Dragoncrest Cliffs burning tattoos

the sun gleamed like the lighthouse in fajardo, where she squinted her eyes at the apex of the cliffs.

the waves looked great for surfing for sure, but she knew she had more pressing niceties to exchange with the matriarchal seaside village before it became suspicious—or obvious, singing kumbaya around a tidepool was not what she was explicitly searching for.

val had been struck with unusual melancholy since thibault's departure. there were new lives to tend to, and so he kept busy keeping both @Mireille and @Chacal's caches at capacity -- but even then, all that solitary time let his mind wander.

occasionally he saw cayetano and @Kheviel around bluepeace. once or twice, he saw the furtive form of sobeille or occasionally @Saint -- but by and large, he remained solitary.

there was a scent he'd noticed since his return. it was established enough he needn't worry, but today as he finished patrols by the cliffs he spotted her silhouette haloed by the expansive blue of the sea below.

it's beautiful, isn't it? he offered with a friendly wag of his tail, coming to rest besides judith with a look that could be called both fond and forlorn. this was a favorite spot of my adoptive mothers, rosalyn and erzulie. they spent a lot of time here.

jude was a social animal sure, but people here had no fear of strangers!

maybe it was a pretense for the characters in this region, which made the possibility of her davy jones' locker of past bucking up again all the more ominous.

she was more concerned with herself, more than anything. half of her didn't want to suffer for no reason, and have her own. another half was still stuck glossy-eyed over her mother's upturned tidepool grave.

something in this man was distant as well--he seemed stuck inbetween as well. mhm. i've 'eard about these reverent mudders, souns' like you guys loved em' a lot, huh? so you an' mireille be siblings?

the warmth in val’s expression shifted ever so slightly as judith’s question registered. if he’d grown up anywhere besides sapphique, he might have owned a morsel of guilt for shacking up with a pseudo-relative; but sapphique was steeped in familial tradition. things were complicated biologically.

not biologically. he said with a quiet laugh to himself. but it did pose the question — what was he to mireille?

val gently nudged the topic elsewhere, gaze resting curiously on the figure of his comrade. how did you find sapphique?

i 'ad no siblings, or a family, so i'm not inclined to the blood run thicka t'ing either.

judith's eyes flicked over the shore, trying to final the familiar saltstones. i didn't find it. the sea did, brought me here. i guess she wanted to give me a break for once, she turns to smile politely.

judith shared a sentiment val could understand. blood bleeds, but bonds stay.

he his his horror to learn judith had been at the mercy of the sea. she was destined to be here, he thought. and you do not fear the sea anymore? he could not imagine the ocean giving anyone a break - but he bit back his tongue.