Ouroboros Spine a night so still

all welcome! tags for reference.

The past couple of weeks had seen Sialuk close to @Kukutux's den. She did everything she was instructed to do, fretting often and consulting the bones for any clues of what the outcome of anaa's illness would be. In the meantime, she exchanged pleasantries with @Aiolos when they crossed paths, which was often. When she was not at the ulaq, Sialuk gathered herbs.

That was where she was presently, picking through a patch of watermint. She took only what she needed—no more. When she had gathered enough, she placed some dried lavender to thank the mint for bringing peace to her mother. Then, Sialuk put the location of the watermint in her mind for future gathering before heading back to the ulaq.

Often did he see Sialuk. They passed some mild conversation, mostly in regards to Kukutux and how well he was getting to know his new home. He wondered sometimes if Sialuk would think ill of him, a man having moved in on her mother after her own father's passing... It had been a thought some time ago that perhaps Sialuk and his own son would be destined for one another. Aiolos thinks back to this meeting on the beachside with his sun and sand boy.

Today it would be fate again that they passed up one another. Sialuk hunted for herbs. Aiolos hunted for fish. Today he had caught a muskrat instead.  As their trails back towards Kukutux den came to one, Aiolos would woof out between full jaws in greeting to her.

It was Aiolos who greeted her, a soft woof lingering on the air before Sialuk looked toward him. She greeted him with a friendly nod, her mouth too full of plant matter to give anything verbal in return. She placed the mint upon the ground, careful to set it down somewhere it would not be damaged or gather anymore dirt than it already had.

I greet you, she said, letting her legs fold beneath her. Sialuk's eyes trained on the muskrat in his mouth, and she unconsciously licked her lips. Did the muskrat trouble you? she asked.

She nodded, a mouth filled with leaves, or so it only seemed to him. Watermint was something he had seen time and time before, being someone who enjoyed water quite a bit. Knowing how to make use of it? Not so much.

As she went to settle the herbs down he did the same with the muskrat as she questioned how the hunt had gone. Settling on his haunches too, he shrugged. Not too much. Trapped it between water and land. They are fast swimmers though. Obviously this one however, not fast enough. Having born in a Bayou, muskrat was a common lunch. I admit, I wouldn't be much use with herds or hares. A small chuckle. Water game is really all I've needed to know. And thankfully, Moonglow happened to have a very large lake in the middle of it.

Her eyes followed the muskrat as he set it down, and her ears followed his words as he spoke them. It did not matter to her that he could not hunt the same things that taataa did, and that was what she suspected Aiolos was trying to say. He was not a replacement, and Sialuk did not think he wanted to be. Still, his words wove in a way that compared him to her father.

You are a good hunter, Sialuk said, meaning the words she spoke. Would he be a good taataa for her new family? The bones had said as much, and their answer had been a decidedly clear one there. There were always many layers of meaning when she scattered them, but each one she pulled back appeared more clear than the last, which was a rarity. Anaa had chosen well.

Will you walk with me to the ulaq? Sialuk asked. With her mouth full of herbs, it would be slightly muffled, but she could still speak. You may drape the muskrat on my back so that we may talk along the way, she offered.

There was a sheepish smile which lingered there as she spoke of his wellness and he nods a creamy chin to the pale young woman. He wondered one day if he might be able to supply them with something much larger. Fish, muskrat, crusteans... these were all very good meals to the wolf and fitting for a single. He wanted to give more. To let them feast on seal, Sea lion and even whale if they ever came upon it. Aiolos wondered if they might enjoy the high blubber meals the way he did, fat different from that of deer, mountain goats or elk.

Of course. He agreed then, lifting the little woodland creature from the ground and then settling it between the shoulders of Sialuk as requested. Every so often as they moved, he would nose the kill to resituate it to keep it from slipping off her backside.

It's been hard keeping your mother's strength up. He spoke, them both surely aware with how much a toll this pregnancy had been on her. Aiolos had reunited with her upon her first pregnancy, out and about from her pack territory. It had seemed Sialuk and her brother had been far more easy on the little duck. I feel like the white meat is easier for her to keep down. The muskrat was not but it was what he had managed. Aiolos hoped too that the fish was a well memory of Kukutux time on the coast. I can only hope that means the pups are strong, healthy...

Sialuk nodded to his words, letting him speak freely as they walked toward the ulaq. Anaa had once asked what Sialuk thought of him, and she had not known then. Still, she sought to know her mother's... friend. Was he to become ugi to her mother as her father had once been? Sialuk did not know if it was a requirement, but she was curious.

If they are mother's children, they will be strong, she said, a hint of pride in her voice. Brataa had been strong, too. Just as Sialuk was. She thought of her brother, a pang in her heart that he would not meet his new siblings this year. They would meet only when they found the dancing lights—a time long from now, she hoped.

She paused to let him shift the muskrat once more, keeping it balanced between her shifting shoulder blades.

Tell me of where you come from, of Yuelong, she requested.