Kazuki

wonderful story by foureclipse!

"Thanks, Kazu!" the young nocturne chirped, the shiny stone clutched tight in their claws as they zipped away.

Kazuki smiled and hummed happily to himself as he moved back into his den, bustling about putting away the tools he'd used to cut and polish the hatchling's lucky find for them. He always liked it when kids came to him for help, so was always willing to set aside whatever he was working on at the time, but he really ought to catalogue the last of last week's trade into the clan's official records . . .

He moved to his desk and sat down amid the nest of cluttered papers, looking at the disorganized mess with just a hint of pride and self-ironic humor before digging through it find the proper reports. When he found them, he lit a new candle--the sun was going down, he saw through his den window--and settled down to finish up the last lines.

Ah, but his quill. His quill, where did it--oh, he knew. "Silly, silly," he muttered, shaking his head in amusement as he hurried away from his desk. "Of course it's just--"

He blinked down at the far edge of his nest, where, yes, there were the couple of books and the stack of notes he'd been taking last night during some late researching, but no quill. He frowned. "Really, now," he huffed. "That's just rude." Had his kelpie come through and made a mess . . . ? No, everything else in his den was, well, not in order, but at least familiar in its usual disarray. Nothing seemed out of place . . .

Oh! He'd lent it to . . . no, no, they were out on vacation. Hm.

Kazuki reached up to scratch his head--and his claws touched a feather that was distinctly not his own. He slowly pulled it down and held it before him, eyes squinted suspiciously. When he figured it out, he gaped in surprise, then couldn't help but laugh, shaking his head wryly.

Maybe he was getting too old for this if he was losing his quill in his own feathers . . . but, well. The day he couldn't find it again, maybe that day he would retire. Until then--he moved back to his desk to finally, finally get those trade records complete, happily humming the same tune before.

Huh. He'd just noticed. He knew this song by heart, remembered it from his earliest days. But, at some point, apparently, he'd forgotten the words.