Dragoncrest Cliffs Polished

Leaving Suzu with the children and taking Mireille with her, Chacal roved out to the oyster pools where they could dive and pry a number of the oysters from the underwater rocks. On days like this- when the two could sneak away together and use pack business as the excuse- Chacal remembered joyful laughter, and shared with her sister excited whispers and gossip. They could tell stories together and laugh at the way the stories had changed over the years, exaggerated in places, playfully. Moments of silence were spared when their mothers and brother were mentioned, and leaning on one another, they found strength. 

Five oysters were gathered, and were brought to the great stone arch in Siren's Bay. After the oysters were set out on display, they called out, summoning @Maleah to them.

!!!!!

She'd heard the call while in a lapse of quiet, a moment to herself; and just like that, she was headed for Siren's Bay.
She thought fondly of little Miette while she trotted through the tunnel, a ghost of a smile borne upon shadowed features. Astera, too, and Suzu; the women and girls of this seashore she had slowly begun to call her own home. Day by day it became more cemented and her comfort increased; the lands, the faces, the voices, memorized.
And it was the oysters that caught her eye as soon as she came upon the ledge, honey-lemon gaze turning astutely to Chacal in wonder.

the days passed in the hum of insects, the growing of children, the warm sand of their bay, the whisper of women, almost all related at this point. maleah felt like family, somehow, not only by way of her femininity but her involvement with the little ones.
her bright eyes pleased mireille when the woman came to join she and her sister. a lazy grin flickered across her face; she murmured, "you look well."
and waited now for her sister to speak with singing voice and the steadying tones she had come to regard as sapphique's backbone.

Please go to THIS THREAD and do your pearl rolls :D

Anticipation grew as she watched the dark mouth of the tunnel, excited to have the chance to yet again welcome one of their members into the rank of Lavanda following her ceremony. The set of ranks was often empty, now that last year's children had been promoted to Rosada, though she knew it would only be a matter of months before this year's brood began to climb through the ranks as well. 

Just as important were those who joined by choice, and as Maleah emerged from the tunnel she was welcomed with smiling eyes. She allowed a moment for her to respond to Mireille, noting with amusement the way her gaze fell to the oysters. 

"De time be 'ere for you,
to join us in our crew.
In Lavanda you will be,
following your pearl ceremony." 

She explained. 

"Choose t'ree oysters from dese 'ere,
an' open each to see what dey bear.
When you find a pearl, it is yours to keep,
take it as a message from the deep."

She said, before she swept a paw over the oyster shells, and settled back to watch with eager eyes what size and colour of pearl Maleah would pluck from her oysters.

Chacal's tune came like a crashing saltwave, and Maleah stood still with wide eyes for several seconds before it dawned upon her: her pearl!
Oh, her smile, small before, grew larger and wider. An intimate ceremony with only the sisters of Sapphique, and even still, it was more than she could ask for. Her eyes flicker from one to the other before she gives a nod of her own silent approval.
Carefully, she reaches forward with a dainty paw to pull three oysters from the bunch. The first one is pried open with gentle use of her incisors, the hinge snapped back, and to her awe, a magnificent coral-toned pearl awaits her inside.
Rosy-hued and massive yet delicate, Maleah stares and examines; beautifully intact, and so bright she swears she can see herself within it. She clears the white meat of the oyster away with laps of her tongue before rolling it central to the three women for all to see.

this ceremony pleased each aspect of mireille. her sister spoke and for a moment, the closeness of the rite closed over the obsidian, transporting her briefly to another time and another place.
maleah hardly hesitated, and soon a gorgeous pearl was revealed.
a cluck of her tongue; a croon; a dazzled eye. it was a fitting hue for a woman of their beloved sea cliffs.

Chacal glanced to Mireille, noting how her sister shared the joy that seemed to flow through all three of them. It was a ceremony Chacal felt would never grow old- that both adults and young alike would take delight in being treated with not only a treasure, but inclusion into the pack's warmest and closest ranks. She watched eagerly as Maleah opened her first oyster, knowing quite well that sometimes it took more than one try to find a pearl-

but there, nestled amongst the oysterflesh, was a large pearl, the hue of golden, peachy sunrise. Suzu would be pleased, she thought- to have a sister who was also the keeper of a peach pearl. 

"Maleah, you be keeper of de peach pearl,
Dis hue indicates one who is playful, spirited and bright,
It means you will bring de pack many allies.
De size means you 'ave a big heart in you-
to your pack, Sapphique, you be true." 

She sang with a smile.

Peach!
She was peach; and as Chacal's hymn sounded, the symbolism, what the oysters' chosen hue for her meant, was pondered.
Her whole life had been one of bending her back for others, going where she was needed; her services and her knowledge were her worth. Straight-laced, back turned to the scent and sight of rot and cries of anguish. Sometimes thankless, and other times revered as a savior's profession.
And her lip wavered as she thought of it, how Sapphique offered her a place to rest her tired bones and be part of something so much greater. Playful, spirited and bright. A bleeding heart cherished, wrapped in warm cloth; women who could love her, a sisterhood; freedom. Sapphique offered her freedom.
She accepted her new recognition within these women as truly, truly one of them with a beam and shy ears bent sidelong, and it said so little of the relief and gratitude that she truly felt. Her eyes were what gave it away, big and wide and gleaming; bouncing from sister to sister as words seemed to escape her.

as their rite went on, mireille found her gaze resting more openly upon maleah. the hue of pearl was perfect for the sort of person that the woman already had showed herself to be. pride flowed upon her veins, both in their mother sea and in their companion herself.
"congratulations," mireille murmured, stepping forward to offer a soft kiss for maleah's cheek. "we welcomed you to sapphique. now de sea has welcomed you to us as well." and forevermore might she be one of their sea-cliff denizens, enshrined in peace and the absence of men who meant to change and to take.

Maleah was embraced within the ranks of Sapphique, and alongside her sister Chacal stepped forward to graze her nose against the woman’s other cheek so she might feel fully welcomed into their sisterhood. The sea breeze mingled with her scent, brine twining its way in to tint her aroma with a dusting of salt and wind. 

Like those who had been initiated before her, Maleah would find herself with a home that would honour and guard her- so long as she too remained faithful. Chacal had a heart full of optimism as they embraced their newest Pearl.

Found sisterhood seemed to thrum between the three women, this cluster of seawolves Maleah had happened across now solidifying themselves into her life.
The warm kiss of Mireille graces one cheek while the cold press of Chacal's nose meets the other, and Maleah's head dips to accept both in wordless appreciation. Both forepaws reach for one belonging to each; family, now, the gesture says. Sapphique chose her; the sea chose her, and now she chose it just as well in all its fire and fury and organized chaos, its cool-toned might and loving, strong arms.
She hoped that the lost family of these cliffs, those she had never met, looked upon her with their own acceptance.