Dragoncrest Cliffs sezi

the girl had been thinking very solemnly of death since @Haunt's rabbit.
she was upon their hidden beachfront, watching a pair of gulls pick the shell of a turtle free of all flesh.
in that moment, mireille, who understood intrinsically the hunger that fed her and the pack, began to cry. she felt it was unfair that such an innocent as a turtle should need to die, and ran over, little teeth bared, a flurry of barking meant to drive off the sullen birds.

The red-tail meandered along the trees and through the cavern to Sapphique’s private beach when a flurry of barking and gulls caught his attention. Mirielle was on the sand playing alone… no, something was wrong? Even from a distance Njord could tell the child was all worked up. He picked up his pace to a trot.

“Mo leanbh, why do ya chase the gulls so?” he asked in a soft voice.

oo a da! mind if we bring this up to present? <3

"because dey can fly away!"
a tear-stained mireille rounded upon njord. "do you not ever be wantin' to fly away, da?" the girl sniffled and snuffled, angrily wiping saltwater from her cheeks and fighting the urge to simply bury her face in his loving chest and sob.

Fine with me!

When Mireille turned her pretty red face Njord could see the dark, wet fur beneath her eyes. A troubled expression skewed her brows as she explained, exasperated. Though, biologically, she was not of his blood, Njord could see pieces of himself in her. He remembered feeling the way she did, and the severe, cold reaction of his grandfather instructing a young Njord that tears had no place on a boy’s face.

Njord drew himself close and wrapped a limb around her. “There, there sweet lass, dinna fash,” he said, hoping to calm her down. He listened and understood. “Aye, when I was young’r I wanted ta fly away, ” he told her, “but I canna fly, so I swam away instead.” A small smile to lift her spirits. “That’s when I met yer mothers… an now that I know you I dinna want ta fly away anymore. I love you an’ yer sbilings sooo much. Ya ‘av my 'art fer good.”

when her da put his arm around her, mireille found herself close to breaking.
when he explained that he too knew the feeling, the girl's eyes overflowed with tears.
and when njord reaffirmed himself to her once more, the pebble truly began to sob, and turned her agonized face against his good heartbeat. "why does anyone have to die!" she cried brokenly, words muffled by the thick plush of his wintertime coat.

As Mireille’s composure whittled away, Njord pulled her in tighter. He was transported to a not-so-recent memory with Valravn on the eve of Kaertok’s, Raleska’s, and Rosencrantz’s death. How many more children would he have to comfort? How many more times would he have to explain mortality to those too young to understand it? This go-around was not any easier than the first, and his heart ached to see such misery and grief in Mireille’s beautiful green eyes.

“Oh, my lamb,” he cooed, “everythin’ will be a’right.” Njord rocked back and forth a little as he stooped lower to lick her ears and forehead. “I dinna ken why tha heavens call us away when its our time… It’s jus’ tha way tha Earth turns.” He paused thoughtfully. “When it makes me sad, I like ta think ‘bout all tha new life around me. A little saplin’… a baby robin… seein’ you by yer mother’s side on tha day of yer birth.” He nuzzled her then.

“Say, why don’ I teach ya a song ta sing?” he suggested. “Would ya like that?”

mireille nodded against da njord's soft chest. she knew life. she understood in some way that it renewed itself, though she had not yet lived through every season. 
just the way the earth turned. something that would happen.
something that happened often. surely it did, as often as there was new life.
njord offered a song. the girl sniffled and pulled away with a nod. she enjoyed music, even if she was not as skilled at it as her older sister chacal had been. or was.

Njord’s sweet words seemed to pacify the young girl as she quietly sniffled. How confusing it must be for her, the father thought. Not confusing because she didn’t understand it – Mireille was smart as a whip – but confusing because of the emotions.

“There she is,” Njord said softly when his daughter (in his eyes, for he loved her like a daughter) pulled back, the waterworks momentarily stopped. He cleared his throat and began to sing a sea chanty.

Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blow the wind south o'er the bonny blue sea;
Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blow bonnie breeze, my lover to me.

Is it not sweet to hear the breeze singing,
As lightly it comes o'er the deep rolling sea?
But sweeter and dearer by far when 'tis bringing,
The ship of my true love in safety to me.

Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blow the wind south o'er the bonny blue sea;
Blow the wind southerly, southerly, southerly,
Blow bonnie breeze, my lover to me.

njord sang.
mireille leant against him. the stifled sobbing subsided to hiccups, and then only to an occasional tremour or two.
her da's voice singing about love and easterly winds, ships, and coming back in all directions.
mireille knew she was secure against him; little by little her head grew heavier and heavier and njord would find her quiet, lulled from her grief and into gentler breathing.

I love Mireille!! Last one for me

As he sang Njord could see the anguish drain from the girl. He slowly leaned over, laying down to cradle Mireille in the sand. The verses and their chorus repeated until his voice faded into the sounds of breaking waves. The Da would rest there for a while with her – maybe take a nap – for as long as she needed.