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erzulie carried with her sobo's request. bluepeace meadow loomed ahead.
"@Chacal," she called as she came along, stepping lightly.
"i have some — leadership changes to discuss wid you," she said sweetly to her eldest, settling near the denmouth with an air of patience for however long it took chacal to join her.
Leadership duties? Chacal chuckled. ”One second, I ‘ave to untangle myself,” she would chuckle again as she had to side-step her way past her children, who grew with each and every passing minute it seemed. She whispered softly to them, to stay inside, so she could have a conversation with her mother without distraction.
She blinked as she emerged from the den and moved to muzzle her mother affectionately. She pressed into her salt-laced fur slightly. Chacal knew that with the passing of time, there would be leadership changed, and she assumed now perhaps that Erzulie wanted to speak of the matters they had discussed before.
She was in good humour, though she disliked the thought of leadership changes because it implied her Maman might want to step down. Chacal wanted both of her mothers to stop aging, to be preserved in time, immortal. ”We spoke before about de future. Is dad what you have come to discuss again?” She asked as she pulled back and sat down.
erzulie smiled and waited. chacal glowed with the beauty of motherhood. "maybe an expansion," she said, shifting slightly. her eyes found the beautiful features of their eldest, and for a long time she only looked at chacal with pride.
"when i step down, mireille will take my place." she stopped there to soothe chacal with an expression. "sobo came to your mot'er an' i. he too wants to be considered for leadership." she paused. "njord held be rank of ruby. t'ere be one more: jade, leadership below obisidian an' tanzanite."
erzulie breathed. "it is a change from what we have done. but i t'ink it will be wort'while."
As always, Chacal was interested in hearing her mother’s thoughts and taking her advice. Sapphique was a legacy her mothers had built, and she would have to continue it after they had both stepped down.
She knew Mireille would be next chosen to join the leadership and had accepted this as an excellent choice. Something of pleasant surprise came to her features when Sobo was mentioned, though. She had asked her mother some time ago about possibly asking one of her brothers to join the leadership, though she’d thought it would be Loko who would step forward.
”Seems I guessed de wrong brother would step up,” She said with a slight laugh. She was pleased, nonetheless, that her herb-whiz of a brother was interested in contributing more.
”So Mireille an’ I would lead equally as Obsidian an’ Tanzanite, yes? Wid Sobo as Jade? It would be fit, I t’ink, to ‘ave him in de leadership. If next year bot’ Mireille an’ myself ‘ave children, den it might behave us to ‘ave another leader who will not be nursing infants.” She said.
Women had been the core of the pack’s leadership for some time- and would always be. But Chacal was open to change, especially considering the fact that the leadership was being kept to familial grounds.
”But Njord…I know ‘e has been faithful to de pack…But I am not so sure of ‘im as Ruby.” She said. She considered what Sobo’s perspective might be on the matter, considering what he’d told her. She also did not like to think of anyone taking the rank which belonged to Rosalyn. ”We will need a gemstone for you an’ Mother. A precious one. Per’aps…Ruby becomes a rank for de two of you. Esteemed, respected, honourable- but free from de obligations of leadership.” She proposed.
erzulie's eyes prickled with sudden tears of pride. chacal was radiant. diplomatic. she found a way to include the siblings, and then her own — her own departure from leadership.
the woman breathed out.
it was time. it was time, and chacal had provided the way. erzulie did not hide the glint of saltwater in her eyes from her child. "we will be de rubies, den," she agreed.
mireille! children, in the year to come! she was overwhelmed and overjoyed, belatedly nodding to chacal's question. "you an' mireille, equal. an' sobo, to be your advisor."
in him the lwa had chosen to be known, and so this too would aid sapphique.
she sighed, swallowing, looking toward the sea. "i t'ink loko be like his fat'er. a wanderer." too wild for leadership, at least in this year, but always with the ocean swells moving, burning like salt and ambition.
she was thoughtful. pensive.
When tears beaded the edges of her mother’s eyes, Chacal saw pride, but also a wistfulness, she thought. Time had passed, and when she looked, she could see it in the subtle changes of her Maman’s features. She could see it in the way Rosalyn’s eyes occasionally lost their sparkle, and her gaze became distant.
In part, she feared these changes as they heralded the passing of time, and made the aging of her parents all the more tangible. Live forever, she begged silently, her own eyes brimming with tears. The corner of her lip wriggled but she bit it to still it. Erzulie was stepping down, but she was still healthy…Surely, with less stress and obligations, her mothers would live longer, happier like this.
She couldn’t dwell on those thoughts, or she’d cry.
She inhaled deeply to try and get rid of the burning in her chest. It was a relief to see her mother so pleased with her decisions; she would always care what Erzulie and Rosalyn thought, which she realized might weigh on her decisions…But she knew if she followed her heart, and was true to Sapphique, she wouldn’t disappoint them.
”Per’aps,” She agreed, with reference to Loko. Chacal loved all of her siblings, and hoped that these choices would not come across as preferential treatment, but that might be something she would have to address again someday. At some point, she too would have to choose who would follow in her paw steps- and she knew by then, the choices would be many. The thought made her smile faintly, though the smile faded. She, too, had many siblings- but not many had stayed, narrowing her mother’s choices. She could only hope that her own children stayed closer to home.
”’Ow do you feel, about all of dis? An’ about…Mot’er?” She asked, shifting the topic slightly.
when chacal inquired, it set a harsh weakness spreading through erzulie. or perhaps it was not weakness at all; suppose it was only the way that things must be, the way eternal of children succeeding their parents.
but her gold-caped girl did not ask for the fringe details. her eyes asked for that which was in her mother's soul, and as she glowed in maternal light, erzulie knew that she could entrust these to chacal.
"it be hard," she said, a tight smile to follow. "i have always led. an' i have always done so wit your mot'er. it was always us, for years an' years."
strife. war. bears. relocations. injury. they had worked together. the stepping-down of rosalyn had finally ensured that erzulie realized such chapters were ending, and with this came specific fears. wonderment. resentment. anger. sorrow. she drew a long and careful breath.
"i am happy sapphique will go forward. dat is what i wanted. an' bringing your brot'er into de leadership — it means dat de pack will progress differently. wid more newness." more than she could give. and perhaps that too was part of it.
"an' mot'er, well, i —" voice trailing, throat tightening. "i want to devote each of my moments to her now, wit no distraction." she was uncertain how many of them they might have.
and still with all erzulie had said, she still could not say that aloud to chacal.
With her laurel had come the understanding that she might too experience the hardships of being a leader. She knew it meant decisions, and that those decisions might lead to loss. That was something that both of her mothers carried with them- but now, at least, they could simply be devoted to each other.
And it was not without a pang to her heartstrings that she pried, from Erzulie’s words, something that she held back. She was glad that Erzulie would be able to comfort and care for Rosalyn without distraction now. ”I am sure dat will be good for de bot’ of you,” She said. Some trepidation showed in those words; she knew time was finite. She had questions she wanted to ask, but they had answers she did not want to hear. So she simply smiled weakly, and leaned against Erzulie’s shoulder.
erzulie would have given any answer needed. but for now she only gathered chacal close. she could no longer hold the grown woman as she had in the girl's infancy, but her mother's arms were strong. she kissed the dark cheek and the golden crown.
pride was in every fibre of her.
sapphique grew strong and quiet around them.
erzulie, for the moment, for now, was content.