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aw but please let @Ariadne post first! <3
![[Image: 0279e6b012ba6fe706d26a96b14534c5.gif]](https://i.pinimg.com/originals/02/79/e6/0279e6b012ba6fe706d26a96b14534c5.gif)
breath. breathing.
jadestone eyes upon the sea.
breath;
she had built a death ulaq for her daughter, of branches grasped and gathered into a point beneath which the still body slumbered. trembling limbs laid the final bough and the entrance was closed.
unless rodyn wished her interred beneath the ground, here would the almost-mother, the lost-girl remain until she was only bones.
only bones; it caught kukutux with the force of a kick behind a gasping ribcage, and she crumbled to the sandy soil in wailing before the ulaq.
she had failed. her daughter had not married rodyn in a proper ceremony. perhaps the breaking of some taboo had angered a vengeful spirit. it was more likely that the kind soul of her passed-on offspring had attracted a soul which wished to be reborn again in a new place.
this was little consolation to kukutux. her limbs were heavied; she raised her left foreleg and bit into its wrist, hardly wincing as blood welled to its surface.
the first time she had done this, the duck had been unsure.
this second, she daubed her breastbone and the planes of her face, and as she had done with sialuk so long ago, kukutux reached to anoint ariadne with a trailing of stark crimson across the untainted brow.
"a spirit who has left the world in so harsh a way may be angry, may be confused. the blood will hide us from her eyes. we must sing her to sedna, encourage her to leave this world and travel through the throat of the sea to the dancing lights."
a breath; her springjade eyes emptying; she explained to ariadne that to say the name of her older sister now was to invite the spirit to stay. those shades tied to the earth lived mournful lives. the next nine nights must be spent singing their island-walker to the land above.
upon the edge of moontide, surf lapped sand beneath somber golden light. kukutux took the sound into her ears and reached for those words once said to a wintertime moon following the deathly fall of a star.
it is time to leave
it is time to leave this place of sorrow
it is time to lift from flesh and walk to home
do not be afraid
our voices walk with you, beloved spirit
salt dripped upon her mouth as she formed the words again, repeating them until ariadne too understood.
jadestone eyes upon the sea.
breath;
she had built a death ulaq for her daughter, of branches grasped and gathered into a point beneath which the still body slumbered. trembling limbs laid the final bough and the entrance was closed.
unless rodyn wished her interred beneath the ground, here would the almost-mother, the lost-girl remain until she was only bones.
only bones; it caught kukutux with the force of a kick behind a gasping ribcage, and she crumbled to the sandy soil in wailing before the ulaq.
she had failed. her daughter had not married rodyn in a proper ceremony. perhaps the breaking of some taboo had angered a vengeful spirit. it was more likely that the kind soul of her passed-on offspring had attracted a soul which wished to be reborn again in a new place.
this was little consolation to kukutux. her limbs were heavied; she raised her left foreleg and bit into its wrist, hardly wincing as blood welled to its surface.
the first time she had done this, the duck had been unsure.
this second, she daubed her breastbone and the planes of her face, and as she had done with sialuk so long ago, kukutux reached to anoint ariadne with a trailing of stark crimson across the untainted brow.
"a spirit who has left the world in so harsh a way may be angry, may be confused. the blood will hide us from her eyes. we must sing her to sedna, encourage her to leave this world and travel through the throat of the sea to the dancing lights."
a breath; her springjade eyes emptying; she explained to ariadne that to say the name of her older sister now was to invite the spirit to stay. those shades tied to the earth lived mournful lives. the next nine nights must be spent singing their island-walker to the land above.
upon the edge of moontide, surf lapped sand beneath somber golden light. kukutux took the sound into her ears and reached for those words once said to a wintertime moon following the deathly fall of a star.
it is time to leave
it is time to leave this place of sorrow
it is time to lift from flesh and walk to home
do not be afraid
our voices walk with you, beloved spirit
salt dripped upon her mouth as she formed the words again, repeating them until ariadne too understood.
![[Image: pSj9vo4.png]](https://i.imgur.com/pSj9vo4.png)
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September 03, 2023, 08:35 AM
She’d done what she could since returning to Moontide. She offered comfort, support, and limited words—nothing felt right in light of the situation the found themselves in.
Samani was no more—her name would never be spoken again. They were to guide the island-woman from their mortal plane to her place among the dancing lights.
She processed. She grieved—for a sister and niece who were taken too soon. For the time she’d spent away; opportunities she’d denied herself because of her absence.
When it was time to begin the death songs, Ariadne sought the wise words that @Sialuk had shared with her. She took a shuddering breath as Kukutux began to paint her face with blood, summoning the strength to keep her tears at bay. Much like her anaa the first time she sang these songs, the girl was unsure.
She watched her mother’s lips, head bobbing as she practiced in silence, and prepared herself to speak the words she learned.
Samani was no more—her name would never be spoken again. They were to guide the island-woman from their mortal plane to her place among the dancing lights.
She processed. She grieved—for a sister and niece who were taken too soon. For the time she’d spent away; opportunities she’d denied herself because of her absence.
When it was time to begin the death songs, Ariadne sought the wise words that @Sialuk had shared with her. She took a shuddering breath as Kukutux began to paint her face with blood, summoning the strength to keep her tears at bay. Much like her anaa the first time she sang these songs, the girl was unsure.
She watched her mother’s lips, head bobbing as she practiced in silence, and prepared herself to speak the words she learned.
it is time to leave
it is time to leave this place of sorrow
it is time to lift from flesh and walk to home
do not be afraid
our voices walk with you, beloved spirit
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September 03, 2023, 10:08 PM
(This post was last modified: September 04, 2023, 09:30 PM by Kukutux.)
THE SECOND SONG
no posting order <3
the death ulaq was closed.
kukutux pushed forward her offering of salmonberries and fish from the salt sea; dead-food to give strength for this journey.
"daughter. sister. mother."
for her sea-girl had been all these things.
her senses, reaching for ariadne, feeling the pull of dried blood upon pale pelt;
go now to the path of the lights
lift from bone and spirit and blood
this is the time for you to depart
we will sing you to the dancing lights
be at peace. be at peace.
the duck wondered how many tears were left in her, crying out in hoarsened tones to a falling moon over the singing sea.
part of her heart turned slowly to ash inside the death ulaq with her child and her grandchild.
kukutux pushed forward her offering of salmonberries and fish from the salt sea; dead-food to give strength for this journey.
"daughter. sister. mother."
for her sea-girl had been all these things.
her senses, reaching for ariadne, feeling the pull of dried blood upon pale pelt;
go now to the path of the lights
lift from bone and spirit and blood
this is the time for you to depart
we will sing you to the dancing lights
be at peace. be at peace.
the duck wondered how many tears were left in her, crying out in hoarsened tones to a falling moon over the singing sea.
part of her heart turned slowly to ash inside the death ulaq with her child and her grandchild.
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September 04, 2023, 09:36 AM
(This post was last modified: September 04, 2023, 09:37 AM by Asivaq.)
Ariadne placed a deerskin next to the salmonberries and fish—a blanket to keep them warm, and a makeshift carrier should the child’s legs grow tired. She thought of the pale babe as she looked down at the offerings, and her heart broke into a million tiny pieces.
She sat beside her mother, weeping as she listened and committed the words to memory.
Granddaughter. Daughter. Sister.
She sat beside her mother, weeping as she listened and committed the words to memory.
go now to the path of the lights
lift from bone and spirit and blood
this is the time for you to depart
we will sing you to the dancing lights
be at peace. be at peace.
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September 04, 2023, 09:47 PM
THE THIRD SONG
no posting order <3
fall has come
the time of morning frost
the time of changing leaf
do you hear them?
do you hear the deer running in the forest?
their hooves make a song to lead you into the night
it had only been kukutux and sialuk before.
now it was moonwoman and returned daughter, ariadne, soft voice soaking the angry scab of pain which threatened to close oozing edges around mother's heart.
here she wept; here she cried aloud until voice heaving sorrows broke back into chant, arms holding herself; aya!
lynx, there with her now as she wept, these words only in her mind now.
you gave a son. he returned. now you give a daughter. she cannot.
tooteega; old one; and she looked soberly down upon the unmoving child turned toward the silent breast of its mother. again moonwoman heard the firm voice in the tones of her own thought.
i will take her spirit.
i will set her back among the stars. she will wait to be born again.
once kukutux had been a child. she had mingled mother's-words with plucked forbidden tones from the shaman's throat.
but now she knew them true to herself.
in the second singing, her chants were stark and confident.
what had she told sialuk?
"kivliktuk," she said to ariadne aloud now in remembered heaviness, her aching eyes fixed upon the ulaq wherein her gone-child lay. "if a spirit returns after three days, they are not who they say, and they may wear the face of one who is loved. we sing on for the rest of the days. your sister walks between moon and star now. it is not so long before sedna has embraced her."
the third day, the first of spirit-secrets handed now to a second daughter.
kukutux returned to the sonorous twining of chant and weeping.
the time of morning frost
the time of changing leaf
do you hear them?
do you hear the deer running in the forest?
their hooves make a song to lead you into the night
it had only been kukutux and sialuk before.
now it was moonwoman and returned daughter, ariadne, soft voice soaking the angry scab of pain which threatened to close oozing edges around mother's heart.
here she wept; here she cried aloud until voice heaving sorrows broke back into chant, arms holding herself; aya!
lynx, there with her now as she wept, these words only in her mind now.
you gave a son. he returned. now you give a daughter. she cannot.
tooteega; old one; and she looked soberly down upon the unmoving child turned toward the silent breast of its mother. again moonwoman heard the firm voice in the tones of her own thought.
i will take her spirit.
i will set her back among the stars. she will wait to be born again.
once kukutux had been a child. she had mingled mother's-words with plucked forbidden tones from the shaman's throat.
but now she knew them true to herself.
in the second singing, her chants were stark and confident.
what had she told sialuk?
"kivliktuk," she said to ariadne aloud now in remembered heaviness, her aching eyes fixed upon the ulaq wherein her gone-child lay. "if a spirit returns after three days, they are not who they say, and they may wear the face of one who is loved. we sing on for the rest of the days. your sister walks between moon and star now. it is not so long before sedna has embraced her."
the third day, the first of spirit-secrets handed now to a second daughter.
kukutux returned to the sonorous twining of chant and weeping.
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September 05, 2023, 11:17 PM
(This post was last modified: September 05, 2023, 11:18 PM by Kukutux.)
THE FOURTH SONG
no posting order <3
we do not ask if boys are ready to become men.
caribou, running. elk, running. wolves, running. the cry of loons over still lakes.
they do not ask us when girls are ready to become women.
kukutux, wheeling in grief, whittled to sinew and bone and sorrow, keening, keening beneath dried-blood, shoving all broken pieces of motherheart toward the skies above
they trust us to know.
crying; the fire of a shriek in belly and heart and mind and soul; "let yourself release this pain, ariadne."
tonight, no singing, only the nightbound lamentations of a mother robbed, of children who tasted loss first;
the second crying was no easier;
she wept until eyes dried into sand-sting; sobs weakening only as dawn touched the face of the sea with soft gold.
caribou, running. elk, running. wolves, running. the cry of loons over still lakes.
they do not ask us when girls are ready to become women.
kukutux, wheeling in grief, whittled to sinew and bone and sorrow, keening, keening beneath dried-blood, shoving all broken pieces of motherheart toward the skies above
they trust us to know.
crying; the fire of a shriek in belly and heart and mind and soul; "let yourself release this pain, ariadne."
tonight, no singing, only the nightbound lamentations of a mother robbed, of children who tasted loss first;
the second crying was no easier;
she wept until eyes dried into sand-sting; sobs weakening only as dawn touched the face of the sea with soft gold.
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September 06, 2023, 11:52 PM
THE FIFTH SONG
no posting order <3
sea girl.
island walker.
child returned to salt and surf.
kukutux did not lift her voice until many hours of the night had been eaten by the long dark.
my daughter
go to the stars
go to the arms of sedna
hear our voices
we are with you
my granddaughter
go with your mother
the old gods will give you a new chance to be born
the spirits walk with you both
do not be afraid. we are with you
do not turn back
do not look back
island walker.
child returned to salt and surf.
kukutux did not lift her voice until many hours of the night had been eaten by the long dark.
my daughter
go to the stars
go to the arms of sedna
hear our voices
we are with you
my granddaughter
go with your mother
the old gods will give you a new chance to be born
the spirits walk with you both
do not be afraid. we are with you
do not turn back
do not look back
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September 07, 2023, 11:20 PM
THE SIXTH SONG
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when kukutux lifted her head from the sand, her sea girl was not there. the waves lapped in soft sound and velvet surf, rolling along the shoreline.
the death ulaq was quiet, a short mound of shadow in the long dark.
moonwoman's mouth was dry, her eyes throbbed with the pain of unending tears. pulling herself upright, the duck reached out for lynx in a jagged sob.
lynx had never left.
once you mourned your own hope. it was fulfilled many times over.
but now i mourn a daughter, came the answering inner cry, a transparent shriek in her own ears.
you mourned a son. you mourn a daughter. and you have given life to many, many more.
she will never see the face of her children, and now kukutux fell forward gently upon the pale sand, and cried for the new babes suckled by their aunt and not at the breast of the one who had borne them. she wept for the little one who would be borne to sedna on the arms of love.
and when her lamentations had abated, kukutux cast her voice out into the air.
we ask for healing
the bright leaves and the rich earth do not change
we shed our sorrow
i will weave it into a wrap for your shoulders
carry it to the dancing lights
you have our love
you have our love
twice sung to the darkening waves of the sea, and then silence, one broken by the mother's ceaseless keening.
the death ulaq was quiet, a short mound of shadow in the long dark.
moonwoman's mouth was dry, her eyes throbbed with the pain of unending tears. pulling herself upright, the duck reached out for lynx in a jagged sob.
lynx had never left.
once you mourned your own hope. it was fulfilled many times over.
but now i mourn a daughter, came the answering inner cry, a transparent shriek in her own ears.
you mourned a son. you mourn a daughter. and you have given life to many, many more.
she will never see the face of her children, and now kukutux fell forward gently upon the pale sand, and cried for the new babes suckled by their aunt and not at the breast of the one who had borne them. she wept for the little one who would be borne to sedna on the arms of love.
and when her lamentations had abated, kukutux cast her voice out into the air.
we ask for healing
the bright leaves and the rich earth do not change
we shed our sorrow
i will weave it into a wrap for your shoulders
carry it to the dancing lights
you have our love
you have our love
twice sung to the darkening waves of the sea, and then silence, one broken by the mother's ceaseless keening.
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September 10, 2023, 12:38 AM
THE SEVENTH SONG
no posting order <3
kukutux thought of the small girl who would not live this time within their world.
what might she have been.
who she might have become.
tooteega snorted, albeit softly.
you must not wonder on that now, daughter. you have lost before. it is different this time because you are happier.
a great delight reaped a bitter harvest.
this, a woman's payment. rodyn suffered. aiolos grieved. kukutux felt as if some true part of sinew and blood was becoming nothing within the death ulaq.
once i said to you, teach sialuk these things. this you have done. now she is mother. now give these teachings to ariadne also. let all your daughters know the ways of your home. this is how your words remain living.
tooteega, whispering again; a time for new things
a time of change
the ice raises its shoulders
it waits to feed upon the earth
island walker girl, you are almost there
climb through, climb through
your journey is almost ended
your journey is almost ended
what might she have been.
who she might have become.
tooteega snorted, albeit softly.
you must not wonder on that now, daughter. you have lost before. it is different this time because you are happier.
a great delight reaped a bitter harvest.
this, a woman's payment. rodyn suffered. aiolos grieved. kukutux felt as if some true part of sinew and blood was becoming nothing within the death ulaq.
once i said to you, teach sialuk these things. this you have done. now she is mother. now give these teachings to ariadne also. let all your daughters know the ways of your home. this is how your words remain living.
tooteega, whispering again; a time for new things
a time of change
the ice raises its shoulders
it waits to feed upon the earth
island walker girl, you are almost there
climb through, climb through
your journey is almost ended
your journey is almost ended
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September 12, 2023, 12:36 AM
THE EIGHTH SONG
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no singing this night.
kukutux lay in the sand near ariadne.
"they have reached the dancing lights," the duck murmured, an echo of lynx's voice from all those years ago.
"soon they will hunt with the ancestors."
island girl and her new daughter, walking among the ulax of the star people.
kukutux looked now to the heavens, and found her grief soothed at this thought.
you have done well.
you have done well
kukutux lay in the sand near ariadne.
"they have reached the dancing lights," the duck murmured, an echo of lynx's voice from all those years ago.
"soon they will hunt with the ancestors."
island girl and her new daughter, walking among the ulax of the star people.
kukutux looked now to the heavens, and found her grief soothed at this thought.
you have done well.
you have done well
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September 15, 2023, 02:40 PM
They have reached the dancing lights,Kukutux said.
Soon they will hunt with the ancestors.
That is great news,Ariadne replied as tears began to prick at her eyes.
I am happy that they are at the dancing lights.This was an understatement—she felt elated that they’d arrived without issue. She freed the breath she’d been holding for the past eight days and nights and watched the starry sky.
All their hard word had paid off—the island girl and her daughter were at peace.
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