Dragoncrest Cliffs batay kè

while meerkat visited with her brother and her mother returned to the place where her younger relatives healed, mireille took a breath and galloped to find @Chacal. she was not sure how much had been heard, but before it became a rumour she wanted to head things off.
and then she would go and find her brother, who had become the only male confidant mireille felt she had. but first she searched through their lovely land for her elder sister, letting out an exhale of relief and resignation as she slowed her gait.
nosing through chacal's ruff, the girl swallowed. "t'ere was a fight on de borders wid a freshwater man who talked about you." her eyes searched those of her sibling as well as co-leader, looking for anger. "i be de one to strike firs'."

There was tension, but yet uninformed, Chacal did not have reason to believe that there had been a conflict that involved her. There were two youths who needed tending and feeding, and when she did set out to patrol the borders, she did not happen to pass by the area where the brawl had occurred. Her sister found her first. Her mood was bouyant, and she rumbled affectionately as she preened the fur at her sister's shoulder as well. Content to enjoy a moment of bonding in the wake of chaos. 

But she stiffened when she mentioned a fight- and then, when she mentioned freshwater man. Chacal pulled her head back to gawk at Mireille in disbelief. Her heart jumped; he had followed her back? That had not been her intention. She'd woven a path on the way back which meandered and crossed waters, hoping it might not lead him directly but...He knew she was from an oceanside area by the briny perfume she wore. 

She inhaled deeply, and looked Mireille over when she admitted she'd struck first. That much didn't matter- if Mireille had been inclined to strike out, there must have been a reason, she thought. Her thoughts on Arric turned dark. "Men," She exhaled, through her teeth. "Are you alright, Mireille?" She asked, casting a worried glance over her sister. She had not caught the scent of blood on her, but perhaps she'd missed something.

when it became clear that chacal was not angry with her, mireille's body relaxed and then tensed again, hotly. "oh, he ran his mout' to me! firs', he came here to 'provide for you.' he told rhaegal dat he would be back again an' again!"
her eyes widened in remembered shock and then narrowed to renewed fury. "he followed you!" mireille growled indignantly. "did not even know your name! dat would be hint enough not to come after! den, chacal, i went down t'ere. i told him if one of us be wantin' him aroun', he would know. i told him to go away an' dat his offerin' was not needed."
"rhaegal t'ought it was a curse. no. it was just dis man, wantin' you to know his scent."
mireille bristled. "den he started swearin', sayin you 'reduced him to meat' an' he was 'just fuckin' leaving,'" the red girl parroted back to her sister, every word of that conversation seared into her head. "den he called me honey. said dat i could hate him all i fuckin' wanted, not for something someone else did. de assumptions!"
mireille lifted her head high. "some more swearin' but i was hot by dat time, chacal, so i went to teach him a lesson. rhaegal caught de mos' of it, den maman was t'ere. an' dis man still rambled a bunch of words about me hatin' him at once an' he was just bringin' food, ugh! ugh!" she sprang up and paced in a tight line. "i told him never to come back an' got his word on dat, but we will see."
winded, she slumped with the release of all these things and stared in silent rage toward the sea.

Chacal hissed again. The embers she guarded in her heart were sparked by the furious flames that still licked and flickered in her sister's soul. Torch leaned against torch, setting them both alight. And while she knew that in some occasions, she would have to restrain her bias, her sister was an easy exception. What she'd shared with Arric was a means to an end, as lovely as it had been...But that memory singed and burned with his reputation when she was told of Mireille's account. 

Her sister was right- Arric did not know her name, and that had been a clear signal that she did not intend to have him come for her. She nodded, puffing air into her cheeks and rolling her eyes. She'd tried to get away, and keep herself distanced from him, though she would only admit that perhaps, her heart had wanted for him a day or two after her return. Hormones, she told herself. For now, she felt as though a boundary had been crossed. She felt slighted, hunted. She was secure in her home, surrounded by her family, but she did not want them to have to fight her battles for her. 

If only she could have met him first- and sent him packing quietly. 

"Mireille," She sung, her notes hanging wistfully, regretfully. 
"I see your side, and know it be true.
I hate 'im for all he has said to you."
Her tone was dark, almost a snarl. He'd run his mouth to her sister. Her sister. It appeared there had been a misunderstanding over some kind of offering at first- something she might speak to Rhaegal about- but for him to have said those words to her sister made her simmer. 

She felt ashamed that he had followed her back. He'd had a use, and had seemed to understand that at the time. She shook her head, exasperated. 

"He was a man of few words at de time-
I gave 'im no name, no pack of mine.
But t'ru dese actions 'e be makin' me sour,
he be not welcomed here at any hour." 

She was relieved that Mireille had made sure that he would never come back- that much was a relief to hear. She uttered an exasperated sigh that matched with Mireille's, and managed a half-smile. When Mireille slumped, Chacal pulled her sister toward her. She had borne that burden, she could let Chacal hold her weight now. She smoothed the fur between Mireille's ears with her tongue. 

"T'ank you, sister."

chacal's singsong voice, laced as always with the sweet nature of sapphique and familiarity, did much to soothe mireille. she sagged against her sister and leaned gratefully into the gentle touch. "i hope you do not be blamin' yourself for him. he does not matter as much as he t'inks he does."
the girl was pensive a moment. why had he said those things? why had he been so defiant when told to leave? why did he feel entitled to doing anything beyond what had been chosen.
"i t'ink i am going to go very far away when it be my turn. days. maybe a week. an' den, maybe i beat him up after," she joked.
but not really.
mireille decided to release it for now, feeling much better. she turned in her sister's embrace with a smile. "how soon will you be knowin', sè?" she asked with delight and interest.
men had nothing to do with the joy of sea women when it came to new life being born on their shores.

She blamed herself, of course. Perhaps she could have roved further, found someone who could not track her back. Perhaps she could have cleansed the brine from her pelt and disguised herself as a woman of the woods, bathed in earthen scents of pine and spruce. She'd not thought that it would be this difficult to shed herself from the man's affairs, as he had a pack of his own to care for. 

"Perhaps next time, less gentle I should be-
an' leave him wanting to run from me." She said with a rueful roll of her eyes. It shouldn't be so hard, she thought. Her mothers had managed, as far as she knew, to avoid a stalker. She regretted bringing this foul-mouthed blasphemer to her pack, albeit unintentionally. Mireille seemed to have the same feelings, now. Men couldn't be trusted once they were wooed by one of Sapphique's sirens. 

She was about to ask her sister more, though. The fact that she was now considering what she would do when her time came meant that perhaps it was on her mind, and that she had intentions of finding a sire. But Mireille spoke first, and she smiled softly. 

"I might be wrong, or hopeful, maybe-
but I t'ink I feel different already." She said in a soft voice.

mireille's eyes sparkled with a deep joy and surprise. "wow," she said in a low voice, and could not help flicking her eyes to chacal's underbelly, which remained unchanged. "it be a true wonder," she declared, laying back dramatically upon the ground. 
"i talked to meerkat about it, you know." her lips twisted into a smirk as her cheeks heated. "is it nice, chacal?" she was still feeling out about the ends of her want in this regard, made warier and warier.
but here she could think about it, talk about it. "i will be last, maybe. but maybe dat is good?"

Perhaps it was simply hope that lingered, in the wake of her hormonal surge, but Chacal was optimistic. She would watch for any signs that her body allowed her to perceive. From the early, light fluttering in her abdomen to the more obvious signs like nausea. Thus far, she had nothing but a feeling but even that was enough. The brightness of her mood, too, was something she'd felt this early on in her first pregnancy. 

Her ears flicked forward when Mireille asked her about the experience. She did feel a light twinge of envy when she was told that her sister had approached Meerkat already about the topic, but it warmed her heart, too, to know that Mireille had bonded with Meerkat, and trusted her to speak of such things. In the wake of all that had just transpired, Chacal found it difficult to give Mireille a simple answer. 

"It is. You feel...Alive, wid so much energy,
An' it makes you feel longing to be free.
An' when you find de one you desire...
...Well, it is a feeling dat sets your body on fire." She said with a light laugh. It did indeed feel good, when she blocked out all other obstacles. She was quick to ensnare, but also very quick to lose. Both Arric and Ashlar had gained more from her than she'd initially intended to give, but now she felt withdrawn from both- and happier for it. 

"Maybe, it is a good t'ing," Chacal said. 
"Mine will come in early Spring-
if yours be later, per'aps dey come in early fall,
Not 'aving dem all at once may be a blessing to us all," She laughed again. After all, if all potential mothers in the pack were pregnant around the same time, they would be over-run with newborns.

meerkat had given mireille a perfect and educational answer. it was the passion of her sister's voice which brought her ears up in rapt curiosity even as her cheeks began to flame. yes' this did not seem so difficult, nor impossible.
not if it was like that.
she grinned a bit, smoothing her paws over waist thoughtfully. early fall. an entire two seasons away! she was charmed and awed anew to think that chacal would be a mother so quickly! so soon!
mireille shut her eyes, a bit overwhelmed by it all in the loveliest way.
"we will be mot'ers toget'er," she whispered, both for herself and chacal.