A Ceremony

For @Erika. Set at the cliffs facing the mainland.

It was a few hours past midday and the sun was no longer at its highest point in the sky, though there were still many hours of daylight left. There was a slight breeze that blew in from the east, and it slowly pushed the few clouds that there were across the sky. Majesty stood at the entrance to a cave he had come across on his wandering across the Isle. He had passed it by quite a few times without really noticing in his morning runs around the island. Now, he stood before it, and looked up at the massive cliffs in front of him. There were actually many caves here, some shallow and some deep. Some with small entrances and some with large. And some of the caves could not be reached, sitting up above in the rock face. These caves suggested that this Isle had once been fully submerged in water, and that ocean had beaten away at the cliffs, creating these pock marks in the face of the rock.

Now one cave was being used for a very special purpose. Wolves, of course, didn't get married. Well - most didn't. And this ceremony that the alpha wanted to perform wasn't necessarily a wedding. But he did want to pledge himself to Erika, and he hoped she would let him. If she pledged herself to him as well, it would make his day even better. He had filled the cave with all manner of good-smelling herbs and soft grass and moss. The floor of it was covered in fine sand. It was perfect. Now all he needed to do was get her to come to him.

With an excited shiver that ran up his spine, he howled out her name, and then sat down and waited for her to come.

Erika looked up from the rabbit she was eating. Far off in the distance, towards the mainland, she heard her mate howling her name. She gave a forlonging glance at her meal, but turned instead towards the sound of Majesty's howl.

She reached the end of the island at a cliff. The Algonquin wolf sniffed, trying to find her mate's scent. Her nose was on the ground for a few moments before she finally found a paw print holding Majesty's scent. It led down the cliff towards the shore underneath. The black wolf wondered why Majesty would be down there, but traversed down the slope regardless.

At the end of the cliff, she saw Majesty's chocolate coat off in the distance. Yelping happily, she trotted towards her mate, giving his muzzle a gentle lick when she reached him. "Bonjour." she said, smiling.

Majesty wagged his tail when he saw Erika coming, and chuckled a bit when she licked him. "Good afternoon, Ma Belle," he replied. "Come." He turned and went into the cave he had set up, the smell of sweet herbs filling his nose and calming his nerves. "I made this place for us. I want to have a... a ceremony, of sorts here. And perhaps, when Arkham is healed, we can set our den up in this cave. There are many other caves that the others can use, and I can make one of them my healer's den. That way we don't have to sleep in the same place as sick patients."

He cleared his throat, realizing that he was rambling. "Anyways - the ceremony. I... I wanted to make our mateship official. I wanted... I wanted to pledge myself to you, here, right at this spot. That's why I made it pretty and found all the plants that I could that smelled good. I suppose you could say I... I want to marry you. It wouldn't feel right, having pups on the way, and not being married." He grinned, almost apologetically. "Call me a traditionalist." He took a deep breath, feeling his heart pound in his chest. "So... will you do this ceremony with me?"

He stared into Erika's yellow eyes that shone like the moon. He knew he would never want anyone else. She was the one. And they might have pups soon. His chest swelled with pride and joy at the thought. He would be father. But first... he wanted to become a husband.

Her pale yellow eyes swept across the cave as Majesty lead her to the cave mouth. The cave was filled with sweet-smelling herbs, grasses and mosses. On the floor was a fine layer of sand. She turned to Majesty, her eyes silently saying: what's this all about?

Erika tilted her head in curiosity. A ceremony? Of what nature? When Majesty finally got back to the point, she instantly fell in love with the idea. In her old pack there was something similar, but it wasn't exactly marriage. It comprised of two wolves asking the alpha for permission to be mates in front of the whole pack. Purely ceremonial, but it was cute to watch. But she liked this idea too, and if Majesty wanted to do it, then she would.

She smiled sweetly at her mate. "Of course I will."

Majesty smiled with relief and happiness when Erika said she would do the ceremony with him. He had been afraid she wouldn't, though he didn't know why. He cleared his throat and went closer to her, nuzzling her face with nose for a moment.

"Okay," he said. "We will pledge ourselves to each other, then. I will go first." He stood a bit straighter and a bit taller before beginning. "I, Majesty, son of Serena and King, alpha of the Wheeling Gull Isle pack, do pledge myself to Erika, my mate, and the love of my life. I pledge to care for her needs as well as my own, and I pledge to care for the needs of any children we have together. So let it be."

He finished his small speech, and placed his chin atop her head for a moment, and then pulled away and smiled. Gently, he said, "Your turn."

Erika nodded, letting Majesty go first, since she wasn't sure what to say. He began with his name, sires and rank and then went on to describe what he would do as her mate. She smiled when he finished and let him place his muzzle onto her head. When he pulled his chin off of her forehead, he smiled, saying Your turn.

Erika took a deep breath. "I, Erika, daughter of Erika and Christine, Nu of the Wheeling Gull Isle pack, do pledge myself to Majesty, my mate, and the love of my life. I pledge to care for his needs as well as my own, and I pledge to care for the needs of any children we have together. So let it be." With that said and done, Erika mimicked Majesty's earlier gesture and placed her chin on his head. When she pulled away, she pressed her cheek against his and sighed blissfully.

I powerplayed Erika laying down when Majesty asked her to. Tell me if you want me to change it.

Majesty's chest swelled with happiness at Erika's words. He knew that having her as a mate was worth all of the shit his pack-mates had put him through recently because of it. He swore to himself he would never let anything happen to Erika - especially not now that she was most certainly pregnant. He smiled at her, tail wagging slightly, and then went and laid down on a bed of moss further inside the cave. "Would you like to lay down?" he asked her. "This time let's keep things innocent, shall we?"

As she came over to lay down, he said, "So what do you think of the cave? Would you like to make this our new den? It's big enough for pups, and it actually goes back pretty far, so they'll would be safe as long as we keep them in the back area." He looked to his mate now, awaiting her answer.

With the ceremony finished, she smiled, big, at her mate husband. She followed him inside the cave, laying down in the bed of moss nearby him. She chuckled at his little joke. "I 'ope we will." The black wolf snuggled into Majesty's chocolate brown fur, nuzzling his shoulder as he spoke. She turned her pale yellow eyes towards the back of the cave that he had mentioned, observing it.

"It iz probably ze best looking place I've seen yet." she said, approving of her mate's choice. But she looked out of the entrance of the cave towards the sea. "Now I do not know much of ze ocean, but what about zis 'igh tide? Would ze waters be able to come close enough to ze cave at zat point?"

Last post from me. One more from you and then I'll archive it. ^_^

"Now I do not know much of ze ocean," Erika said, "but what about zis 'igh tide? Would ze waters be able to come close enough to ze cave at zat point?"

Majesty looked outside of the cave, at the shoreline, which was quite a ways away. "Hmm..." he said. Then, "I don't think so. This system of caves is actually quite far inland. Unless we suddenly had a typhoon, I don't think we'd ever need to worry about high tide reaching the cliffs." He turned to her. "But, that was a very good observation for an aspiring Naturalist." He gave her a smile.

Then he turned back to look outside, and listen to the waves hit the shore...

Last post.

She sighed softly in relief, but the word "typhoon" worried her. She wanted to ask how often these typhoons occured and if there was anyway they could prepare for such a thing, but Majesty's smile and compliment made her push the thoughts aside. There was no need to worry, at least not now.

She snuggled against her mate's fur, laying her head on his side and closed her eyes, lulled by the sound of his heartbeat and the crash of the waves.