Dragoncrest Cliffs intervention

for @Sobeille! set for 2/7. fudging some timelines so pretend sialuk is just super fast getting here ok?

From her mouth dangled the skin full of small bones. Sixsix circled overhead, the crow curious about where the wolf might be taking the bones he had acquired so far away. Along her journey, Sialuk's mind wandered often to the children that would be born in the coming months. Her own would arrive shortly before Kusuma's, should the woman decide to make a family with Talisman (or any other, for that matter). Sialuk did not think it likely that the small woman would take a wolf as a lover, but stranger things had come to pass.

There was much to do between now and when the babes would come to live in this world, and Sialuk was eager to busy herself to make the time pass more quickly. She loved both of her elder children dearly, and having more would only add to that love, she felt. Acrux and Maggak would know the wonder of having younger siblings, a joy that Sialuk knew well.

The starwoman arrived on the edge of the forest that rooted on the upper half of Sapphique, calling out for her young friend in earnest.

the howl that carried up through the sequoias wasn't immediately identifiable to sobeille, who had been mid-hunt along the banks of glintwater.

she paused and listened a while longer, categorizing each of the voices she knew and deciding the author was none of them. the call had come somewhere from the forest perimeter, so sobeille set for the borders at a jaunty trot.

she was surprised to see sialuk there, carrying a peltskin not unlike the one that hung like a cowl across kukutux's shoulders. while sialuk had promised to come, sobeille had not dared get her hopes up until the day she arrived.

ello. sobeille greeted, eyeing the satchel held by the pale she-wolf. she did not see the bird overhead -- at least, not yet. dem be de bones?

Sialuk nodded, then set the bundle on the ground. The four corners flattened, and on the pelt were many small bones, none larger than a wolf's paw, and most much smaller. At the sight of the bones, Sixsix swept down and perched on Sialuk's shoulder as he often did when she brought out the bones. He had none for her today, but he was curious, and the pinch of his feet on her shoulders was a familiar sensation.

Ah, this is Sixsix, she said. The crow ruffled his feathers, looking at Sobeille with curious black eyes. He fetches the spirit bones in exchange for meat.

there was a breath of wind and a flutter of feathers; sobeille flinched as a shadow passed her, lighting on the pale shoulders of the bone reader.

a crow — sobeille marveled at his utility. what kind of meat?

she peered back at the sundry bones - most nameless and unidentifiable. ’ow did you get him?

Small pieces. He is not so picky. He came to me long ago, as a child. She had first seen Sixsix on an outing to meet her first suitor, Huojin, and his father, Aiolos. She did not know where the boy—now man—was now. Years had passed since she had last seen Huojin.

Is there a question you have for the bones? she asked, head tilting to one side. If not, there were other ways for Sialuk to demonstrate how one could read them. And, of course, she could always see Sobielle's wares, too.

slight pp hope that is ok <3

learning the crows were not so picky opened up an new avenue for the girl. she would store this for later.

what kind of questions should i ask? she followed sialuk's line of sight, pondering the assembly of bones. oh! should i get mine? sobeille leaned forward, pausing mid-step to get sialuk's blessing before she scampered off.

she returned with the boneflower. it was not a terribly impressive thing: a heavy antler, gnawed on by various species of underworld denizens. its tines were studded with moss.

yet still, sobeille thought there was great power in it -- she looked to sialuk expectantly.

totally fine!

I ask the bones when my heart struggles to find an answer, Sialuk replied. It had answered many things for her, from how to handle a situation when an injured wolf had come to her doorstep, to where her path should take her next. And while these things could have been answered with a guess, there was a certain surity to the advice the bones had given that set her mind at ease about the outcomes.

When Sobeille returned with the rugged antler, Sialuk studied it for a long while, noting the moss that clung to it, the way teeth marks littered its surface. It was a single thing, rather than the multitude of bones Sialuk's companion had brought her over the years, but the Moonspear wolf still felt it could be used.

This, I think, is a tool for questions who have only two outcomes. May I? she asked, reaching a front paw toward the sacred bone.

there were many -- thousands of things, possibly, that sobeille struggled to answer.

and her heart was no help in these matters.

as she trotted out the boneflower, she watched as sialuk expertly studied its surface. sobeille was very pleased with the gravitas here, and how respectful sialuk appeared. she half-expected to be laughed at, so this grave manner of repose made sobeille relieved. when sialuk asked for the bone, sobeille gently pushed it towards her.

her questions to ask the boneflower narrowed as she realized its purpose; two was better than nothing, but how could two answer the troubled questions of her heart?

Sialuk studied the bone for a beat longer, then looked to Sobeille. When you see it with the points up, do you think this means yes or no? she asked. This was the girl's tool, and it was hers to learn and decode. Sialuk could certainly offer advice, but nobody had guided the village head to her conclusions. She did, however, remember the questions that had been asked. "What does this bone mean?" or "How does this bone here relate to that one there?" Learning to read the bones had always been an exercise in creative thinking.

Or perhaps it could mean east or west, she pondered, running her three-toed foot along the length of the bone. She supposed the two answers could be anything, depending on the question. Gently, Sialuk pushed the bone back toward the girl.

Ask it a question your heart wishes to know, and I think you will find the answers shown to you. With her own throwing bones, they had not always been clear, but they had never not been helpful.

as sialuk ran her paw along the length of the antler’s knobby spine, sobeille realized her paws were different. she stuffed the question aside, studying the knotted bonework along the antler’s edge.

i t’ink dat de tines pointin’ up be a yes. sobeille answered at length, confident in her conviction.

her lips drew in a thin line as she thought. do i say de question out loud?

Sobeille made a decision on what the tines up or down meant to her, and Sialuk smiled with a sheen of pride. It was rare that others took special interest in the ways of reading, and she was glad to see that the child had an innate ability for it. Another question, and one that Sialuk did feel she had more concrete guidance on.

Keep the question in your mind, she advised. When reading the bones, I hum to myself. It helps to concentrate. When you are ready, toss it and see where it lands and what it says. Both will help in understanding the guidance it gives you.

encouraged by the warm spread of sialuk's smile, sobeille turned back to the antler. learning she could keep her question to herself changed the game -- and as a result, sobeille asked of the bones something that had troubled her heart for some time.

is there something wrong with me?

she closed her eyes and began to hum the soft song of her maman -- and threw the bone with a clatter.

She observed as Sobeille took to her newfound task. It was rare to be on this side of the equation, and Sialuk found herself tense with anticipation for the response, despite not knowing the question or what Sobeille hoped for in an answer. All the better that she kept the question to herself, the Ostrega supposed.

The bone tossed, Sialuk watched it roll and tumble until it settled tines up: a clear resounding "yes." She let her gaze return to the young girl, and she tried to gauge her reaction.

sobeille listened for the antler’s clatter on earthstone. once it settled, she pried open one eye — anticipation drumming up the pace in her heart.

the antler’s snarled tines pointed skyward.

a pulse bounded in her temple. her stomach plummeted as if a stone dropped from the cliff’s great heights.

flat-stared, sobeille dragged her gaze to the watchful sialuk. a tic began pulsating in the muscles of her jawline.

she sensed that there was gravid weight in the air between them; it was coded in the way she breathed and the anticipatory tension of sialuk’s body. best not show her true emotions — she was stupid to even pose this question to the otherworld.

what now?

Sialuk watched for signs in the other girl, some inkling of what her feeling on the outcome of her first throw had been... but nothing showed itself to the Ostrega. Instead, the girl posed a question to the starwoman. One she did not know how to answer, seeing as she did not know the question asked of the sacred antler.

Reading the outcome takes time, Sialuk said. I think it is not only the yes or no, but also the relationship to you that matters. Which way the tines point is only one piece of the whole. What did it land upon? Are the tines close or far away from you? Did it roll? Does the tine end point toward the sunrise or sunset? Layer upon layer of answer could be found this way, Sialuk had learned. One merely had to seek out the multi-layer answers instead of seeing only the surface of things.

sobeille ignored the sinking of her heart. let it fall like a stone — what use was such a bloody organ anyway?

her gaze fell dejectedly to the antler. sialuk’s instructions and guidance were held close, and committed to memory in the manner a drought-starved plant might sop up a spate of rain. someday, this would be of use to her.

the antler’s edges pointed skyward, its tines angled to the east. sobeille’s gaze flickered from the moonwoman back to the artefact. in time, her skills would sharpen much like this antler — in time, she would wield this knowledge like a weapon.

’ow many questions can i ask of de bones?

The bones will let you know if you have overused them, Sialuk said. I have found the answers to become muddled if I ask many at once. Asking the right question was just as important as reading the answer. A question too vague or too specific would throw the whole thing off, leaving the reader with nothing but a worthless pile of bones. The Ostrega herself typically waited at least a day or two between larger questions, though smaller ones could be asked quickly and with less thought.

She imagined Sobeille would come to learn these things herself as she practiced. She would find ways that made her gnarled antler work for her in the way that she wished, and the two would form a bond over time, much as Sialuk had done with her own assortment of small bones.

sobeille stared at the antler; she imagined it stared back.

moonwoman sialuk knew so much of the world. sobeille marveled this - thinking back on kukutux. were all women of the moon cult so wise?

she nudged the antler with a frown. sialuk had given her much to process. reading between the lines, sobeille understood she must be patient and not ask too many things at once.

what is your favorite bone, sialuk? sobeille pulled the antler to her chest and looked upon sialuk with dinnerplate eyes, still nursing the hurt the boneflower had inflicted upon her with its answer.

That was an odd question for the seer, if only because each bone was so wildly different. They worked together, just as a pack worked to bring down large prey. It was not one bone that held great reverence over the others in Sialuk's eyes. Still, she contemplated the question for a time, wondering if she did have some preference unknown even to her. Was there one that repeatedly stood out to her? Or one that had helped her make a great decision? Perhaps even one that might symbolize somebody she cared deeply for.

She ran her toes across the many bones gathered on the carrying skin, and plucked one out of the bunch.

This one, I think, she said. It symbolizes new journeys, a fresh start, and a child's wonder of the world. In her eyes, it had always been one of the more "playful" of those Sixsix had brought to her.

a weight settled in the air like an anvil; sobeille watched as sialuk considered the sundry bones from her cache. she ran her paws over each and then raised one skyward.

sobeille hoped for something visually special about it — a crooked edge or maybe a malformed tooth — but she could tell little about it. what kind of bone it be? sobeille wondered, curious how sialuk had parsed from its nondescript ridges a personality that spoke of wonder, beginnings, and joy.

did that mean there was a bone out there that symbolized the opposite? ending, exhaustion, and death?

she looked at the boneflower suddenly, wary of its sharp tines.