The Warlord took Crux out to the vast open field of the Starlit Plains. The land here was useful for seeing the open sky, which was important for what he wanted to talk to his son about today. The boy had shown some interest in navigation. The Warlord wasn’t an expert by any stretch. In fact, it was Zee who had loved to explore and knew the ins and outs of it. Perhaps that was also why he had decided on the lesson. He wasn’t ready to talk of their mother, not yet. But he could reach out to them in different ways.

“Alright, today we are going to be learning a little about the weather.” He said, voice soft as he sat beside the smaller wolf, looking up at the sky. “Do you know how to read the clouds to determine if there will be rain, or a good day?” He asked his son.


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Crux tried to be around his father whenever he could, it caused a level of anxiety to think of being away from him for a prolonged period of time right now, even though he knew he couldn't follow his father everywhere. But some part of him was almost afraid that if he took his eyes off of the warlord he might lose him too. So he wasn't hard to gather up and lead out into the plains, Crux did his best to keep up with his father's longer stride, gritting his teeth against the way it forced his leg to flex more than it was used to, and pushed through the slight twinge of pain in his hip. Maybe if he could just push past his leg, maybe he could stop his father from leaving too...

Still, he was grateful for the chance to sit once they were well into the plains and Crux did his best to hide his panting. He tipped his head back to look at the sky just as his father did, feeling how vast and open it was. Once he'd been afraid he could fly right up into it, with no safe cave roof to save him but he'd grown since then, and learned that his paws would stay rooted to the ground and he'd not be lost to its vastness. Still, the sky felt lonely sometimes, like it's emptiness was all-consuming. His father asked a question and Crux considered. "Usually it rains when there's lots of dark clouds in the sky." It was a simple answer, but the best one he could give, he did not know yet how to tell what the weather above them was like by the shape of the clouds, did not know that when it came to the world nothing was ever a hundred percent certain. "It was like that when it snowed too sometimes, but sometimes it can snow when the clouds aren't quite as dark... And warm days don't usually have lots of clouds at all." He continued on, he'd not yet even seen a full year, his understanding of the seasons was imperfect, shaped by some wild extremes considering the shift from continent to continent, the cool of the north to the general warmth of the south, and then autumn he did not yet know had not been natural.

Speech

Art by Twonahalfer

The Warlord gave a nod of approval. “You've got some of the basics down” He agreed, reaching a paw to touch it over his son's smaller one. “But, if you wish to find your --” He paused, and let out a soft breath. “--Your mothers knack for navigation, then you’ll need to be able to study these things with a more in-depth understanding. Now, the weather isn’t my strongest point, but it was explained to me this way” He said, brushing past the painful mention of Zee as best he could.

“Delicate, feathery, wispy clouds are an indication of strong wind currents, and could lead to a quick change in weather. These are called Cirrus clouds. Thin white clouds like mist, or a halo around the sun are Cirrostratus clouds, and can be an indication of rain or snow. Puffy, sparse clouds of various sides are Cumulus, and an indication of fair weather.” He continued, keeping his head tilted upwards as he searched about for this information. “There are numerous types of clouds, it would do you well to learn them, and study them until you can pick them out. These are just the types I recall” he explained.


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