Dragoncrest Cliffs Where the ocean meets the sky

@Miette was gone. Missing.

Astera had been stretched thin, patrolling the shorelines, calling her name. Any signs possibly left on the beach had been washed away by the rolling tide, and yet she kept pacing. Searching the same places over twice...thrice. 

Early memories of abandonment, lost, return to her. No. It wasn't true.. She couldn't let it.

@Ravin, @Chacal, @Mireille, @Maleah, Val, Suzu. All forgotten. Ignored. It was only Sobeille.
Find her.

She wandered the siren's bay for miles. The autumn wind whistled a tune, one the pale girl refrained from joining in. She was single minded in her search for her sister.

In the morning, she relented. Routinely, she waded into the saltwater.
A gentle undercurrent was enough to pull the exhausted wolf away from the shore.

The beach went on. The waves continued to lap, unapologetic.


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sapphique’s double trouble had been reduced to one.

when at first sobeille did not return, val searched the roja den; she was not there. nor was she at seaflower, or out in the fields. her scent simply ended on the trail leading to the beach — which now stood empty save a figure in the water.

it took all of val’s courage to break the shoreline and come close to the lapping waves. astera’s form languidly broke the shearwater. astera? he called to the bobbing shape, concern edged in his voice.

Miette was gone.
Vague concern and suspicion turned to worry turned to panic which now corded Maleah's very bones. And still, calmness overtook her; she sifted the meadow and overturned the greatpine, rummaged the roja den and wherever else she could think. And then her search took her to the bay.
Val's figure stands crested amid the rocks, and the healer swallows the lump that swells in her throat. He's looking at something in the water. Astera?
Val, wait! Grizzled nape bristling, fear caught in her chest. Astera! Unthinkingly, Maleah makes a plunge into the polar seashore, headfirst.

She tried to swim towards the shore. Towards Sapphique. The current picked up, to strong for her to fight. Astera's scream was cut off as the brine closed in over her head. Everything was still. The voiced of her frantic packmates dissolved into the song of the sea and waves. She stopped struggling. The while bundle of fur drifted out of view of the shoreline, as did any hoped of pulling her out of the water.

Last from me!

astera, no! val's panicked voice cut above the clouds.

beyond him, the thunder of maleah's approaching stride. she flew past, dark body scything the waves.

immobilized by fear, val could do nothing. coward. his limbs would not cooperate. go! step forward! he wrestled the insubordination of his body -- he, who had always been in full command of it, was suddenly out of control.

maleah is closer to astera now. god, you useless piece of -- he cursed at himself, mustering one single step. a snarling wave rounded its rough shoulders from the surf. one more step, then another.

he was running headfirst behind maleah, a chill seizing his spine as he felt the first splash of moisture on his toes. ASTERA! he screamed as her head disappeared beneath the waves, his stomach knotting violently as bile suddenly forced its way from his stomach.

Chacal was not far from the cliffs when the cries first rose into the air, but the first few were dismissed. It was often that she heard the names "Miette!" and "Astera!" screamed, as if by the gulls that wheeled overhead. She'd not seen Miette, and worried. But once she realized that it was Valravn who was calling out, she spun on her heel and made a beeline through the sequoias so that she could come to the edge of the tall, jagged cliffs that overlooked their line of beach.

She spotted him, frighteningly close to the waterline and when she looked out, she saw a dark figure plunging into the water. Barely noticeable against the whiteheads was the child in question, drifting far out from shore in a place where the water created a curve along the beach; something Chacal recognized instantly as a danger.

She bolted for the tunnel, but knew in her heart that that might have been the last glimpse she would ever have of the strong-willed girl again.

Valravn's yelling is distorted. Maleah forces her eyes open beneath the water even as the salty sting courses her body. She had never been a strong swimmer — but she had to be one now.
Gasping violently, her head breaches the surface again and waves cut and snarl at her chest, her cheeks, her throat; she is kicking, forcing herself further out. Astera!
She can't see her anymore.
Maleah shrieks out a garbled, horrible sound of terror.

maleah, careful! val was torn. the sea snarl in his ears, sharp fangs bared in the form of frothy surf.

chacal's feet thundered behind him. he shared a knowing glance with her and knew in his heart she turned for the tunnel, her figure shadowed by distance as the footfalls slowly faded.

astera's form was lost to sea.

val began to run helplessly after chacal, his voice calling against the interminable roar of the surf.