Stavanger Bay you have what you have, and what you have is for you

a scent unknown to her clung to the thicket, feminine and, in sandpiper's eyes, unwelcome. she followed @Erzulie's tracks through the dunes to the bosk nestled in the bay's hidden keep -- here the scent seemed stronger.

sandpiper allowed herself but a moment to rest, her haunches pressed against the withered face of an elm. in front of her a tumble of stone and water trickled, a blackened archway sat atop a slab of split boulders. a den, perhaps -- though sandpiper had never visited it. for a moment she hung there, all temerity fled from her visage, for what sat in the dark cave was both unknown and intimidating to the cairn girl.

erzulie had snapped a small, low-hanging bough from a nearby fir and now dragged it across the floor of her den. the needles she had crushed underfoot released the brightness of their fragrance into the darkened air. there, now — the harlot was content to see that at last the stagnant musk was overcome. another dragging trail of the bough and she had finished — erzulie stepped from the denmouth and tossed the tangle of fir twigs to one side. there she paused, however, brow furrowing as instinct told her of watchful eyes. and soon she swept her gaze to the left and let it rest atop a creamy figure shadowed by deeper red. a pause; erzulie smirked. "you be a bit young for dese wares, child," came her amused call from the stonebridge.

as she stood beneath the ridge's small summit she thought she detected the faint aroma of disturbed pine; her ears clasped to her skull and she stepped back as a figure emerged from the den. sandpiper had never seen her before -- a captivating liver creature with a brilliant mask of sorrel. two intelligent sharp green eyes.

she huffed to witness such a pleasing woman -- it was certain -- sandpiper was no longer the most attractive of the crew. already, she was figuring out ways to marr this woman's beauty, or ways to subtly push her from their band. her schemes were shortlived for what the woman uttered next caused her to pause. she looked upon the nutmeg-marked female, taken aback. "uh, what?"

erzulie watched the small wolfess press auds to crown and within her heart she smirked, assuming jealousy rather than the strangeness of her being before the newcomer. pacing to the left, the spicetea creature descended her platform to stand alongside the frozen basin, regarding the catcorner direction where the young she-wolf stood.
here now the smiling jezebel took in the details of her visitor, mint-fire stare traveling slowly along the flank and limbs of the other, with a deliberate slowness she intended to startle the girl. "surely you know why it is i be heah?"

several things at once registered to sandpiper: the alien lilt of the woman's voice, and the equally alienable travel of her mint eyes. sandpiper bristled instinctively, having no appreciation for being visibly sized up like some hunk of rotted carrion. she tried to stand square, to appear bigger -- anything to fend off the unwelcome prying of this utterly bizarre female.

she cocked her tail to the side and surly as all hell, replied: "no?" for once, she was not being deliberately obtuse -- while she understood the concept of wenches, her brother had never found interest in them, and as such, it was the furthest thing from her mind as she confusedly blinked in the presence of this eccentric wolf.

like a cat, this child was — erzulie could not help the glint of her teeth in a swift smile. "da loa are whisp'rin, dife ti fi, an' dey say 'dis chile do not like you, erzulie." the dusky harlot pulled away from the bristling feline stretch of the yearling, pacing curiously to one side before regarding her dubious company with a winsome smirk.
"does de child like any'ting den?" came her dry retort — was it her only against which this rough-edged little hobgoblin held some grudge, or her existence in the world itself. perhaps it was all a bit of projection, but the newest swab to smokestep's crew was rather pressed to rein back her immediate annoyance at having been addressed so rudely. yet cover it she did, a genuine grin washing a more affable coolness against the spark of her mint-fire eyes.

even still, those captivating mint eyes seized her; sandpiper bristled under their intensity, ears clasped to her skull in displeasure. the woman's strange affectations, the thickness of her speech  --- all of this was new to the cairn girl and she did not like it.

as the woman prowled around her sandpiper tensed, raring for retort. "as a matter of fact..." she sharply replied, holding her breath for a moment as if she had something of extreme importance to share; some delightful secret or trick, or perhaps condemning news. she swung her lantern-fire gaze directly to erzulie's and answered with an impish sneer. "no."

no, the cairn girl liked nothing -- in fact, very little pleased her. her brother, a good hunk of meat, raptor when he wasn't being annoying.... and... that was about it. "why are you so weird?" she finally piped up, a crowish snigger held at the end of her lips.

erzulie watched the youngster's show of arrogance with an expression that cooled steadily, magma from the throat of some volcanic god. whatever loa had been trickster sibling in the womb with this one, the voodooiene did not know, and nor did she wish to know. "pah!" erzulie snorted with a roll of her pale eyes — "de answer to dat is simple."
now 'twas her turn to preen closer to the little upstart, lips curving slowly as if to impart some morsel of wisdom. "i got no time to be wastin' on de likes of you, brat," the harlot breathed in the next moment, drawing back with a curl of her lip. in this moment, ironsea's newest recruit had no regard for the rank of the girl. they were but wanton and innocent, erzulie recognizing her worth far beyond that of the yearling, or so she believed. tail swaying, the harlot awaited the young one's response.

sandpiper had expected a rise out of this caramel-furred woman, and when she saw a blazing light mint those cerulean-green eyes, she knew she had stroked some hidden fire in the strange woman. content with this brand of instigation, sandpiper mirrored erzulie's lip-curl with an equally aggravating smirk of her own.

it was then she had the brilliant, nay, juvenile idea to parrot her words back to the long-suffering erzulie. after all, sandpiper had been called a brat by the authority of brats -- she might as well live up to the name.

"aiye got no taime ta be waystin' on de likes of you, braht," she mimicked back, the smug smile now insufferable.

the smirking girl rejoined with a twisted parody of erzulie's heavy accent. it was far from the first time that the harlot had been mocked for her thick tones; but she beat back the old shame over her inability to meld within the world of those around her. a slow, teasing smile spread across her jaws — erzulie arched a prim brow and pursed her lips for a long moment.
"come back to me when you are ready to be fucked," the spice-studded wanton declared in a voice brimming with laughter she did not feel. "it be de only way you are of worth to me."
turning away, erzulie began a saunter toward her den, willing the little upstart to depart her.

sandpiper's smugness did not linger long on her insufferably contorted face, for erzulie's words vexed her. she scowled darkly and clapped her mouth shut, considering for a moment just what about her body suggested she wasn't ready or attractive enough for such a vile endeavor. for a moment she scrambled for an answer, and just when it seemed erzulie's prompt dismissmal of her had bested sandpiper, she spoke up.

"oh, i'm ready to be fucked - but not by the likes of you."  she said it with far more flippancy than she felt - her confidence had been lightly shaken by this strange woman and she quickly turned on her heels as if to impart the same insulting dismissal, only this time sandpiper did leave, and hopefully before any wit that outmatched hers was imparted.

gdit they were supposed to spar

a lash, a flare of flame; the girl turned with a snap and disappeared. erzulie remained where she was, at length glancing over her shoulder at the gently shivering foliage that marked where the brat had once stood. lips pursing, the harlot glanced skyward. "you bad fah bringin' dat one to me!" she hissed in a rich growl.
but in the next moment, laughter found her tongue, her throat, dark and mocking, increasing in volume and tonality, until the woodland roundabout the harlot's encampment shook. would the girl hear it? erzulie hoped it would be so. in time her mirth tapered away and she found her stone threshhold with a sigh.