Dragoncrest Cliffs i keep a clip, i keep a pole

chani was running in circles! and not for any particular reason save that she was imitating gulls above her.
"gade! zwazo vole!" chani shouted to no one at all, frisking in bluepeace meadow from one end to the other until she panted and fell down to rest amid the long grass.

Suzu had been napping in the shade of the swaying trees at the edge of the meadow, snoring lightly. Her whiskers twitched every now and again, and her round paws flinched, indicative that she was dreaming. Her features were peaceful- but her eyes flashed open when she heard her sister's words, and she sat up so fast she felt dizzy. 

Look! Birds fly

Her sister's joyous gaze was directed toward the sky, where harmless seabirds circled on the breeze. At first, she panicked when she saw Chani running, only to realize a moment later she was just running in circles. She scanned for any sign of something larger, something that could swoop down and grab yet another one of her siblings- but saw only seagulls. She breathed a sigh of relief, though she felt a light pang of relief when she remembered the seabird she'd once saved, and nurtured- only to see it murdered on the beach by Swordfish and Quennell. 

She shook her head, yawned, and moved out into the sunlight to gaze up as well. "Dose be seagulls," She informed her sister, smiling faintly. "Dey are friendly."

"suzu!" chani crowed, running toward her older sister with such wriggling excitement that her entire body moved with the force of her tail. she whined happily, licking any part of suzu's face she could reach, then looked up at the wheeling birds.
"seagullz!" chani sang out in rough imitation of her mother's melodic voice. "can play?" or were they for eating, like other dead things she had seen quite often?

"Me? If course- or....Did you mean de seagulls?" She asked, for clarification. She followed Chani's gaze up to the birds, and felt her features fall as she remembered the gull she'd tended to. It was strangely validating to hear her younger sister wonder if the gulls could be friends, and it made her reconsider the possibility- but the memory of seeing her gull friend caught and killed by her packmates was strong enough to make her reject the idea altogether. 

"Dey be...Friendly, sometimes, but...Dey do not play wid us. Dey just...Fly wid each ot'er," She said. She couldn't bear to tell her sister the story of her gull. A shadow passed over them, and Suzu watched it fade away before an idea struck her. "But! We can try an' catch deir shadows!" She said, standing back up. Normally, the idea of chasing anything (or running in general) didn't appeal to her- but it wasn't like Chani could run that fast anyway, so she might not have to try too hard.

chani learned a few things that day. first was that seagulls were not to play with, and sort of kept to each other. the second was that her older sister seemed — different, upon seeing the winged things.
the little girl looked hard at the sky until her eyes hurt, and then rose with a wag of her tiny tail. "what is shadow!" she hollered, scrambling to suzu's side with another tiny whine and lick for the other's soft cheek.suzu was cool! she knew many things! in this, she was almost like chacal.

Suzu crouched, prepared to lope after the patch of darkness she expected to see, only to pause when her sister voiced a question. She moved to her sister's side, and held her paw up high, before gesturing toward the ground with her nose, to the shadow she left on the ground. "That!" She said. She moved her paw around, to show how the shadow would follow the movements. "Everyt'ing dat moves between de earth an' de sun makes a shadow, when de sun is out," She explained; happy to get the chance to dork out over meteorology with her sister.

oh! chani's eyes grew wide as she tried to take in all the details at once, small ears twitching and gaze drinking up the images that suzu created. "i have shadows?" chani chirped.
she looked one way and then another; she spun in a circle, and there it was! a little puppy-sized spot of shadow, just her size. chani laughed and then tried to grab it with the self-assuredness of the very young.

She laughed merrily. "Yes, Chani, you 'ave a shadow too, see?" She said, smiling as the girl whirled to catch sight of the patch of darkness left by her frame, before she began trying to catch it. Of course, Suzu knew that the closer one got to their shadow, the smaller it became- but she let Chani experience it for herself nonetheless. Get it!" she laughed, "To your left- oh! Your right! Oh no, Chani, your shadow is going to get you! An' my shadow is going to get me! we need to run!" She said, whirling in circles, trying to high-step away from her own shadow which leapt to meet her paws every time she landed back on the ground. She began to bound away, taking high strides to momentarily free herself from the imaginary weight of the shadow, only to land back on the ground and have to bound away from it yet again.

chani squealed and romped to and fro, laughing as loudly as she could, absolutely delighted by her sister's antics. suzu was quickly becoming an idol for her younger sister, leaping as high as she could on small legs, and then higher!
her giggling became breathless beneath its persistence.

”Dat’s it, Chani!” She exclaimed as her sister began to jump. It was then that Suzu noticed something interesting- that if something was in the air and off the ground, the shadow became detached, at least for a moment. It made sense for birds, she thought- who rarely touched their own shadows. 

”Fly, Chani, fly!” She said, and began to hop a bit herself though she quickly became out of breath- continuing only for her sister’s sake.

fade & have another? <3

the girl looked down and after a moment, the connection was made between her sister's vaulting body and the shadow! like a little goat she hopped to and fro, shouting her delight in what sounded like french bleating.
after a while, chani dizzied herself and fell into a heap with a soft little giggle. "i like dat, suzu! i want to be a bird again," she said, yawning in the next.

anytime <3

Suzu’s bounds became little hops, and eventually more high steps as she tired herself out. Vaulting about was not a skill of hers- but she enjoyed it nevertheless. When Chani collapsed to the ground, so did she, breathless and giggling with widely smiling lips.

”You will be a bird in your dreams, Chani,” She said, planting a kiss on her sister’s brow, cuddling her close so that they might fall asleep side by side in the sunshine.