Dragoncrest Cliffs Featherweight

It was a balmy Monday morning. A blue sky looked down on bright-colored maples and aspens intermingled along the coastal pines. It was the type of day that put a pep in your step. Njord, having rested under Meerkat’s watchful eye, felt better by the day. Yet, like a seafarer setting foot on shore for the first time in many months, he felt uneasy about his place in the seaside pack.

For now, he picked his way through the straw-colored meadow until he came across the path of the broken antler herd Haunt had tracked so many seasons ago. In fact, it had been a full year since her sudden death, Njord remembered wistfully.

Suddenly, on the other side of the field, the herd stepped from the treeline. Njord gasped quietly. There, among them, was a doe white as fresh snow.

Eti left his mothers side again and with determined steps he followed the wolf Njord. He was mostly just curious, but Eti was certain this wolf could teach him a thing or two. Everyone else could.

He followed the vibrations silent watchful. When they came across a herd. He could feel their hoof steps too and he lifted his paws the rumble beneath a little scary.

He snapped his gaze up when the Njord wolf gasped and he too stared at the white deer. She was the color of the ocean breaking on the shore. The foamy gather at the top. A strange beat in his chest. He hoped the other wasn't gonna kill her.

He gave a small chuff quiet enough that Njord could hear but not the deer. He didn't want the male to think he was intruding maliciously.

The ghost doe and her kin nibbled gingerly at the last grasses of the year as Njord watched, transfixed. As a young man, Njord had rejected any weight given to religion or spirits… but now, as the seasons passed, he had begun to question this stance. How could he deny this omen? A white doe on an autumn day…

A small chuff stole his attention away. The red-tail turned to see the familiar young warden. Chacal’s boy, he presumed. It seemed the Tanzanite had chosen the same path as her mothers: there was no other male in Sapphique to claim the role of the boy’s sire. But, even though Sobo, Loko, Swordfish, Stingray, and Vixen had a father in Njord… it was as if they hadn’t had any at all, he thought bitterly to himself.

“Hello, lad,” Njord whispered under his breath. “D’ya see her? Tha Taibhse hind?” he asked under his breath, gesturing to the herd in the distance with a sweep of his head. “Ain’t she a sight…”

Eti watched with golden eyes, the way the creatures moved and ate. They were graceful and pretty and the land beneath them trembled. He could feel it. There was no ready answers for him about the doe and her white hide. He did not know of her significance or her omens. So as a youngling he could simply admire that she was beautiful and felt special.

Eti didn't quite know yet how relationships worked or how he was sired. He simply had his mother and that was all that mattered to him. His mother and his siblings. He would do what he could to keep them strong and safe and kind.

Bonjou Mr. Njord. He murmured back. He moved to stand next to the man's shoulder and watched with wide eyes. Taibhse? Another word in a nother language, and he grasped it and held it to his chest. He would learn all the ways he could to say whatever he wanted.

She is pretty as Manman.

“Aye,” Njord acknowledge the young man’s question. “It means ghost,” he said, scottish brogue thick in his voice. “It’s verra rare ta see a doe so pale. Your grandmère might call her a spirit, or Loa.” The seafarer stopped himself from slipping into reciting Haunt’s obituary and, as if it read his mind, the deer slipped away into the darkened Tangle.

He smiled at the youth. Sons often adored their mother. He wondered if Ray or Fish would say a similar thing about Meerkat, despite their rougish nature.

“You are Chacal’s boy?” Njord asked. “What is your name?”

Eti took his words and played them back through his mind. If one would look close it seemed that he was confused, but it wasn't so. He was merely putting it into a slot next to the other words for ghost in his language.

Taibhse, like fantom and Fantôme. Can you teac' me more words?

Etienne loved words. Loved to be able to speak different languages to share with others the way he felt. He would endeavor to learn as many as he could.

Eti nodded his head. I am one of Chacal's boys. Dere are dree of us, an' our Suzu. Dough Requiem was taken by dey big bird. But 'e's alive. I'm sure of it. We'll find 'im. Granme says dat tings get lost, sometimes, but dey always return. An' she wouldn't lie. Kinda like you. You was lost, but you came back. Made Missus Meerkat so 'appy.

Etienne looked up and lay an ear down. Oh Padonem I'm Etienne, but you can call me Eti.

“Surely,” Njord agreed, happy to mentor young wolves in any way. Each child seemed to have a different forte. For Sobo it was the archaic art of healing, while Loko was a wandering buckaneer. Time would tell for Fish, Ray, and Mercy. Perhaps Etienne would find his fancy in language or stories.

Erzulie's doppelganger was chatty and articulate for his age. Njord was sure to encourage this and gave the boy his full attention. His heart ached for the young leaded and, though the outcome was not promising, he wished deeply for Requiem’s safe return.

Etienne, however, held the optimism only a child could. His golden eyes shone bright and clear, as if there were no other option than his brother to come home. Njord saw this and his face softened. Too often young wolves were faced with the harsh realities of life before their time.

“Aye, that’s right,” Njord said with a nod, thinking of Meerkat’s expression when he saw her at the border. “Yer a canny lad, Eti. Life is much like tha sea. Many a wolves leave and return just like shells on tha beach.” He thought of Mercy, then, and her wandering spirit.

“Are ya friends wit the other lads an’ lassies of Sapphique?” Njord asked, wondering if all the children had become friends during his time away.

Eti's tiny tail wagged. He was fast growing into his fur and legs and ears, but he still had a way to go before he would meet a modicum of his medium height. For now he was content with his size and he knew he wouldn't be a large wolf anyway. Theo would though. Eti liked language, and the sea.

Eti had learned to speak as quickly as he could. And with so many languages falling about him, he needed to learn all of them in order to properly care for his family and his pack. It was just how he saw it. Perhaps it was a bit naive, but eh.

Eti's ears drooped and he scuffed his paws. No, too many vibrations.

He wasn't sure how to explain his quirks to another. I can feel de vibrations of odders. It 'urts my ears and feet.

He lifted his paws and placed them back down in the ground. I don't know 'ow to esplain.

Njord’s expression looked surprised by the atypical answer. “Vibrations?” he echoed. Etienne went on to explain his unique ability. “Ahh, yer an empath, then?” Njord surmised. “Ta feel the aura of others is a verra rare trait, indeed. Some wolves are too blockheaed ta tell a frown from a smile,” he chuckled as the thought of his clownish friend, Merlin.

“But yer ears and feet… dinna hurt now, do they?” he asked.

Etienne frowned at the word. Looking through his many words from his creole to his french. But he couldn't pinpoint it, it was new. He would need to ask his granme and manman what the word, meant though, as he explained. He wondered if he could puzzle it out himself.

Eti shook his head. No cause dere is only two of us, an' dere's not a lot going on. I could feel dey deer when dey was runnin' and I could feel de pain when you came 'ome. I know I am strange.

he frowned in thought. Perhaps he was too strange even for his family. Who could feel vibrations of people and beneath the ground really. But he could and he would continue to do so. Might as well embrace it.

What is empat' in your language?

I tink it is Empathique and Anpati in my families, if I am puttin' it togeder rite. But I 'ave to ask Manman to be sure.

“Och!” Njord scoffed at the lad’s frown as his tone grew sharp. “Who’s been callin’ ya strange? I’ll box their ears should they utter tha word! You have a gift, Eti, an’ there’s nothin’ strange about it,” he said assuredly.

“In my mother tongue, you’d be called a Sear,” Njord explained with a hearty roll of his R’s. “It means ya ‘av a second sight. You should talk to yer uncle @Sobo,” Njord suggested. “He knows about such things.”

Eti lay his ears against his skull, a little frightened at the others sharp tone. No one had ever spoken sharply to him, but he tuned into the words, and realized he was being protective, like hew as about Suzu.

He frowned. Me. I say dat.

A smile lit up his face. Really? A gift? W'at can i do wit' it. Can I 'elp manman, and Suzu?

Njord spoke in a tongue that fascinated Eti, and he wanted to learn more and more. Tantan Sobo knows of dese t'ings. "e is also a 'ealer. Manman says. But unco went lookin' fer Req. Cause granme says 'e's just lost, but everyt'ing comes back dat gets lose. You was lost for a time, but you are 'ere now. Again.

Fade soon? :D

Njord was happy his appraisal of Etienne’s talents made the lad feel optimistic and proud. “That is for you to discover,” he said with a wink.

A child’s untainted view of the world was refreshing to a seafarer who had performed many missteps in his life. There was no animosity in Etienne’s perspective, and Njord was grateful for a repirieve from emotional punishment. “Aye, that’s right,” he reflected somberly. “Like a shell bein’ swept away by tha sea… eventually it will end back upon our shores.”

He paused for a moment, pensive. “Would ya like ta track the deer herd through the copse with me, Eti?” he asked the boy. “I could show ya their trails and how ta keep watch without disturbin' em.”

Certainly. Thank you for the thread. You can fade with your next post if you wish <3

Eti smiled and tilted an ear, a bashful look on his face. Den I do my best to discover it.

I like shells. I'm glad you are back Mr. Njord. It makes miss Meerkat 'appy and then 'er vibrations are nice. And yours are calm too.

Eti's tail swept up and he jumped up to lick the older male. yes Please!

“You are sweet ta say so,” Njord accepted with a gentle smile. Etienne’s innocent observations softened the redtail’s heart.

With a sweep of his muzzle the man looked towards the forest. “Alright then, lad… follow me,” he said. Njord would lead him towards the edge of the territory by the Tangle to show him the regular paths of the Broken Antler herd and show him techniques to keep his presence hidden. All in all, it was a good day to mentor the next generation of Sapphique.