Dragoncrest Cliffs negativity, we just dead it like d-con

in the days following their excursion val rested. he’d felt a little different now, in a way that could not be articulated — not that any soul would hear the innerworkings of his mind. he wondered of njord - the only other male alive val might trust with the turbulence of his thoughts.

but they were just thoughts, and val just a stupid, overthinking man.

he patrolled the rim of sapphique where it stood frowning over the darkened swath of ankyran beach below. sometime soon, he wished to speak to svalinn — but for now he kept his mind on patrol.

mireille opted not to avoid val. it would be suspicious. and she had no reason or want to alienate him. she felt no guilt over what had occurred, and knew him to be an attendant at her sister's den. 
maybe he would be at her own.
mireille guarded the rest of her feelings.
kelp was draped around her red shoulders as she came up from the beach. she saw the glint of his eyes and climbed a footpath to join him. "have you seen svalinn in a while?" came her voice, low against the surf as she too stared out over the ocean.

val heard first the rustling of herbs. he turned an ear back, bemused at the sight of mireille saddled with ropy kelp. not so long ago he had been rosalyn’s mule in such endeavors.

it warmed him to see mireille. there was not a single ounce of regret in their coupling — rather, val found himself wishing for her presence.

his lips twitched at mention of svalinn. not since we came back. have you?

mireille snorted to answer. "no. he promised daughters to chacal an' i," she revealed with an arch tone, adjusting the kelp around her body. "well, i was takin' dis to dry by de lake. come wit me," a warm command that ended in a teasing note.
she was pleased to see there appeared to be no hesitance in val about her presence either; she felt closer to him than before due almost alone to this tacit understanding, and turned to walk with no swiftness toward glintwater.

daughters? val visibly shifted. he wished to ask in what way — the question died alone and unspoken on his lips.

invited to come along, he fell in easy step alongside mireille. she lead both the direction and the pace, silky ribbons of kelp shifting under each swinging step.

you are the second to ask after him. val spoke, his seemingly guarded tone shifting into something of a teasing nature. should i be worried, has he come to make you and chacal his harem?

mireille whirled at once, paw lifted to faux-cuff the dark wolf. "koman ou oze!" but her emerald eyes were lit by laughter at val's daring. she rolled them and continued on.
"i was very mean to him when he came," the obsidian said, not an admission but a declaration that limned her in pride and ended with a smug smile. "he knows chacal an' i would rat'er make his hide ornamental."
her tail flicked. "who else asked?"

mireille wheeled upon him with a playful cuff. val did not flinch in time — the lightness of her eyes danced in mirth. he grinned to bear the newest paw print mark on his pelt; it streaked his dark fur with glittering sand.

oh? val grinned, imagining the scene of a bristling mireille standing before svalinn. it would make a pretty pelt. it was chacal who also asked. he supposed, in a way, he had svalinn to thank for his future. do you think he means well?

he looked good with it, she decided, part of the ocean. "chacal, hmm?" she chuckled. "perhaps he means to be part of a harem, not de head of it."
part of her wondered how her sister would react if she knew, if she said. like val's confidence in njord, mireille had cultivated that with chacal.
the lake soon greeted them with its brilliant surface, and she started to pull the kelp away. not so smooth as her mother yet, she soon found her foreleg wound irritatingly, and struggled in self-deprecation.

it would not be beyond the means of sapphique to create an inverse harem. val contemplated this as they pulled along the bank of the lake. mireille and chacal made fine valide-sultans.

together they undressed kelp; when mireille found one ensnared around her foreleg val found himself chuffing in good humor. need help? i happen to be great at extracting myself from seaweed. no questions at this time on how this skill was developed. fair warning - it tastes like shit.

mireille snickered a little and rolled a shoulder to invite him closer. her own teeth began to pluck at the vines and she wrinkled her nose. "maman always had so many kinds. all for different t'ings."
the bitter flavor filled her mouth.
desolation flickered in her spirit.
"i miss her, val." her voice hoarsened.

he made a few quick passes at her forelimb, snipping strands of kelp where they sat limp on the ground. bitterness tinged his tongue, but it was not from the weeds or salt.

it was from the memory of loss.

some in sapphique had lost a friend. some had lost a mother. but erzulie encapsulated so much more; sentinel, worldwalker, seastrider. it would take many lives to rebuild the institutional knowledge left in her departure.

he looked upon the ribbons of kelp - he did not even know their names or use! his throat constricted. i miss her too. the other day i— his voice nearly cracked as he gesticulated helpless. turned to show her something. only i remembered. his eyes fell to the sodden ground, sorrowed.

they shared a wormwood moment there upon the lakeshore. she told herself she would not cry but her cheeks grew damp in the quiet all the same. mireille recalled totoro, how she had spoken of the lost sea mother only to them alone.
"we go on in her name, val," she said in a voice sodden with sorrow. "in mama rosalyn's as well. next time somet'in' comes to you, say it aloud. pass it down, to de youngers."
her eyes were anguished but the smile upon her mouth was true in its glow.

alongside mireille, val’s cheeks darkened. he stared across the lake, wondering how many times erzulie might have done.

where was she now? in the sea, the air he breathed, the salt of his cheeks?

through that bitter sadness a light speared - val turned upon mireille. i will tell them of the time maman rescued me from a crab. did she know? so they can laugh at their uncle and grow a healthy respect of those creatures.

mireille laughed a little at that in spite of her tears. val's mention of erzulie as maman and himself as uncle was a further reflection that at least for now he meant to hold his place and not seek more.
for this a strong swell of love rose in her spirit, and at last she leaned against him, the kelp fallen to loops at their feet.
"crabs be scary. dey will be lucky to learn from such a tonton."

cameo!

Chacal emerged from the tunnel, a smile on her face from her successful fishing trip; she’d found a sea urchin, and had supped on its precious eggs. Her favourite treat- something she occasionally kept just for herself.

She wanted a sip of freshwater before returning to the de site to see how Suzu was doing with the youngsters when she caught sight of Mireille and Val at the edge of the great pine forest. 

Their closeness…The way Mireille tipped her head toward his shoulder…Something about it made her pause, and caused her pulse to quicken.

Both had been away for some time; and both had returned not long apart. She felt a burning in her chest, and forced herself to turn away and dash off as quietly as she could away from the sight of them.

for a spell val considered crabs. how demonic and otherworldly their body plan! ten legs, two of which formed evil pincers to torment naive puppy noses! they were lucky they only grew to the size of a fist (well, as far as val knew).

he leaned in for a moment, cherishing the fleeting sweetness that drove away the sour song of their communal sorrow. behind them chacal's shape rose and descended -- she remained undetected by val.

they are scary. val admitted at length, flicking a pebble from bright kelp fronds. do you think this place is cursed? val's eyes turned to mireille, softened by grief.

"cursed?" odd. but maybe not. "t'ere is a place loko showed me, where you can come here from, well. i forget. but i can find it again. anyway, no. i always loved dis place, val."
mireille nipped his shoulder in an attempt to buoy his spirits and pulled away with a grin. "why do you ask?" she inquired in a muted voice, still touched by her own sorrow.

val's ears tipped forward to learn of another tunnel -- but where this one ended he would have to learn another day. he reacted too slowly to dodge mireille's nip, but it buoyed him just enough that his settling spirits rose again. oh, you know --

val trotted after her, tail jaunty. just all this bear business, and general unpleasantry. the smile on his lips stalled as a thought came to him -- what if he was the cursed one. just seems like we never catch a break, you know?

have an idea for another thread >D

mireille thought on that for a moment; she tried to think of what maman might have said. 
"each time sapphique be tested, it stand true," the obsidian chose some moments later. "we have suffered, yes. but new life be here."
she did not think about what she was saying until she had said it; mireille meant this in allusion to chani and chiro, but flushed next and smiled a tiny secret smile, glancing out toward the waves. "ah, i want to rest. race me up de beach!"
the seawolf did not wait; she danced up into a run which spurred sand from beneath her paws, laughing.

val supposed there was truth in that: sapphique stood, while others did not.

he thought quietly of other ill-fated packs, which came and went like the tide. but sapphique was not like them - new life rose within their ranks to replace all they had lost and more.

there was little time for more contemplation -- mireille was suddenly spurned into action, challenging him to a race he was unprepared for.

val was not a fast wolf; his strengths were more in his persistence -- and so, mireille handily smoked him as she raced down towards the beach.