Chapter 102: Nostalgia (3)
Help me? What, at this late hour of the night?
Vikir raised his upper body. There was nothing covering his upper body beneath the blankets.
Aiyen stared at him.
"Vakira."
"Vakira?"
Vikir looked puzzled.
Vakira was a wolf who had grown up with Aiyen from a very young age.
She had always wondered how similar they were to Vikir, perhaps because they had similar names, and their blunt personalities.
Aiyen looked into Vikir's eyes and said.
"I think it's time to give Vakira a mate."
"Is that so?"
"Yes. All males should have a mate when they are old enough."
Aiyen was silent for a moment as he spoke.
Then, in a small voice, he added
" ...and so should the females."
Vikir's brow creased at her words.
Vikir knew that Vakira was in heat.
It wasn't just her, it was all wolves.
Wolves are in estrus all the time for males, but for females, it comes about twice a year, every seven to eight months.
Their vulvas often swell and release a bloody discharge, and lately, both male and female wolves have been keeping me awake at night, howling at the sky.
Vikir asked.
"But what do you want me to help you with?"
Aiyen nodded and answered.
"Do you remember how badly Vakira was hurt during Madame's attack?"
"I know. That's when her right leg...."
"Right, that's because of Madame's poison."
Aiyen sighed lightly and continued.
"Vakira became a one-legged man. Not even the forelimbs, but the hind legs do that, so they can't mate properly."
"...I see."
In the Canidae family, mating is impossible without one hind leg. They can't balance themselves.
It was clear that without artificial help, Baqira would die out naturally.
Aiyen said.
"I want to help Vakira, can you help me?"
"...How can I help?"
Vikir said, dusting himself off and getting to his feet.
Then Aiyen grinned, his face like the color of the moon.
* * *
With that, Aiyen led Vikir out of the barracks.
After passing through the village fence and wading a bit into the water, they came to an open meadow.
There, standing on three legs, was Bakira, breathing heavily.
And in front of him, a familiar wolf.
It was a young female who often accompanied Vakira on his hunts and when he returned from them.
Aiyen looked at Vakira in the distance and spoke.
"'Vakira used to be the idol of all the female wolves in the village. He was big, He was a good hunter, and his fur was lustrous."
But after Madame's attack, everything went to hell.
Vakira lost her right hind leg, leaving her unable to hunt.
But despite this, the female was still interested in him.
"...You know the seeds are fine."
At Aiyen's words, Vikir remembered her words from the oxbear hunt.
"The Balak warriors' criteria for choosing a mate is much like the oxbears. An individual with good seed, but young, and if she is wounded and weak, all the better."
Meanwhile, Vakira moaned softly at the female who had come around her and nuzzled her face.
She licked her tongue carefully over the female's body.
The female licked her fur in return.
Then they wrapped their bodies around each other in the moonlight.
Vakira moved behind her and placed her forelegs on her back.
But then.
...thud!
One of the legs to support the back is missing, so it just falls to the side.
The female waited patiently with her eyes closed, even as she licked her nose repeatedly with her tongue.
Vakira stood up and climbed back onto the female's body, but this time, without a hind leg, he lost his balance.
Aiyen, watching from afar, narrowed her eyes.
"He's been like that since yesterday."
"...."
Vikir nodded, too.
He could see what Aiyen was worried about.
Next, Vikir and Aiyen approached Vakira.
Aiyen limped on her right leg, which had been grazed by Adonai's poisoned arrow.
And Vakira, her friend, staggers, having lost her right leg to the Madame.
"Get up and try again."
Aiyen says to Vakira.
Vakira didn't seem too bothered by Vikir and Ayen's approach.
That's what it means to be a trusted colleague.
The female was still waiting patiently behind them.
Vakira climbed up behind her again.
Aiyen had cut down a log to make a prosthetic leg.
But Vakira's movements were too violent for the prosthetic.
Eventually, Vikir had to hold his lower body to support his weight, and Aiyen had to press the female's hips and legs against his prosthetic to help him get into the right position.
Aiyen slapped Vakira in frustration.
"You idiot! The other side has a mind too, so be more aggressive! Push more! More! You're a male, you're supposed to be stronger!"
As she yelled, Vakira's movements changed slightly.
The female also became more cooperative and receptive.
Eventually, with a scream, the female's purpose was fulfilled.
It's a full moon night. Aiyen and Vikir stand below a female wolf and a male wolf making love.
Vakira and the female wolf clung to each other, unwilling to be separated.
And Vikir and Aiyen had to hold them together.
Then.
Vakira jerked away.
Only a few minutes had passed, but Vakira had gotten off the female's back and was trying to turn around.
Vikir sounded dejected.
"Is it over already? I just put it on."
"No. Watch."
Aiyen shook her head.
True to her word, the vakira was falling off the female's body, but it wasn't.
Vakira turned around and butted up against the female.
It was a unique way for wolves to mate.
It was only after this change in position that Vikir and Aiyen were able to pull away from the two wolves.
Vakira and the female were now well on their way.
Neither Vikir nor Aiyen said a word to each other as they watched the wolves' harsh breathing.
"...."
"...."
There was an awkward air between them.
After a few minutes like that.
Vakira was finally separated from the female.
It is Mother Nature's providence that if there is a union, there is a separation.
So there was no need to be ashamed of the relationship, or regretful about the separation.
They were part of the natural order of things, as natural as the wind blowing, the rain wetting, the sun spinning, the sea surrounding, and the land connecting.
Vakira lay on her belly on the cool grassy floor.
It must have consumed a lot of stamina to stick out your tongue and gasp for not being able to sweat.
The female lay beside him, her eyes glazed over.
" ... That's it."
Vikir and Aiyen pulled away from Vakira.
Vakira and the female wolf remained in the meadow, nuzzling each other's faces.
Vikir and Aiyen walked back to the village, leaving the two newly married wolves behind.
It was just beginning to fog up the dawn.
"...Thank you."
"...You too."
Vikir waved off Aiyen's thanks.
There was a lingering sense of awkwardness in the conversation.
It hadn't happened in the past two years.
With that, Vikir walked back into the barracks.
He'd been planning to leave, but the thought of it made him feel sick.
The dampness of the barracks in the early morning light felt both familiar and foreign.
Vikir lay down on his straw bunk, but after a while, he couldn't sleep. Perhaps he would have to see the sun rise before he could sleep.
Just then.
A rustle.
The sound of something moving outside the barracks door.
I look up and see a pale shadow peeking over the curtain.
I can just make out the silhouette now.
Aiyen. For some reason, she hasn't gone to her own barracks, but is standing in front of Vikir's, hesitating over something.
"...?"
Vikir considers asking what's going on, but decides against it.
He was tired from helping Vakira mate, and he figured that if she needed anything else, she'd just barge in like she always did.
But.
Aiyen just stood there in front of Vikir's barracks for what seemed like an eternity afterward.
.... .... ....
After what seemed like an eternity, the shadows slowly thinned.
"Was it an illusion?
Vikir peered over the veil through closed eyelids.
The dawn dew slowly dried in the distant morning light. The shadow of Aiyen on the banner had vanished completely.
Vikir was already asleep.
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