Redsand Canyon It's been drug through the mud

While Germanicus was away, Fennec moved to primarily patrolling. She walked the northern edge of the canyon and then moved south, sleeping with one ear to the borders rather than tucked in their den. It felt a bit more like a place to be cornered alone.

It wasn't only the lack of his presence. They were a sparse group now, and she wished he'd waited to send Reyson. He couldn't have known how the timing would work out, but right now, she and her son were the only two soldiers actively present to defend this place. Tierra had an escort and so did the other new recruit... another healer.

She wondered if he'd noticed that the ones who stayed looked less and less like the type who typically would be soldiers. He was chasing children he'd (likely) unintentionally driven away, and though Fennec hadn't been able to grab Aquene yet to find out if she was right, she got the feeling there were some conversations to be had before spring. Her children would grow up the same way Killdeer had - free to be children for as long as was necessary.

Fennec's ear twitched as she heard the scattering of rock on the distant side of the scent line. She would pause to see where the noise headed, but her thoughts were still distracted. She wouldn't stand by and watch another pack die. Maybe there were ways she could help.

By now, he thought he knew each comrade by sight and smell, even if he hadn’t met them all formally. As much as he craved deeper connections, he was used to keeping his distance from those around him. Life here wasn’t unlike the rise in that way, though he found a sense of purpose in his duties in Mereo.

Today, he explored the outskirts of the canyon, trying to get the lay of the land surrounding it. He was gone for a few hours before returning to find something to eat. He hadn’t really noticed it until now but the place was a ghost town. He quickly grabbed some rations from his personal bunk, carrying them back toward the direction of the borders. He would do a quick patrol after he ate.

He was nearly finished eating when he glanced upward and saw Fennec in the distance. She wasn’t looking at him, her face pointed outward as if staring intently at something out there. Atreus followed her eye line but saw nothing of note, his eyes drifting back toward the Principales as he tried to remember what he knew about her. It wasn’t much.

Hey, he called out when she didn’t seem to look his way at all, obliviously raising a paw to wave.

Whatever she was listening to took off in a scattering of rock as an unfamiliar voice called out to her. Fennec bristled with alarm, freezing for a moment, but it sounded as if the noise was leaving vs coming nearer. Well, shit. It might have been prey. Unlikely as she was to be able to hunt it, Fennec was still briefly annoyed.

Who're you? She called back, still slightly on edge. Don't tell me your trespassing. I can kick your ass, but I'd rather not have to. It sounded like he was on the borders, same as her, so it was either a packmate she hadn't met yet or someone in need of a painful reminder.

There was a sharpness in her voice that immediately reminded him of Avicus. His ears drifted backward uncertainly, his raised paw freezing as she grilled him from afar. It was unpleasant at first, though he quickly understood why she was defensive.

I’m from Mereo, he stated, now leaning back to hold up both forepaws to indicate he was no threat. I’m Icarus, he added, then planted both his feet to cautiously move closer. I’ve seen you around some, mostly with Germanicus, he thought aloud.

His tone brought her hackles down immediately, though she didn't recognize the name. He must have been one of the newer joiners.

She let the comment about Germanicus pass. Their marriage wasn't something she felt like announcing, not that Tierra hadn't already done some of the job for her.

I'm Fennec. You joined recently, then. She didn't move closer, but her ear twitched as she smirked. Icarus. You aren't a spy, are you? No one said she couldn't have a little fun.

He opened his mouth to say something or other about spying, though the thought drifted away from him when Atreus suddenly noticed something. She wasn’t looking at him. Her face was pointed his way and her ears were tilted toward him, though her eyes were unfocused. It disconcerted him when he realized just how cloudy they looked.

Atreus’s lips parted as he wondered: could she see him? Feeling a bit foolish, he raised one of his forelegs and waved it to see if he would get any sort of reaction. She didn’t appear to follow or even notice the movement, which made the fur on the back of his neck stand up because uncanny valley…

Remembering she’d asked him a question, he put his foot down slowly and said sort of absently, Yes. I mean no. He shook his head a little. I just joined not too long ago. And I was just about to do a patrol, after I finished eating.

Atreus wanted to ask her if that was what she was doing or if she might join him, as with any comrade. But how on earth was any of that possible if she couldn’t see? It boggled his mind. He gaped at her, realized he was staring, shifted his eyes away, then remembered it probably didn’t matter and pulled a whole other face.

His tone seemed thrown off. She wondered what she’d interrupted him doing. That’s exactly how a spy would answer, you know. She said casually, though she’d relaxed a bit.

This was an opportunity. So far she’d been lacking in the packmate department, and she’d decided it was time to start getting to know them at least a bit. Allowing them to get to know her too.

I was actually just patrolling. If you wanted some company. She wouldn’t be offended if not.

Evidently she did patrol. Atreus had about a thousand questions he wanted to ask, though more than anything, he wanted to see how this worked in action. He was pretty sure that if he shut his eyes, he would stumble walking a straight line on even ground. How the hell could a wolf who couldn’t see navigate a place like this, Atreus wondered, gaping around at the surrounding canyon walls.

He remembered himself pretty quickly and said, Sure. He paused. Can I finish my lunch real quick? And, Did you want some?

Yes, and no. She’d already eaten, but she could wait while he finished. Instead she sat down and kept alert, listening carefully for anything that might be around.

She also tried to take his measure silently. He sounded younger than Killer, but old enough to be at least near grown. He’d come from somewhere else, obviously, and his family wasn’t here. But he wanted to be a soldier. It seemed directionless boys were the perfect recruits for Mereo thus far.

He bobbed his head absently and bent to finish what was left of his meal. As he chewed and swallowed, his eyes fixed thoughtfully on Fennec. Atreus realized he was staring… but did it really matter?

Between bites, he awkwardly waved at her, then full-on flailed for good measure. If she glanced his way, she didn’t seem to actually look at him, which led Atreus to making silly faces at her.



Finally, he finished eating, wiped his mouth and assumed a more soldierly stance, saying, Okay, ready whenever you are.

The sound of his movements was starting to get distracting. She could tell it wasn’t the way Towhee moved - with the intent of conversation - and it wasn’t hard for her to suss out what was happening here. Fortunately you couldn’t hear a facial expression.

Do you have a nervous twitch or something? Because I’m sure I could find something that would help with that. She asked, her tone pointed as she got to her feet to begin leading the way.

She didn’t know these parts of Mereo well enough to move at speed yet, but she could press forward with a solid amount of confidence if she didn’t move too fast. Occasionally her tail would flick out to double check the spacing on a remembered tree or outcropping, but she didn’t try to use Atreus the same way she might have Fig or, now, Germanicus. There weren’t a lot of wolves that she trusted to know to adjust their path for the both of them.

Her question made his entire body seize up in surprise. How did she know he was moving? Could she see, after all? Atreus flushed with embarrassment before realizing she wouldn’t have asked that question if she had seen what he was doing. He squinted harder than he ever had in his life even as she began to walk.

Quickly shuffling to keep pace alongside her, he caught himself staring at her eyes from up close and couldn’t help but finally ask, So, what’s the deal with your eyes? Sorry if that’s a rude question, Atreus thought to tack on, though he could think of no better way to phrase it.

It had been way too long since someone was blunt enough for Fennec to fuck with. She shouldn’t. She was going to anyway.

What do you mean? She asked innocently, wondering if he would backtrack. Most in Mereo were too literal too, though most were also too polite to ask much.

There was another reason too; if he answered, she got another glimpse into how others saw her. It wasn’t something she sought out often but it also wasn’t one she would pass by if it came along.

They’re… milky, Atreus replied without thinking. And it seems like you can’t see well or maybe at all, he continued, a brief recollection of his very first conversation with Amalia flitting through his mind as he added, But at the same time, you can’t tell at all and it’s breaking my brain.

It was flattery, sure, but it was also honest. She was a marvel. Atreus wanted to ask her about a thousand more questions, though he gave Fennec the chance to field these remarks first, even as he observed her effortless gait.

He was blunt as hell. Milky. She’d sorted out by now that something about her eyes was different in a way that allowed others to tell, but never what. Even that descriptor didn’t tell her much, but it gave her something. She’d never really bothered to ask.

I can see fine. She directed a sardonic smile at him. Her eyes still weren’t focused entirely, but her face was turned directly towards his voice. I just don’t need eyes to do it. The cliffs made Mereo a harder place to live, but the canyon itself was relatively flat and clear. It hadn’t taken nearly as long as she’d thought it would to learn it, and between her memory and her sense of the things around her, moving through it was barely a challenge.

If it helps your brain, just assume that I can see the future. She couldn’t help it.

Would it be alright to wrap this?

Her reply stumped him. He didn’t believe her, yet how could he refute such a frank statement? Had he been wrong? How was that possible? How—“I just don’t need eyes to do it.” Atreus blinked, now even more mystified. Her third and most cryptic comment didn’t clarify much.

But as he walked along in silence, processing what she’d said, he realized she was sort of speaking in a riddle. She was blind, though of course she couldn’t see the future, literally or metaphorically. That must be a joke of some kind, though he didn’t get it. As for “seeing” without eyes, perhaps her other senses were heightened to compensate for the missing one, or she’d adapted in some other way.

Clearly, she’d acclimatized and persevered. Still Atreus marveled at the easy smoothness of her gait. He had a feeling that no matter how much time he spent with Fennec today and in the future, he would never fully comprehend her paradigm, nor discern how she not only survived but thrived.

Maybe it was magic, after all.

He dropped to silence and she was happy to let him. It was nice to have at least one wolf here who bought into the mystery a bit… the memory of similar talks inspired a sudden pang of nostalgia and an ache of sadness. She missed Figment immensely. Penn too.

Without letting herself get caught too much in that thought, she set it aside and continued to lead the way. She might begin to break the silence, after a while, with short questions about him. For now she was content to let it settle over them both.