Dragoncrest Cliffs The Devilll for my Hurt

When dawn broke, Chacal was the first to respond to the budding warmth, and carefully pulled herself from the pile of sleeping pups. She heard a soft voice, and she moved to nuzzle Requiem, who blinked at her in the early morning light. She gestured for him to come outside with her, so he might not wake up his siblings. 

She moved out into the golden spread of sunlight, diluted in the heavy fog that had blown in, and dipped her chest down, spine bowing as she stretched and yawned. It was quiet; the gulls had not yet begun to wheel overhead, and even the songbirds held their voices. Odd, she thought. Usually this was the right time for their dawn chorus. 

What happened next was ruthlessly quick. She felt something brush her flank as she rose from her stretch, turning her head just in time to see her son lift into the air. Like mighty, heaving bellows the golden eagle’s wings beat as he pulled her son up into the sky. Chacal screamed and leapt, but her teeth caught only the tip of his tail, and she fell back to the ground with a few strands of his fur. 

She would remember the look of pure panic and pain on her son’s face. She called out to him, screamed, caterwauled, and ran along the edge of the field below, praying the eagle might descend, or drop him in a bed of flowers. But as she pursued it to the cliffs, her heart dropped as she watched it ascend rapidly on the rising, warm air. Into the fog it lifted, disappearing from sight. Her voice lifted again and again, begging for the fog to lift, so she might see her son again- beseeching the eagle to spare his life- all the while slowly beginning to understand that her Requiem was gone.

Etienne woke up gently to his manman and his brother speaking and moving. He curled back up next to Suzu. The noise next would stay with him until he was old and gray.

The sound of absolute hearbreak. He shot up and ran outside the den. Chasing the caterwauling of his mother and his brothers screeches. He knew he couldn't do anything, but that didn't stop him from following. He met his mother's knees as she stood at the cliff face screaming her grief.

A low sound began in his chest. And he would remember how silent the earth felt. He leaned hard against his mothers legs.

Req? he looked up at her. Understanding something bad had happened, but what he wasn't sure.

Her voice went unanswered. Not even the eagle had the decency to screech an apology, but it, like her, was a predator. And having a family of growing young to feed meant that the demands for food had grown for it, too. 

Chacal sobbed, but her breath caught when she heard Etienne’s sweet, sad voice at her side. The likelihood of an eagle striking twice in one day was unlikely- but she dreaded the thought that it might return to find another child. 

”We go back to de den, Etienne.” She said, her voice cracking. First and foremost, she needed to protect her remaining children. She gave him a nudge and began to walk, unwilling to let him stray a stride from her side. ”I will need you to keep Theo an’ Suzu in de den until I say when, okay?” She felt she could trust him with that responsibility. Her heart sinking, she picked up the tuft of hair she had pulled from Requiem’s tail- the last piece of that she had of him. 

When they reached the den, she carefully placed the tuft of hair on a ledge inside the den before she stepped back outside, and gestured for Étienne to go back inside.

”I will fin’ ot’ers, an’ we will fin’ Requiem. But I need you to be safe until den.” She said. She howled, then, calling her packmates for assistance- so she might scatter them in search of the eagle, or the nest it had returned to.

Etienne didn't understand why his brother was gone. He didn't quite yet grasp that there were other predators.

However, the more his mother sobbed the more he knew he dare not ask. She was sad. It hurt his little heart. He didn't like these vibrations coming from her. It made his fur stand on end.

Otay, manman

Etienne was glued to his mothers side both by choice and by force. His mother never letting him move from her.

He looked up at her with his little eyes and nodded. He puffed out his chest.

I maken dem Koute.

He would keep his siblings in the den. Theo would be difficult and try and make him fight him but he'd do it. Cause manman said.

 Etienne lifted up on his small paws and licked his mothers face. Lapping at the gentle tear tracks in her fur.

Love you, manman.

Sweet Étienne was compliant, and she trusted that the others would stay stowed away in the den. She caught Suzu’s gaze, and shook her head, discouraging the girl from protesting or asking questions. It was a talk they would have to have later- but for now, she would have to search the cliff side for any sign of an eagle’s nest. 

She called out, to warn the other mothers of the pack- @Meerkat, @Erzulie, @Rosalyn and @Jorunn (the latter who frequently co-parented alongside the rubies) of the eagle. Her children, however, were the youngest. The others were likely too large for even a golden eagle to carry off, but she felt obligated to pass on a warning nonetheless.

She began to prowl the cliff side, wandering through the thick fog- hoping, perhaps, that the eagle had let Requiem go and that he might come running back toward her though in her heart…She knew he was gone.

chacal's screaming cut her like the edge of oyster shell.
the two arrived to find the tanzanite stricken, alone; her heart beat harshly. she moved to order her red daughter and then stopped short, for she was no longer obsidian. 
"chacal?" she asked with flickering dread. her daughter hunted for something along the sharp sea-rock, and she said nothing more, only fell into step with the younger woman.
an eagle. a warning. a child.
she must remain strong. she must not buckle. not now. not ever. the ruby's gaze cleared and she moved as chacal did.

last for Eti.

Little sandy masked boy watched his mother leave. He curled around Suzu and held out a paw to Theo.

Manman says stay so we stay today..

His statement brokered no arguement and he would wait and watch. Do as his mother said.

Erzulie was the first to show, Mireille by her side, and Chacal hurriedly gestured, hopelessly, to the skies. Her voice was hoarse with grief and exertion when she spoke. 

”A golden eagle. It took Requiem,” She skies showed no sign of yielding to her begging; the fog remained thick, hiding the clear blue sky from view. ”We need to search for nests, or,” She said, shaking her head. ”De fog is so t’ick. It flew over de cliff an I lost ‘I’m,” She rasped. ”De others be hidin’ in de den,” Through the shock and grief she forced herself to be strong, and take action.

just one post!

mireille came in the grim gloom with their mother, running at erzulie's heels. at first she was panting and could not hear; not until her sister's voice roughened and the harshness of the moment dawned on her.
requiem, gone.
she wanted to scream. she wanted to cry out. anger filled her; hate for the eagle burned in her throat. "maman. you stay wid chacal. keep mot'er wid you if she comes." her voice was shaking; she took a breath to steady it.
"i an'jorunn, we goin' down t'ere." meerkat, she hoped, would sit with the remaining of her sister's children, in reassurance.
if the eagle had dropped the poor pup, she did not want chacal to see it first.
mireille nudged chacal's shoulder with a low breath and turned away, finding a narrow path that cut across the cliff-face.

an eagle. at first she could scarcely make sense of it, of what chacal was saying. but soon she must, and the grief must too lie banked down until they knew for sure.
mireille stepped into her role with a gentle commanding that drew her mother's eye to her. in the events of the moment, she could not smile nor fill with pride. but it was there, all the same — buried.
she drew a breath and nodded; erzulie turned back to chacal with a soft sound of affection. but she would not seek emotion, only resolution. 
her eyes continued to search.

only post from me unless needed, in which case tag again! :D

jorunn heard it.

as everyone else, her stomach dropped. a thunder in her chest where her heart was. what a dreadful thing. so terribly heartbreaking and she wasted no moment to process it all.

only a flurry of tan and sandy fur as she pulled alongside. she did not need to be told her place here to know it all the same, but she appreciated the coordinated direction of mireille. she offered a soft sound, meant to be reassurance to erzulie and chacal both.

she turned to quickly cut the trail with the new obsidian.

This will probably be my last; they won’t find him, so in the interest of timeline, I’ll probably fade my involvement here and do follow up threads elsewhere. Thanks for joining in!<3

Chacal could not succumb to her emotions; not yet. Not without proof, and not while swift action was needed. She teetered on the edge of losing her composure, but Mireille, Erzulie and Jorunn seemed to know not to look upon her with sympathy, not yet. 

She nodded appreciatively, an understatement of the gratitude she felt as Mireille and Jorunn headed down to the beach. It was the best she could offer without losing control over her emotions. Her mother uttered a gentle sound, which forced Chacal to swallow hard. 

”We search along de cliffs. Per’aps it ‘as a perch in one of de trees overlooking de cliffs.” She said. Now, she had to prepare herself for the worst of whatever was possible. Perhaps Requiem had been dropped, fallen to his death, or perhaps the eagle had already begun to feast. They might not find him at all- leaving her to grieve all imaginable horrors.

last for me also!

erzulie said nothing more. endlessly, tirelessly, she would remain with chacal. mireille and jorunn would sweep the beach.
the little child would not be found.
and her heart broke irreparably, not only for him but for the mother's agony that would burn in her daughter's undeserving breast.
she wished she could take it away. hold it for her own.