Dragoncrest Cliffs idyll

Part of her wanted to rush home and clutch @Sequoia and @Witch to her, lest they want to leave Rivenwood too. She could hear her litter mate’s voice in her memories: “My bones shall rest in this loam forever…” Druid dearly hoped it remained true.

Instead, she began to walk slowly toward the coast. She maintained a close friendship with @Mireille, so there was no reason she could not continue seeing @Heda regularly, even if they didn’t share a home. Druid would not be defeated by something as trivial as a little distance. The bonds of sisterhood were mightier than that.

When it grew dark, she rested at the foot of Redtail Rise. In the morning, the winter sun warmed her back as she wended around The Tangle and approached Sapphique to howl for her dearest friend.

it would not be mireille who answered, but erzulie. "she is gone," the obsidian told the delicate little forest-dweller at her borders. "dere was a storm. she did not come back after it."
her face was drawn, almost haggard were it not for the snap of her mismatched eyes. "will you stay for a while an' help me to look?"

For the second time in as many days, Druid felt like someone had kicked her in the stomach. There was a moment, thankfully brief, where she wondered if “gone” was just a gentler way of saying Mireille was dead. But the bearer of bad news—who almost certainly must be one of her friend’s two mothers—inferred that Mireille was missing following a storm.

When the woman asked for her help, Druid couldn’t speak. She nodded jerkily. Of course she wanted to help. She loved Mireille like a sister. And the thought of losing her—truly losing her, not just seeing her follow her own path, like Heda—made it feel as though all the air had disappeared from the world.

"i be erzulie," was all she said before wheeling away. she had searched all of sapphique. she had searched the shoreline, the lakes. "we will head toward de rise. circle it." that was the direction from which druid had come, but erzulie had not yet been there.
"my heart tells me dat mireille still be alive."
but to say it in this manner still filled her with trepidation and sorrow.

Druid nodded again, feeling a bit like a puppet as she stepped after Erzulie. She struggled to catch her breath, the news having knocked the wind out of her. But their deliberate march toward the rise helped to ground her, as did Mireille’s mother’s decisive actions.

Erzulie’s remark finally stirred Druid to speak. She’s alive, she agreed, she has to be… She hadn’t lost Heda, not really, but Druid couldn’t bear the thought of two of her closest companions being taken from her in a manner. And the circumstances of Mireille’s disappearance were much darker than the situation with Heda.

I’m Druid, she remembered to say as they approached the rise. Mireille is my best friend.

"it be good you came den, druid," erzulie murmured, though she could not yet offer the girl a smile. 
for the thousandth time she put her muzzle to the ground.
the snow dragged at her limbs. redtail rose in the distance. erzulie fought the tears that threatened her eyes.
"did you an' she have fun on de hunt?"

Her mismatched eyes watched as Erzulie dropped her muzzle to the ground and began searching for a scent trail. Druid frowned thoughtfully. If Mireille had been lost in a storm, would it have washed away any traces? That made her wonder how exactly a wolf could become lost due to inclement weather.

She recalled their venture to the seaside. The weather had been clear that day, yet the ocean had pulled at them. What if Mireille had been near the water during the storm? Would the waves have become choppy? Would the surf have grown dangerous? Was it possible her friend had been dragged out to sea? Had Mireille drowned?

Druid let out a little gasp at the thought, swiftly banishing it. No! Her friend had grown up on the coast, she would know to avoid the sea during a storm. She clung tightly to this thought, even as Erzulie broke into her thoughts with a question.

She stared at the side of the woman’s face, failing to comprehend for several beats. I, Druid struggled to say when she could gather her thoughts, enjoyed spending time with her. But neither one of us enjoyed it as much as my sister, Heda. Her heart seized in her chest.

Realizing she could not bear to make small talk, Druid asked a question of her own. Should we call out to her?

erzulie was counting in her mind, one two three four; the children who had left. the children she had lost. the faces that had aged in her mind. those that had not. she had seen scarab after losing him once to ankyra. she knew reyes lived and had given her grandchildren. 
where was nieve?
where was solaire?
where was regin?
where was valravn?
where was mireille?
panic clutched at her, choking the woman into silence. she nodded at druid, not trusting her own voice for the moment.

Now it was Erzulie’s turn to lose her voice. Druid frowned in understanding, hesitating before reaching out to touch her snout to the woman’s shoulder in a gesture of solidarity.

In the next moment, she threw her head toward the overcast sky and howled more fervently than ever before. “Mireille! Mireille, can you hear me? If you’re out there, please answer!”

she lifted her voice eventually to twine with druid's own.
mireille, if you hear, call back to us
listen for us
she shut her eyes, pouring love and resolution into her voice, edging it with a threat for anyone who might have seen fit to keep the daughter of sapphique away from her family.

Soon, their voices rose in a distraught duet. No third voice rose to join the chorus, the silence in between their calls heavy with anticipation, then dread, then anguish. Druid continued calling despite the viciousness of the cycle, until her face was wet with tears and her throat grew raw.

She didn’t know how many miles a wolf’s voice traveled, yet she knew that this meant Mireille either couldn’t hear them or was unable to respond. Druid pondered these possibilities as she stood at the crest of the rise, peering around disconsolately, her heart crying out for her friend even as her voice fell silent.

Erzulie, Druid rasped, maybe I should go back to Rivenwood, in case she comes there looking for help. I’ll tell mama and Mahler what’s going on so they can help us keep looking. The Graf and Sequoia might possess skills that could aid in their search, or at least Druid hoped.

erzulie sniffed and nodded. "t'ank you, druid." the name mahler should have meant something to her but it did not. on impulse she reached out to ruffle the girl's ears. "mireille be lucky to have a friend like you."
no humour came, but the words were keenly felt. erzulie paused to turn into the wind, to call once more.
"be careful," came her next offering, a maternal warning intensified by the disappearance of her daughter.

Druid didn’t speak again, her throat stripped raw from the ceaseless howling. But she did bow her head to acknowledge Erzulie’s words before pivoting to depart. The woman’s desperate voice rose up behind her as she hastened toward Rivenwood, in wildly different spirits than she had left it.