Ouroboros Spine kuvrak «

maybe an updated one? :D

kukutux sought out @Sialuk. she carried soiled earth from before the sleeping-places and dumped it into a new midden around the curve of snow.

today she would not speak of hunters or husbands. "it is good to be home," she clucked to the raindrop. "i think that soon you and i should make a path to moonspear, to be with the spirits for a short time." 

perhaps this was the sort of healing necessary for her daughter.

bumping to present day!

They had come home, and though Sialuk was glad for it, it had not banished the shadow in her heart. When anaa mentioned Moonspear, Sialuk felt the dull pain grow sharper. Had it been a year since the strange storm? It felt so long ago, yet also as if it happened yesterday.

I would like that, she said. Even if they did not speak their names, Sialuk had not forgotten those who had left them on that day. Perhaps being in that place could bring some light to her heart.

towhee had gone and aiolos has been informed of her state. kukutux was not always a woman who worked upon impulse.

but today she would do so.

"gather whatever you have the wish to bring." she reached for her wrap, a long twist of grey pelt. "we will go today."

Sialuk dipped her head. As for her own supplies, she grabbed the skin filled with her bones and tucked one of Sixsix's feathers in it for extra luck. Perhaps this journey would finally bring her out of the shadow that loomed over her. Perhaps.

This is all I need, she said, distant glimmer of hope in her eyes.

she howled to @Aiolos and @Shikoba, conveying that she and sialuk were going to moonspear for some days' time.

the sun man would worry but it had been sialuk who protected her mother in the snow that grim winter.

moonglow soon fell away behind them as the pair of moonwolves trotted down from the spine. she turned to her daughter, nipping playfully at the girl's shoulder-wrap.

i figured we can continue in this thread if that's cool w/you!

Sialuk followed quickly, her pace increasing as they drew closer to the mountain where she had come into the world. A bubble of anxiety grew in her chest, and she moved forward, eager to reunite with her birth home, with her family who had gone to the dancing lights.

Can they speak to us from the dancing lights? she asked as the mountain loomed overhead. Was such a thing possible? And if so, was it advisable?

that's good! <3

kukutux hummed. "a spirit-talker can do this thing. but those who do not know the sacred words should not try."

moonspear remained familiar.

she found her way easily over the snowy paths.

she remembered their details as she climbed the rolling foothills that led up to the mountain.

"we will make a sacrifice. you will use your amulets. we will ask that the moonhunter and the blackfox move these items to speak with us."

A frown pulled down on her lips as she retraced the steps she'd taken so many times before. It was strange to be back here, but it was not the kind of strange that repelled her. Instead, it pulled her in, enveloped her the same way the bones had done so many times.

Sacrifice? she asked. Sialuk had done such a thing for Foxfur once, not for speaking to the dead, but to find Crowfeather. The idea of taataa and brataa speaking through the bones sent a shiver of excitement down her spine. Why had she not thought of it?

moonspear was silent and yet it spoke to her. the mountain whispered. it welcomed them home. 

but the spirits embraced sialuk.

kukutux almost felt as if she heard the whisper of daughter as sialuk passed through the snow.

"blood brings a bright color. this color is more easily seen by those who have gone on. it shows to their eyes which are dead."

Sialuk felt her heart thump more quickly in her chest. They would offer blood to the spirits, and in return, the spirits would speak to them. She felt the question of where the blood came from on her tongue, but she stopped before it came out. Sialuk was reminded of the nine days of singing, of the things her mother did not always speak of.

I want the sacrifice to come from me, she said. Sialuk felt in her heart that the spirits would speak to her if she did this for them. With the bones ready at her feet, she stepped toward anaa, allowing her mother to make the ritual mark.

kukutux did not speak but her eyes said she saw sialuk as woman.

as spirit-talker.

"put your teeth to the place of your wrist," she guided in a murmur.

and when the blood had welled she daubed it to her nose and marked sialuk as they had done before.

she closed her eyes. "mother tooteega, the moon's star comes to you now."

Sialuk did as instructed, feeling a sense of both pride and responsibility in this thing she did. There was no wince, no whine, no whimper as she cut her own flesh with her teeth. Only a sense of what was meant to be. Peace, calm, direction.

With the mark upon her, Sialuk picked the wrap of bones from the ground and began to feel the weight of it not only in her mouth, but in her mind, in her spirit. There was a sense that the mark upon her made the whole ritual more clear—brighter.

She closed her eyes; asked to hear the voices of taataa and brataa. The bones released to the ground, and they scattered as they had so many times before, but they felt different. Sialuk felt different. They laid themselves out for her, and she let herself read them.

The signs that she saw were good omens. Taataa and brataa were safe and at peace in dancing lights. Sialuk strained to make a more nuanced message from the bones, seeing their spatial relationship to one another. There was a reading of good things to come, a message to move on, and a warning of sorts she could not quite decipher. The girl sat silent, peering over the ivory pieces as she contemplated their meanings.

kukutux watched with pride shimmering in all aspects of her.

her own power was great now, she knew; she carried new life within her and in this there was a secret.

she no longer wished for sialuk to know it so swiftly: not before she knew her own path.

her jadestone eyes passed over her daughter and the bones. she moved closer but did not touch her child or ask what the messages had meant.

if it was to be for her ears as well, then sialuk would speak it.

wrap here? we need another newer one!

Father and brother are at peace. Good things to come, and—she paused, still unsure of the meaning—a word of caution. For what, I do not know. Yet, she felt satisfied with this conversation she had with the spirits.

I will come back here often, she said. The mountain brings more clarity.