Redsand Canyon But we ain't seen nothing yet

Around her quest to map the discovered canyon, Fennec made her way to where @Towhee was staying to perhaps, finally, meet @Jack Snipe and @Leona.

The more she explored, the more the familiar sensation of being trapped crept back in. Walking here was so eerilie familiar, and the walls that surrounded them really only gave her two choices. She needed to learn to navigate her way out or she would need to find a way to climb them.

Bronco had always enjoyed the feeling of being surrounded it. It didn't matter if it was an island, a canyon, or a plateau - Fennec hated having her exits barred.

At least the areas within were fairly regimented and easy to memorize. It didn't take her long to find her mother's scent and quietly announce her presence.

An unfamiliar voice sounded at their door, so Jack was obviously the first to answer. The boy teetered forward on tired paws, yawning a wide yawn. His eyes blinked to try to clear the nap from his head. It had been warm, and he saw no reason why he shouldn’t take advantage of prime napping time. If Fennec hadn’t announced herself at the door, he would have slept right through it.

Jack didn’t realize that she had no ability to see. He trotted toward her and lifted his head with another yawn that shook his little frame. She didn’t seem to take notice of him right away. He pouted a bit before shuffling forward and plopping his butt on the ground. Jack looked up at the underside of Fennec’s chin and barked to her.

Whoooo? he cooed in question.

She was invited in but it was apparent that Towhee was pretty tied up right now. Fennec had come more to catch up with her mom than she had to hang out with the kids, but instead she found herself with a pup at her feet asking questions.

How did her mom do it? Just... let them go like that, and keep the kids they left her? (Granted, current guy seemed to still be around.) It wasn't a question she could really ask right now but it burned in her as she thought about her own season. A part of her wished she'd tried anyway, but she knew the truth - it wouldn't have worked.

Fennec. She replied, tilting her head slightly while she listened for the pup's movements. They sounded pretty young still. I guess I'm your big sister.

No ya not.

Jack Snipe frowned at the stranger, tilting his head curiously to the side. Jack had one sibling and that was Leona, and Leona was small. If he was going to take on any more siblings, he would much prefer Killdeer to whoever this was. She seemed like she was sniffing in an awful lot. Of course, the boy did not understand that she was unable to see.

When he looked at her eyes, he leaned forward. They were glossy and milky in appearance. He’d never seen eyes like that. They were spooky. Jack wondered if this new sister could scare Leona and chase the pup away. He figured he could allow Fennec to fill that spot if she proved herself.

What’s wrong witchyer eyes?

And more importantly, did it make her a superhero?

Should she really have expected different? It was a stupid thing to have sting, but rejection in any form right now was just kind of a kick to an already battered ego. First conversation and she was already declined. Brutal, kid. Kudos.

Fair enough. She replied, brushing it off as if completely bored with the concept of it anyway.

And I'm cursed. I was rude to another wolf when I was around your age and because of that, she took my eyes. Fennec answered, straight faced as if he'd asked about the weather. Wouldn't hurt to put a bit of that fear in them, especially if they were naive enough to buy it.

The boy listened with perked ears and a straight face. New sister had done the wrong with another wolf who’d cursed her! Jack was overjoyed at the idea of such power. Tales of magic and dark things seemed forbidden. He wondered if his mom knew anything about eyeball curses or making deals with wolves who did that sort of thing. He’d put a pin in it. 

Did it go ow? he asked her. It was the Jack way of inquiring if the procedure had hurt or not. The boy was young but he wasn’t too keen on the idea of pain. The young pup also wondered if he could get some cool eyes like Fennec had… or the power to take them from someone else.

No. It was scary, at first, but it didn't hurt. She barely remembered now what it was like to see in a way that was different from the way she perceived the world now. Sometimes she still dreamed, but even then, the world she "saw" was vague and distorted, more a mix of visible and "known".

I don't think she meant to, but she gave me power too. I can read the future and, sometimes, I can give curses too. She could tell from his voice that he was invested in the idea of magic and had no problems leaning full into her witch title for his benefit. She wouldn't give herself the name - not here, not now. But if her little brother wanted a fortune, who was she to deny it?

She wouldn't curse him, though - not even jokingly. She still remembered the girl Niamh had killed. If there was even a chance her words had worked, she didn't want to risk it.

The boy was invested in his company’s tales of blindness. He listened to her speak about how it had been frightening, to start. She seemed to have grown used to the fact that she would be unable to see. Though he couldn’t grasp the concept entirely, Jack thought that closing his eyes would help him understand. He blinked at her once and shut his eyelids so that he could only listen.

As soon as Fennec stated that she had been given powers, the boy’s eyes were opened wide and drawn toward her face. Jack was in awe. He stared at her with a gaping mouth and a reverent stillness to his tiny shape.

You can? Wow!

Thoughts flooded his mind, questions followed swiftly after. Jack Snipe felt energy rush through his limbs, pushing him to bounce around the paws of the larger Fennec.

Can we curse Leona?! he bubbled with excitement.

He wanted a curse. Fennec's pride in that came with a double edge, because it was another reminder of how much she'd enjoyed Killdeer at this age. He was too old to be interested in her curses now, and she doubted she'd ever have the chance to raise another like him. She'd have loved a daughter, someday.

She buried that thought with everything else, another thing she could leave to fester. We could. She replied, as if considering it. The last wolf that I cursed ended up dead. Is that something you'd want? Curses can be really nasty things, if they want to be. She'd figured out a while back that if her curses were real, she didn't have the power to choose the outcome. All she could do was wish the bad.

Recent events had tempted her to lay a number of them, but she couldn't. She wouldn't let them give her any more regrets.

Fennec could guess his answer, but was intrigued. What if he said yes? That would be fascinating, and there was no way she'd rat him out to their mom. Would she have risked killing Fig when they were growing up? Maybe, before she'd learned that death was kind of a final thing.

Dead? Whoa, Nellie… that wasn’t what Jack wanted.

Leona was annoying sometimes but he thought a fun curse would make for a good laugh and something to hold over his sibling’s head. He didn’t want to kill her, no. That was crazy. Crazy… but kind of cool, he thought without sharing with his new sister. Jack wondered if she had any kind of control over how her curses were given to other wolves.

Can we do one that won’t make Leona dead? the boy pleaded with wide eyes. He wanted to know how these curses worked. Maybe they could come up with a curse that would only give Leona a pig snout. Maybe if Fennec could give Leona tusks, it wouldn’t be such a bad curse at all!

That's where my power ends. They aren't my curses. Fennec replied. Whoever deals out the results gets to choose. And I've never been willing to trust it on anyone who I didn't want dead. That was actually full honesty. She used to curse playfully all the time, but ever since she'd done it with that girl, she'd stopped. It wasn't worth the guilt if something actually happened, and besides... what if there was a shred of truth to her asking, and what if they did take that and run with it? She couldn't genuinely wish anything bad on her younger sister, but she also wouldn't be able to even look at her mom again if she "cursed" her and then something happened. Fuck, that'd be awful.

You could ask for a secret, though. It isn't a curse, but it's powerful, knowing something about someone. Fennec could totally bullshit up a secret instead of a fortune. Kids weren't hard to figure out, and despite not spending much time around Leona, whatever she thought if she could make vague enough to have it be true. It was a hard line to walk - specific enough to seem interesting and "magical", but vague enough to not be an outright immediate lie.

Alright, so they couldn’t curse Leona because that was way too traumatic for everyone involved and Jack was pretty sure he didn’t want her dead. He had hoped that Fennec might have been able to turn her into a plump little weasel that he could chase for an hour or two. It was better not to risk it. He didn’t think that his cool new sister would want murder on her paws, anyway. Not a very good first impression if she was hoping to take the sister spot from Leona.

When the boy was offered a secret, his eyes grew wide. He leaned toward Fennec until his snout touched her leg. Excitedly, he had signed the word ‘yes’ the way he had seen his mother and father do. The motion would not have found her, he realized much later.

I like a secrets. Can you get some from anyone? Can you get some from… from rabbits?

The boy blinked at Fennec expectantly.

Anyone anywhere.  Rabbits included.  It was such an innocent request.  And it was way less of a challenge than trying to come up with something for his sister or her mom, which might be a good thing.  It had been a while since she'd done this.

Fennec tried to clear her mind and took in a breath, letting it out.  Then she listened and waited to see what sort of 'signs' she would find.

Drew three for this
- the hierophant
- 5 of cups
- 3 of pentacles

It was surprisingly quick. She wasn't even sure where the flash of inspiration came from, honestly, but she rolled with it immediately. Still with her eyes closed, she began speaking in a properly mysterious, but subdued, manner. Rabbits have a large secret, one you can't share with anyone. They seem like any other animal, but they are actually rather jealous of most others. They envy the hunter's ability to focus in on their prize, the single-minded freedom of the birds, and the simple lives of the fish. There is nothing that drives a rabbit but fear.

Then she straightened and opened her eyes, a hint of a smile playing on her expression. Rabbits dream of learning to protect themselves and their own. But they are destined to always run. It was an interesting picture and one Fennec quite enjoyed. She could imagine those depths existing since it was hard to believe any creature would prefer a life of fear to a life of confident security. She was extremely glad to have been born a wolf.

It was a somewhat dark story for a child, though... and a tad depressing. Secrets were rarely happy.