Dragoncrest Cliffs again love, the limb-loosener, rattles me

@Chacal @Sobo @Rosalyn @Meerkat @Jorunn @Loko @Gunnar @Stingray @Etienne @Theo (tried to avoid double tags!) one post replies welcome <3

it was time. 
erzulie called the pack to fireblood stand. the maples were radiant, the hue of brightest blood. a small and cool breeze played from the sea. 
two garlands today, one she had given to chacal to offer sobo, and the other was for mireille. their new obsidian would wear a crown of salt geranium, their deep lavender hue a contrast against the crimson of her pelt and the green of her eyes.
as they gathered, she felt the tears threaten again, those both of pride and of sorrow. she was ready to step back, she had not lied, and yet to hand this garland to mireille would mean the end of so long a chapter she could not see its close.
for sobo, the first son of sapphique to become jade, erzulie had created a necklace of rich red blanket flowers, the blooded color of which she hoped to convey his importance as those the lwa had chosen for this.
"i be steppin' down today," erzulie said when the pack had gathered. her voice was easy. she stood with chacal and rosalyn before them. "i have been honored to be obsidian for so long. but now mireille will carry dat honor."
she motioned to her girl, who stood and crossed nervously to her mother. "sapphique chooses you. de sea chooses you," erzulie said softly, voice tensing only somewhat. 
the garland was placed about mireille's neck, and the giving of power was complete. but the meeting was not over.
"an' sobo." her two-toned gaze was upon their son, and she was limned with pride as she bid him closer. "you will be jade to de tanzanite and de obsidian. de salt water speaks also to you. an' de spirits which i brought from de bayou hear you too. sapphique chooses you. de sea chooses you." she looked toward chacal for the garland, and stood silent unless the tanzanite wished her to do the crossing-over. she wished to hear how the golden woman would speak of her siblings, for every word was profound.
she listened.
sobo and mireille, swathed in flowers.
her tears were open now, silent. when the words had ended, erzulie tilted her head back and sang a triumphant song of sapphique's power through time.

she'd known it was coming. of course she did.
but hearing her maman call, seeing wolves from her pack move in that direction — mireille shivered. she of course came at once, bringing up the rear with her elder sisters, the ones who had stayed for years in sapphique.
the red girl slid to the front and found a place alongside sobo. her mothers stood with chacal, and mireille was happy to see it. she was pleased to see their pack so strong and so filled with life.
maman began to speak, and as she went on, mireille found herself responding to the emotion. when she was called, she got up and moved hesitantly to the front of the pack.
and when her mother set the necklace of flowers around her head, the girl sniffled aloud, trying to keep her chin from trembling.
this was it this was it — and there was more! sobo!
her emerald eyes went wide, and she could not hide the joy that followed the surprise onto the planes of her face. mireille all but vibrated with joy as her brother was appointed jade. he would help to lead too.
mireille swallowed her tears and laughed softly. "you should wear flowers all the time," she stagewhispered to her brother, grinning wildly as her tail waved in sheer happiness.

Etienne followed behind manman his feet high stepping at the vibrations of everyone moving. It both filled him woth happinness and trepidation. He didnt understand why vibrations affected him so. He moved closer to his granme tears on her face. He wanted to soothe, but he was unsure exactly what that entailed.

Gunnar heard the call and limped towards the pack meeting. He had not left yet. Loathe to do so. Yet knowing it was the next movement for him.

He titled his head eyes shining as the young ones took their mantles of royalty. New sea queens and now a sea king. How beautiful.

It felt right. And so he lifted his own voice to meet theirs. Happy, and proud of them.

This was an important day in Sapphique, yet all Meerkat could do was sit in the back and try not to be reminded of her wedding day. She was too busy fighting tears—the painful gob in her throat felt like it might choke her—to focus on what was being said.

When Erzulie’s celebratory howl resonated, Meerkat swallowed thickly and raised her muzzle, though she could only produce a wretched whisper. She cleared her throat and tried again, lending a decidedly low and wavering note to the song.

Rosalyn stood beside Erzulie. She was proud of the steps their children now took, but her presence here was mainly for her wife. These ceremonies were a promise of a future, but they also carried the weight of a past that reminded them things needed to end. It was a heavy decision.

She spared little pity for Meerkat, alone and in the back. In her mind Rosalyn had conflated Njord with another man, one also guilty of disappearances, and she thought the woman should perhaps have chosen better if she wished to remain without disappointment. History was not worth repeating. At least she knew better than to voice this outright.

She smiled at Mirelle's enthusiasm, then affectionately at Sobo, the first of their sons to bear the honor of Sapphique's legacy. She was glad he was one to wear it, but she was also glad he would not wear it alone. She would not have wished that on any of them.

When she had finished her part, Rosalyn moved closer to her wife, allowing herself to lean ever so slightly against her in a quiet understanding. There was nothing she needed to add, save the howl in which she joined in. It was her daughters' turns to let their voices be known.

Part of Chacal’s heart felt as though it had eroded away, having first watched her Mother step away from leadership and now her Maman. But as the sea claimed earth from the shoreline, so too it created new land. So I and Mireille would join her as leaders of the pack, and for their company and counsel she would be grateful.

There had been a partial shift when she had stepped into the leadership, but now the pack would be refreshed with new blood at the helm, the next generation stepping forward to usher Sapphique into the future. Still, bordered by the same currents and tides that had guided them all along. 

It would be Erzulie’s last proclamation as Obsidian so she remained quiet and obedient as her mother placed the laurel on Mireille’s head. Chacal beamed, eyes shimmering at her sister, the new Obsidian. And when Erzulie spoke to Sobo, Chacal stepped forward and carefully draped the necklace of scarlet flowers upon Sobo’s shoulder, pausing to give his cheek a brief, but affectionate kiss. It was a monumental day- the day they had chosen to bring a young man into the leadership. He smelled, as ever, of fresh herbs and medicines. She smiled as she pulled back, and spared a loving nuzzle for her sister as well. She was both proud and grateful to have their companionship in leadership. 

A pause was given for her to speak, so she cleared her throat, glanced to her emotional family, and chimed. 

”We see today de flow of time,
Moves like de sea, wid salt an’ brine,
From our Mot’ers we take deir legacy,
An’ pledge ourselves to Sapphique an’ de sea. 

Mireille, our precious obsidian be,
An’ Sobo our Jade, we welcome ye,
An our Mot’ers we now proclaim to be,
De nyew rank of honour an’ respect: Ruby.

So it shall be, from dis day forward, 
We pledge ourselves to dis-
Sapphique toujours!”

And with all the others, she contributed her own melodious voice in their celebratory howl.

loko’s family stood before him, his sister garbed in brilliant violet and his brother in kingly red; he had a vision at once of what the court might have looked like in the past — before both his mothers took the helm.

never before had loko been so compromised by a sense of familial pride. he loved each of his siblings fiercely, and now two of his closest became his leaders.

loko’s face split into a beam as chacal sang. he did not notice meerkat or even his other family members as they arrived — his eyes were fastened on the faces of his siblings as around him wolfsong rose to a crescendo.

Val had lived long enough to understand change was like the tide. It came and went in great waves, and it was mortal’s folly to try to stop it.

Still he felt a similar gob in his throat today as Meerkat — not for Njord, but the hardship he saw written subtly across Erzulie’s face.

He was reminded of an old crone he’d met once; how she had reflected on her situation and proclaimed in a thick accent dis, it be right. And while everything had changed, it felt right.

When Chacal’a song ended Val tilted his head to the sky, a long howl rising in cloudrifts above him.

quennell did not do very good sitting for long.

so perhaps it was best that there was plenty going on. occasionally when he grew bored, he chewed and tugged at the limbs of jorunn. who often times quickly set him back to sitting still again.

but finally, among all of the changes that went over his head, it was time to do the good stuff.

howl!

she had been warned of this moment.

still it did not change how it tugged at her heart strings. to see erzulie step down and see not one but two of the sea children rise in her place. sobo would sit finely at the top, this she knew. mireille had the soul made for this as well.

they would thrive.

sapphique would thrive.

as quennell tugged at her tail some, she held back a glossy look for the family before her. the family she loved fiercely and deeply. a silent nod of support and congratulations to the strong standing new leaders.

her voice would join theirs without fail.

Theo did not quite understand was what said and why it was sad and happy, but he stood next to his mother as she said a long speech, he nuzzled her. He picked up some words, but not many meanings

He knew it was coming, but his mother calling him to the front of the pack still unleashed a flurry of nerves in his stomach. What if Mireille was unhappy with him for stealing her thunder? What if Meerkat refused to accept him as a leader? He might have thought the same of Njord, but the man had seemingly abandoned his family once more (an uncharitable thought considering he did not know the details), so Sobo thought nothing of him at all. What if Loko was upset that he was the only one left out? What if, what if, what if...

He started when Chacal placed the flowers around his neck. He smiled shakily when she kissed him on the cheek. It seemed he had risen to stand before the pack without realizing he was moving at all. His eyes darted around the crowd without resting on any face for long. His gut churned like the sea in a storm.

Then Mireille was whispering to him and his smile grew broader. She wasn’t upset! His voice trembled a little when he said, you should too, and then he dropped his head respectfully and added, Obsidian.

The pack rose their voices as one, and Sobo did not know whether he should join in or not, and so he remained meekly silent, but the strong lines of his shoulders were set with pride and his tail waved joyfully behind him. This was right. He would support his sisters, and Sapphique would see its first male leader, and he would do all he could to do right by them.

He must begin, he knew, with seeking out those he was most nervous about. There would be time for that later; now he wished to relish in the company of his family and celebrate. Not for himself — he felt humbled by the opportunity rather than boastful — but Mireille, and his mothers, now the pack Rubies, and forever the pack’s highly valued founders.