Dragoncrest Cliffs on the horizon

he's looking for @Meerkat (if u have the time/space) <3

he avoided his family a lot.

mainly for a lot of guilt. but it had been nice to see njord and that had reminded him of the other kids. then, of course, of meemee. then he became a boy on a mission.

quickly he bounced towards where he last remembered her living (did they even still live there?!) before he loudly announced himself by yelling —

MEEMEEEEE!

Not long after she and Njord reluctantly parted to go about their daily duties, she heard Erzulie’s call for her husband. Meerkat went still, wondering what the Ruby might want with him. She wondered if her recent conversation with Njord might prove pertinent to the discussion. Would he bring it up with the former Obsidian?

When someone shouted nearby, she started, head whipping around to find Quennell rushing toward her. She hadn’t seen him in quite some time and simply assumed he’d been off finding treasure and fighting sharks, maybe alongside his older brother, Loko.

Ahoy there, matey! she replied, shoving aside her curiosity about Erzulie’s summons. What? No treasure? Meerkat teased when she saw he came empty-handed.

AYE!

he barked, dropping into a bow briefly before he flopped onto his side altogether. there was something about meemee that he liked. maybe the same thing he enjoyed about mir. the willingness to play, the understanding of his boyish ways.

pirates dun give treasure away! he informed her with a lopsided grin as his tail kicked up dirt. but dey do tales.

You don’t have to share your booty with me, Meerkat rebutted, but I still would’ve liked to see it. Ah, well. I guess I’ll have to live with these tales. She winked. I’m listening.

She hadn’t been doing anything particularly important when Erzulie’s howl had sidetracked her. And she could certainly give young Quennell a few moments of her time. Despite her playful banter, she was very curious to hear the stories of his adventures.

ya ever hear da one 'bout a cliff jumper?

it may have sounded grim if it was not for the smile on his face. he also really hoped that she had not somehow met ash.

that would really kind of ruin the whole story.

Her smile faltered a little bit when he mentioned cliff jumping, eyes widening a fraction. Had he been leaping off sea cliffs? It did seem like something a reckless young boy might do. Children often thought they were invincible.

Schooling her expression, Meerkat replied, I haven’t. Let’s hear it.

two wolves. auntie and julooke. he slapped one paw after the other. a crude measure of counting, but it was the best he could do!

auntie be sad. sorrow, de say. a new word! one he spoke with a clumsy pride. ya know dat, meemee? he asked in a way that may have been accidentally profound!

He’d set the stage, now he introduced the cast of characters. There were only two. “Auntie be sad.” She wondered if this was going to be a tragedy, though perhaps it would only start sad and have a happy ending.

Yes, I know about sorrow, Meerkat replied with a wan smile, motioning for him to keep going.

well. julooke be lookin' to auntie. she say 'no more!'

he thrashed his head to the side with a wild smile. a bright glint shimmered in his eyes. he most certainly was exaggerating things here, but such was the way of story telling.

she be sayin' 'we go jump dat cliff, into de sea.' auntie could not believe no such thing! could ya?

it was important to include your audience!

The brief interruption caused Meerkat to lose track of the story. Her brow furrowed, though she quickly connected the dots. Julooke didn’t want Auntie to be sorrowful anymore, so she proposed they jump off a cliff into the sea. This was turning out to be quite the tale.

“Could ya?” Quennell asked, breaking through the fourth wall again.

She shook her head, quite curious to see where this was going.

well, either way dey be jumpin'!

his body lurched forward some in mock display of the action. paws slapped at the earth.

down, down, down. off de cliff! then — ! he paused. sucked in a big breath! into the water. deeper and deeper...

but his features grew light, excited, thrilled! the best part was right around the bend!

She sensed the story climbing toward its climax. Quennell paused yet again. Meerkat smiled to herself, wondering if this would simply be his style as a storyteller. And that made her wonder: was he interested in pursuing chronicler in any sort of official capacity?

I know you’re a pirate, first and foremost, but did you know you can be a storyteller too? Like, officially? Meerkat questioned, her inner coach coming out. But we can talk about that after you finish your story, of course! she added with a wave for him to continue.

he figured the two might go hand in hand!

but he hadn't know that he could be a story teller officially. truthfully he had thought that was just part of everything else!

well, meemee, he huffed with humor after her interruption. a lopsided grin plastered on his face. dey surfaced and de sea? she be washin' off dat sadness off auntie. now auntie be knowin' dat sadness ain't forever. especially not by de sea!

his tail thumped and he dramatically flopped to his side. exhausted from recounting the tale in a more pirate laced fashion.

what be a storyteller uh-fficially?

His story reached its conclusion, so Meerkat leaned back on her haunches to clap her paws together. If he was serious about telling stories, she could easily think of some positive (involving your audience) and negative (a little unfocused) feedback to get him started.

Well, you could tell stories just for fun, Meerkat replied when he queried, or you could be a chronicler, which is a wolf who keeps track of a pack’s history. Both can include a bit of fiction, she went on with a wink, but one is geared more toward entertainment and the other is about building and perpetuating a culture.

feel free to nudge us towards a fade if fitting :D

huh!

if i be tellin' tales of adventures, real ones dat happen, what that be? he did not know if his story telling was too flamboyant for history tracking! yet all of his tales were based (at least) in real things. to his knowledge, of course.

Okey dokey!

I think it could be either/or, actually. Hey, if you turn them into poems or songs, then you could be a bard. Which makes me think you ought to talk to Chacal about this. I bet she’s an expert on what sort of storytelling you could do for Sapphique, Meerkat encouraged with a gleam in her eye.

It gave her great pleasure, coaching. It suddenly made her think of Veteran, especially since Quennell called her a pet name too. She wondered how he was doing out there in the great big world. Was he still pursing the same interests? Did he have a mate, possibly? Would he maybe even become a father next spring?

It was fun to muse about her former pupils—and a little bittersweet too—but Meerkat focused on her current young charge and said, Go on, go find your older sister and see what she has to say!

oh, a bard sounded good.

and meemee was encouraging him to find chacal for more advice on that specific route. it made sense, seeing as his sister only spoke in song. he nodded his head enthusiastically, popping upright with a firm nod of his head.

aye, aye, miss meemee!

this given before he bounded along, humming a tune as he set out.