Dragoncrest Cliffs intro/outro

Tagging Meerkat but AW

Njord barely left @Meerkat’s side. With both the onset of her season and new threats in the Sound, it was as if his testosterone was set into overdrive. Njord became a man possesed and patrolled their southern border with fervor – huffing, marking, and scuffing his feet to leave a crystal clear message that Sapphique was not to be trifled with.

His path snaked around, back inland, as he roved after the strong scent of his paramour.

Towhee had warned her what to expect during her first season, though Meerkat found the reality did not quite match with what she had come to expect. Yes, she certainly felt even more amorous than usual, seeking Njord’s attentions so frequently, it exhausted them both. But she hadn’t lost her mind, or her senses. She was a few days in now, with a few more to go, and she felt pretty much normal.

She almost wished she had lost her higher functions, because her brain was being a scumbag today. Meerkat was suddenly worried that she hadn’t earned @Erzulie’s, @Rosalyn’s and @Chacal’s blessing properly before letting Njord knock her up. She didn’t have control of the timing, but she worried that they’d be upset with her for not seeking them out before doing the horizontal hula. And she didn’t even want to know what @Sobo et al might think of this development…

Breathe, she told herself as she loitered just outside the den she shared with Njord. Think of Njord. Think of marrying Njord. Think of banging Njord. Despite herself, Meerkat burst into laughter at that, her eyes still crinkled with merriment when the man himself appeared in the distance, headed this way.

“Mo chride,” Njord crooned when Meerkat’s figure came into his line of sight. His red tail flagged in the air as he rubbed his hale body alongside hers to better mingle their scents – to let any wolf know that they belonged to one another.

No amount of fatigue could stave the instinct which flowed through his veins. His mind was, arguably, far more addled than his counterparts’. He was a stallion with blinders on his bridle – a singular focus ahead. This change was a departure from his normal, more sensitive, character – but Njord embraced it. He felt alive to let his wild spirit run uninhibited.

He wished to celebrate their love and take her, again, right then and there. However, another rare thought stood at the forefront of his mind. “Will you come walk the cliffside with me?” he asked. “Tha sky is clear an’ tha sunset should be bonny.”

Her tail broke into a wag as he approached, fanning that unmistakable scent on the wintry air. She grinned impishly when Njord greeted her by rubbing himself against her. Meerkat always found his attention flattering, yet every little thing he did lately stoked a fire in the pit of her belly. She pressed back against him, rumbling her approval even as she cast him a flirtatious look.

Meerkat’s brows rose when he invited her to take a walk rather than jump her bones for the nth time, though she quickly warmed to the idea. She hadn’t gotten out much these past few days. Much as she reveled in their rolls in the hay, it would be nice to breathe some fresh air and stretch her legs.

Sure, she agreed readily, sidling alongside him so they could walk abreast. The simple touch of his warm fur against hers banished her earlier worries to the furthest corner of her mind, and it was with a smile that she reached up to nose at the irresistibly fetching cut of his jaw.

Meerkat agreed and the two ascended across Dragoncrest from the southern border. Njord peppered her with small affections, ranging from a flirtatious lick to a heady caress, as they promenaded. The seafarer found it impossibly difficult to stay away from his siren – even an inch! The sea air had found its place in her wild mane, infused with the fertile l’eau de parfum of her season, and it drove him mad with passion.

Distant sounds of crashing waves on the rocks provided a calm ambience (despite the intense craving inside of him) and vibrant streaks of pink and purple cloaked the sun as it hung low in the sky. “Do ya ken the tale of tha selkie woman?” he asked his sandy valentine. “Legend goes, tha seals of the sea are actually she-wolves, cloaked in magical pelts. Sometimes, they disrobe ta dance on tha shore – but,” he paused for dramatic effect, “if their spotted cloak is stolen, they canna return home to tha ocean.”

Their climb continued and the ground became rocky. “There was once a seafarin’ man who found such cloak upon tha rocky shore. Jus’ beyond him… a beautiful woman danced in tha surf. Infatuated, he hid her cloak and, without anywhere ta turn, she became his wife. She bore him four children in tha spring, but guilt consumed her husband an’ so one day, he returned the cloak to his selkie-bride. Swift as a river, she ran back to tha sea! But on a full moon the Selkie returns ta land to visit her children. Story goes, tha man, heartbroken but knowin’ he had done wrong, repented by sittin’ on a cliff overlooking tha water until he turned to solid stone.”

The trees parted until the cliff’s edge came into view. A majestic view of infinite water on a sunset canvas was painted before them. Njord leaned into Meerket and savored the moment, his heart thrumming as he anticipated the question he was prepared to ask.

As they set off toward their destination, her eyes cut across the horizon, wondering if they would be waylaid by any of their pack mates drawn by her alluring smell. They walked along, practically fused at the hip, but Meerkat saw no one. Soon, she lost the attention span for anything but the handsome wolf close at hand and his continuous, welcome flirtations.

She would’ve been happy talking in body language, though Njord broke the silence to ask her if she’d ever heard of the selkie. Meerkat shook her head, then tilted it in silent invitation. She found his lips distracting at first, but soon his familiar timbre captured her focus properly and she was swept up in the narrative. It was kind of a tragic tale, and it distracted her into a contemplative quiet.

And then the pair of them arrived at the edge of the world, where the painted sunset burst incredibly over the vast breadth of the ocean. Meerkat actually gasped as they straddled the cliffs, then stopped and stared. She couldn’t help but muse that this was a beautiful place for children to be born. The thought made her breath catch in her throat.

It was far too early to tell anything, though she wondered: were the tiny seeds of life growing in her even now? It was difficult to comprehend, though the thought made her heart leap in her chest. Suddenly, Njord was too far away for her liking, so she swept closer, pressing her pale chest against his brawny shoulder, peppering it with kisses before tucking her face against it.

Hey, she murmured, that was possibly the first bedtime story you told our kids, you know. Meerkat smiled against the column of his throat, tail gently swaying.

Meerkat nestled against him and the pair enjoyed the radiant sunset across the ocean view. As a quiet serenity blanketed the couple, it was suggested that their love had already turned into life inside Meerkat’s womb. Njord’s face brightened into a look of awe and his eyes searched her figure.

“Ya think?” he wondered, starry-eyed, aloud. The valley of his adoration broadened further than he ever thought possible. Fiery passion would soon make way for the long burn of devotion towards the woman who carried their children.

Njord bent over and kissed the side of Meerkat’s slim belly and whispered, “wee ones? Are you in there? It’s your Da. Ba mo leanabh, ba,” he murmured and then sat straight once again. “Soon you will be Madonna, mo chride,” he said with a warm expression, and leaned against Meerkat until his head tipped over hers.

“Wait here,” he added. Njord pecked Meerkat on the cheek and left to fetch something behind a cairn of rocks. The seafarer returned with a rare, opulent shell clutched in his fangs: an ornate conch of sunset orange and coral pink. It’s glassy surface glimmered in the fading light and its short tines were perfect and unbroken.

Njord placed the shell at Meerkat’s feet. Nerves made his ears turn hot and his body tingle with anticipation. His sea-colored gaze met the kind, whiskey brown of hers and he gulped a breath of air. “Meerkat Redhawk, mo Suricate, I love ya endlessly.” He smiled at the memory of her declaration just days before. “I never thought myself a man of formalities, but… when you told me ye wanted me ta be ye husband…” his gaze softened and his mouth opened to explain, but stopped himself before the words could come out. Nothing more needed to be said.

He breathed in and looked at her with the deepest sincerity and then bowed down, one paw curled beneath him. “Will you be my wife? Mine ta love forever? Ta be wed before all of Sapphique?”

I wrote this post with this playing on loop, lol… (Their love story is way better than Twilight… :’))

Her eyes crinkled at the corners when Njord made a point to bend down and address her belly. It was silly, yet it made her stomach flutter. Every knuckle in her toes tingled more than ever as she watched him kiss the spot on her side that would soon swell with his bairns.

What— she began when he straightened, wondering at those lyrical words he’d whispered to their tiny little seedlings. But he insisted she wait, pressing a quick kiss to her cheek before moving away and leaving her inquisitive eyes to follow him, glowing amber with the sunset.

He returned and set something at her feet. It caught the fading light fetchingly as she bent down to inspect it. It appeared to be a shell of some kind, though she had never seen one like it. Meerkat touched her nose to its opulent surface, a laugh bubbling in her chest when she remembered kicking away her own, much duller find days ago. It turned out she wanted a “dumb rock.”

Her eyes flicked up to catch his, gratitude on her lips, but he spoke first. He said her full name, declared his love and dipped into a formal bow. Now every single inch of her body broke out in a frisson of delight, goosebumps prickling her flesh and making her furs stand on end. She hadn’t expected this—a wedding? a wedding!—though it meant so much. It meant everything.

Meerkat realized she was shaking and huffed a laugh before giving the easiest, Yes, of her entire life, though the next few words tumbled out in a disjointed rush of utmost adoration. Njord…!!! Yes. I love you. Yes. Forever. Yes. Yes.