she had left sapphique.
mireille intended to go back but for now all that filled her head was a blind rage.
by now they all knew;
by now mireille understood that she was truly ignorant, and it was this that she fled, some unknown yawning fear.
she paused beside a mountain, panting.
The summer of her childhood had often oppressed her, though the autumn of her adolescence saw Druid truly coming into her own. She was a flourishing young woman now, fleet of foot and keen to expand her horizons in every sense of the word. Many of her days were now spent outside of Rivenwood, roaming further and further away from the bypass, though always she returned home to her mother and sisters.
Druid jogged northwest today, the air brisk and the blue sky vaulting endlessly overhead. She trotted through Phoenix Maplewood, leaves crunching underfoot, then crossed Silver Moraine and the breadth of Dawnlark Plains. It was probably the furthest she had ever gone and she found herself confronted with a choice: should she explore the marsh to her left or the rise to her right?
As her mismatched eyes wandered between the two, weighing their merits, she did a double take when she saw the crimson figure at the base of the mountain. Choice thus made for her, Druid tentatively approached the other wolf, openly marveling at the stunningly beautiful shade of her pelt. She felt rather plain in comparison, which lent itself to her demure demeanor.
When she came within earshot, she paused and took a breath. Hello,
she called out a little timidly.
the other might have believed herself plain, but mireille gawked at the ashen gradient of her coat, and the single black pupil that shone in a friendly way toward her.
for a moment the child could not speak. there was a touch of her mother in the way that she wanted only to turn away and set an aloof trail back toward sapphique.
"hello," she said instead, choosing to accompany her greeting with a wave of her tail.
mireille approached, and when she came close, she saw the beautiful green of the other eye. "my maman be havin' two eyes in different colors," the girl murmured, offering a small smile.
Druid was too preoccupied with the other girl’s elocution to process the remark itself. The way she said “maman” immediately reminded her of the way Heda tacked an “m” onto the end of Wylla’s name. It endeared her to the stranger, right along with her magnificent auburn locks.
What color are hers?
she wondered when the words finally registered. She then did the proprietary thing and offered her name, I’m Druid of Rivenwood.
Who are you? her gaze asked, admiration shining around the redhead’s bright reflection in her dark pupils.
"de right be green, an' de left is gold." druid of rivenwood. she sounded as though she were some sort of spirit. and rivenwood. she had not heard such a word before. "i be mireille, of sapphique."
she crept forward and reached out a friendly muzzle to explore the scents on the other's coat. "did you come a long way? do you know de sea?" she asked, filled suddenly with questions.
it would not have mattered had she known the history of mahler and her mothers; it was brief and had no bearing on this moment. she stared back into druid's lightless eye, mesmerized.
Druid wanted to ask Mireille about her speech, though before she could, the girl posed two questions. She also shifted closer, which caused the gray youth to tense instinctively. But she remained motionless, allowing Mireille to sniff at her before tentatively stretching out the column of her neck to do the same.
Rivenwood isn’t very far,
she replied, and I don’t know the sea, no.
She’d heard mention of it, though it was one of those things she couldn’t fully grasp. What about you?
Where was Sapphique? Was it by the sea? Was it far?
I’ve never heard anyone talk like you,
Druid tacked on before Mireille could reply, smiling around the words.
before she could answer, druid commented something that made the girl's cheeks flush. "i talk like my maman," she said proudly. "erzulie. she is de wife of my ot'er maman rosalyn."
this was conveyed casually; it was all the saltgirl had known.
"you do not know de sea? come wid me den, if you can, druid. i will show you."
suddenly she wished to show the other the small hidden beach and the tidepools on sapphique's outskirts.
Mireille spoke of two mothers. How lucky! Druid thought, thinking fondly of all the wonderful women in her life. One could never have too many mothers and sisters, though Druid was quite pleased with those she could call her own.
When the girl invited her to come experience the sea, Druid hesitated. She was certainly intrigued, more by Mireille than than the sea, though the thought of so much water definitely stirred her inner fisherwoman. But she had already gone quite far today.
I can’t, not today,
she said regretfully, but maybe I could meet you here another day and bring one of my sisters, then all three of us can visit the sea. Would that be alright, Mireille?
Druid asked, hoping dearly she hadn’t spoiled this blossoming friendship.
"yes, druid." mireille could not help the odd little grin as she said it. her mouth somehow felt foolish and lopsided.
she looked into the obsidian eye once more. "i have sisters too. many of dem. uhh, dere be marisol an' clementine, who lives in sapphique. my sister nieve be gone for a while. last year my mamans had two more sisters for me, arcelia an' solaire. arcelia lives wid us as well. uhum," she was rambling, and chuckled self-consciously. "dis year it be me an' coraline."
"raleska was a sister. an' regin too."
mireille let out her breath. "too many words in de head." she had brothers too, the girl supposed, thinking fondly of sobo.
As Mireille spoke—quite a lot, actually—Druid’s grin grew. Not only would they remain acquainted, she realized her new friend reminded her of Witch, who would quite often go off on fanciful spiels. They delighted Druid, as did Mireille’s breathless patter about her sisters. They seemed to have much in common, a fact which put a steady wag in the gray youth’s tail.
You’re so lucky,
Druid voiced her earlier thought, to have so many sisters! I have two: Heda and Witch. You’ll like them both, I think, but especially Witch.
And with that, she decided she would bring them both along, supposing they wanted to come. Maybe you could bring some of yours too?
The idea of gathering so many wolves was at once exciting and quite intimidating.
Druid supposed they should agree on the whens and wheres of their rendezvous. Do you know about the phases of the moon?
she murmured, eyes searching Mireille’s fine-boned face. It will be a full moon soon. Maybe we could meet at the new moon.
It seemed like such a long time, even as she suggested it, but it would give them both time to prepare themselves and their sisters.
with an event looming now upon their horizon, mireille felt anticipation sweep her. druid went on to say she had two sisters. the seagirl felt nothing about the disparity between them, and nodded excitedly at the idea of meeting the rivenwood children. heda. witch. druid.
by now her earlier anger was forgotten.
the moon. mireille shook her head. "i know de moon an' de stars. maman tells me stories about dem. but i do not be knowin' a lot."
she realized with a flush that despite having so many sisters, she was not truly close with any of them. perhaps she had lied in some way, listing them out. it was sobo she'd ask to come — "do you have brot'ers too?" she asked suddenly, wanting to complete that thought before they began another conversation about the moon.
her summergrass eyes watched between jet and emerald.
Mireille confessed she didn’t know much about the lunar cycles. The new moon will be about fifteen sleeps after the full moon,
she added, in case that helped. She hoped her maman might fill in the rest, so they could meet in a timely manner.
Her new friend queried about brothers, like an afterthought to their conversation about sisters. Druid thought of Worripa, even Astraeus. She understood more now about bloodlines; she knew neither one of them actually shared parentage with her. Unlike with Heda, Druid acknowledged the distinction.
No,
she said slowly, feeling a brief sense of guilt. But it was the truth. I don’t have a father either,
she shared in the next breath, thinking of Mahler. He was certainly a father figure but she understood he wasn’t the man who had planted his seed in Sequoia, nor had she ever attributed that title to him.
Just then, it struck her how the Graf was really the only man she held in any kind of esteem, partly because she knew so few but also because the ones she did know simply did not evoke the same love and loyalty as did the women in her life. Druid made note of this before tucking it into the back of her mind for later contemplation.
Do you? Have brothers?
she questioned.
"i do not have a fat'er ei'ter. i have da njord. but i have mo'ters. erzulie an' rosalyn." and they had never commented upon the importance of a father. therefore despite the title she had for the redtail, mireille had no sense of father versus mother cultivated. the seawives were her mothers. njord was her seafaring parent.
fifteen sleeps.
she could not wait to return and tell sobo, at once — her spirit was excited. "i have so many brot'ers," she laughed softly. "but i only know sobo an' loko."
a sensation was filling her narrow chest. mireille had no word for it.
Mireille mentioned many brothers, though only two by name. Druid wondered if males were of less import to her too, though she said nothing to this effect. She merely smiled at the slight assonance in the boys’ names.
Why did you come here today?
she wondered suddenly, much more curious about this than Sobo and Loko. Gazing up the nearby slope a moment before returning her admiring gaze to Mireille’s chestnut countenance, she added, Would you like to explore it with me?
mireille's features did not crumple so much as slowly fade. "someone we loved died. i — i did not want to stay. i needed to get away." she breathed the new air here, not so encircled with salt.
druid's invitation elicited a smile that filled her eyes once more. "yes," mireille sighed out, stepping to the side of the rivenwood girl's shoulder.
with a shyer look she began to cast about, searching over the patch of earth where they stood.
The answer caught her completely off guard. Though they had only met moments before, they were already fast friends. Druid’s heart immediately went out to Mireille, though she couldn’t really comprehend her loss. And for long moments, she was at a loss for words, so she fell silently into step with her lovelier companion.
She wanted to ask so many questions. Who had died? How had they died? What was it like, losing someone like that? Druid tried to put herself in Mireille’s shoes, so to speak. What if Sequoia or one of her sisters passed away? The thought alone hit her stomach like a blow and brought tears to her eyes.
They shimmered as she suddenly pressed her muzzle to Mireille’s cheek. Druid had no eloquent words to offer and, besides, she was now weeping. But she hoped the comforting touch conveyed what her tongue could not.
mireille's would-be meandering was cut short.
her scarlet ears lifted in confusion and worry as druid's eyes filled with tears.
but the touch the other girl offered was soothing in a way that mireille had not known was necessary. she drew in a breath as her own eyes wettened in response. the sea-child pressed her cheek against that of the forest-girl.
"maman says she will become a loa. she will watch over sapphique."
it was all she could say before her throat constricted.
Losing a loved one was yet another experience with which she was not personally familiar, so Druid could not properly comprehend the loss, at least beyond her imagination. Thus she could not truly relate nor empathize, though the tears streaming down her hoary cheekbones demonstrated her deepest sympathies.
Mireille broke the tearful silence to say a few words about the dearly departed. She didn’t say a name, though she used a feminine pronoun. Druid’s heart twinged. She blinked, her watery gaze meeting her new friend’s and holding it.
Loa?
she repeated, wondering how someone who had closed her eyes forever could possibly watch anything. But she sensed it wasn’t an appropriate time to question that, at least aloud, though her mind certainly whispered its curiosities.
mireille stifled a sniffle. "dere be spirits dat listen an' watch. always. all around us. dey live in de trees an' de eart' and de sea. haunt will be one of dem. haunt was her name."
it felt good to speak of the girl.
and yet it hurt.
mireille shook with a smothered sob and stared heavenward. "i do not want to be cryin' forever, druid."
There were spirits, Mireille said, living all around them. Druid supposed that wasn’t the right word (“living”), though she barely lingered on the thought. Her lips parted as she processed the implications of her friend’s statements. Did existence extend beyond death? Were spirits the same as the ghosts in stories the adults sometimes told for fun?
The sound of Mireille’s barely stifled sob humbled Druid, as did the next words out of her mouth. She pressed her flank up against the other girl’s, touching her nose to her damp cheek. An idea struck her and she hesitated before gently licking away the tears pooling in the corner of Mireille’s eye. It was a familiar, intimate gesture, meant to soothe. She hoped Mireille didn’t mind.
Drawing away a moment later, Druid caught her companion’s eye. Okay,
she said on an exhale, let’s explore.
Some other time, when Mireille’s heart wasn’t so raw, she would ask more about these loa. And she would certainly consult her clan of beloved womenfolk (and Mahler) back home.
the sensation was odd. tickling. assuring. mireille turned her own face on a whim and began to smooth the other's face as well. at her hips, the red tail swung with blessed joy.
mireille too was grateful that druid was willing to move on. "do you only be explorin' today? or — what brought you?" and she hoped it was not half so tragic as her own reasoning.
she inspected the root of a yellow loamflower.
The sensation of Mireille’s own kisses lingered on her cheeks as Druid concurred, Only exploring. This is the farthest I’ve ever been from Rivenwood,
she shared, and I didn’t know if I wanted to check out this hill or that marsh over there.
She indicated it with a swift arc of her blackened snout. Then I saw you,
she finished with a small smile.
While her companion sniffed at a yellow flower, Druid began to drift uphill. The incline was rather steep, though she could see that it leveled a bit further up the rise. She wended back and forth as she climbed, glancing behind her to make sure she didn’t abandon Mireille. Her eyes combed over the rocky ground, a curious noise rumbling in her throat at the remnants of old ash and char still drifting here.
then i saw you
the words made her feel somehow more soothed.
she came to druid's side thereafter, her own peridot gaze shining toward the burned ruins. she had not seen fire before, but she had seen summer storms. "it is so empty!" she exclaimed, and then turned back to her friend.
friend — she enjoyed the concept.
"what do you t'ink happened here?"
“What do you t’ink happened here?”
Druid licked her lips and shook her head, replying, I’m not sure. I’ve never seen anything like this.
She sifted through the blackened refuse with a paw, observing as it crumbled at the slightest touch. It’s like nothing I’ve ever seen,
she murmured redundantly.
Slowly, she continued the upward hike. Druid reached the crest and paused to catch her breath. She spun in a slow circle, eyes studying the views spanning on every side. She went still when her blackened muzzle pointed due north.
Little did she know, she was looking directly at Mireille’s home and the ocean beyond it. Druid had no idea she was looking at the very thing they’d discussed just moments earlier. In fact, she couldn’t properly ascertain what she was looking at at all for several moments, until she abruptly realized…
Still, she didn’t know she gazed upon the sea. What is that?
Druid gasped aloud, tearing her eyes away to search Mireille’s face.
mireille followed. while she had not gone farther than this before, the terrain remained somehow familiar only because she had not lost sight of the waters beside which she had been born.
druid gasped. the sea-girl followed the line of her companion's gaze in the direction of sapphique. the ocean stretched beyond and beyond, never-ending. she grinned.
"dat be de sea," she told the rivenwood child. "see how beautiful she is!"
reverence blossomed in her heart.