Wolf RPG

”Hey, will you be okay? If I go on ahead to Sapphique?”

Sialuk had been down for several weeks after their last meeting, but after speaking with the bones, she had found her path. It was not one to be shared, she knew, but she could go to Meerkat and thank her for her guidance. Let her know that her darkened spirit now saw more light than it had in many months. It would be good to see her village sister again and speak with her.

The raindrop bid her mother farewell, then made her way to the coast, skirting around a pack that did not hold the signs of Meerkat’s presence. Then, there it was. The mere smell of the cream-furred wolf brought joy to Sialuk’s heart, and it took restraint to keep her feet from roaming into claimed land.

Her head tilted back and she called. @Meerkat would come, she knew.

A lot had changed since their last rendezvous, including her address, but Sialuk’s dulcet tones were as familiar as they were welcome. She galloped toward the borders to meet her friend, happy for the distraction. There was much on her mind.

Sialuk, hey! she called out when she spotted the familiar pale figure against the backdrop of The Tangle. It’s so good to see you! How are you? Meerkat questioned as soon as she closed the distance, pressing her nose to her friend’s snowy cheek.

Meerkat! she said as her village sister approached, eyes alight with recognition and joy. She accepted the touch with grace, feeling a flutter of something that she brushed away.

The cloud over my spirit retreats, she said, a true smile replacing the false one she had worn for so long. And you? Sapphique is village to you now?

That’s great news, Sialuk, Meerkat said, tail beating the air. She wondered if there was a particular reason or if the cloud had simply floated away. She’d been dealing with her own and could possibly use some insight. But before she could ask, her visitor posed a question of her own.

Yes, I moved here recently, she said, a smitten look entering her eyes, to be with Njord. Things were very good on that front, even if she couldn’t necessarily say the same about all his kids. He’s that friend I mentioned last time, she added, but we’re more than friends now.

Instead of what she should have felt—joy and celebration at her friend’s newfound relationship—Sialuk found an ugly emotion rise up in her gut. She repressed it, making note to come back to it out of Meerkat’s sight. It was a surprise that these emotions would come at all with her village sister, but she would think on them later. It was perhaps another question for the bones.

This is a blessing for you! Sialuk said, her voice radiating warmth even if her heart did not.

Perhaps the ugly emotion came from Sialuk’s own inability to settle down, to follow this path that Kukutux had always had for her. But it did not quite feel that way. It was something near that feeling, but like a strange, wayward cousin.

Thank you! Meerkat replied, heartened by Sialuk’s positive response, when some were not so warm and welcoming about the relationship. She really ought to let the few negative reactions stop outweighing the lovely ones like this, she knew, adding, I’m hoping he’ll be my ugi.

But she had not forgotten her earlier inquiry, which she brought up now. Did something happen, to dispel the shadow? I’m glad it’s gone, either way.

Anaa took me to the spear. I spoke with taataa and brataa through the bones. They bring confidence and wisdom with their words, and they have lain a path for me. Sialuk had come here with the notion Meerkat may be part of that path, but with the news of Njord, she knew it was not to be so. Her village sister had settled into this place well, and Sialuk would not pull her from it.

Is village Sapphique good to you? she asked. It was known that Njord had been good to her, but Sialuk was curious how the others had welcomed a new wife into their home. She did not know how such things worked, and yet she was immensely curious.

Although Meerkat didn’t necessarily believe in spirits the way the Moonglow wolves did, she was as open minded as she was curious. I’d love to hear about your new path, she said genuinely.

In response to Sialuk’s question, her tongue touched the backs of her teeth. She struggled a bit with winning over Njord’s children but everyone else was more or less lovely. Maybe if she shared that with her friend, she would do better about bearing it in mind.

They’ve been pretty welcoming, she said with a twitch of her tail, focusing on the likes of Erzulie and Chacal. We already have their blessing for children. Well, Njord does. I hope to prove worthy of it too.

The mention of children brought that unfamiliar feeling again to her chest, and Sialuk swept it away. She would investigate it later, outside of prying eyes. You will make good mother, Sialuk said, a smile pulling her lips upward.

I am still learning new path, but it is one of good fortune. I visit Moonspear often now, read bones there, sit quiet and listen for whispers from taataa and brataa.

She smiled in thanks, hoping Sialuk was right. Meerkat liked to think she was built for the role. After all, she came from legacy stock and she’d spent much of her life honing her skills as a life coach. It stood to reason she would give the best of both nature and nurture.

Sialuk spoke of visiting Moonspear. Enough time had passed that thinking of their former home did not upset her, though it still twinged a bit. Her heart went out to her friend, who had grieved such enormous losses. She knew what it was like to lose a father (Kaertok) and a brother (Primrose), though Meerkat knew Sialuk had been closer to her lost loved ones.

What have you heard? she asked tentatively, intuiting that this was very personal and adding, You don’t have to tell me, if it’s between you and them.

The raindrop sucked in a breath of air when Meerkat asked what they had whispered to her. She had not shared their words so far, but also, none had asked. She debated to and fro about revealing their plans for her. Oh! How she wished she could consult them now, ask if it was news to share with her closest of sisters.

In time, I return to the spear, she said in a low voice, as if another might hear. Make home there. Not for many moons. She did not know when they wished for her to make her move, but she knew to trust them. The voices that whispered to her would show her the way.

Sialuk seemed to deliberate for a moment before replying in a lower voice. Meerkat leaned in a little to catch her words, eyes widening a fraction at what she heard.

You’ll claim it? she whispered in the same hushed tone. It belongs to you and your family. Meerkat wondered if it was properly habitable. There had been a lot of damage, though perhaps the kingdom could be rebuilt.

Claim is not the word, she said, sharper than her intent. As Meerkat said in the next breath, it belonged to her. But anaa was happy upon the spine with the sun man and her children. Both those from last year and those that grew now. Sialuk had not found the same peace that she had hoped to know there.

Reclaim, she decided. Her father had claimed those lands, her aunt. The spear belonged to Ostregas. And Sialuk was—so far as she knew—the last. There, she could rebuild the name. Reclaim what her ancestors had built.

Although there was a sharpness to Sialuk’s tongue, Meerkat totally understood the sentiment. She nodded to acknowledge the important semantic distinction, repeating, Reclaim. Good for you, Sialuk. I’m sure your taataa and brataa—and your mother, too, of course—will be so proud of you.

The realization that she had been sharp with Meerkat was swift, and Sia flattened her ears. I did not mean to… she trailed off, her cheeks growing warm beneath her fur. Her village sister did not seem offended, and for that she blessed the spirits beyond for helping her to know.

It was not to make them proud that she wished. Sialuk only yearned to follow the path they had lain for her. To follow this was to honor them. But Meerkat could not know all this, being not of her culture. Your words mean much to me, village sister. And in that, there was no falsehood.

She shook her head, smiling, and touched her nose to Sialuk’s ivory cheek for good measure. No need to apologize, Meerkat reassured. I’m proud of you too, by the way. I know you will do great things upon Moonspear. It is your legacy. And she fully believed Sialuk would find an ugi and bear children to carry it on, though she didn’t say this out loud just now, just in case it would bring down the room.

Well, it sounds like your future is full of hope and hard work! But if you have some more time to spare, I can show you around a little bit? Meerkat wasn’t sure she should bring an outsider into the territory, though there was much to see along the borderline. And if Sialuk wanted to visit the sea, they could always roam to the neighboring sound.