morwenna watched him rise, her breath caught — just briefly — in the hollow of her chest. he was no mewling stray, no feeble wanderer dredged up by the tide; no, tsukikage was something fashioned by harsher, older gods. a fighter, and not just in the way so many young men claimed to be. this one bore it in the bone, carved into the marrow by life and death alike.
her head tipped in a measured nod, silver gaze sharp and assessing, but a flash of quiet approval flickered there, like heat lightning behind stormclouds.
yes,she murmured, voice soft as velvet but weighted like a blade.
i would have need of such a man.
she stepped closer until the salt-heavy breeze pulled at the hem of her fur and the battered hides still half-draped across her shoulders. she turned her muzzle toward the east, toward the great mountain that loomed distant but unyielding, its jagged crown clawing at the heavens.
there,morwenna said, pointing with a single, regal sweep of her muzzle,
i will make my seat. where the wind will carry the name of my house across every valley and plain.her voice dropped lower, something fierce threading through it, something that could not be mistaken for anything but a promise.
and if you are still the sword you claim to be, tsukikage—her eyes returned to him, steady as an oath,
—then let it be my enemies who learn your edge.
a breath, a stillness between them, and then, lighter, almost wry:
will you come?