Dragoncrest Cliffs Everyone blooms

The sea had been his only constant companion for some days, drawing him close befor falling away, then driving him back by flooding in; a few times he thought he might be caught by the snap of a wave and was lucky when he wasn't.

Eventually, bedraggled and salt crusted, he came to the edge of a claim. Raimo held no gift to beg passage, nor the will, and settled among some barnacle-heavy stones to rest, dry beneath the sun, and watch for signs of life.

The cliffs towered over him, and in the coming hours the sun would wilt behind them.

he was handsome, erzulie supposed, the dark stallion of a man she spotted too close to her borders. 
it would be very soon that her children would come earthside, but until then, the obsidian refused bedrest or reticence. proud and heavily pregnant, erzulie shimmered golden against the dying light.
"you found sapphique." flick of darkchai ears. "what can we be doin' for you?" her mismatched gaze was careful, observant.

When she came he failed to see her, following the sweeping shadow that corrugated the terrain. When she spoke he turned his ears first and then his pantherine face, assessing the state of her; she was round, her scent older than expected, her voice proud.

Sapphique? This was not a name he knew from the stories of his youth. The cliffside was Dragoncrest; it was far enough north along the coastline to be none other. The stories said that warriors ruled the risen earth here - that the sea-tribes were further west.

I seek shelter. A fresh start. states Raimo as he amalgamates his gathered knowledge with the newly presented truths. There had been no sea-tribes along his journey - perhaps things had changed since the story's telling.

"do you leave anyt'ing behind dat might come dis far?" erzulie inquired. a new home could be bestowed, a new name even, but she could not give succor to such a vague notion.
a whisk of cinnamon tail, to show that she would not pry. "i be erzulie. my wife an' i lead here, wid our ruby, njord." the children moved, kicking, and she shifted her weight to one side.
the rest she could ascertain for herself: he was well-muscled and polite, and if he took no offense to the idea of wives ruling over him, sapphique might have another hunter.

A glint of light caught stone and he saw among the cairns, Kukutux' face. The shadows wavered; Jakoul.

I am Raimo. I come from the mountains south of here, a distant valley before that. He answers, half introducing himself in response to her own name.

I am alone. I can hunt, fish, guard.. My true calling is in gathering knowledge. Stories - histories. That was not a new thing; something done in secret before, which now he boasted about, the hopeful historian.

The woman looked uncomfortable. It was probably the pregnancy of her body causing it but to be certain, Raimo sniffed the air cautiously, searching for signs of illness. Otherwise he was silent, discerning.

raimo, from the mountains, and a valley prior to this. erzulie chose to take his mention of distance as a further indication that he had come far. to his list of talents she gave a flick of one spiced ear, amused.
not impressed, for she would have expected as much from any man who had grown beyond boyhood. but his talk of stories, of gathering them; this did intrigue erzulie. "i will let you stay," she decided after a moment. she wet her lips, invited him across the border. "do you be knowin' de story of dis place?"

He nods, the motion carrying in to a slight bow of his head below her own, signifying more than acquiescence.

I have heard tales of pirates, sea sirens, and dragon-hearted creatures. Raimo explains as he resumes a more relaxed posture.

To be truthful, I expected to find the dragons here, and was surprised to find you instead. Are you secretly a dragon? A small, cat-like smirk appears.

"a dragon? a silver tongue you have, den," the harlot grinned back, happy to bandy words with so quick a wit. "once upon a time, de pack here once t'ought dey were dragons. but sapphique, den rusalka, drove dem back."
"years later, we be comin' back to have t'eir land, long after dey all fell and left." a chronicle of their power, and one she meant to impress upon the feline-gaited man.

The woman seemed pleased by his comment, and while Raimo did not share a smile back in her direction he enjoyed watching the way her own face split.

His smirk vanished as she recounted the brief history of the place; had he the energy perhaps Raimo would have asked for more details, but in time he might discover them through careful listening and the correct questions to the correct people.

Impressive. He comments in the end. Outlasting a single dragon is no easy feat, yet you and your people survived many. As he spoke he looked along the cliff edge with a new appreciation, imagining massive scaled beasts diving from it towards women warriors upon the beach; it was too fantastic to be the truth but, sometimes that was better.

"i like dis idea of me and a dragon in de same story." she studied raimo for a long moment, and then tipped a pleasant, longing look toward the ocean. too weighted was she now to go much further than the shallows, trapped now at the very end of her pregnancy.
"i be goin' now to rest, raimo," the obsidian told their new corsair. "make acquaintance wid de dragon herself," she purled, waiting for whatever answer he would give before she turned to saunter in the direction of her den.