Dragoncrest Cliffs find out what I'm 'bout from the insidе out

a year old, and her life had so far been kept by choice to the rocky shorelines. 
everyone was leaving. in an eyeblink, chani lost many of her peers, siblings, and even aunts she was growing to love.
despite all that, sapphique was swelling and growing. maman was going to welcome new puppies, a fact that might have pleased chani more if she was not dealing with the upheaval of loss.
sapphique was strong. she simply wasn't sure where her place in it was.
moodily, the girl stared off into the surf.

there was another girl in sapphique fighting against the ever changing tide. alongside chani, sobielle struggled to find her place here.

by all logic, the pieces should fit. yet try as she might, sobeille’s edges did not lie flat — and when she tried to turn or round out the frayed ends, they only stood out more jagged.

she found chani staring moodily out at a sea equally stormy. sobeille joined her in gazing out at that distant horizon, at a loss for the missing pieces of her life, and the new pieces that had moved in and summarily displaced her.

<3!

was it so clear that chani was troubled? the way that sobeille approached made her wonder, but their shared and heavy silence forced the thoughts in another direction. she snuck surreptitious looks at her cousin, then at last slumped down, leaning back on one elbow.
"i be t'inkin' of goin' on to eresta too," chani murmured, her eyes kept upon the darkened waves. "but my maman be goin' to have more babies. an' your maman just did."
it was not lost on her that only one brother remained, and no older ones for sobeille.

<3

no! sobeille pressed in a sudden burst of emotion. she retracted, feeling shame ring her cheeks. she did not want chani to leave.

she had barely wanted tousaint, and theo, and chantale, and ravin, and all her aunties to leave either.

sobeille's gaze turned from the frigid waters to chani, a rare form of dread in her gaze. it was all changing, most of it too fast for sobeille to bear. she felt like every time she righted herself, another wave came and broadsided her.

no more leaving. no more babies, either. sobeille announced, stamping her paw firmly into the stone.

surprise flowed through chani, then anger, then irritation, and then surprise again. the deluge of emotion settled at last on a knowing, fierce acceptance, which burnt past everything else.
"no more leavin'," she finally said, tail switching at her heels.
a swallow; "but i be needin' to get away for a little while," chani murmured; chin lifted; final compromise, and an arch of a browline that suggest sobeille come along.
they could even bring astera, or it could be them, or just chani; just, just, just; she had to get away.

chani experienced a flood of emotions -- sobeille sensed them, and felt their power in her periphery.

no more leaving. sobeille's gilded gaze communicated, brow arching in silent question as she caught the shift in chani's expression. a compromise -- a concept sobeille was not supremely fond of.

but for her sisterhood, anything. where you be goin'? sobeille asked, voice hushed as she leaned in as if the two were sharing some terrible secret.

a laugh snorted from her, the sound of it rolling dragonlike over the edge of the cliff; "i do not be knowin' dat, but perhaps it be a better way." tongue caught between teeth, chani considered.
"come wid me. i have decided i do not be needin' to go too far." a little humour sparkled. "have you been to de rise? a funny boy is t'ere, mulherin. we could go to meet him, an' den..." she shrugged, suggesting they seek adventure thereafter, perhaps inland.

chani’s laugh clawed into the jagged wind of the cliffs. sobeille considered her prospects with reticence that surprised even her.

a last, her mind was made. this would be her redemption for not traveling on a grand adventure like chantale and tousaint. this would be hers — and chani’s — eresta.

okay. she breathed, casting her gaze back to the tumultuous waters. she would miss maman, but not the lumping babes at her breast. do you t’ink we can convince @Astera to come along?

"de more de merrier," chani laughed, and shook off the day and any cloying stress. "you go an' tell your maman. i will go an' tell mine. an' find astera," she decided, mentally switching the search with the departure.
"i do want to be back before de pups arrive. tell dis to matant, so she does not worry."
nosing sobeille, she stepped back, chuffed once, and then turned. she would call to them when the time came, and she hoped it would be soon.

new resolution sparked the fur along sobeille’s nape. okay. she breathed, marveling how a fresh objective could spark a revolution.

she returned chani’s nuzzle and parted ways. @Astera was back at the roja den; sobeille breathlessly told her of their new planned adventure and invited her along to break the news to maman.

later, she thought of telling val but decided his gender made being informed positively unnecessary.

that night sobeille dreamed of astounding new adventures beneath a quilt of dark purple skies.