It had been a month since Niernan had seen or heard from anyone other than his brother and his cat and truth be told he was getting tired of Brans voice. His brother had a wonderful growly singing voice but after almost a solid month of it he wanted to muzzle his sibling. He trudged with his head down and ears back, placing his footpaws carefully among the tangled roots of the trees of the dampwoods. His azure eyes flicked up once to spot Ciaran padding ahaead of them, his dark tabby body almost invisible in the mottled light that came from the canopy.
He grinned quietly to himself as Ciaran glanced back at his master and rolled his grey-green eyes showing his exasperation with Brans bawdy song. Nier nodded ever so slightly and rolled his eyes in reply. He watched as Ciaran turned back around and dashed into the undergrowth, the large kitten most likely stalking some poor small rodent.
He contemplated throwing something at his brother but he had nothing to spare, he raised his head and glanced around, spotting a rather hefty pine nut in arms reach. He plucked it surreptitiously from the nearby tree and hefted it in his paw, testing the weight. He spun suddenly and whipped the pine nut at Bran but he didn't stay still for long, knowing that whether the nut hit Bran or not he would be in trouble for the throwing of the nut. He whirled around again and sprinted away through the trees, giggling madly.
He hadn't been running long when he skidded to a stop in a clearing. He perked his ears up and gazed at the clear blue sky, he snapped his head round to the south and swivelled his ears. The long, high note that shivered through the air pulled at him, his natural instincts telling him that it was a locating and rallying howl, and his ears telling him that it was for him and his brother. His bright blue eyes lit up and he smiled as he recognised the voice, Saul. He said simply, warmth in his voice as he remembered the meeting with his cousin. He brought his paw up to his throat and fingered the otter charm that his grey cousin had carved for him.
His thoughts were singularly focussed on running to Saul but the tiny part of his brain that never stopped screaming Brans name broke through for a second. Niernan sighed and sat on a nearby raised tree root to wait for his brother, his brown muzzle still turned to the south.
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