Dragoncrest Cliffs Willow Tree March

To take complete ownership of his actions was a bitter task and Njord could not quite wrap his head around how to seperate cause and effect. Though Meerkat said she did not blame him, here she was… wounded by him… hiding it from him… and it did, in a way, make him feel worse inside. The knife’s edge of his spirted dulled as he realized there was nothing to protect Meerkat from, except himself.

His posture deflated a little and his ears tipped to half-mast.

Yet it was these small moments that would measure a man. Njord chose to turn his heart towards Meerkat and, when she snuggled against him, he nuzzled her back. Their ordeal was over… and they would face the painful ghosts of yesterday together.

“You make sense, my love,” Njord validated. “’Tis a difficult thing ta carry alone.” Though he wanted to encourage her that it was okay to share these feelings with him, deep down the seafarer knew his mind was in a fragile state, as well. Meerkat's instincts were spot on. His own thoughts stayed firmly shuttered away -- nothing constructive would come from dwelling on them.

He kissed her forehead as they held eachother quietly for a few moments – the silence broken only by an owl hooting in the distance.

“I was thinkin’…” Njord began tenatively, as if to confirm that Meerkat’s soliloquy was complete. If she had more to say, he would listen. “You, me, an’ the boys could take a small jaunt together. To tha Hushed Willows before the snow falls.” Perhaps a trip would afford the small family time to come together again.