Blacktail Deer Plateau sets the heart in my ribcage fluttering;
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All Welcome 
set for 2/6

it was almost time.
her wanderings had begun, short forays that drew the beta out of the plateau and almost inexorably in the direction of the sea.
erzulie would not consider that this litter's conception could not happen along the sands. it must, for that was how she wished it. perhaps aningan might be tempted by her away from rusalka for a time; perhaps she might ensconsce them both in some cunning little alcove and show him what no amount of teaching could prepare him for.
the harlot stretched, flattening her still-lithe body into a run that coursed through the silent woodland.
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#2
sits too long, I snagssss

Rosalyn did not miss her wife's preparations. She was smart, sending the children away.... but she knew there would be no need, when her own time came.  If it came.  Perhaps, finally, the seasons were too heavy on her to allow her a season.  Only time would tell, but was it wrong to hope they were?

Not so heavy, however, that when the telltale cream flash flew through the trees, Rosalyn didn't smile and bolt after.  The instincts of the hunt drove her and she leaned in, letting her own frame flatten too into the joyous release of a dead sprint.
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:D

it was not long before the pirate joined her, sweeping forward on long, well-muscled legs. erzulie laughed to see her so near; she pit herself against rosalyn for a hard footrace before she slowed, panting. "i hope we are never too old for dat!" the harlot exclaimed, drawing in great draughts of air.
"you see de children be leavin'?" she teased, interested to see what her wife made of her plan.
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Rosalyn halted with gasping breath as well, though she had enough left to laugh between blows.  Exhilarating!  Never.  By the time we're too old to run, we'll just let the wind do the work.  The sight of them, old and snarled and carried by the wind, was definitely an amusing one.

I did.  I wouldn't have thought of that.  She replied, her tone appreciative.  She was clever, true, but planning ahead was something she still was not apt at.  It's nearly time, then.  More a statement than a question.  Her own was not near coming.... at least, she felt no inkling.  This was just as well for her; she wondered if some of the disharmony last year had been a result of similarly timed cycles.
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"aye, dat it is." she had never asked rosalyn's thoughts upon the act itself, for they had both done it the former year, had they not? but some part of erzulie knew that she was available to men in a way that her wife would never be, had never been.
unsure of what to do with the thought, she set it down along the edge of her mind to ponder another time. "teachin' a virgin," she joked wryly. "what am i going to do wid dat boy?"
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Rosalyn grinned, affection and a little devilment to it.  She had no desire to bed the alpha, who she saw nearer a son than a lover, but she enjoyed the panic that had set in when Erzulie had asked. 

His next lover may not thank you, depending on how well you teach him, she answered with a laugh.  She would set the bar for future women in the pale boy's life, and she knew her trade quite well.  Or maybe it's the opposite, she mused.

It was impossible to think of the act without thinking of the outcome.  She did not want to count too early; but last year had been tumultuous.  This year she felt they had room to breathe.  I've been thinking.  When it is finished, but before we know... we should take a trip to the south.  Back to the bay.  If not directly there, then the areas around it.  She wanted to see what had become of it.
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his first lover might have been ying, the harlot mulled silently to herself. had she robbed him of a properly sweet experience? she could provide the lushness of expertise and the fruit to bear thereafter, but love's original spark was unforgettable.
no matter now; the sisters had gone.
a smile swept the windy isles of her face, clearing its tension. "back to de bay," she repeated, glancing into her wife's eyes. "i would like dat, very, very much, rosalyn."
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She was glad the idea appealed.  She'd considered a few times returning herself... but it wouldn't be the same, she didn't think.  It wasn't the bay itself that had made the place special, and exploring it with her wife sounded more and more like kismet.

She fell silent for a moment, enjoying the company and her own thoughts as they wandered.  And, as usual, they traveled down roads of what they had and what they needed.  She could try to deny herself all she wanted, but the pirate was nothing if she didn't have a goal.

If you could have anything in a pack, the pack itself, what would you want? she asked.  It may have sounded out of the blue, but she wasn't sure she'd ever asked.  She never found what exactly had led the beautiful woman to Ironsea... nor what had made her stay.  Perhaps she was vain enough to think it was herself alone, but she doubted it.  And if Rusalka at present lacked... she wished to hear it.
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a smile, unfurling upon her lips. a dreamlike haze upon her eyes, she sighed in answer. "a little place by de sea. cliffs. little tide pools." ironsea would not have been her true home without rosalyn. but the ocean called to her always, beckoning, beckoning.
she had rather hoped the new little lives would be brought earthside along the sea, but that would not be possible.
"a place i never have to leave again," came her voice, more firmly. she was tired of wandering. rusalka had become as great a home as she had ever possessed, but it was not the sea. could they ever return.
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Rosalyn nodded, silent for a moment. Whatever place they chose next, they would hold it until they could not any longer.  They were formidable enough, she thought, that perhaps they might just keep it forever.  A space of ground, pack or no, where they could live and thrive and their children always knew they could turn.

We could just go.  Ask the others, and see who would come.  She said, thinking on it.  Nieve would come, as would Raleska, she was sure of it.  Aningan would follow, she thought, so long as Rusalka came together.  The rest she wasn't so sure.  

Just not the sound.  That place was cursed by the witch who'd held it, and Rosalyn was tired of being tied to that legacy.  She got the feeling the grotto had enemies they did not even know, and she had no desire to keep them by claiming the place once more.
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the harlot nodded, a sigh slipping past her lips. "de soun' should rest now." had she her way, the place would be filled with sand and buried beneath the sea. ears twitched at the bold suggestion, and she mulled it over before ultimately settling on a wan grin.
"perhaps if i were younger." it hurt to admit, but erzulie and rosalyn had not been young when ironsea fell, older during the war with drageda, and now they both had come to a crucial point in their lives. racing into the night was a far less tempting option, not without a plan, not without support.
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It had been a wild opinion, one spurred by an abandon she had thought lost until recently.  And yes, she was disappointed when her wife shut it down so soundly... words that echoed a shadow pacing after Rosalyn ever more lately, it seemed.

If you are not young, then where does that place me, she asked playfully.  Inwardly she felt a touch of melancholy.  Old and worn.  Erzulie was right, as always.

If we wanted to go, I'd rather it be before any children.  Unless you've changed your mind?  Theyd spoken once of a possible move, and if they couldn't go alone, there were other options.  We could ask Aningan.  If she wished to stay, then that would be the end of it.

But for some reason, ever increasing, she felt they were simply waiting.  She couldn't say what for, and the energy of it was pent up within her, making her itch with an unease that wouldn't be abated.
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"do you t'ink he would want to go?" erzulie inquired. she did not mean to avoid an answer for her wife; she simply did not wish to know. tired of wandering, of roaming; she wanted only a place she might never leave again unless in the embrace of death. "i t'ink he would not mind seeing de sea again."
it was what they all wished, erzulie felt. rusalka was a place of saltwolves. the plateau had only been intended for a temporary refuge, and it had done so.
it was time now to return home. she only wished to be careful about such things.
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I think he would do what the rest want, and I think they are restless. She added.  She wasn't sure he felt the same tie the rest of them seemed to, but if not, he at least seemed to strive to please.  Their children, Raleska, even Harps... all of them had expressed the same desires or bore the same yearning.

Even if we ask, we'll need to know where.  But if children come, we cannot move for a time.  She said, smiling fondly.  That was the true reason for her question.  It was too soon to know, but if Erzulie grew pregnant, time wouldn't allow for much length to make a choice.
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600 4 u

teeth glinted in an amused smile. "we may not be all dat young, but he is," she pointed out with a teasing arch of her brow. they would come.
"you try an' keep me home," erzulie challenged with a laugh, moving in to bump affectionately against her wife's flank. warriors, both of them, the entire world at their disposal.
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<33 congrats!!

That settled it for her.  They would continue to scout, though only time and exploration would tell if they would find a suitable home.  When children came, she would not bring them to a pack in limbo.  Rusalka would find its heart again.

Perhaps it is wrong for me to say this... but I hope for more daughters, she said, shifting to the subject of the children they hoped to bring.  I do not know what to do about Reyes.  She did not know if Erzulie had seen the same distance that she had.  And Scarab.... from the onset, their daughters had been simpler.  They had complications, their own lives to live, but they'd never sought to shut out their mothers in the way sons seemed prone to.
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"not at all," erzulie breathed, gaze curious. "he has not spoken to you ei'ter." the harlot grew thoughtful. "he has had no father. any man who he met would be a hurt to reyes. teach him what dey believe manhood should be." 
her eyes tightened.
"dat men should be cruel to be men." had they not both sensed the new restless anger in their son?
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Even though it wasn't a question, Rosalyn shook her head.  Her son was an enigma to her... but she'd disappeared as well, so perhaps it was warranted.  Erzulie's words made her eyes go hard for a moment, though.  It truly was the curse of men to impart these lessons, was it not?  

Firefly wasn't worthy of being their father, but I was wrong to chase him off from the start, she said, acquiescing to that at least.  This year we chose better.  She wouldn't do as such again... Aningan could be what he wanted to them, so long as he never sought to put himself between the mothers and their children.  Father, packmate, mentor, or nothing... it was his choice.
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fade? <3

"we did." aningan was far more loyal to the core of rusalka than firefly had ever been. but though she would never tell of it, erzulie regretted that he had died. perhaps one day their children would have wished to seek him out. it was not possible now.
she rose, nudged her crown along rosalyn's shoulder. "our family belongs to you and to me." a belief of hers, never changed, never sundered, never faltering.
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Rosalyn smiled as Erzulie stated that final comment and allowed it to draw them to lighter talk.  Her doubts disappeared, though the resolution remained; their children would always have them, but to have more perhaps would be even better.