Moonspear rainbows

The familiar smell of mountain loam led Seal back to the place she had been born.

She couldn’t explain what else drew her back. Perhaps she was simply done voyaging, like a ship returning to its harbor.

Seal did not know what awaited. What had changed? What had stayed the same?

Her travel-worn paws ached and all she could think about was sinking them into Moonspear’s snowmelt streams as she howled at its borders.

*GLOMP*

She hadn’t been gone long at all, though it was still good to be back. She ignored the twinge in her leg that plagued each and every footstep, refusing to let the pain impact her patrols. Treepie couldn’t help but notice the shadow that flapped after her, though the Regent didn’t quite know how to feel about the hawk after yesterday. She supposed she was glad it had taken the parasite out of her, but…

A little warning might’ve been nice, you know? she shouted up at the hawk, receiving a titter in response. Her lips twitched despite herself. I hope it tasted better than it looked. It took me like two months to make it, you know!

Pie shook her head, laughing even though she was disgusted with herself. She wouldn’t even look at her own thigh or the wound there, though any thought of the botfly and its nightmarish extraction were driven from her thoughts by the sound of a howl from very close by.

The hawk actually winged ahead, leading her to the dappled she-wolf standing wearily at the boundary. Treepie raised her head and tail as she assessed the stranger. Was she a stranger? Pie didn’t think they’d met, though there was something uncannily familiar about her.

Greetings, the Regent offered. What brings you to Moonspear?

:D

A sharp call from a falcon made Seal’s ears prick until her attention was commanded by a ebony, amber, and white wolf. It was a concoction reminiscent of TJ – so much that at first Seal swore it was her younger aunt arriving betwixt the pines to greet her!

Her heart ached, home-sick.

Brown eyes blinked, looking at the wolf ahead with a refreshed gaze. She was younger than Towhee Jr would have been, and far more petite. Plus, their black-susan yellowed gaze was sunnier.

They shared the same inkling of recognition. It Seal remembered Pie at all, it was when they were a child… and so many moons had come and gone that the faded memory had nearly evaporated altogether.

Seal took a step forward, her expression kindly. “I was, ahm, born here.” Saying it aloud made Seal laugh at herself! “Suppose I wanted tae come by and see what had changed.”

She had no expectations about Moonspear’s status or its inhabitants. And that meant no disappointment.

“My name’s Seal,” she added.

The woman spoke in a pleasant lilt as she informed Treepie that she’d been born here. Yellow eyes widened, lips parting to ask the obvious question. Seal answered it without prompting, the name familiar and familial, even if she couldn’t quite place it.

We’re related then, I think, Pie said. Her expression warmed, though only a fraction. I’m Treepie, though you can call me Pie. I don’t know if we’ve met but I’ve definitely heard of you and your family. She paused, thinking. Don’t you have a brother named Orca, who looks like a twin to Arrluk of Moonglow?

There were dozens more questions to ask after that one. Tiuttuk shifted her weight, keen to trace where their branches of the family tree might connect. Though she knew better than to think it meant anything, especially after Acrux had so recently drifted past like a ship in the night.

Seal’s polite smile grew at the notion the Treepie was, possibly, be family. She tried to trace the timeline – had great grandmother somehow popped out a second pup in secret?

While she pondered, Treepie asked about Orca, and the mere mention of her sister’s name renewed the hope that she hadn’t left the wilds completely. Maybe she, too, stopped by… or better yet, returned just like Seal!

“Aye,” Seal affirmed, but then caught herself. “Och– Orca’s my sister,” she corrected, “though a brawny one!” she added with a laugh. “Ive not seen her in a long time,” Seal said as her expression gentled. “Has she been by?”

Seal corrected her and Treepie felt a flash of—she wasn’t entirely sure what—but the dappled she-wolf didn’t seem bothered so she let it go. Pie shook her head when Seal asked whether Orca had come by.

I’ve never met her, only her lookalike. Is she your litter mate? When were you two born?

Judging by her features, Seal couldn’t have been more than two or three years old. She would’ve been born during Sialuk’s reign, when the village had been so much more than the bare bones it was these days.

Much has changed since you lived here, Tiuttuk said with a tinge of heaviness. You’re welcome to come see for yourself, she added, withdrawing a step and motioning toward the nearby mountainside.

She glanced at the hawk circling overhead before her inquisitive eyes came to rest on Seal’s face, wondering what she would do. Had she only meant to stop by for a few minutes, get the latest news? Or would she want to stay a little longer? The Regent didn’t dare hope that she would want to stay in any permanent capacity, though that question lingered in her dandelion gaze too.

A wee bit of wind was lost from Seal’s sails, but never could she say it surprised her that Orca hadn’t made her way back to the Spear. She was strong willed with a wandering spirit – the complete opposite of a homebody like Seal. Sure, she had done her fair share of traveling… but the spectacled girl woman had never found what she looked for… though, she didn’t know exactly what she sought.

“Aye, two years ago,” Seal replied. “An’ before me came Stingray, Mercy, an’ Swordfish. After… Otter an’ Skipjack.”

Seal didn’t swell too long on her adventuring family. Treepie’s next comment about change took the helm.

“Oh?” Seal hummed as the tip of her tail curled. The questions began to pour in (like, exactly how were they related?) but Seal looked to Treepie as if giving her the stage to explain.

She lifted a paw, ready to follow.

The string of names was vaguely familiar, in the sense that Tiuttuk had definitely heard lore about them. She was almost certain her former ulaq wasn’t far from one Stingray had kept years ago, for instance. She climbed toward it, for no other reason than because it was perhaps common ground.

There was a ways to climb before they reached it, during which Treepie slanted her head toward Seal to ask, Remind me of your parents’ names? And when that was supplied and the dots were connected, she thought aloud, Didn’t your family relocate to Sun Mote Copse at some point?

Thinking about that made her think of Towhee and Bushtit specifically. Her lips drooped in a slight frown. She wondered if Seal had lived there with them, whether she might already know they were all in the wind these days. Well, her great grandmother—Seal’s grandmother, she noted—now lived with Pie’s taataa at the caldera, of course…

Anang, Sialuk, would have been the village’s leader two years ago. Now, she’s gone, and there’s not many of us left. We’re small and I’d like to say we’re mighty, but that’s just not true. This village is very quiet these days, with only a few of us diehards left, Pie mused, only one corner of her mouth twitching upward now.

Seal followed the tricolor Treepie through the familiar forest. She had grown up here, from birth, and every feature of the mountain brought back an old and cherished memory.

Sorting herbs with Alaric, there. Skinning hides with Sialuk there. Playing with the neighboring children – Ajei, Frolic, and Raiyuk… Seal thought how nice it would be to live among these friendly ghosts of her memory again.

“Meerkat and Njord,” Seal explained. “They were with Sialuk when she claimed the Spear.” That’s how the origin story went, though her parents and elder brother had always been vague about their before times. And now, Seal felt she had missed the opportunity to ask.

“Aye, they did. But their numbers dwindled and so they decided tae travel. Take Skipjack on a gran’ adventure. Otter joined too.” Seal had managed to converge with them at one point, only to strike off on her own again.

“Ahhh,” Seal breathed as the dots connected together. Sialuk was Treepie’s mother. “Sialuk was my dear mentor,” Seal touched a paw to her own breast. “But… she is not here?” Seal echoed, somewhat surprised… but not really. The pale woman always had a wandering and helpful spirit. Or did Teepie mean gone, gone. Seal cocked an ear as if to ask. “Who else remains?” she asked next.

Seal knew about her family’s travels, which was a relief. Treepie already had plenty of bad news to bear. She could tell that her wording had affected the other woman, so she paused in her step to quickly clarify.

She’s someplace where she’s happier, alive and well. At least, Pie assumed as much, otherwise Sialuk would’ve come back. Do you know Alaric? He leads as Sovereign. I’m his Regent. My sister, Tiki, is here too, and a man called Elk.

That was it. It was always a little depressing to hear it aloud. So many had come and gone, finding their happily ever afters elsewhere. Tiuttuk still didn’t understand her own compulsion to stay on the mount. She supposed she wanted to keep Sialuk’s legacy alive, yet her anaa would hardly hold it against her if she left too.

The brush of wings startled her out of her thoughts as the hawk abruptly came to perch on her shoulder. Pie’s mouth gaped, then she flinched. Did she have another botfly?! But the bird didn’t pick at her, merely stared at the side of her face and made a surprisingly soft noise in its throat.

Shifting her wide eyes to Seal, she hisspered, This is only the second time this has happened. On that note, I’m not sure what’s happening…

hisspered made me lol

Seal’s ear flicked. Happier. Did Treepie mean to intone that Sialuk had been unhappy here?

“Oh yes!” Seal beamed at the mention of Alaric. He was like an uncle to her, but more than that… a teacher, mentor, confidant, and friend. It was good to hear that he had stuck around all these seasons… but Seal wondered what had happened to Elentari in the back of her mind.

The new ranks and names chiseled into her mind.

Suddenly, a hawk roosted upon Treepie’s shoulder!

Seal stumbeled back, surprised, but quickly collected herself.

“I think it likes you,” Seal giggled as she observed the stacatto motion of its head. “My aunt, Towhee Jr, often had a falcon by her side.”

Her eyes onced-over the duo. “Do you believe in ancestral spirits, Treepie?” Seal asked enigmatically.

Seal quickly recovered from her own surprise, something like delight dancing in her carob eyes. Treepie glanced between her face and the bird’s, still not entirely sure if it was actually a hawk or perhaps a falcon. Or maybe it was something else entirely. And that made her suddenly think: it wasn’t really an it, of course.

Before she could ask the question on the tip of her tongue, Seal posed one of her own. Tiuttuk sucked in a breath, pondering it. The hawk tittered. Something flashed in the Regent’s eyes.

You understood that question, didn’t you? she guessed.

The hawk chirped.

Thought so. Well? Are you an ancestral spirit?

Something that could only be an amused caw! escaped the avian’s beak, prompting a chortle from Treepie.

Guess that answers that, she said, yellow eyes flicking to Seal then back to the creature perched on her shoulder. I have another question for you. Are you male?

This time, the hawk’s answer was even clearer: it—she—shook her head.

Female? Pie asked, just to be sure.

A nod of that strangely squashed-looking head.

Do you have a name?

Another up-and-down motion: Yes.

Tiuttuk’s lips pursed as she tried to think of a way to learn the raptor’s name. Her gaze once more shifted to Seal, imploring her relative to share any wisdom she might have on the matter.