recognise followed swiftly by the suggestion that Mahler had made attempt to locate his daughters.

"He... what?" the young Ostrega blinked, swallowed, "making a way? What does - what do you mean? Did he come here?"

"he had injury," kukutux spoke. but she could not remember more than that, and it was a wonder at all that it had come to her. the times before the star-strike sometimes faded into starlight around the edges. she knew the image of this only because kigipigak had come by some fate to rest inside moonglow.

"but he meant to come," the duck finished, plume stirring apologetically. she wished for more good things to tell the ostrega girl, but there were none. all she could offer was meat and rest, though something canyon-yawning and wary in the young one's vibrance suggested ciri would not be stopped.

"i will give you rest here," moonwoman said softly, "until you are ready to go out into this land again."

Her meant to come, but he had not. Could not. Ciri thought back to the last time she'd seen her father on Moonspear's neighbouring slopes, how the time between their previous encounter and then had aged him. Not long after Mahler's visit, she'd ventured out into the frozen wilds - so certain that it'd been his voice that called to her above the raging winds.

The young Ostrega frowned deeply, her thoughts muddied; had some mysterious sense sense driven her into the blizzard that night? Had she known he was in trouble, without really knowing?

Ciri emitted a soft whine and solemn yellow eyes rose to seek the pearl's soft gaze again. Kukutux extended welcome to her then, an invitation to shelter and rest for a time. "I-" she fidgeted, clearly unsettled, "I thank you, but..." Her voice wavered again, and the swallow tried to steady herself by clearing her throat, "I am ready to go now."

poor, tormented girl. kukutux nodded. she too understood the pull that drew one off into the wilderness, though she had not felt it for some time since coming to this land. "moonglow will offer these things again if you find the path back to us," moonwoman said softly.

she did not think it was her place to touch ciri, or even if the girl wished this — the duck's ears flicked back in sympathy. the mountain, the star; so much had been lost. it was unfair that it had also harmed one so young. the woman fervently hoped that ciri would be able to rediscover this father.

she would wait until the pretty ostrega left her borders, to turn back and trudge heavily to her ulaq.

Kukutux assured that her offer would remain open should she choose to return, and although the swallow felt thankful she felt that their paths would not likely cross again. Words failed her but she hoped that her smile, though forced and sorrowful, was enough to communicate her unspoken gratitude.

Dark muzzle dipped respectfully to the pearl, Ciri backed away. She turned smoothly and began to retreat, though paused to glance over a skinny raven shoulder to look upon Kukutux' face once more. With a soft, half-hearted wag of her tail she emitted a gentle whine and looked ahead, eager to place distance between herself and those cursed lands.