Dragoncrest Cliffs Crash burn

Up to two others! Pinging @Alyx, but all welcome.

He had searched up and down the coast to no avail, although there was one scent he’d picked up on that had pulled him close: Alyx. He stood at the border now, not crossing. Phox knew he should go back to the caldera for Towhee, and he would, but Alyx would want to know, wouldn’t she? Maybe she could keep an eye out for Niamh. Maybe Niamh would trust her enough to come looking for her. It was odd enough that Niamh had abandoned him and Towhee, but surely she wouldn’t abandon her daughter, too. And Bronco? Did she plan to never see him again?

Phox tilted his chin upward and howled against the wind. The pine trees were thick and tall, but he could still smell the ocean from here. Perhaps Niamh had settled here after all upon finding Alyx here and had simply kept herself away from the borders.

the wind rose and with it, erzulie's gorge. 
spitting saliva into a bush, she scraped earth over the meal she had lost, sighing in vague irritation. and yet with this, pleasure. relief. she carried the next generation of sapphique, and in this, would induct merlin and njord into the small number of those who had come to gain the favor of the wives.
a howl there, summoning the quiet young girl who had come to live among them not long ago. and a familiar voice. this was confirmed as the golden harlot came upon the caller. phox. "you be far from home," erzulie commented with no true tone, gaze settling curiously upon the man.

Sneezing loudly every few paces, Alyx made her sluggish way to the origin of her father's familiar voice. Maybe it was the changing of the seasons or maybe it was just some salt sickness on the breeze, but since arriving in Sapphique, Alyx had come down with a wicked chest cold.

She was feeling a little better, well enough to attend Phox's summons, although by the time she arrived in sight of Regent and leader alike, she was breathing heavily through the phlegm gathered in her throat. Nevertheless, Alyx hastened forth with a woozy sidestep, calling out, dad! as she went.

She would be better soon, and news from the Caldera, likely regarding her baby siblings, would certainly help her mood even if it did nothing for the symptoms.

Erzulie was the first to appear, and Phox had a hard time remembering her exact relationship to Niamh. There was something vague there, though. A memory of some clash, perhaps something healed when Alyx had been returned to them. And now it was Niamh missing. Phox could not bring himself to believe that she had disappeared completely. Surely she had to be somewhere along with the children. Their children. He had known Niamh to be selfish, but this... it felt too much.

Before he had a chance to respond, Alyx was close behind, her voice even more off-kilter than its usual raspy self. She did not look well, and Phox shot Erzulie a questioning look, wondering if she was being taken care of here. It wasn't the best first impression, but Phox probably looked ragged himself.

Alyx! he greeted, his tail wagging as she approached. And Erzulie; it's good to see you again... he paused, glancing back to Alyx. I wish the circumstances for my visit were better. Niamh ran off, and I can't find her. She was last spotted at Yuelong, just south of here, but that was a month ago. I haven't caught a whiff of her since. She hasn't come here, has she? Phox asked, hope beginning to falter in his voice as he watched their faces for any sign of recognition at this news.

alyx soon appeared, and erzulie did not look toward phox this time, but the girl. a swearing murmur beneath her tongue, the obsidian stepped forward to offer a bit of support for the yearling.
niamh, run off. an exhausted father who had turned up upon their borders only to find his daughter ill, and naught to answer but the regretful shake of erzulie's head.
that yuelong still reigned irked the woman.
"she has not come here," the harlot said softly, though her attention was upon reticent and now illworthy alyx. "please come inside, phox," she invited, stepping back. niamh was her kin and alyx her responsibility. she would take them both to her medicines, and offered only an arch of her brow before turning. "rest some."

Despite the sniffles and dizzying congestion, Alyx was expecting a happy reunion with her father, not the figurative sledgehammer he sent swinging her way with his news. She gradually sank back to her haunches with the weight of it, smile fading to confusion which gave way to shock.

She knew her mother was a selfish wolf. After all, Alyx had to get it from somewhere, and it certainly wasn't Phox. She knew enough about her mother to know Niamh would go to great lengths to get whatever she wanted in life, whether that manifested as extreme determination or extreme pettiness (in the case of things she didn't like), but this...

If only she knew the true nature of the fight that sent Bronco from the Redhawks. Alas, Alyx still believed that despite being capable of emotionally harming them when she felt like it, her mother would never intentionally endanger her children for any reason, and none of this made sense.

Why... Why would she do that? There has to be a mistake, she was gonna have babies soon, wasn't she? Another horrific thought wormed its way into her brain then: what if Niamh had lost the babies? What if Alyx wasn't going to have siblings this year, after all, and the pain of losing them was what made Niamh run away? That made a whole lot more sense than her doing it while heavily pregnant, but was no less upsetting to the young Redhawk-Blackthorn.

He couldn't give her an answer, because Phox still felt as though he did not know why Niamh had stormed off. Perhaps she expected him to pit himself against his own sister when the two had not been getting along. Niamh should have known better, but he was far past being angry with her. Phox just wanted her safe and sound along with their children. Surely they would be alive in the world now: living, breathing children that he was unable to see.

Erzulie had invited him in, and so Phox took a step forward, knowing that he could not stay long.

I don't know, he said, answering Alyx. The other question Phox didn't dare answer, and the mere thought of voicing the worst of his worries brought terror to his heart. They had to be okay. Niamh was okay. The children were okay. They had to be.

They have to be okay, wherever they are. If he didn't keep that thought alive, he couldn't go on living.

erzulie had no answers for the grieving pair. she looked to the weary father, the feverish girl, her gaze expansive and sympathetic.
but she could offer more than sympathy.
the harlot stepped aside, again a silent urging; she would walk ahead of them as they moved toward her potions. when next njord went out, she would ask him to look for niamh, a policy she would not share with the agonized ones, lest he be unfruitful in his own search.
phox could mend here. alyx too, and perhaps they could be of comfort to one another beneath sapphique's banner.

Alyx whirled through several emotions simultaneously, panic and numbness and grief and, yes, a little anger. Why would her mother do such a dangerous thing? She knew Niamh wasn't stupid, but Alyx knew there weren't many things more stupid than leaving the safety of home while pregnant. So what? Why?!

Phox didn't know, which refuted Alyx's guess that Niamh miscarried and fled as a result. That, or she'd done so without informing her mate. She fixed her mouth into a grimace until a sneeze forced her to grin sheepishly, turning to follow Erzulie and Phox further into the territory. Her expression was quick to sink again, though.

Of course they're okay, said Alyx, making her very best effort to sound confident about it. They're Redhawks. Oh, if only it were that simple.

We can probably wrap here!

Alyx's words were appreciated, and Phox latched onto them. They're Redhawks. Time and time again, the Redhawks had survived. He refused to think of Orca, of his own parents, of Titmouse, or of Primrose. Those had been flukes. By and large, Redhawks survived. Why would Niamh and their children be any different?

His nose touched hers, and he let himself be guided to a sleeping place where he would recover his energy. Then, he would set out again to search for her.

last for me! <3

they're redhawks.
later, erzulie would ponder this. despite the fact that she and rosalyn had been quite prolific, was their sense of family name as strong? it was something she would puzzle to herself in the days to come.
for now the obsidian was silent, drifting before them out of earshot as the trio moved toward her den and healing.