Dragoncrest Cliffs Spindrift

He pulled away to begin defeathering the carcass, which made her think briefly of making a game out of plucking a gull with Swordfish. Her heart smiled at the brief recollection, even if her mouth didn’t. It turned down a little more when Njord urged her to share with him.

Sucking in a deep breath, she confessed, Mercy wants to leave the pack, go traveling. She paused for a beat before continuing, I think I planted a seed, when I took them to Mereo. And I told her how my brother and I left our pack when I was her age. I was younger than her, actually. I knew this day might come and I told myself to handle it with grace. But…

It was easier said than done. Meerkat had so much empathy for Towhee of yore. In her own defense, Meerkat hadn’t gone off by herself; she had taken Bronco with her. Mercy had no such elder brother ready and willing to uproot with her. There was no one at all to accompany her and the mother knew, based on the contextual clues of the conversation, that Mercy wanted to do this on her own anyway.

Her eyes dropped as she made a second confession: I asked her not to go now, not so soon after you returned. I shouldn’t have done that. I always wanted to raise our kids to have agency, to be independent, and here I am, crying about it, Meerkat finished, indeed sniffling, tears bright in her eyes.