Dragoncrest Cliffs they say we being demonic, angel in disguise

life returned to normal, though miette avoided traveling in the weeks after her mishap in the sound.

the boneflower sat between her paws. miette turned it around with a small frown, noticing the notches in one of the tines' tip.

rodent teeth.

when she'd first found the antler, no such blemish existed. but she had been gone weeks -- and while the antler had stayed where she left it, it had changed too.

miette was home. astera was home. mireille could hardly stand to be parted from either of them, and all but followed miette from place to place, or invited her upon patrol, or along the waves; her eyes were often on the girl, and her heart fell each time she could not see her daughter.
today was no different. mireille hid this new anxiety well for now, approaching with a grin. "ah, what do you have, sobeille miette?"

as of late, miette had noticed more than pale yellow eyes upon her.

in a way, it was deserved.

she pushed the knotted antler towards her maman, eyes solemn. dis be boneflower. me n' ahsterah found it. she allowed her maman time to inspect the moss-bloomed tines, her gaze settling somewhere towards the cliffs.

with a sigh: maman, i don' wanna be called miette anymore.

miette was someone small. she'd been too small to leave the cave -- and now, that little nickname was a cruel reminder of how she'd nearly died in that dark world. can you tell me about sobo?

mireille was stunned, quiet spreading as tears prickled behind her eyes. "he was so brave," she said hoarsely. "he came to find me when i was across de dark sea. he knew de lwa, like granmaman erzulie. he was one of us, made from de salt and de waves. no one will ever forget sobo."
she had to stop speaking, her voice turning to cracked chalk as she settled her eyes toward the ocean and its peace.

sobeille listened with a sorrowful longing.

brave. one of the salt and surf.

born to them as she had been.

she wondered -- did he...?

a glint in maman's eye. sobeille wondered if she would cry the same way, if tousaint met sobo's fate.

was something missing?

and granmaman erzulie? she propped her head upon her little wrists, eyes round and imploring.

"fierce an' wise. so strong. she had a dry humour and a love for her family dat never stopped. not until de end. even at de end, really."
when mireille smiled at miette, her mouth was wet with salt. 
"so, my little pearl. you donnae want to be miette anymore? sobeille den?"

she craned her neck to listen. granmaman sounds a lot like you, maman. sobeille observed in the candid way only a child could. she liked listening to the stories of her past relatives. in some way it reminded her she was part of something bigger.

no more miette. sobeille confirmed, shaking her head with a little no. sobeille. i am a big kid now, no more baby name. it be for babies.

"grandmaman made me who i be today," mireille said in veneration of those before, though the brightness in her eyes would bespeak her happiness at such praise.
"sobeille it be, cherie," the obsidian said with a kiss between her daughter's ears, noticing how much the child had grown. "next spring, i t'ink you be havin' new bro'ters an' sisters."

not for the first time did sobeille wish she had known her grandmaman. it was a cruel sense of irony that one of them died the day she came to the world -- was it one soul transferred into another, or had one life paid a bloodprice for a new life?

she ducked as her maman kissed her. rude! she was grown now! she did not need any mothering! but her protests were half-hearted, stymied by what mireille spoke next.

sobeille hardly liked her current siblings - so it was hard for her to muster excitement about the prospect of more. will dey be better den my current sibblings? sobeille queried, squinting at mireille as if it were her mother's fault her children were stuffy and unfun.

a chortle! "dat depends on entirely on who dey decide to be," mireille said, "like you an' your own." kiss again to downy face and soft ears, which the mother realized with a start were growing fast!
"but mostly dey will be borin' fat babies for a time. what do you t'ink?" she asked, eyeing the girl. chacal was sure to have more children, and perhaps another of the other women as well. sapphique would be alive with pebbles once more.

sobeille drew in a considerable sigh. more siblings was not on her roster of fun things to accomplish, but she loved her mama, and if it made her mama happy, long-suffering sobeille would manage.

i tink dat sounds fine. oh! i will show dem boneflower! me an' astera will show dem 'ow to hunt de bugs and keep de den clean. sobeille's imagination was already running with possibilities of converting willing mireille babies into loyal minions to do her and astera's bidding. okay, having siblings wasn't so bad after all.

there was a grin, a nod that backed sobeille's aspirations of fitting the new puppies into their carefully appointed roles. "before you know it, dey be runnin' aroun'," she assured, reaching to tousle her daughter's ears and kiss the place between their tall sprouting.
she was growing, growing, this fierce little daughter of mireille.
and deep within the saltwoman, she hoped a piece of val too was birthright to the sparkling miette of sapphique.

minions weren't very useful if they couldn't run around. sobeille considered this with heavy weight. she supposed she could allow siblings, if just for that very purpose.

she ducked as her ears and forehead were tousled. MAWWM! she hollered, smoothing the disturbed fur with the mien of a displeased cat. i not be a child! with her fur smoothed out she bounded away with a grin, careful to escape any long range attempt by her maman. save it for your borin' fat babies, ok?

"oh? oh, no, sobeille?" mireille laughed. "you may not be borin' or chubby any longer, but you be my baby forever, hm?" and there was no getting out of that one. "come on, pet," mireille said, moving off down the strand. "i want a swim. den maybe after we go and bot'er de turtles on de ot'er side of the de bay?" the young mother suggested, eyes brilliant at the potential for mischief to be shared between she and her daughter.

<3

any rejection sobeille intended to lodge about being a baby was stifled the moment mireille mentioned a swim and turtles; sobeille’s gaze lit as she bound excitedly alongside the sweeping strides of her maman.

oh! race you maman! sobeille announced, giving no leeway in terms of a fair heads up before she bolted down the strand, sand arcing in the air with each excited stride.

this is what sobielle would remember weeks from now, when jealousy threatened to snare her heart; this moment, when it was just a girl and her mama, and the whole wide world to be discovered.