Silverlight Terrace but what's that gotta do with this atom bomb in me?

Njord and @Stingray watched dawn’s alpenglow kiss Moonspear’s peak as they bade their farewells to @Meerkat, Seal and Orca. With their wares wrapped in a skin slung across Njord’s shoulders, they charted a Westward course across the mountain foothills. Silence naturally accompanied such an early departure and it wasn’t until late morning that Njord became more animated and awake.

The pair stopped for a brief rest by a creek where the long sweet grass was already half a foot high. Njord took a long drink, smacked his lips and sighed in appreciation of the well-earned draught.

“Tis been a long while since Ah’ve been outside of Moonspear’s borders.” Njord observed as he watched a hawk circle above. “Ah remember my paws bein’ so sore when we arrived. Tha mountains sure do train ye pads tae be rough.” He turned a paw over and observed it, but his eyes quickly drifted to Stingway. “Are ye excited tae visit Moontide, lad?” he asked.

There was a quietness to Njord. In his heart, he thought of Sobo and the unfulfilled promise to travel together just like this.

For the first few minutes of the day, Ray lived up to his nickname by mimicking the early morning sunshine with a bright and eager demeanour, but no matter how exciting the trip was, you just couldn’t make an early riser out of a chubby, lazy teenage boy. By the time they reached the foothills, Ray was yawning and dragging his feet. The more awake Njord became, the more his son regretted agreeing to an early start.

He flopped down in the young grass after slaking his thirst, internally bemoaning the inevitable restart of their march to the sea. Ray cracked a wide yawn and then stretched his body out as far as his bones would go.

Njord was talking. Normally Stingray was more attentive, but whether because he was in a funk or because he hadn’t gone to bed early enough last night, it took him a moment to really tune in and listen. Oh, yeah, the mountain’s pretty rough, he said, having caught only part of Njord’s meaning there. At least he was listening for the last part.

Yeah, I guess so, he said. It’ll be nice being back at the sea, don't you think? He almost said he hoped they hadn’t seen any sign of the bear there, but held his tongue. Neither of them needed the reminder or the downer on the mood. Even if it’s just for a little bit.

Njord chuckled when he spotted Stingray sprawled out like he had just ran a marathon. It refreshed his spirit with a breath of levity and shoo’ed any melancholy thoughts of his first son away.

“Och,” he made a rough Scottish sound in his throat. “Dinnae tell me you’re tired already!” he jeered, knowing full well it was a difficult trip.

Njord slumped down in the grass next to Stingray and took a moment to stretch his legs as well. “Aye, it’ll be good tae be back. I miss it. Tha sea.” He exhaled out the nose. “Tha salt in yer fur. Tha sound of waves breaking. A fresh mussel pulled from tha tidepools.” Njord voice was whimsical as he became lost in a reverie. “Maybe we can chase gulls on tha beach, hmm?” he suggested,

I'm gonna fade this one so it's not hanging around your threadlog during your vacation, but Ray and Njord will hafta spend some more time when he comes to visit once you're back!

Ray mimicked Njord's disparaging sound with a playful one of his own, not quite so rugged as his sire's. Some of us got a lot of muscle to lug around, da. You wouldn't know how it feels!

He listened while Njord reminisced, idly inspecting his outstretched paws. One of the nails on the left one had cracked sometime during their travels. As if on cue, he felt a twinge of pain, the way all unseen wounds liked to hurt only once they were spotted. He flexed the paw once and looked away from it with a grimace.

He might have a couple more cracks to add by the time they got to the sea.

We should chase a sea lion instead, he proposed. Gulls are good for nothing, but a sea lion is a feast! Only Stingray wasn't well versed in hunting live prey. His hunting skills were limited to picking stranded morsels from tide pools and stuffing his face with whale blubber. He had always wondered what sea lions tasted like, what with their similarities to wolves rather than prey, and he wouldn't mind wasting an afternoon with his da trying to bag one.

They talked of sea lions and otters and shorebirds and even sharks — with Ray eagerly proclaiming that he would hunt one someday — for a while longer before resuming their journey to Moontide.