Silvertip Mountain the moon

merrick came. 
the bear. the cornerstone of ursus. apophis nodded a little shyly, though he wasn't even sure he knew what it meant to hear the bear yet. never did he hear the gruff roar of the creature, and yet he felt his father must've heard the bear somehow, and so he wondered this a feeling. 

in words apophis mostly took after his mother, close-lipped whenever possible. and so when his curious gaze looked to his father he only tilted his head in a slight question. the question could be one imagined by merrick; apophis would not ask- perhaps the meaning of all of it, perhaps whether father heard it, what it meant to him. the details of his wondering could not be betrayed by apophis' quiet stare. 

in the end perhaps he might gain nothing at all, it was an unpredictable risk when he chose to stay quiet, but the boy could accept it either way. 
like a fish moving down a river, pushed in his distinct path only by the determined flow of the water that guided him.