Northstar Vale Jazz jukebox

Life had really gone wild for Jack and his family. Topsy turvy stuff.

At first, he’d been pretty bent about moving. He had only just discovered the two boys who belonged to Aquene, and he thought they had a budding friendship that just needed a little nurturing and care. Moving to a whole new place would put a strain on that. When they had set foot in Epoch, the freckled young man had started to sing a different tune.

The place was swanky, and it had other kids who would be in the prime playing age in just a couple of months. Jack Snipe was ready for all of it. Screw the militaristic lifestyle that Mereo had going on. The Imperator had been a snore anyway, he’d thought.

Stepping into the vale and sniffing for signs of prey, Jack hoped he might crash into one of the Epoch natives.

he'd landed within the withered grasses, pristine in his whiteness, still not hidden by a snowy backdrop. 

so exposed, it was a doubtlessly heart-hammering manner of enjoying a scavenger's lunch; rotted squirrel with side of maggots.

the raven was in the midst of picking apart the intenstines. his gaze briefly passed over a most misshapen jacksnipe, waddling by, before resuming its aimless staring.

wait.

his head cocked. the string of guts was slurped into his bill.

that was no bird.

A white crow was not a common sight. Most of the dark-feathered things were so far out of the boy’s line of sight that he paid them little attention. To see one so close, so weird in its features, so… ugly. What the hell was wrong with birds? Who made them like that?

Jack gawked at the animal. His eyes were pinned on the pristine pale features, the slender curve of the bird’s back. The only benefit those animals had was that they could fly. The young wolf thought that if he had wings, he’d be an unstoppable force. There could be nothing greater than soaring away from anything life threw at him. He wondered if that was why the birds were always seen fleeing to the skies.

Yo, bird! Caw caw, and all that shit. You talk to wolves? he barked up to the visitor. 


Damn, the crow was ugly with all that crap hanging off his face. Yuck!

a bird has a particular way of grinning. it opens its beak and slightly tilts its head, eyes changing shape in a subtle way to other avians legible as a delighted squint.

to them it would likewise be legible, that this bird's grin had a disconcerting, ominous quality to it.

"why, indeed i speak!" croaked the great white. he hid his beak behind a wing for a moment, scarping off the slathering of guts and gore off his front with hooked talons. his eyes reemerged first, still looking at the jacksnipe-not without unbridled fun. 

the raven's head tilted again, the other way this time.

"and why is it you wish to talk?"

It did speak! And it used fancy words like indeed.

Jack’s mouth fell open slightly. He gaped at the bird for much too long after it had asked him why he wished to speak to it. Did he need a reason for that kind of thing? He didn’t think so. It sounded like a trick. It might not have been a trick, though. He needed to be prepared for anything. After an extended period of silence, the young wolf blinked at the raven.

I never talked to a bird before! What’s your name?

"ha!" and the bird threw his head back with a croak. what fun!

he looked again to the jacksnipe-not, one eyed shut with mirth. "why, the name i fly with is happiness."

birdishly he leaned forward, head twisting this way and that. "and whatever is yours, unfortunate jacksnipe?"

Happiness seemed like a lame ass name to give a bird. Jack had never seen a bird that was entirely white. The closer he looked at the animal, the more detail he began to pick out. There was a pinkish hue around Happiness’ eyes. The young Redhawk thought it was nice addition to the pale colors of its feathers. He wondered why more birds weren’t white.

Oh… yeah! That’s it. How’d you know?

Wait- the bird just said his name without being told what it was. Jack squinted shrewdly at the feathered speaker. This guy was special. He could predict the future or read minds, or something like that. The wolf trotted closer, wanting Happiness to come down from his perch so they could chat for real.