Recent content by SwifttailTheFox

Snow flew thick and fast. Swifttail stayed in the action, boots crunching and sliding as he worked the edge of the fray, scooping and throwing with joyous ease. Another snowball left his paw in a clean arc, then another, his body loose and warm despite the cold, breath puffing in steady bursts...

Alwyn’s barked command snapped through the din like a lash. Again. Swifttail forced himself upright, breath tearing ragged from his chest as he dragged his blade up with him. His legs trembled beneath the armor, protest screaming through muscle and bone, but he planted his footpaws anyway. He...

Swifttail felt the attention settle on him like a change in pressure before a storm. The room had gone quiet in a way that wasn’t calm, the echo of Vihma’s punishment still hanging heavy in the air, the Marines drawn taut between expectation and unease. He was acutely aware, all at once, of what...

The impact hit him like a hammer wrapped in cloth. The wooden blade swept up across Swifttail’s torso, the force of it thudding through the padding and straight into his ribs. The armor spared him the worst of it… but only just. The breath was torn from his lungs in a sharp, humiliating gasp as...

Swifttail had just reached the rail when a voice cut through the rising wind. Swifttail turned his head enough to spot the broad fox along the deck, already working a line with steady, powerful tugs. He nodded once in acknowledgment, then reached for the nearest safety line without hesitation...

Snow crunched under Swifttail's boots as he slid sideways between two startled bystanders, breath steaming in short, bright bursts as the rhythm of the fight took hold. The Frost Faire had tipped fully into chaos now. Shouts overlapped. Snowballs burst midair. Somewhere nearby, a kit whooped...

Swifttail had been awake long before the first shouted orders tore through the lower decks. The Hide moved easily beneath him this morning, hull cutting cleanly through favorable winds that had rendered the engines little more than a warm, steady presence deep in her belly. Steam pressure sat...

Swifttail barely had time to reset his footing before another strike came snapping toward him. He caught it on instinct, wood ringing against wood, but the impact still rattled up his arms and forced him back another step. His breath came sharp and uneven now, chest heaving far harder than it...

Swifttail had been lingering at the Frost Faire for quite a while already, and for once that felt like a luxury rather than a failing. The weight of coins in his pocket was unfamiliar but reassuring, a gentle clink when he shifted his stance, proof that this evening belonged to him. He’d...

Swifttail hesitated only a breath before closing his paw around the silver and slipping it into his pocket. The weight settled there, heavier than it ought to have been, not because it would drag his trousers down, but because he hadn’t truly earned it. Not with sweat or craft or long hours at...

Swifttail lowered his paw from the salute, shoulders still tight as if he expected another correction to come crashing down on him at any second. None did. Instead, Alwyn’s attention moved briskly onward, issuing instructions, gesturing toward the crates of equipment set near the dueling square...

The walk through the Trenches was… quiet. Too quiet. Swifttail tried once, early on, to fill the space with something light, like a comment about the morning air, or how empty the streets felt at that hour. However, the words wilted almost as soon as they left his mouth. Silvertongue didn’t...

Swifttail reached the rail with his heart still trying to climb out of his throat, eyes sweeping the water in a sharp, frantic search before sense could quite catch up. A vixen’s head broke the surface. A rowboat, battered but afloat, bobbed nearby. Aboard was the small, broken shape of a mouse...

Swifttail accepted the second letter with both paws, clutching it alongside the first as if afraid it might vanish the moment he loosened his grip. The tension in his shoulders finally eased, just a fraction, and he bowed his head respectfully to Alwyn. “Thank ye, sir. I… I won’t forget this,”...

Swifttail flinched when Alwyn rose, but the weight of the paw on his shoulder stilled him. Alwyn's calm confidence poured into him through his reassuring touch, grounding him. His ears stayed low, but his trembling eased just slightly. When he finally dared glance toward Finny, the look on the...