Ouroboros Spine All I have to do is breathe

The mark upon his face shifted with his grin. As the girl asked for a story to fit the mark, Kigipigak faltered for only a breath. It did not occur to him that the truth should be hidden from a child; that it might not be a topic suitable to one so young.

When I was a boy I looked up to my father. The way you love your father, the sun man. He started to explain.

My father was much older when I was born. As I got older, so did he. And when I was old enough to run with my village for the hunts, the way we will be hunting this winter with the village Duskfire, I saw how weak he had become.

Kigipigak was no storyteller. He did not embellish this tale or make it easy to understand for the child. His voice held a measure of calm to it until these basic things were explained and then, with pride, he went on to the important details of why the scar was so important:

In my village when something is weak, it does not live long. So it was my duty to challenge my father, fight him, and put him to rest. That is how I earned this scar, and my name.

He was quiet then, watching the child. Wondering how such a story might affect her. Kigipigak knew his village was different from the soft-hearted one of Moonglow; perhaps she would be confused or dismayed, but he anticipated pride and goodness to come from her, as that was how his own mother Sedna had reacted.