Blacktail Deer Plateau ever he is, who takes his seat so close

paranoia, coursing through her. had she been wrong? had they only become drageda?
she must not think of it now.
erzulie had grown restless, alit with the stabbing desirous nature of wanderlust that urged her. in a handful of days would the season seize hold of her, and she must bind rusalka together again with her own body. once more, but this time she alone.
erzulie called to @Reyes. he must not be here when it happened. aningan, flared with the violence of what had occurred, would be terrible in rut, a great muscular whitebear who would not tolerate the antics of a young man.
"you did well wid de sisters," she told him when he had attended her, "an' i have a task for you."

He kept to the open spaces whenever possible. The crowded forest bothered him immensely, but so far only Harps was aware of that - and anyone who gave him side-eye for the scratches on his face was awarded with a scowl. He too was restless, and it was a sensation that he seemed to carry with him from Tortuga to Rusalka; Reyes did not know why he was so easily agitated, nor why he felt so destructive, but he did. He was. If he could burn down this damn forest he would.

Then he heard Erzulie. She came in to view quickly enough, and seemed just as agitated - maybe more than himself. Curious of this (and reminded quickly, viscerally, of the ordeal with those strange sisters) he drew closer. The boy approached her briskly and stopped when she glanced his way, diverting his gaze but not his attention.

She spoke of a task, and his ears pivoted, eyes alighting upon her face with further interest. What sort of task?

the harlot had spoken swiftly, but now her own gaze gathered concern. the boy could glower all he liked; erzulie clucked her tongue at the sight of his lacerated cheeks. "kisa ki te pase?" she exclaimed in a surprised hiss.
jerking her head that reyes should follow, and allow her to treat him before his face caught fire with infection, she went on. "i be havin' headaches in de morning, boy," she revealed affectionately. it was not a lie.
away from the sea, away, away.
"i need for you to go inland' an' find me cherry bark." tall trees with reddish boles; a stand of them was some days' travel away. "leave de en' of de week," erzulie suggested. reyes would then be gone for most of the week that followed; she could be sure her son would be departed when aningan came for her.

She motioned for him to move alongside, and he did. To her question he shook his head slightly, with the hope she wouldn't ask further, as he did not have a good answer. He could have mentioned his loathing of the forest but did not want to disappoint her - especially after being away for so long.

When she mentioned her headaches he frowned, focusing on her instructions. Cherry bark would remedy this; he would find it if he could and make sure to bring an ample supply back for her - feeling a sense of pride that she would ask him for this, even above his other siblings. Reyes nods and says, Okay. I'll find it.

He did not know what such a tree would look like but he would figure it out; for now he waited while she sorted through her wares and readied her supplies, and soon was distracted just watching her work.

erzulie did not press. she chewed marigold into a fine paste, letting the bitterness fill her mouth as she wet it into a bolus and pressed it here and there upon reyes' face, if allowed. brisk, no-nonsense, affectionate; from time to time she looked beyond her task into the somber face of her son.
finished, she rocked back upon her haunches. "i know it is not exciting, reyes," the harlot murmured, "chasin' bark from strange forests." but it would heal her ailment, and furthermore, remove him from rusalka for the time being.
a beat of time. 
"what did you make of de ot'er day?"

He fidgeted a little when she moved close. Tensed sometimes as she pressed the paste upon his skin; he did not mean to, but his teeth grit each time. His toes curling against the dirt. Little things. Whenever Erzulie's eyes traced across his features he was looking away from her or letting his own gaze become glassy and distant.

As soon as she relented and sank back, the tension flowed away from him again. He relaxed his jaw, licked his lips - glanced at her carefully. The task did not sound too difficult and had he the energy to reply, he would have said as much; it would be nice to get out from under the canopy of this forest despite having just returned to it.

What did you make of de ot'er day? His mother probed after a pause, and to this he drew a sharp breath and opened his mouth - but held his tongue, at least until Reyes' initial thoughts subsided.

It was fun. Probably not what she wanted to hear.

she grinned. "it was fun." until this moment, erzulie had not been able to enjoy the events; too racked with doubt and shame upon her inward stage.
but there had been a fierce, wild pleasure in it, and she shared this with her son in a silent, knowing moment. 
"it was good to remind ot'ers of what rusalka is," the beta hissed conspiratorially, before her feature smoothed into her normal aloof disposition. 
erzulie looked at reyes firmly, before rising and taking a trail that led out of the plateau. he would accompany her, she was certain.
nieve had been retiring, clementine nowhere. scarab and marisol traveled. only reyes had made himself known; only reyes had put the ferocity of pirate and bayou-witch together in a gentle but cunning display.
only reyes was suited to follow she and rosalyn into leadership.
erzulie loved every one of her children, and fiercely, but it was the way of their kind to determine what role fit which offspring.
and for now, reyes was meant for the helm
"dere is a copse of cherry trees some days' trek dat way," erzulie murmured, indicating the teeth of the sunspire. "but i do not only want bark, reyes. be free wid it. bring me information you t'ink is useful."

His surprise wrought fresh complexity across his face, then. The others had been resistant to the tension and the chaos, the unknowing, of those moments and Reyes had certainly acted rashly as he came to the aid of his mothers; he had anticipated a talking-to or some such, but instead was consoled and praised in the subtle, vaguely nefarious, manner that Erzulie bestowed now. It had felt right in that moment - and now she stroked his ego, his confidence.

When she moved deftly along the trail he followed; no invitation necessary, as she had cast her magic with her precise words and he followed the praise. It had been sorely lacking within Tortuga. Remembering that place brought a lull to the tempo of his steps, but Reyes focused again, reminded himself he was home now and had a task to fulfill. Erzulie spoke of further freedom within it, and he nodded, intoning quietly but firmly, Yes, maman.

If little else was said, he would take his leave from her in the next few moments and go to formulate a plan for his travels.

she led her half-grown son down to where the river curved against the lower borders of rusalka, pregnant with melted snow, its swift rushing studded with ice. for a long time she was silent.
"before you an' your siblings came into de world, we had to fight de wolves of drageda for ankyra soun', where we founded rusalka. dey were tryin' to claim it as dere own; dey lived in de cliffs above. we fought."
their independence had been won in an act of bloody revolution. it had become the core tenet of rusalka; blood, battle, all striving for a fierce and marrow-deep loyalty to one another. she smarted from aningan's reproach, which had been not only the sisters, but to erzulie and her wife also.
and so she would make him part of their crew with herself, bind him with blood.
then he would understand the truest creed of rusalka.
"if i wanted you an' your sisters to claim land for our family, would you do it?"

He was antsy, but attentive. Thoughts of where he might go, what he might do to find what Erzulie asked for, and all the places he could explore, filled his mind. He also thought about Nieve; he wanted to share this development with her, this quest, unaware she would be tasked with her own - and equally oblivious to the reason his mother would be sending them away.

When she began to elucidate upon Rusalka's history he did listen, and even imagined himself back home upon the beaches. He envisioned what it might have been like to fight in such a battle and that stilled his energies. To bring glory to his family was all that Reyes wanted. To keep them safe, to strengthen their holding wherever it may be.

Thus when Erzulie spoke of the future, he was all ears. Unaware of what claiming a land might entail (and again, thinking of how much fun it would be with Nieve and their siblings to aid him) he hastily parrots, Of course, maman. I'll do anything.

there would be time enough later to smooth the details of the plan. what mattered was reyes' loyalty, and he had proven that not only with the sisters, but now. to her, to his maman. she was deeply pleased, utterly proud of their son.
"so," the harlot began, wanting to turn their conversation to other things, "are you ready to tell me where it was you got off to?" reyes had returned older and close-lipped and aloof. erzulie suspected a good deal of it was his age, but wished to give the boy a forum to speak all the same.
she turned her eyes to the sky briefly, watching the trajectory of meandering seabirds returning to shore for the impending spring.

While the mixture she had applied to his wounds began to set, to dry, there was a calm that settled between them. Though they did not share blood they were family and it felt so, so good to be back with her; with all of them, really. Reyes was not bothered with the quiet - but when Erzulie asked her little question, he felt a twist in his heart. It was not her doing but the effect of his memory, summoned by the question and coloring his words.

At first he did not want to say anything but Reyes couldn't avoid talking about it.

A place called Tortuga, he explains carefully, watching her in case she might recognize it; he doubted his parents would have known of this place, somehow. It felt like a magical (and distant) land, something he alone could understand. He swallows a lump in his throat and continues: It is a large territory with many crews - ah, packs - and, uh... I fell in with one. Skeleton Quay.

His face darkens, and Reyes stops speaking - looking away from his mother and at the trees as if they are the most interesting thing all of a sudden.

her son did not want to speak of it.
erzulie was briefly wounded, but closed this off with a brisk smile and a nod of understanding. "well, i am glad you are back now, an' your mother is also." the ranging of their children so early had taken a toll upon the pair; marisol still had never returned. but reyes had, clementine had, nieve had. scarab too, but had traded a life in rusalka for one of wanderlust.
on a whim she leant closer, licked his eartip lovingly. "i be ready anytime to listen, reyes," and then she truly left off it.
rising, the harlot shook out her ruff and stretched. "come spar wid your old mot'er," she invited jokingly, falling into a playbow with the intent of dispelling the tension.

He should have been happy to be home, and he was to some extent. The presence of his family made everything a little bit better - but it was all an adjustment. He could not shake the experiences within Tortuga so swiftly from his mind; but he accepted Erzulie's affection, nose drifting towards her cheek after her touch upon his ear, although he did not touch her. His warm breath drifts from his snout and across her skin, and then he pulls back.

The offer to spar brings some intensity back to him. Reyes smirks, his eyes looking more surprised than anything. As she ducked in to a play-bow he took a step back and ducked down as well, mirroring her, letting his wild coat flare along the spine while his tail whipped at his hocks. He feigned a lunge towards her face and snapped at the air softly, purposefully missing the mark.

reyes was becoming quite a strong individual, erzulie noted, drawing back despite the control of his jaws. he would make a fine leader for what she planned on behalf of her first brood. very good, her eyes shone at him, tongue lolling a brief moment smilingly, before she had become somber and circled to the left.
it was a feint; she seemed to leap for his flank but at the last moment rose up, seeing if she might catch reyes off-guard and lay her forelegs heavily across his spine.
already he had the impressive makings of a warrior, and she wondered if some time with the reticent rosencrantz might do him well.

It was all a game. It wasn't real. He was fine - this was fine. Sparring should not bring him anxiety, and yet as they jockeyed for positions against one-another Reyes could not help but lose himself in the game. As Erzulie rose up and feigned one way he fell for it; and then as she drew herself close and crossed his back with her forelimb, he reacted beyond the game — his legs stiffening and tail arching, head low and snaking as he tried to withdraw from her touch as if it were burning him. 

He snapped, spun, even snarled without meaning to, and drove himself in to her chest almost like he was eager for an embrace, except those teeth collided with her collar and came dangerously close to her throat and all that was vital there. His eyes were wide and frantic, with the whites as pearlescent as his fangs.

erzulie expected reyes to be rough, but it quickly turned from a spar to something more ferocious. she found herself parrying against her taller son, bewildered by the sudden desperate passion that had come over him. when her child's teeth clicked harshly against her collarbone, drawing blood, the beta gave a sharp warning snarl and sought to shove him back, to put space between their bodies.
"reyes." her voice a gentle weight in the cold air, stepping backward, mismatched eyes seeking. "what is de matter?" her gaze pinned him; he could not lie to her, not now. she would know.

He tasted blood, and whatever frenzy possessed him quelled immediately. In place of his mother he saw some other figure - or figures, it remained unclear, dizzying, disorienting - until Erzulie spoke his name and drew him back to himself fully. The more she spoke the less affixed he was to the terror in his breast, and he found himself staggering backwards from her shove, worming his way low against the dirt. He blinked quickly, sucking in air and yet staring at the ground as if he had never seen it before; he wasn't in Tortuga now but he was home, he was -- he was with his mother.

While she was demanding answers, rooting him to the spot with a gorgon's glare, he could only sag against the dirt and let his rapid breathing de-escalate slowly. His heart was a shuddering mess which calmed as quickly as it had begun - yet he did not answer. Instead he shot her a timid, worrisome glimpse of the eyes and could not hold his attention upon her face for long; he was shaking his head, clenching his teeth tight around the flecks of blood lining his gums. Refusing outright to explain himself.

what had happened to her son during his travels? anger rose in erzulie's breast, swift and terrible. it was not for reyes, however; it was for those who had changed him, cut off his tongue, separated boy from the distant, reachless man he had aspired to become. for once, the jezebel was unsure of what to say, taking a helpless step toward reyes before she caught herself and turned a pained glance toward the horizon.
he did not wish to speak. she would not force him.
but — "many t'ings happened to your mot'er when she roamed de seas," erzulie whispered of rosalyn. please, if you will not speak to me, then to her you must go, reyes.
a quick smile in hopes of dispelling the sudden tension; she moved beyond her boy with a soft look that invited him to continue on with her.

He wanted to leave. In the state he was suddenly in now, with his flesh burning and his blood running cold and everything aching like it had before --- so much sense-memory that he thought he was in two places at once, almost, -- Reyes was forced back to the moment here, rooted to the dirt, with Erzulie's next comment. It didn't make sense to him at first, but then it slowly came to nest in his mind and he realized, somehow, that there was a darkness to his mother's voice. He was frozen in place; as Erzulie moved around him, he knew she would want him to follow.. But he could only sit there, feeling the air bluster around him softly, and then he was moving too - but away, silent and emotional and withdrawn, to seek solace elsewhere.

reyes did not stray after her, as evidenced by the lack of footfall behind her. erzulie sighed into the cool air, refusing to pass a look back. she did not wish him to feel guilt. her son would speak when he was ready; any attempts to drag it from him resulted clearly in a warning. and so she went on, seeking out her wife's company.