Ouroboros Spine tusaaruuk ⟭

set for the first! optional <3

the duck found herself in a greenfall clearing, with trees that reached to the very heart of the world. she caught her breath, stepping back. it was cooler here than the horrid temperatures out-of-doors, and she sat down with gratitude.

she called then for @Sialuk, for @Lótë, @Keyni, and @Shikoba, asking that they come to her here, and attend the first meeting of the woman's circle within moonglow. she had hope that after these months of residing with them, they would know her ways. and the new she-warrior, she would also learn them.

a time of stories, of mourning, of the words that men would not understand.

a time for them only.

Faces among the members of Moonglow came and went, although many of them Sialuk knew well now. There were a few that she had not taken them time to get to know, and when her mother's voice rang out, the raindrop knew this would be a good opportunity for her to add another one or two to "well-known."

The beta arrived, approaching anaa first and gently nuzzling her chin. She appeared healthy, and her daughter had sensed a change in her since Aiolos had come to live with them. There was a light shining in her that Sialuk had not seen since the death of taataa, and it brought joy to her own heart as well.

a summon, a call, a whisper. the breeze carries the duck's notes to the ears of the scarred woman, and she is open to receive. in an instant, she rises from her sleepy hollow hole in the ground in finds her away around the spine towards kukutux's direction.

she is familiar with the other names that are called, but she bids no thought to it. for now, she only assumes that this meeting calls for the entire pack, not just the women residing in this land.

she soon arrives, seeing the duck and someone else already there. walking forward, shikoba brushes her nose against kukutux's shoulder softly, a low chuff as a greeting. for the other, a polite dip of the head as she recedes and patiently waits for others to arrive. though, sulfur eyes cannot stray from the unknown woman, glistening with curiosity as ears press forward.

It was the first that Lótë could recall such an occassion taking place but it was with a hopeful heart that she went. She had found sisters in all of her tribeswomen thus far and only Shikoba was unfamiliar to Moonglow's greenpaw. The morning dove was almost certain that she would find a similar kinship with the newest she-wolf in their circle. Raimo was the only member of Moonglow who had ever made her feel uncomfortable but she had not seen the dark huntsman since he stalked away in the Crag.

She stopped to bump her temple against the Moon's shoulder when she arrived, turning slightly to offer a similar affectionate gesture to Sialuk afterwards, before taking a seat beside the stranger she assumed to be Shikoba -- offering the older woman a small smile as she settled on her fallowskin haunches. She was a curious little creature to behold. Tiny yet not wizened in the way some aging wolves might be, though there was something withered about her. Not in the sense of a plant slowly perishing but more like leather that had grown firm and wrinkled in the sun overtime. She reminded Lótë of an oak she had seen once; weathered and scarred by the gouges predators had left in its bark whilst sharpening their claws, the faded marks detailing a lifetime of hard won experiences.

The bird-watcher's pale peridots gleamed with soft excitement as she turned her expectant gaze towards the treeline, waiting for Keyni to arrive as her tail swished against the forest floor -- catching a few stray needles in the misted strands.

no posting order!

"in moonglow, we all must be sisters. there are two circles here," she said, eyes flicking to see where keyni might arrive. "there is the one that the hunters have, led by sivullik. and there is our own. we must be sisters in this village. we say to one another the words that are not for the ears of men."

she looked around them, between them, jadestone gaze resting upon each face she had come to love.

"this makes a path forward that is balanced. it is equal on each side."

would they question her? pale ears cupped eagerly to hear the words that they might say.

equal.

that is something shikoba knows. while there was the position of chief in her home, along with the rightful heir to his place, there was hardly much of a social order to shikoba's family. it simply only mattered that they looked out for each other, nothing more. placement was based on skill, not dominance nor gender.

the idea of having the two circles seems simple enough, and equal in itself considering the men would have their own. so shikoba sees no reason to truly interject. besides, the duck has her trust. if kukutux thinks this will work, then shikoba has faith in her fully.

"shikoba trust sisters." 

the same way she did with her sisters of her brood. with her sisters of blood. with her sisters who were greeted with death. a small falter in her heart, a shallow echo of pain. she misses them greatly.

The previous night had been restless for the Tundrian. It was one of those nights where sleep remained elusive, leaving the ever aspiring Keyni to toss and turn fitfully. The waking note that filtered into her ears was the pleasant voice of Kukutux, summoning all of the women of Moonglow together. Bleary eyed and sluggish but in a good mood, Keyni roused.

Her arrival to the glade in which the congregation of ladies had gathered was uncharacteristically late of her. Still looking a little more disheveled than the norm, she approached quietly while Kukutux was still speaking, not wishing to interrupt. But she did affirm her bond towards them all while she took a close seat next to the ever lovely Lótë. 

Lótë's ears pressed forward to drink in the matchmaker's words, nodding along ever so slightly here or there. She already knew a great deal about the topic but it was fascinating nonetheless to hear Kukutux speak of the village's culture firsthand and in depth. The ways of Moonglow were complex and yet, refreshingly simple. There was an understood balance between wolf and nature, leaders and subordinates alike -- eliminating any need for stressful rank challenges or displays of dominance.

They had no male leaders, making the Ostrega duck and her daughter the leaders of their pack and of the women's circle. Adrastus had been chosen by Kukutux and blessed by the spirits as their clan's Sivullik -- which made him leader of the men's circle, if not the pack. The rest of them fell into either circle, all bearing the typical ranks of a stereotypical pack. Yet, the men also had societal rank within the group of hunters as second-hunter, third-hunter, and so on. The women had no societal rank within their circle, at least none that had any title. Lótë would likely be considered the top of the inner hierarchy, beneath the Alpha and Beta, given her marriage to the first-hunter and her longevity within the tribe. Keyni had joined a moon or two after the herd-stalker joined the village, which would likely place her right beneath Lótë. Finally, Shikoba, as the newest woman in their circle would have been at the bottom of the totem pole, so to speak.  

She offered the silver-gilded Firefly a friendly grin when she arrived, making room for Keyni to sit alongside her as the Moon finished speaking -- peridots flicking to Shikoba when she spoke up and affirmed her trust in the other women. The Baptiste smiled warmly at her in a silent gesture of camaraderie, gaze shifting to include the other she-wolves.

This was no news to Sialuk, but she listened with just as much rapt attention as she always had. Anaa had always been in her circle. Since the day she was born, Sialuk had formed a close friendship with her mother that extended beyond simple bloodlines. They were inseparable, even when the world had fallen down around them.

Shikoba, the newest of the women, was the only one to speak. Perhaps she wished to affirm herself among them, which was clever of her. In this way, she gave her name and put the others at ease, showing no signs of contempt for the way things were done in their village.

a smile, as their newest spoke. "you are welcomed, shikoba."

to them all now, kukutux spoke. "i tell you now the story of mother sedna. she is who formed us. she is mother-who-sends-meat-to-hunters. even they must thank her for the life that she gives."

"sedna was a woman of much beauty. she was daughter of a powerful chieftain, who wanted to make a good marriage for her. but this match was only good for her father, not for the spirit of sedna. she knew this truth, and so she refused all bride-prices offered by the young hunters who came to their ulaq."

kukutux paused, gaze solemn to convey the impossibility that sedna had once found around herself.

"sedna loved another. his family had little, and could not offer the bride-price, set high by her father. they wished to run away to another village. 'we will go to the land of the ravens, he said. there, we will live among them. no one has ever lived among the raven people, for it is too high to climb. but we will find a path up to the night sky.'

the duck took a breath, a small and wan smile for the hopefulness held in her expression.

"the father of sedna decided that he would give her to be married anyway, and took her to a high place to wait for her husband. he would come and take her to his village, and sedna would be made to go with him. but the boy who she loved followed them, and showed his hiding-self finally: he was tulugak, raven, and he carried sedna away."

"her father followed, running after them. he shouted with anger! lightning mother heard his plea and struck raven down, and sedna fell and fell until she plunged into the sea."

"sedna! i will pull you from the water! her father called, for she was his only daughter. he stood on high rocks, and sedna climbed up to her father."

"but when she came to the top of this place, her father grew angry, and remembered what he had lost when sedna did not accept a marriage with the man he had chosen. and so he cast her down into the sea again. but this time, she did not return."

a sorrowful lapse in speaking, ears fluting backward.

"sedna sank down below the water. she was no longer alive. the seal people came to her. and the walrus people, and those from other villages we cannot see, who live far under the long salt, and who are not seen by us. they carried her anirniit to the spirit world, and when sedna woke, they told her she was one of them now, and that she was very powerful. that they would heed her. that they would listen. she was given the way of the ocean."

"and now it is sedna who tells the sea people to swim to the top of the water, where they might be eaten. it is she who gives seal fat to hunters; it is she who drowns the unwise and gives much to the wise. and it was from her that we came. sedna says that we must hear the word of our own heart, and that in the end of things, it is a woman's path forward that brings the most strength to a village."

"that is the first of the secrets this circle must hold."

shikoba considers herself a spiritual being as she believes everything light touches has a soul. however, her religion is not spread out nor well-known, but perhaps because there is no true god that she prays to. rather, each being she encounters is one that is due respect, none are truly held above others. 

if she was outspoken, she may have come to argue with kukutux's beliefs. however, her strict sense of respect for the moonwoman causes her lip to button itself. these beliefs can somewhat coincide with what the native already knows.

the tale that is spun from kukutux covers creation, life, heartbreak, death, and rebirth. all of these are topics that shikoba learned in her younger years while beside her mother. while the story may sound a tad different, shikoba still finds the similarities. she feels content, knowing that this story is the first secret shared upon the women's circle.

in a way, it almost empowers her. she may not be head ruler as she once dreamed of in her youth, but instead she shared a sense of respect with the sisters around herself. she is content with her existence, perhaps this is where she is meant to be. perhaps the spirits of her family took part in the blowing winds that pushed shikoba towards the spine in the first place.

a slow blink to kukutux, a small smile on her face. the first of many secrets to be told.

She became engulfed in the story as anaa told it, imagining herself as the daughter of the powerful chieftain. It had been long since she had thought of an ugi of her own, but now the thought was renewed in her. She was growing, changing, and when spring came to them next year, Sialuk knew that it would be time to begin making arrangements.

Sialuk gasped when the story took a turn, both the raven and Sedna fallen to the earth. Sedna found redemption... but what of her lover? He was not mentioned again, and Sialuk thought on this for a moment, trying to decipher what had become of him.

The raven, what was his fate? she asked. He had been struck down, but that did not mean that he had died. Or was it inferred by the way he was not spoken of again?

Lótë had no words to share, as enthralled with the tale as the other women around her. Again, she felt transported back in time to the land of Elms where the sage-woman had sang the stories of their people. 

The creation of her former village told of a different fable regarding the origins of their kind — a fallen star, not unlike the one that claimed the ‘spear, striking the land had brought with it First Woman. The first she-wolf had to teach herself the ways of the land, of survival, and in doing so, discovered the gift of new life. Her birth waters had filled the sea, her efforts giving rise to all the creatures of the earth — her bones, the mountains, splitting asunder. But it was a lonely existence, her spirit longing to return to the stars where it had been born — where her pale lover, the moon, called. 

She had returned to him and in time, their children of the stars claimed the Elms of this realm.

But perhaps the people of Kukutux’s isle had not been born of the stars but of the sea that gave them their sustenance. Her heart soared and plummeted with the story, recognizing with the youthful Sedna held in the clutches of her villainous father — though Lótë had never known her own father and had always imagined him to be a kind man. 

When the tale concluded, she was struck silent — gaze flicking to Sialuk and then Kukutux, also desperately wanting to hear the answer.

it was a good question.

"some say that raven was burned by the lightning mother, and that is why his voice is like thorns. others say that raven too went far under the long salt, and became a monster guardian to sedna."

she paused. "but my mothers gave me these words: she said that raven and sedna were bound tightly in love, and so not even death could break this tie. she said that they find each other in many lives. when the night is dark, and the rain is soft, we say, 'aya! raven has kissed his bride sedna."

a smile, as she looked with love upon each face.

She was satisfied by the answer, though still curious of his fate, given that there were many paths he could have taken. It reminded her of her relationship with Sixsix, how the two of them had been bound since she was very young. Since the strange storm. Perhaps he was her lover from a past life, sent to guide her gently along the way. Sialuk knew they could not be together, at least not with Sixsix in his current form, but perhaps they would find one another in the next life.