Dragoncrest Cliffs Cause I have traveled cross this country wide

This wasn't the first time she'd come back to this place.  She no longer feared its sharp cliffs or ghosts, but as she walked through the pines towards the cove of her previous imprisonment, she couldn't help but feel a prickle of something.  Unease? Or just memory?

She told @Erzulie she was going and had invited she, @Nieve, and @Clementine to join her if they so wished.  If they hadn't in part, they would learn the story eventually.

The cliffs had dropped stones, but the tunnel was still there.  She passed through to the ocean-swept beach and paused, allowing her paws to dig into the sand at the edge of the small cove.  There was a thought, here.  But did she want to follow it?

keeping vague! Tagged are welcome but so are strangers <3

Nieve accepted Rosalyn's invitation, eager to get away from the Plateau and return to the sea. It wasn't just the bad feelings lingering in the wake of Ying's challenge. It was the promise of adventure and discovery and the memory of salt on the breeze. By the seaside, she could reminisce about simpler times and allow herself to feel giddy. Those were no longer options in Rusalka's current realm, not so long as the Chinese she-wolf hunted her title.

Rosalyn seemed to be looking for something and her gold daughter followed in respectful silence. Everything that happened between Rusalka and Drageda existed in the time before she was born, so Nieve's knowledge of it was practically nonexistent. If her mothers had spoken of it, it was in brief snatches, nothing concrete. As she trailed the russet pirate through the tall trees, into a massive tunnel and down onto a secluded beach, she couldn't help but feel like she was tracing the edges of some great secret. Some part of Rosalyn she didn't know.

Mamá? she queried as their paws met the sand, quelling the urge to run to the sea and frolic. What is this place?

rosalyn led them. 
erzulie had not wanted to come, had felt the familiar burn of anger upon seeing the wretched, sea-battered cliffside once again.
for nieve's sake, she had sheathed her demanding tongue and instead strode with an aloof expression upon her face, softened only by the glances she shared with her wife from time to time.
she coursed the edge of a remembered boulder, stared off toward where her mate had once been held captive.
when their daughter inquired after where it was they were, erzulie paused, swept to her gilded flank. "dis was once a place called drageda. dere was a great war fought between rusalka an' drageda, before you or yours were born."
a grin tugged at her somber mouth.
"dey did not want us to settle so near, but caiaphas led us den, and de soun', down below us now, had always belonged to her. an' so she led us to claim it, an' even though drageda sent its soldiers, competin' against us, we won."
a shake of her darkened ruff.
"de leader, she an' dey stole your mamá," she went on, laying mintglow eyes upon her wife. "kept her. tormented her. i used to call to her from de soun'. i could not take it. an' so caiaphas agreed dat we would go and bring her back."
a long pause to survey them both. "we won. drageda did not follow. when we were forced inland, we t'ought dat dey would come back for de lan'. but dey fell instead, an' wid it, de pack. an' dey have not been back since." a slow blink, for she had spoken at length; chuckled, remarked, "dat is how i remember it. your mamá's account is much more colorful i am sure."

The ghosts faded when Nieve spoke.  It was strange to think that she hadn't even been a thought when the war had occurred.  Now she was grown, young and smart and strong.  Rosalyn's ears turned, but she continued to stare at the cliffs as Erzulie spoke for her.  She was grateful, hearing the story.  She hadn't expected the heavy feeling that settled in her chest, one that would have made speaking hard as she remembered the frantic calls that had echoed around the cliffsides.

She closed her eyes for a moment, then turned to her wife and daughter.  She did not have much to add.  That night, I got these trying to get free.  She turned her face.  She didn't even remember the woman's name who had delivered them, but she'd never forget her face.  This place was a fortress... your maman and the others fought bravely, but Eurycrates was lost, and in the end, they finally let me go.  She still did not know why.

This was the thought that was turning her mind, however, and she cast a look at Erzulie.  She loathed to say it, but as many nightmares as this place held, there was an opportunity too.

What better way to ensure they never returned to this place?

As your maman said - in the end we remained while they scattered.  They are out there, somewhere... but I hope you will never see them.  They are not the kind to forget.  This was a bleak note to end on, and she sighed, then smiled.  Not our happiest story, but it is an important one.  And it did have a happy ending - their family had flourished, even through hardship.

Nieve wasn't expecting a long account, having never realized the depth of history between the cliffs and the sound. There was even more to it than Rosalyn and Erzulie knew, but their story alone was tough to swallow. She imagined how it must've felt to be Rosalyn, kept by another pack against her will, to say nothing of being tormented. That was too difficult a reality for compassionate Nieve to entertain. She thought of Erzulie heartbroken, sounding calls for her beloved every night. She thought of what she would do in that situation.

She knew she would do no differently than Erzulie and Caiaphas. She was not the type of wolf to fight for herself, preferring to settle disputes peacefully, but her family was another matter entirely. To keep any one of them from harm, Nieve would stop at nothing.

Her sapphire eyes danced over the scars on Rosalyn's face and she couldn't hide a faint grimace. Ordinarily she might try to see the other side of the issue, think through what their reasons might've been, but she couldn't imagine these enemies of her family being anything but evil. Conflict was inevitable, but holding someone against their will and torturing them just for belonging to another group was sick and sadistic. No sensible creature would condone it.

That sounds awful, she remarked in the end, volleying her gaze between her mothers. She made no effort to rationalize the actions of the Drageda wolves. There was more than enough land to go around and a massive cliff between here and the sound; whatever their reasons for hostility, they were nonsense to Nieve, who believed in sharing. Why would you want to come here, then? Isn't it full of darkness for you? she asked, focusing then on Rosalyn.

There was some sense in it that Nieve could see, like making sure Drageda hadn't returned, but mostly she thought it must only serve as a bad memory not worth revisiting.

the question was put to the pirate; erzulie fell silent. rosalyn would answer well enough. drageda held its old ghosts, spectres, but in the quieted harlot, the feel of this place only engendered a great anger within her. something dark and curdled and bitter down to the last drop.
a resentment that could never be surrendered, she suspected.
eyetip to her wife.
could such a birthright be absolved of evil before it was passed down?
loa stirring.
was this the poisoned cup marie had passed to her? why not uphold drageda as a sign of their triumph? the old wound ached, the one that they had torn in the tapestry of her life the day that she discovered the story of her mate's kidnapping.
old blood. old black blood. cursed blood.
she would never forget.
she would never forgive.

Nieve was intuitive.  She saw to the truth of another, that was clear from the question.  For a long time, I couldn't.  This place is only a place, and if I let them keep me, then I give them more than they deserve.  Perhaps it was stupid to push herself towards these shores, but the more she walked them, the more inconsequential Drageda seemed.  It was already somewhat distant.  

It wasn't this place that kept me here, she added unnecessarily, but took a step towards the sea as she did.  She still didn't feel the love for the waves she'd once held, but she was comforted thinking back.  Seeing it empty, without the darkness.  It's... I can't really explain it.  It wasn't exactly joyful, but it was calming.  Bittersweet?

That all made sense to Nieve. She wasn't the type to hold a grudge, or at least not for very long. She'd inherited a lot of things from both of her mothers through their nurturing, but that wasn't one of them. For Rosalyn, it was about empowerment. She refused to let the demons of an unpleasant situation hang off her shoulders. Nieve could appreciate the value in that lesson and she took it to heart, for someday when it would avail her.

Erzulie had fallen silent. Nieve shifted in the sands to peer questioningly at her mama and saw only conflict in her eyes and the tense lines of her face. Maman? she prompted, as if it was Erzulie's turn to speak. Mostly she was concerned for her mother, but being their daughter, she wasn't forward enough to outright ask what was wrong. Not when there was so much weight here for the two of them that she didn't fully understand because she'd never experienced it herself.

And not when she wasn't 100% sure that that was tension in Erzulie's gaze and not something else entirely.

rosalyn spoke, nieve asked after her, and erzulie was silent. her eyes traced the spires, the skysteps, the archways. the cursed ground. and then she turned to her golden cub, to her wife. 
"dis place belongs to rusalka, for all dat i care now. but i will always hate it in some way."
an honest answer, the brimmings of an idea in her head. she looked to rosalyn, attempting to ascertain if her wife felt it also.
"drageda is dey scum of de eart', an' deserves to be drowned. every one of dem." her tone was vengeful; she turned to glare out upon the sea, furious.

She'd been thinking about bringing it up, but with Erzulie's vehemence, she refrained.  It wasn't a conversation she felt Nieve need be a part of initially.... but she tucked it away for a private time, choosing not to grab at the entry Erzulie left.  Perhaps Nieve would.

Instead she stepped towards her wife and gave her a light touch, a reminder that those times were in fact gone.

She did not have much to add.  If Nieve had any questions she would answer as best she could, but she left Erzulie's words to hang heavily.

Erzulie had a stronger opinion on this cozy little cove, it seemed. Nieve was surprised to hear the vitriol in her dam's voice when she said it. It spoke volumes for how much pain Drageda caused her in the past that she would speak of them so. She knew her mother only as a cunning but caring woman, perhaps not as fierce as Rosalyn on the surface but equally so deep down. On the surface Erzulie was more of a caretaker than Rosalyn. Nieve would've expected that tone of voice from the pirate, not the witch.

I guess there's a lot to hate about it, she said, feeling a little out of sorts while her mothers exchanged glances. She caught them but didn't read much into the significance of it. If she had even an inkling of the thoughts bouncing silently between the pair, she might've had some words to say, but instead she just felt a little bit awkward. By all accounts this place was a prison. It wasn't something that should evoke any kind of positivity for it served as a reminder of her family's darkest moment.

Why, she wondered as she cast her vision about from the pale sand to the high waves, did she find it so very beautiful in its reminiscence of home?

there would be other times to speak of these things.
for now, erzulie returned rosalyn's kiss, turned her attention back to nieve. "what do you t'ink of it?" she asked, moving deeper into the long-abandoned clifftop realm. drageda had chosen well, she would say that much. it was well-guarded from wolf and nature alike, with deep crevasses and sprawling access to water and game.
beautiful, in its own right, filled with the sensuous tang of cold salt, and erzulie knew that on summertime nights, these clifftops would dance with the low croon of seabirds, the crash of the brine below.
"it is so good to be back near de ocean," the harlot exclaimed, lighter now.

If Rosalyn sensed Nieve's discomfort, she waved it off as a daughter's reaction to her mother's' affection.  She smiled as Erzulie pulled away, lighter after a dark telling.  She herself fell silent, wanting to hear as well.

It wasn't for Nieve's sake that she did not ask here.  Erzulie did not attempt to hide from their children, to Rosalyn's knowledge, but she knew that her wife would do anything for their children.  When this discussion happened, she wanted it to be the two of them, alone and without influence.  Then they could bring the discussion to the rest.

Nieve shrugged, glancing between her mothers with a mixture of uncertainty and bafflement about being asked that. Erzulie probably just wanted to make small talk and wave away the strangeness of this whole venture, but what was Nieve supposed to think of Drageda's former territory? She'd just been told Rosalyn was held captive here, which made formulating a response tricky.

It's okay, she said with a noncommittal shrug. She didn't want to admit her appreciation for the place lest it evoke ugly emotions in Rosalyn or Erzulie, so disinterest seemed like the best angle. Pretty blah, she lied, smooth-faced and unreadable as she said it. It wasn't completely untrue: what happened here, the effect the wolves who lived here had on her family, certainly detracted from the cliff's natural beauty.

perhaps they asked too much of their children at times. erzulie bit the inside of her jaw, cursing herself for her dreadful outburst. rusalka had hardened her, but motherhood had brought out a passion that the harlot was hard-pressed to hide at times.
"good fishing here, i am sure," she murmured, bumping nieve affectionately. "been a long time since i tasted salt," the spice-edged woman sighed, tossing her wife and child a mischevious look. a hunt, a walk upon the beach, to settle them all and answer the voice that whispered in her blood.

Rosalyn could guess why Nieve's answer was stilted, but she didn't want to pull the subject into deeper waters again.  They'd already tread a dark line moments ago and both her daughter and Erzulie seemed keen on moving past.  Sharks don't stop the sea from being beautiful, she said, but then snorted out a quick laugh.  A hunt would be good.

The water is clear enough.  Perhaps we could even get enough to take some back.  Raleska and a few of the others might appreciate a piece of the shore, and she waded out.  The water had a biting chill to it, and she wouldn't be able to linger in it too long, but she'd pause long enough to snag some fish.

unless Nieve wants some more talk we can prob wrap this <3

While she was left unsure how she should feel about Drageda's former claim, Nieve was certain how she felt about spending time by the sea. No matter where in the world she was, with the ocean beside her, she was quite content. Erzulie teased a thought and Rosalyn seized upon it, suggesting they reap the sea's bounty for Rusalka. Nieve wholeheartedly agreed.

The water was frigid on her angles, drawing an audible gasp from her as she stepped into it, but the easy feeling being in the water gave chased away the majority of her hesitation. She was surprised how at home she felt the moment her paws touched the chilly surf. With far less practice than either of her mothers, it was a mostly fruitless endeavour for Nieve, but near the very end of their session, she managed to catch one fat fish to bear back to Rusalka.

no matter what had transpired here, drageda was still beautiful. she would always think of it in some way as drageda. the thought lingered, though she pushed it to the back of her mind and joined her loved ones in their chilly sea-hunt.