Hushed Willows Blood Bank

“Aftermath” thread for Njord after Meerkat's. Wanted to get this up while my feels were still fresh. Open to @Meerkat or @Stingray …or can simply be a RO.

The trio ping-ponged between the Ravine and Willows in a desperate attempt to find @Swordfish. Yet as the hours turned into days, it became evident that the boy’s trail petered out into nothing. The Sveijarn-Corten family was left with a hole in their hearts, consoled only by the fact that their red-tailed Fish had made it out of Dragoncrest alive.

He was out there… somewhere in the wilds. Njord tracked and tracked and tracked until he could barely move a muscle. The adrenaline drained from his blood, from his body, and left a struggling waif of a man behind.

All things the father feared had come to pass. The bear. The death of one son. The absence of another. The last image of Sapphique and their blood-curdling cries as they launched at their foe. Had any of them made it out alive? Njord would have to live with the fact that, while he had escorted those who depended on him most out of the cliffs, he had left the rest of his loved ones to face the bear alone.

Njord’s body trembled as his fortitude began to decline. A great wave he had repressed in the throws of flight began to crash down upon him.

“Do you trust me?” Meerkat asked him.

“Forever,” he replied. His answer would never change.

The small family found a safe resting spot in Hushed Willows for the night. They made sure Stingray was comfortable. Then, Njord excused himself to a small adjacent glen.

The moment he was alone, the man's legs buckled. The once-strong seafarer slumped into a half-seated position as the final thread of his constitution snapped. He cried in earnest. Hot tears rolled down and croaking sobs prevented any breath. A quiet stifled moan racked his body as he suffered a surge of emotions stronger than any riptide, holding his side as an invisible pain snaked up his ribcage.

There were small lucid thoughts. Words in his mind as he imagined what could have been done to ensure a different outcome. Yet, for the most part, terror and grief coalesced into an overwhelming storm of the spirit… one of which Njord had never seen the likes of before.