Dragoncrest Cliffs why the hell the law wanna press me?

a gasp marked chani's emergence from the waves.
the girl snorted water from her eyes, shook it from her ears; but in her jaws she clutched half a sturgeon.
dragging it up onto siren's beach, she collapsed, her exhausted legs no longer able to support her weight. chani did not know it, but she had almost drowned, dragged down by the sea lion who had stolen half her fish.
yet it had been anger, not fear, which shaped her response; now she lay beside her catch, lifted a quivering paw, and rested it jubilantly atop the sodden scales.

chani was one of the olders, and so, was spared from sobeille's rowdiness. she watched as her sister-cousin wrestled the waves, held her breath for the long pause in which she was no longer visible, and cheered from afar as the girl returned to shore successful.

what took de other 'alf? sobeille asked as she came within earshot, eyeing the severed sturgeon with a mix of interest and horror. she had learned long ago the sea was not to be fucked wit' -- too many big things in there, and too many big teeth.

still, it did nothing to stymie her curiosity of it.

Coming up from behind his sœur, Thibault’s brows were furrowed roughly. A slump on his lips, he asked the next question once cousin Chani emerged from rough waves.
Miette was right. What the hell only took half?
More importantly, he concerned with his chin quirking up, “Qu'est-ce que c'est?”

little miette was first on the scene. chani rose to one dripping elbow, truly exhausted but playing it up just a little for her small cousin. they were joined next by thibault, who gravely addressed her in french.
"se te yon mons ak dan byen file!" chani exclaimed, motioning then closer to see the marks of teeth in the fish's hide.
"gros! féroce! Il a failli me manger aussi!"

sobeille turned to see her brother. she regarded him by a deft flick of her ear, turning back to the severed fish in sodden chani's arms.

thibault's soft voice broke the wondering silence and chani pulled an elbow away to reveal the gruesome sight. it was enough for sobeille to forget the original reason she had sought chani: to ask about the long night.

big teeth? sobeille marveled, turning her awestruck gaze to the impenetrable sea. was it aiming for you den, chani?

A beast! A beast from the water. He knew the ocean to be a terrible place, but for this creature to be cut in half? For it to try to get cousin Chani? An unwanted inhale of bewilderment, his head leaned forward while his feet were anchored to shore. Teeth marks, all upon the pelt of this fish. An inquisitive, or downright concerned eye to Miette, he looked back to Chani after.

"Tu vas bien?" He concerned greatly. "Il a essayé de.. te manger?" And if she survived, was their cousin a great sea warrior?

having the full attention of her young relatives was fascinating, empowering. chani nodded. "oui. i t'ink it wanted a fight," the young fisherwoman said solemnly, looking now to thibault. "je vais bien," she assured him, and sobeille, and herself, truly.
"jetez un coup d'œil! j'ai gagné!" chani exulted, pulling away from her catch to roll in the sand.

sobeille could not help the wandering of her gaze back tot he ocean. surely, whatever had purloined half her meal had to be a massive thing -- and yet, she had survived!

like thibault, sobeille wondered -- did that make her some great sea-warrior?

as chani rolled in the sand, sobeille looked back at the severed fish. i wonder what it was. she had a vivid imagination and was in the middle of imagining a kraken-seal when she recalled, again, the long night. chani, when you be out on de rocks dat night of de long night, what was it like? did you see lots of monsters?

feel free to hop back in, neoma <3

the older girl sat up at last, drumming her paws on the side of the great fish. "i didnae see monsters, no," chani answered with a shake of her head, though her bloodstone eyes were suddenly alight in curious sheen.
"i saw lightnin', an t'under. an' a storm, wid a wolf callin' to me.  a lwa. sogbo," she revealed, glancing between the younger kids.

The soft 'woah' of his lips had befriended a concerning Glance's to Miette. But Chani- Chani had done something neither of them ever had. He had not seen such a brave woman before, even if Miette and Astera came close. 
Chani must have been a warrior straight from the sea.

"Dat be very brave of you. I'on't know if any of us would have lived out of that, Chani." Chani! The great sea warrior.  "As-tu eu peur?"

sogbo. sobeille repeated in breathless wonder, golden eyes upon chani. sobeille longed for her own long-night; a chance to prove herself as true to sapphique.

she shared an awed glance to thibault, nodding as supplement to what he'd just spoken. it must have been very harrowing. she leaned in to hear more of chani's account, ears cupped in attentive rapport.

"yes! sogbo! an' i was scared, thibault. but de t'ing about bein' scared is dat once you are scared, you cannae be scared more!" and it was true, or at least that was how it had felt. "any of you can do dis," chani assured, standing to shake water from her fur.
"believe in de sea. she always gives."
"dat was what i told myself, over an' over, as i fought dis fish! de sea must give. an' she did."

i'm gonna slap a fade here since thibby is going to eresta and i know u want to pare back threads on chani, lmk if youd like me to rearchive!

once you are scared, you cannot be scared more. this kernel of wisdom stuck out to sobeille. she thought of the many times she'd been scared -- but it wasn't boogeyman and cave spirits and lwa that scared sobeille.

it was something deeper.

she listened, keen as chani continued recanting her experience of the long night. soon, it would be sobeille's turn. she wondered what the sea would provide her when that hour came.