Ravenshook Cliffs slipping down, down, down

If you say so, said the boy's eyes as he jovially pulled the fox tail back toward him. If anyone asked Lucas, he would claim that he already had good luck and didn't need more. He'd had so many experiences already at his age, how could he not believe he was blessed? Others might see it differently. In fact, most people would see it differently, but not him. He found the good side of every situation and had yet to encounter anything that he couldn't put a positive spin on, which only gave testament to his naivete. But he wasn't about to argue with Govinda over it; he assumed the man simply had plenty of his own good luck, and a surplus of a good thing never hurt anyone.

"Oh, they're fine," he confidently replied. "I miss them but they're all right, I know it." He had no proof of it, and sometimes when it was dark and he was alone, Lucas almost wondered if that was true or not. He couldn't say whether anyone had been lost permanently to the storm. He didn't like thinking about it, so buried it under better thoughts—things like how nice the sun felt on his back, or how fresh the ocean breeze was, or how beautiful the sky was when there weren't any clouds. Or how nice another wolf's company was. He often reminisced on recent meetings to chase away any worries that fretted at the edges of his mind.

"They did all of that," he said, his face brimming with a wide smile. "Holga was good at stories but some of the others were singers, and some were jumpers and some were vine twirlers. One guy said he could herd rabbits," Lucas claimed, breathless, "I never saw him do it though. He said it was too cold out for his rabbits." More like than not, that wolf had been full of shit. What kind of rabbit willingly did a wolf's bidding? But Lucas, dear trusting Lucas, believed it completely. "I was a dancer."

Somewhere in there, prattling along like he did, Lucas forgot that they hadn't exchanged names. Govinda prompted him and he started, then laughed in his boyish way. "Sorry! My name's Lucas." Then, with a blink, he asked, "what's a bah-cha?"