Porcupine Ridge the abyss leers in hissing ruts

aw, but tagging @Khepri, @Nieve, @Rosalyn, and @Raleska

it was with a determined step that erzulie left the boundaries of the plateau, and crossed the treacherous, icy footpaths to a sprawling ridge teeming with green. she passed beneath wide swathes of fir, considered the ice-rimed edge of a lake, and lost herself in fragrant shadows.
it felt good to be out of rusalka, out of the stale and cloying energies that weighed at her. rosalyn and scarab had returned. the pack had managed to stand firm, and yet she was restless. yet she was unhappy. an empty belly and a raging mind drew the harlot to the hunt, and she began to scour through a silvered stand of birch for a meal.

<3 still aw ofc

She'd promised to scout and it wasn't a hard one to fulfill.  There was no sizeable food to be had anywhere so leaving was really the only option.  She'd thought perhaps it would be easier when she was with the pack again; it was not.  Small game could only stretch so far.

While Erzulie roamed the trees, Rosalyn had followed her wife, but instead she remained to the east of her position.  It was easier to hunt without more to make noise, but she hadn't forgotten their conversation.  After eating, or after they'd given in to the luck that seemed to pervade the wilds lately, perhaps they could roam a bit together.  It seemed their travels had always been laced with desperation; exploring would be a nice change.

As she reached a small mire she skirted it, seeking fish or frogs or birds of any kind.  If she could scare something up perhaps she could snap it before it escaped into the dark water.

Starbright eyes;
​as a cloyed sibyl might, Undómiel tosses them out amongst the smattering of said birches without much thought or care for the hand that has since come to be dealt; how it has worn her! wearied her! wilted her! and yet she refuses herself the prolonged privilege of withering amongst them;
so it is to these quilled spires Andraste has come, under the pretenses of seeking nourishment for those dwelling and younger. Praying godless that greater game would be had thereafter the season.

Yet it is a seasalt scent that instills within her thus: ever-impish, unbidden;
features nigh impassive, save for a refined melding of warmth that has all but dispered from her. The significance lies therein the inconspicuous, curling corners of shorn lips; for Erzulie had been faltering in her thanksgiving, when last her arms had been full of the roseling. The fée might have let the parting of her lips issue some semblance of sound, of telling—
but her voice has gone to dust and she does not trust herself in speaking. Mouth quiets, and retreats into as soft a smile as ever for the corsair's sake.

Her anguishing had no settlement here;
and so it would not be.

she did not remember andraste's face at first, but other senses told her this was no stranger. and so she refocused attention upon the deep grooves in ruby upon the woman's visage. "hello," the harlot greeted, as of yet unaware that rosalyn was prowling the same courses some while away. attuned to her mate, she knew that the pirate must be scouring at this hour, but from what direction she would reappear remained to be seen.
"what brings you here?" sa ki pote ou tounen, the loa hissed crocodilian. erzulie was silent, but mint-gold eyes remained watchful.

The swamp was not empty, but after two failed lunges it became clear everything was keeping to the waters today.  It was too cold for her to be willing to submerge herself fully, so she shook water from her paws and circled back.  She would come back when night began to fall, perhaps.

It would take her some moments to arrive where her wife was.  She did not know exactly where she'd been hunting, only that it was nearby, and would be approaching with care so as not to disturb the rare chance of a catch. Hunting was hard enough lately without that on top.

If you like you can skip her, but I'll bring her in next round or the one after depending <3

sorry for my late replies n small posts, ill try to give u enough to reply to.  ( & ok starr <3 )

Lethargic acknowledgement of eyes upon the marring of her; the commencement of which had been seen through the bleary eyes of her own, as a younger sprite. To don veils of impassivity in the face of such a study  —  Andraste had long since learned that she could not, truly, blame those who then made their stares linger. It was not as if she could simply do away with it, after all;
"I mean to stay vigilant o'er these lands, if you will,"  the fée gave, without disdainful, pressing airs,  "I have heard tell of a lioness that has begun to roam beneath ze spires. You ... have not had ze misfortune of coming to fangs with ze beast, I hope?" Concern, she supposes, out of having looked after the crestmaid's whelp, once upon a time.

it seemed the angel was on an errand. the harlot straightened, relaxed; umber plume fell against sharp hocks. "i not be seeing any lions near de coas' for some time," came the reply as she considered the hunt caiaphas had once led.
with a start erzulie was jarred; where had the woman gone?
but now she must focus upon andraste. "you and yours have not been attacked?" erzulie searched gruffly, meaning no ill will toward her daughter's savior.

"No,"  and she should thank what-ever gods had decided to stay, believed or no  —  and yet, and yet! not three suns from this day would Andraste bear the tell-tale scripture, raw and red and resemblance to the selfsame lioness that they spoke of within the hour. She was not yet further tattered, and neither the matron, no; and yet, still, as if through some lapse;
"If ever you should need– O, supplies, I suppose– ah, tending to,"  words a bit stilted; worn from the everyday refinery she was so oft veiled within,  "well, my Court is not so far away."

Something  —  burgeoning within breast, selfish and sorrowing and a little hopeless; the fairylight ever smiles through it, strives to perhaps connect, at the very least, in some sense that is diplomatic and not altogether despondent. Then:
"I ... well, how is ze coast? Being from it so long, with ze earth's quakings, how—"  she must ask, for Rusalka had not been her enemy, ever:  "How does your own fare?"

out of order but sliding in

Finally she arrived upon the familiar form of Erzulie.  The other, while also familiar, was decidedly less welcome.  Rosalyn recognized her instantly as the woman she had spared from Raleska's fangs that day.  That she still held no regrets did not mean she was elated to run across her again.  She'd have been happier to know they'd all just disappeared with the cliffs.

Their conversation was muted and polite, though, and she had no desire to change this.  She prowled in and came to stand along her wife, behind, while her single eye turned to Andraste.  She kept silent, but her presence would be enough to deter should anything shift.  She trusted nothing and no one at this point.

like a raven, rosalyn stalked silently to their scene, and erzulie was emboldened by her wife's presence. andraste's own had been welcome, once upon a time, but the sea-bound pair were mistrustful, even given to blatant dislike at times. 
this was, unfortunately for the wood-pigeon, one such time.
"t'ank you, but we be all right," erzulie answered, wondering if the question had been posed to ascertain the weakness of rusalka. "we be keepin' to ourselves dese days." a hint — would it be taken?

last post from me <3

Rebuttle;
in the same time there is the flush of the offended there is the cursing of her own pincushion heart: she is not as faraway as she oft favors in being. Her features have been poured into crucible and fashioned to myriad somethings that are far too open, too before the eye of others. A bit more hollow-eyed, a bit less hesitant. Offense, off-kilter; there is no burbling scorch for the harpy and her corsair—she has simply found herself too sensitive to the touch of even the most unassuming no's, hint or no.

She cannot glean it, though it is felt;
felt perhaps to the point where leave-taking is unnecessary and yet to the dimming Undómiel, it seems to be something opportune. Their privacy and all it held; it was theirs, and she would no more allow herself to linger here. Not when another stood by the lótë's shoulder and the fée was draped then in a dishonorable thing; souring in gut and in spirit and feeling nothing more than a low intruder.

Wisping gentle well-wishes in valerian and another of gates be open to you, the mourning dove smiled melancholy and sweetened and soon phased past; flitting from such intimate wolven energy; from soulmeld so palpable.

reopening bc I was hoping to resolve <3 but we can archive if you like!

She left, rebuked firmly by Erzulie.  Rosalyn watched her go wordlessly, the act of alienating another cementing their pair, but she was a bit curious.  What had the woman hoped to gain?  

What was that about? she murmured to her wife, turning her attention back.  She'd come at the tail end and not heard much of the conversation.

erzulie watched the snowlicked wraith depart their scene, then turned to nudge her wife with a lingering touch.
"she brought clementine back, once upon a time. i suppose i should have been nicer to her," the harlot mused, "but company is so wearisome dese days."

Rosalyn was interested to hear that it was Andraste who succeeded in what she had failed.  It gave her a moment's pause, as a reminder to the trip that had gone so wrong for her.

Then we are even, she finally said, thinking back to their last meeting.  She'd been pregnant then, yes?

It's strange. Rosalyn continued slowly.  Now, encountering them, it feels different.  Knowing she's gone.  It's like Drageda and all the fear died with her.  She no longer felt the dread when she looked at the cliffs, or felt the spectre of their Heda.  Thuringwethil's demise had freed her some and their children had done the rest.  She simply had bigger worries now.

erzulie knew little about the pale woman, but the mention of drageda, she found, still inspired the same tension. "dey fell into de sea," she declared proudly. drageda was no more, and even if wolves from the various offshoots sought to claim the cliffs again, erzulie would rout them herself.
"it is important we tell our children about dat war," she mused after a moment, unsure if she shared her wife's sentiment. "drageda wolves can nevah be trusted. once dey have attached demselves to those dogs, dey will always be part of de curs."

Just because she'd lost her own withheld rage did not mean she wasn't heartened some by Erzulie's.  Letting go of that time had allowed her to move forward, and shedding the fears had given her a good deal of peace of mind.  If a Dragedan came she would not wish them dead, as with this woman... but likely, she would not trust them either.  Not like Illidan had.

We will.  But I do not think they will ever return.  Not like that.  With the loss of their leader and the shakes they had scattered, where to Rosalyn did not know.  Far away, she hoped.  It was a good cautionary tale no matter who learned of it or whether the original enemies still lay in wait.  Wars bred nothing but misfortune; never start something you weren't prepared to finish, and never leave enough enemies to do anything about it.  The pirate still felt her way was best; never bring the trouble home, and move when it comes calling.

she hoped the same, but she did not hold out for the fantasy rosalyn wanted.
the reality was that erzulie firmly believed the sea would spit out a contingent of drageda bitches and their paltry men onto the coastline, come up to claim the cliffs again.
her jaw tensed.
"dat woman is still here. how many remain?" an unfurling of breath. "i will never forget dem or all dere horrible faces."

She wouldn't either, and not just for her own sake.  Rosalyn wasn't convinced some measure of retribution was due their way from the remaining, perhaps recourse for aiding in their destruction.  She wouldn't have that fall on her family's head, and while she did not actively fear them, she wouldn't let her guard down either.

It is better to know where they are, she replied in affirmation.  Less heat, but no argument.  We should keep it in mind as we scout.  If they could place a map of where their former enemies had gone, then perhaps they could track if a band had formed.  They were not a danger alone, but together...

fade here? <3

erzulie nodded, a pensive furrow to her brow. rosalyn was a cool head to the harlot's fiery sting. it was a great part of why they matched so well. at last she relented, smoothed her features, let a smile return. "it is good to have you back," she murmured earnestly, eyes meeting and holding rosalyn's own a long moment.
in the next moment erzulie had blinked, turned away, contented. "i could eat somet'ing," came her more casual venture.

<3

She didn't feel the need to respond; that she was glad to be back was clear enough in the look they shared. Rosalyn brushed alongside her and together they set off.  They'd trail a scent or two, and if no luck was to be had, the river could usually provide.