Moonspear oh, home

hoping for @Seal !

 

Now that da and Seal were back home, Orca was hard pressed to go too far from Seal. Orca winced at each nightmare, guilt pressing in on her that she had not been there for Seal in the reality that had caused it. Sure, she might be in the same position, and who might that help? 

But maybe it might have helped her sister then. Somehow. Maybe she could have distracted the hellcat, as her father called it, to chase her instead… 

All her imagination at work. Orca had much too much time with it, now that Seal could not play… and now that Orca was much too busy keeping guard to bother with games.  Orca lay alongside Seal, keeping at her post. Her eyes shifted from the horizon back to her sister, who seemed to be asleep at present.

Towhee’s jaw tightened as she followed Meerkat up the mountainside. A lot had happened since her last visit: Njord and Seal had been attacked by some exotic wildcat; @Fennec and @Killdeer were gone; even her two youngest were nowhere to be found. She struggled with some guilt, though she reminded herself that all of these things probably still would’ve happened had she been here. Towhee would be flattering herself if she thought she could’ve made much difference.

-“Hey there,”- Towhee greeted when she popped her head into the Sveijarn-Corten ulaq to find Orca keeping watch over her sister. -“How’s she doing?”- she inquired, inching forward to rest beside her granddaughters, orange eyes clinging to the marks on Seal’s body before tracking up to Orca’s face. -“How’re you doing?”-

Orca’s presence helped Seal sleep peacefully. Nestled beside her sister, quiet snores indicated that deep rest and recovery were taking place. Unlike Orca, Seal didn’t replay any of the events in her head… she wanted to lock them far, far away and never revisit the terrible memories and pain. Forgetting was simpler than making sense of the horrific reality that she and her Da had endured.

Then, a familiar voice caused her to stir. Seal woke, happy to find more of her loved ones beside her. She reached out to hold Orca’s paw and then smiled up at their traveling grandmother. “Grandma Towhee,” she whispered in a weak, but happy, voice, -- her body was too sore to sign. “You’re back!”

Orca stood as she heard the sound of her mother and someone else approaching. Her tail wagged slowly to see both faces she loved, and just as she was going to approach the feel of Seal’s paw upon her own gave her pause (pun perhaps intended). 

She heard grandma speak, and thought it better Seal give her update. Yeah, how are ye feelin’? she asked—and then, realizing she did not sign the words as grandma had, did so again. A little out of practice, Orca found that signing was like… following a scent, even when you hadn’t for a while. Easy enough to fall back into! 

How was she doing? She’d been asked that a few times, but Orca wasn’t sure how to ever respond. -I jus’ want her to feel better. An’ I wanna find that hellcat and kick it’s— - a gentle look from Meerkat had her minding her tongue, but she doubled down on, -kick it. Aye, I’ll kick it alright, when ahm big and strong,- fantasy, that—if her da couldn’t, what were the odds she could? 

Still, she thought the words would amuse Seal as she sank to her belly and rose up her hindquarters in a play bow. She knew Seal couldn’t play, but sought to raise her spirits with her own brand of dramatics. 

She looked to grandma now. -Will ye be stayin’?- she asked, hopeful. Now that there was a hellcat on the loose… well, who would want to be traveling alone and run into that?

Seal roused and Towhee’s orange gaze returned to her, favoring the girl with a soft smile. Her lips barely moved but Towhee was pretty sure she caught her name and the words “you’re back.” Orca followed that up with a question about whether she might stay, though not before vowing to avenge her sister.

-“For a few days,”- she replied, hoping Phox (and Fig et al) could forgive her delay. -“I know your pain, kiddo,”- she continued, moving her paw toward some of Seal’s wounds without touching them, then abruptly shifting her back toward both girls. -“See these? They were compliments of a cat too.”-

It was impossible not to have noticed the three scars spanning from her spine toward her right hip, though Towhee guessed Orca and Seal had just accepted them as part of their grandmother’s appearance without really questioning them.

-“My pack mates and I kicked its ass,”- Towhee said, grinning at Orca before shooting Meerkat a mischievous glance. -“But that’s not always how it works out. Sometimes the bad guy gets away. I’m just glad you’re still here with us, Seal. Sounds like you and your dad fought as bravely as you could, your Uncle Bronco too…”-

Orca did a fantastic job brightening her sister’s mood. Seal giggled at her antics although, in the back of her mind, the picture of another family member becoming wounded gave the girl goosebumps. Physical prowess was one of Orca’s strengths. She had always been the bold, confident, and cunning sibling. If there was anyone who would become a mighty warrior and protector, it was Orca.

Then, Seal’s attention turned to her grandmother as she began to weave a tale. “I didnae ken that marks were… made in such a way.” Seal observed. “Da has ‘em on his face, too, but I never…” her voice trailed off in thought as her gaze drifted over Towhee’s back. She had always just thought they had been born that way.

Her ears fell to the side sheepishly, feeling her naivety.

“I didnae want tae fight…” she frowned. Pride or bravery was not the emotion she associated with the event. She thought of the other two men who had fought besides Da. “Uncle?” Seal gawked, surprised.

So… these things Towhee wore permanently were not a part of her design. They were…  compliments of a cat. It was a strange compliment, and Orca was unsure if she wanted one like that—her eyes turned to Seal and her healing wounds. Lacking a censor, Orca frowned and said, -I dinnae think I want tha’ kind of compliment,- but, after a moments thought, she said, it does look cool… this unsigned, perhaps because she understood the stupidity of the statement as she breathed it into existence. But it was less for wanting one, and more for comforting Seal anyway.

All she had to do was meet a cat, hm? Well it was good to know at least. That one hellcat had lived, but grandmas own had died. That answered one question: they were not the same cat, one back for vengeance or something like that. 

It wasn’t on her to do list anytime soon, though. Both da and Seal had put a healthy amount perspective on mortality. Orca knew that Seal and her da lived thanks to equal parts skill and good fortune. That either of them might have not made it felt heavily implied as of late. 

But they didn’t die, and so Orca just didn’t want to think about it anymore. She knew Seal didn’t either. But as Uncle Bronco was brought up, her brows pressed together in concern. She asked what Seal hadn’t (verbally, at least): -How is he?-

-“I’m a seasoned warrior and even I would never willingly pick a fight with a cat,”- Towhee commiserated, gently bumping Seal’s cheek with a closed fist. -“But that’s what makes us brave: when we fight even when the odds aren’t in our favor. Even when we’re scared out of our goddamn minds. We fight to live another day, hey?”-

She shifted her gaze to include Orca, catching the commentary about compliments. Towhee laughed wryly but didn’t explain what she found funny. She wiggled her eyebrows when Orca insisted the marks looked cool, at least.

Towhee caught Seal’s surprised question out of the corner of her eye and bobbed her head, saying, -“Well, technically speaking, he’s… I don’t know what. But he was like a brother to your mother when they were younger. And I’m not sure,”- she answered Orca’s question with a frown, -“Your mom didn’t say. I mean, I’m sure he’ll be fine, though he might be in a bad way like you guys. Don’t worry, though, I know him pretty well and he’s very stronk.”-

Perhaps, she thought, it was time to change the subject to something less altogether fraught. It wasn’t easy to put the whole thing out of anyone’s mind, considering, but Towhee embraced the challenge of distracting her granddaughters.

-“Hey, have you two ever played I Spy? What if we scooted toward the door—I can help you if you need it, Seal—and played a couple rounds?”-

Towhee and Orca’s words of encouragement added some chagrin to Seal’s small smile.

She perked up at the mention of Bronco and her extended family. She wanted to meet them all, someday. Grandma Towhee often travelled and Seal wondered if she would be able to do that too. Mom’s family seemed much larger than Da’s…

However, Seal wilted like an overwatered plant when Towhee alluded that Uncle Bronco might be unwell. The last time Seal had seen him was right before she collapsed during the fight. So, she was thankful when the subject was tactfully changed.

“I’d like that,” Seal’s tail thumped the ground. “How do you play?” She looked to Orca. Maybe her sister knew.

Of course neither of her granddaughters would turn down an opportunity to play a game with Towhee, even though this one likely appealed to a slightly younger audience. It was a good way to stimulate Seal’s mind without putting any duress on her body.

-“Well…”- she said, launching into a quick explanation of the game rules before jumping into it. -“I spy with my little eye…”- Towhee cast her gaze up, down and all around, locking in on the perfect target overhead with a grin. -“Something small, brown and coming in hot!”-

As a matter of fact, Batman flapped right down to land on her back. Just in case either of the young girls got excited and tried to pounce him, Towhee arched to scoop him with a forepaw. She raised it in front of her face, holding the adorable little pipistrelle at eye level.

-“Orca, Seal, this is Batman,”- Towhee introduced, then shifted her eyes to them with a mischievous grin. -“Who wants to go next?”-

But they were far too distracted by their grandmother’s small companion, not to mention the way she’d seemingly magically summoned him right out of the sky. Towhee laughingly fielded all their curiosities about Batman, before gently redirecting their attention to I Spy, insisting perhaps they could manifest their own familiars too?

Wrapping this for us! :)