~ I ~ The shift happened Tuesday morning. Chenar had been Chenara since last autumn. Now he came into the kitchen as himself. Jukrit was at the stove. He turned around and looked at Chenar for a moment. Chenar looked back. Jukrit gave a small nod and turned back to the stove. That was all that needed to happen. Chenar settled near the hearth. The rest of the household wasn't up yet.
~ II ~ Kalina got up an hour later, entering the house through the front door designed for Noraxia. The 15-year old large breed gheval mare looked at Chenar right away and laid down near him. They looked at each other. Kalina gave a nod. Chenar's ears came forward. That was the whole exchange. Chenar, the pocket pet sized gheval, had been in this household 7 years, and was 10 now. He'd shifted before and he'd shift again. The first morning was always a little strange at first. Tassa came down twenty minutes later, already in furfolk form. She looked at Chenar. "Hi, Chenar," she said. He lifted one ear in her direction and looked away. Tassa grabbed fruit from the bowl and sat down. Nobody said anything else. Jukrit thought that was probably the best possible reception. Kyren came to the doorway, looked at Chenar for a long moment, and went back to the barn.
~ III ~ Broven arrived at noon with a stack of papers. He'd walked from Nowshoy Forest, taking him three hours. He spread everything out on the kitchen table. Miv's handwriting was in the margins. "The stone-rhythm maps to musical intervals," he said. "Not exactly. It's close to a Phrygian base, but the upper harmonics go somewhere different. Six tones." He pointed to a sequence. "That's the crystalid call Tassa found. When I put it on a standard scale, it's almost a pentatonic minor." "Almost," Jukrit said. "Two tones off. Miv thinks the Nowshoy stone has its own resonant frequency." "You want to play this at the ceremony tonight," Jukrit said. "Yes. I've worked out a version for strings. I talked to Kex. He's in." Tassa appeared in the doorway. "Can I play too?" "Do you play strings?" Broven said. "No." "Then no. But you can sit in front." Tassa thought about it. "Okay," she said.
~ IV ~ The autumn ceremony wasn't formal. It had been going on for so long that nobody remembered starting it. Food showed up from several households. Instruments came out after dark. The street gathered. Persephone and Sarima walked in from Nowshoy Forest at dusk. Sarima was 40, young for a Cygnagon, and still curious about everything. Persephone stayed close to her. Raskon brought Nesori and Tarvek. Veverka came on her own accord. Khari brought food. Kex came with a wide hollow-bodied string instrument he'd made himself. Gorven came. The baker came and brought delicious baked treats. Most of Riverside Market was there by the time the evening got going. Chenar and Kalina stood at the edge of the yard and watched people arrive. The street filling up was its own thing to watch.
~ V ~ Kex opened with three autumn songs in the Laumea tradition. They were slow and vowel-heavy and built for group singing. More people joined on the second song. More on the third. You didn't need to know all the words. The structure let you find a place in it. Sarima knew Laumea from Persephone. The version Kex played was different — older, drifted — but the same underneath. Then Broven stood up and played the stone-rhythm. He explained it briefly. He played the six tones twice. On the second pass Kex picked up the pattern and played under it. The combination was strange. People stopped talking. Tassa was by the fire with Lev. She leaned over. "Other Tassa told me ghevals exist in their universe. But they're rare. One family on their street has some." Lev looked at Kovi and Darek sitting twenty feet away. "Just one family," he said. "She said our barn smelled interesting." "That's fair," Lev said.
~ VI ~ The announcement came between songs. Noraxia moved to the center of the gathering. Jukrit watched the fire and felt her move before he saw it. "I want to tell everyone something," she said. The street went quiet. "In the spring, we'll have a new household member." Nobody said anything for a moment. Then Kex said, "A cub?" and everyone started talking at once. Jukrit looked across the fire. Noraxia looked back at him. They had known since midsummer. It was good to say it out loud. Persephone was still. Then she stepped forward and pressed her head against Noraxia's shoulder. Not the formal greeting. Something older than that. Noraxia put her hand on Persephone's mane. Nobody commented. Nobody needed to.
~ VII ~ Sarima appeared next to Jukrit. "Is that —" she started. "A sibling," Jukrit said. "Half. She already has three generations ahead of it." Sarima looked at Persephone and Noraxia. "I know. It's different to see it." Raskon came over. "More Cygnagons in Riverside Market," he said. "That seems to be the trend," Jukrit said. "It's a good trend." Veverka was at the edge of the gathering. Jukrit caught her eye. She gave one small nod. Chenar appeared at his side. He looked toward the barn, then toward the house, then up at Jukrit. "Not the barn," Jukrit said. "The house." Chenar looked at the house for a moment. His ears settled. He seemed to find that acceptable and moved off into the gathering.
~ VIII ~ The music started up again after the announcement. More voices now. The autumn songs went louder. Chenar sat on the fence rail at the edge of the yard. Nobody said anything about it tonight. Kalina stood beside him, behind the rail. They sat there and watched the gathering. The fire, the music, the street full of people. Broven's stone-rhythm was folded back into the regular songs now. But you could still find it underneath if you listened. The two moons were up. First night of autumn. Chenar and Kalina heard the evening sound beautiful around them. That was their day.
