Dragoncrest Cliffs of soldiers' dreams

Sobo leaned over the cliffs and watched the twisting progression of a shell in the air. It flashed once in the midday sunlight, then disappeared forever into the crashing waves.

For him, this was a symbolic ritual. Too long had he allowed anger to suffuse his heart on account of Njord. Too long had he suffered the pain of feeling replaced and unwanted by the man he idolized. It seeped into his every relationship in Sapphique and poisoned them all. It poisoned his very home, driving him to spend long periods of time beyond the borders instead of here with his family and all the places he loved. That morning when he woke, Sobo chose to be done with all of it.

When the shell hit the water, Sobo excised the very notion of Njord as Da from his mind. He took scissors to the family portrait and snipped the man from the picture, leaving his two wonderful mamans and his siblings. He had thought long and hard on whether he should leave Sapphique entirely — no one else seemed to care how Njord had changed, so perhaps he alone was the problem — but he was not willing to be forced from his home. That left him no other choice to end his own suffering but to lower his expectations to nothing. Njord had new puppies to be da to. The lwa willing, he would be a more worthy da to them.

Rosalyn was right. Fathers were disappointments. His siblings did not need fathers. Now, neither did he. The boy licked his lips and took a long breath, settled at last with his decision, and turned from the cliffs lighter in spirit to look for @Mireille, whom he had spent far too long away from of late.

mireille had just left @Coraline. by now it was clear her sister was not recovering, though the seagirl chose stubbornly to believe that the other was only mending more slowly. she had been very injured, after all, and suffered a fever after that.
maman erzulie, chacal, and sobo tended her diligently.
the girl stretched and on a whim, she began to romp through the salted air, coltlike and exuberant.
sapphique was her home. unsaddled by the angst which her brother had recently unburdened, inexperienced in feelings of displacement, mireille did not yet recognize the immense privilege she wielded as a daughter of the seacliffs.
it only marched in her blood and traipsed down her veins.
sobo would find her in a last spin, before legs weakened and she went down in a dizzy, laughing heap.

Emerging from the redwoods and pines that embraced the cliffs, Sobo paused to watch his sister twirling in the field below. He felt a pang of regret that he did not feel so joyful, but refused to let it show as he dropped from the gentle ledge and headed toward her.

What you be doin'? he called in a loud, almost accusatory voice, as though Mireille had been caught with her hand in the cookie jar five minutes before dinner. The crooked grin he wore would dispel any worry that he was serious. He couldn't help feeling a little put out — it must be easy to feel so free, so settled, like Mireille — but that, too, he hid from view behind smiling eyes.

mireille jumped and landed catlike with fur bristling in all directions as she whirled about, searching for who had shouted. "you!" she exclaimed, and ran at once for sobo, seeking to throw her red limbs around his shoulders. "why you be like dis!"
when they parted, mireille shook debris from her coat and breathed the good clean salt of the air. "i have been wit our mot'ers an' quennell an' aminthe," she laughed. "i cannot wait to become a mot'er myself, actually. is dat odd?"

Mireille’s feet left the ground in a splendid display of feline agility. Sobo followed her elegant arc with his eyes, which narrowed with the force of his chortling. Dat was beautiful, he snarked, dipping his head low and turning sidelong with a high wave of his red tail when she came for him.

Sobo mouthed playfully at her grappling arms and reached a limb of his own up to bat her away when she let go. He snorted at her. Yes, dat be odd! How can you be a mot’er when you still be a child dat flies at a spook? He mimicked her bristling and cried out a teasing, oh my, what a fright dat was!

mireille snapped hotly for one of his saucy ears. "you say such t'ings because you do not accept dat i am faster den you!" she exclaimed. she turned her shoulder hard into him, hoping to hear a grunt or a swear. "an' i don't mean now, you empty fish trap," she said with a flare of her tail when she finally halted her assailment. 
"jus', when de time comes." whenever that was. mireille had little sense of time in that regard. "what about you? you gonna become a da?" 
her tone teased. her eyes filled with understanding.

Faster? Pah! With a brazen grin, Sobo shoved back, bearing the full bulk of his marauding physique. Like dat means anyt'ing when I be stronger! You cannot run forever!

He knew what she had meant, but teasing her was oh-so-fun compared to talking about the future. That was made more true when she asked if he wanted to be a da. The title brought tension to the corners of his lips, a slight downward turn to his expression that he quickly hid, but not quickly enough.

No, said Sobo with certainty, although he knew there was no such thing in this world. Should the day come when he could be a da, he would embrace it wholeheartedly and commit himself fully so his children never felt like their da was lacking, but no one had even piqued his interest in that way. He would not do anything simply for the sake of it. I will be de bes' big brot'er an' uncle. Dat be enough for me.

sobo spoke with such conviction that mireille envied him. it was not the first time, but it was the first time that the experience had felt so stark. her own life felt plotted, though not in a negative way. she was daughter to leadership with a sister recently stepped up. it made sense that she might be called upon to follow suit.
"i t'ink i want to follow maman, whenever she be steppin' down." there — now it was out and existent and real, a thought becoming a desire. "an' i will be havin' lots of children for you to spoil."
so there. future of sapphique sorted. she didn't want to think about it even though she had started the conversation, because it brought rosalyn to mind and the girl was still resistant to the idea that anything was wrong.

Mireille's admission made him feel... Well. Sobo couldn't put words to it. He felt his face fall a little despite his best efforts and tried to mask it by looking away, over the field to where the flowers bloomed in the east. His paws yearned to run then. He forced them to stay, pressing his toes hard against the ground and swallowing against the churning of his nerves.

Might as well just say it, then. It wasn't like Mireille was dense enough to miss his expression. You be lucky dat you get to choose dese t'ings for yourself, he said, more melancholy than sullen. Once more, he wondered if his place was truly here or if he was just being tolerated.

sobo snapped into himself again. mireille felt frustrated. it seemed like any mention of her future put him into a mood. she wanted to walk away just then and almost did, but stopped herself. her brother was sensitive about certain things and she accepted that.
she reached out in apology. "i not be speakin' on it any more," she pledged solemnly. he was important to her, even in her clumsy elation.
"i want to go on a trip, to de moors. did maman ever tell you about dat place?"

She misunderstood, and Sobo felt himself growing frustrated then. Njord had not included him in the wedding. Mireille did not want to include him in talks of her future. More and more, he thought that if they did not want to include him in anything, he should not bother to stay. Simultaneously, he was frustrated that Mireille did not seem to care how her brothers were forever destined to be overlooked so she could have her radiant, golden life where she got whatever she liked.

Dat is not what I meant, he groused. You can talk. Although, truth be told, he didn't really want to hear about how she would become a leader next to Chacal. He had always wanted it to be her, of course, but he wanted her to understand, too, how he felt. Lately, Sobo felt disconnected from his siblings. It served to further alienate him when they did not understand.

Yes, but not much, he said, thinking of the bay instead. Dey lived dere a short time.

sobo rebuffed that too, and mireille was at a loss! coddled in her own status as a privileged daughter of the clifftops, she could not perceive what it was that haunted her brother so much. he wanted her to talk but grew bittered when she did, and when she offered not to speak of it, his voice was harsh.
she was hurt, but determined not to let this show. "do you want to go wid me?" she asked hopefully. her emerald gaze gradually cleared of its brief solemnity; sobo was shaping to be her favourite littermate, and she was loathe to lose that bond with him for any reason.

It occurred to him that for once, Coraline might be the one who best understood his feelings. She had been excluded from the wedding, too. He could not forget how badly injured she was and the role that likely played, but nevertheless, she had been left out. He made a mental note to visit soon.

Sobo was surprised when Mireille asked him along. So much lately, he felt like she and Loko were fitting perfectly into Sapphique life and he was being pushed out of it. That was not her fault, but did not change his brief shock at being invited to anything. Dat would be nice, he said, thinking of Njord's broken promise to take him on a trip down the coast, which he shoved out of his mind almost as quickly.

When you be planning to go?

she tilted her head to and fro. "maybe later in de summer. or maybe fall would be best. i t'ink we should be aroun' when de babies are born." but mireille paused and mused. "what do you be t'inkin, sobo? i believe i would not sleep until we got t'ere. so we could go faster an' be in de moors longer."
mireille was not good at budgeting time. she lived in the present for now, compelled and drawn and satisfied by all that happened on the cliffs each day.
and it was this settlement that now was turning to restlesness. sapphique was wonderful but the world was vast. she wanted to see it.

Hope you don't mind me winding this one down here!

He nodded along. They were in agreement about waiting into the children were a little older. Sobo was under no illusion they would not be just fine without Mireille and Sobo around for a little while, but family was important to him. Every little bit helped.

She suggested a pace. Sobo was more reluctant to agree to that. It do no good if we be too tired to enjoy it when we get dere, he pointed out, only to smirk, but if dat be how fast you want to go, den I match you step for step. Maybe we make a race of it, hm?

A thought tickled his brainstem. He almost voiced it aloud, but bit his tongue on it; it was only an impulsive thing, and he needed to give it more time and more thought before he spoke to Mireille about it. Perhaps on their trip, he would pick her brain. I t'ink I goin' to go down to de beach an' look for somet'ing for Chacal, he announced, giving his body a quick stretch and shake. You want to come?

not at all! <3

mireille rolled her shoulders and sprang to her paws. the girl was grateful for a chance to shed the somber thoughts. they were going on a trip, both of them! and she had much to expect from that. "keeping step wid me, eh, sobo?" she teased. "it be unlikely!"
she was faster, after all. but then again, had they raced since they were children? for now, they could however; she nipped his nape and leapt into a run, laughing as he swung after her and she flattened into a red streak against the good land of sapphique.