Dragoncrest Cliffs ten decisions shape your life

Aw!

Somedays it felt like winter would never end. A crisp, but balmy, morning blessed the coast as Njord walked alone in search of @Loko, @Coraline, @Mireille, or @Sobo. His mind was filled with dualities. On one hand, a blissful image of formally proposing to Meerkat colored his imagination. On the other, the red-tail had finally picked up on the fact that the kids were purposely avoiding him. At first, Njord thought it only a coincidence, but now he was certain.

He had searched the tidepools of the beach and around Erzulie’s medicine den (where Sobo was usually tinkering). Fruitless, a frown creased his maw as he turned towards Glintwater, and hoped for better odds.

so many things had dropped their importance in the wake of her return and rosalyn's resignation. 
the girl did not understand what was happening.
she had been cared for. she had been returned home. everyone still lived.
why the void within her now? she felt splintered. gnawed. empty.
njord would find mireille staring blankly out over the snow-covered lake. the girl blinked at last, stirrred. "da," she murmured in a monotone, tail stirring. her eyes wanted to be warm. mireille could not muster it.
"i tried to — i talked wit meerkat a bit. she be nice."

As the forest thinned and Glintwater’s frozen shape came into view, Njord spotted the flame color of Mireille pelage on the bank. Da she greeted numbly. “Mireille,” he replied. A strange mood overcast her expression and it did not go unnoticed. Njord pressed his muzzle on her freckled cheek and took a seat besides the lass.

They had not truly gotten a chance to reconnect since her trials on the Blackwater Islands. Njord had guilt because of this; for going through the motions under the pretense that she might never come home.

The fates had decided otherwise. “I thank ya for that. Fer welcomin’ her. Meerkat means… a lot ta me.” His brows raised and lids fluttered for emphasis – for the words he spoke didn’t truly match his deep feelings. “An’ I’m sure she appreciates yer effort. It canna be easy livin’ in a new place, comin’ into our clan.” He exhaled a breath through his nose as his gaze passed from Mireille to the other side of the lake. “I dinna think yer brothers feel tha same. They haven’t said a word ta me. I dinna think they’re too pleased.”

This is just a cameo for ~drama~!

As if to punctuate Njord's very thought, Sobo arrived at the edge of the lake not far from his sister and father, toting a scrawny hare by one of its back legs. Mireille's listless mood of late had not gone unnoticed and he was searching for her to make a gift of it.

When he spotted her, he started forward with a wave of his tail only to abruptly stop when Njord appeared at her side. The closing off of his stance was nearly as immediate. Frost crept into his eyes, which transformed quickly from warm care into the very same withering expression Rosalyn commanded with such ease.

Readjusting his grip on the rabbit, Sobo pivoted pointedly and headed back the way he came. By now he was beginning to shift the blame from Meerkat to Njord and there would be no mistaking his dismissal. He could catch up with Mireille later.

njord seemed very sad, not at all his joyous self. she kissed his beloved cheek back and focused on the cadence of his words. her brothers were not speaking to their da. her brow furrowed.
movement caught her eye, and sobo was there. but his stare was unfriendly; guarded as the cold sea. she watched in shock as he turned and moved away, his posture stiff and somehow accusing.
"i don't —" and now she stared in surprise and worry at njord, trying to soothe him with her gaze, as if her look might be a balm for how icily sobo had treated them.
"i will talk to him. an' loko."
mireille smiled but she was infuriated. confused. she was home. she had not been harmed. why was sobo so mad?

“You are a sweet, mo nighean,” Njord hummed as his red-haired lass reached up to kiss his cheek. As if on queue her silvered brother appeared ‘round Glintwater’s icy bend and the seismic shift in his demeanor made his briny opinion clear as day. All suspicions of Sobo’s disdain were confirmed.

It was like a sharp piece of wood went right though Njord’s chest. Equal parts hurt, frustration, and anger spilled out of the wound – made more personal by the fact that Sobo was the most like his father out of all the children. It was as if the seafarer stared right into a mirror. Could Njord say he would have done anything different as a youth?

His mouth felt dry as he sighed. It seemed Mireille was just as taken aback by Sobo’s reaction. “I thank ya lass,” he acknowledged, turning back to the girl, “but dinna fash. It is I who must talk with Sobo an’ Loko. If their issue’s with me, then that it tha only way it will be mended.”

njord's voice was too hurt to truly soothe. she had heard his sigh. she was happy for he and meerkat, despite the fact that it seemed quickly obvious that among her siblings she was outnumbered in this opinion. but it did not matter. she lifted her chin proudly.
"everyt'ing changed when i came back."
maybe she shouldn't have returned, though mireille would never say that aloud to da njord. and she would talk to them anyway, despite what he thought. she was their sister.
"i met a woman wid one leg while i was on de islan's," she told him, drawing their conversation to something easier. "she was nice. she said she lost a fight wid anot'er wolf an' de leg had to be taken off."

Njord digested Mireille’s observation – how the family dynamic had shifted simultaneously with her disappearance. How in a time of great loss, he had found love. Perhaps that is why Sobo deigned to shirk away.

The subject shifted to Blackwater’s troop, and Njord was thankful for this. “Oh?” the redtail’s voice piqued, curious. “Could she run an’ hunt?”

fading! <3

mireille thought for a moment. "not run. an' i did not see her hunt, da. but i did show her how to fin' clams in de san'." she grinned and nudged his shoulder. 
"we should go an' eat somet'ing. you pick."
and when njord had made his choice, mireille would keep pace with him, prattling one thing or another in hopes of keeping his beloved countenance happy after such a happening.