Redtail Rise rekonstwi

diplomacy mission! aw!

the journey to the rise was short but reminded mireille that soon she would take a longer one of her own. "i will not be long. back tonight," she told @Chacal, glancing fondly at the new babies tucked to her sister's side.
with her she brought seafood wrapped in tightened kelp: clams, salt fish, the rich eggs of sea urchins. an offering from sapphique. she did not know that her family had declined to fight in the redtail war. she knew only that the bear would not spare a wolf even if it was not her own.
and so she came, and set down her offering, and called out politely for any wolf of the rise to attend her.

she'd been foolish to wander the other day, when she'd found Glaukos, and she's even more foolish now to attend to a border call. but even as she feels more weighed down than ever, she's also restless; it prickles at each and every fiber of her being.

she's ready to have these damn pups.

Avicus lifts her chin to scent the air as she ambles toward the stranger, and the urge to grimace is painful. she grits her teeth against it instead. it's a Sapphique wolf, and while she feels for them in the wake of that bear attack, she also still isn't quite over their refusal to help with Nyra.

perhaps if they'd come, there'd be enough soldiers to have seized and destroyed the white woman and her murderous daughter. but, alas.

mmm? she asks briefly, tail flagging high and chest puffed out as she tries to counter her softly rounded midsection. whah' bringh you here?

avicus, maybe. who else could it be?
they were both measured in fire and cool lines.
"medicine. food." mireille straightened with a pride that was also respect, seeing an equal in the woman before her.
woman, while she was still a girl.
"my mot'er erzulie be dead." this time her gaze did not quake. "my brot'er sobo, too. my sister be a mot'er again. an' i have come to say we stand wid you, if de bear should come again." they must stand together. they had no choice. she never wanted to see her wolves scattered like that a second time.
the emerald eyes were watchful as she fell silent.

she hadn't noticed the bundle upon her arrival, and she dips her nose to sniff at it now, her belly churning in both hunger and surprise at the varied smells of the bundle. her head is still bowed slightly when Mireille speaks again—and upon those first few words, it shoots up and her neck almost hurts with the whiplash of it.

'ulie. . .deadh? she asks, her face gone drawn and hollow. 

Erzulie? the woman who had saved her life, who had taken her in when there was no reason for it, other than kindness and charity.

it can't be. . .

she owed her life now to Erzulie, and she feels as if she'll go to her knees at this news—but she remains upright, with effort. gives a stout nod to the girl, who's remained brave-faced throughout this interaction.

'hhank you, Avicus says. i'm. . .i'm 'hhorry. no words would be adequate.

mireille shook her head, and more sharply than she had meant. "she died as she lived, protectin' de pack." everything about her face hurt, to be so stoic. to force it. "i only mean to do as she would have done."
or so she hoped. mireille's eyes drifted across the red wolf's billowed sides. her lips moved, her voice sounding a thousand miles away.
"maybe a hunt, in de spring? closer to summer," she mused, brow furrowing as she tried to count the months, the seconds for her own season.
mireille had come to dread these mathematics.

she collects herself and nods, staying as stoic as this Sapphique wolf. a hunhh'. we will be 'hhere, she promises, swiping a tongue over her jowls. she died as she lived. protecting others. even at a cost. 

Erzulie hadn't needed to take in a dying Avicus, and yet. . .

how can we help now? Avicus asks, in a rare show of altruism. 

she shuffles, looking contrite. there's no way she can repay the woman, but what comes closest is helping Sapphique. they are allies, after all.

her indigo gaze meets the young woman's, questioning.

mireille's throat hurt. "help us hunt an' patrol, between here an' de sea. we should hear more of each other's voices," she added, offering a tiny smile.
chacal and avicus formed a vanguard of the experienced mothers. the obsidian could only hope she might join them this year.
"an' for you, avicus? for de rise?" there was a moment here, one to be had.

hunt and patrol. that they could do. their ranks had grown with the coming-of-age of the young wolves, and she can send one or two of them to assist in this regard.

she nods, then cocks her head to catch the questions in return.

'hhame, Avicus replies. hunhh', pah'hrol. look ouhh' for our packhh'. the two of them, together. allies.

and though they'd refused to help with the war against Nyra and her daughter, her ill-will had faded altogether at the news of Erzulie's death. if she couldn't make it up to the woman in her life, then she certainly would work to repay the debt in her memory.

she nodded quickly, and her thoughts aligned with that of avicus for a moment.
"if de sea wills it, i am to be a mot'er t'is year. maybe by de winter, we can hunt tog'eter for de firs' time, all of us."
little hunts, in between, she thought went without saying. "one year, de wolves of moonglow came to de taiga, to de glacier dat way. t'ere used to be a pack, duskfire. wolves from moonglow, duskfire, rivenwood, an' me, we hunted de caribou for an entire mont' as one."
she squinted against the bright sky. "what do you t'ink?"

the thought of a joint hunt is overwhelming in her current state—but the best of her relishes it.

mmm, she remarks quietly, nodding. we will hunn' wi' you.

perhaps the plains. . .they have a lot of ground between them and the nearest pack, she thinks. a lot of game to be had there. she will think on it.

full moonh' af'her nex? she posits, cocking her head.

that's May 5, btw!

!<3

mireille nodded quickly, warmly.
"dat be good. i will tell chacal." she paused awkwardly. "is t'ere any message i can carry to my sister?" she asked in a voice that suggested if not, she would turn to go, feeing accomplished in what she had come to do.