Dragoncrest Cliffs Continuity

This will be set just before the board-wide hunt; it's time for this year's kids to do their pearl rolls! <3<3<3

Please allow @Mireille and @Val to post first. We will do pearl rolls in the forum following one of the next rounds. The next round will start in a week, or once we have all three active 'pearls' in attendance if it takes a bit longer <3

all children on NPC who are of the same age will also get the chance to do their pearl rolls, without having to come back into activity. @Jadou and @Roux will be assumed present; when the time comes, feel free to hop into the members forum to do your pearl rolls so you don't miss out. No obligations! <3

@Lucette @Shadess @Pepper @Phobos

While words would not happen for her, laughter would- and it felt good to make some use of her vocal chords while she splashed about in the water alongside her sister, diving for enough oysters so that both broods of children could take three. Her troubles would be suspended in this time; @Mirelle knew well the words to speak to the children at this time, and while she grieved for the ability to sing to her children, she knew her sister would find the words, and perform the ritual in her stead.

She told herself to be happy enough, diving for pearls, and watching the children open them. She told herself that she should rejoice to see them catch sight of their own pearl for the first time. She told herself to hope that perhaps one of the children might find a new colour- or that another might also find a pearl as white as hers.

She looked forward to these things, while still feeling loss. She smiled as she gave @Val more oysters to carry, given the fact that he could not help with diving. Together, they brought the pearls to their meeting site, and summed the pack to come together.

she had not the musicality of her sister, but mireille would welcome them with words she hoped to stand as tribute before the way chacal had arranged their pearl-rolls before.
as sapphique gathered for another celebration, mireille looked happily toward the children of her own who would receive their own sea offering this day.
"autumn has come again," she said with a sigh that spoke of fond years here upon the cliffs. "today we celebrate t'ose children among us in de way dat has been shown to us. we welcome you wid salt and wid pearls, my loves. come, come forward."
"choose from these oysters. choose three. open dem until you fin' a pearl. i will tell you what its color be meanin' an' how de sea has chosen to guide each one of you."
her heart! filled with sorrow! with joy!
for a long and dramatic moment did mireille pause, and then offer a deep grin, standing aside and encouraging the children to rush forward in their choice!

the pearl ceremony! though chacal's song was silenced, it found life in val's heart as it fluttered in joyous tune with the thrum of the sea. while darker thoughts of chacal's ailing spirits clouded his mind, val kept busy. as mirelle and chacal dived, val brought each oyster lovingly to its place among their gathering.

he looked to each member as they arrived, a small smile of encouragement, of genuine joy, of warmth to see so many faces here. and when mireille spoke, it was an expression of pride that carried itself on the aventurine's face as she shared the ceremony with sapphique's children.

what would each of them find?

sobeille followed her siblings and cousins, keeping silent when they asked her questions about what her pearl ceremony had been like. it was a source of conflict for sobeille: she liked that she and her maman had drawn the same pearl — was possessive over this, even — but as she looked at the pearls her siblings and cousins extracted from their glittering shells, she’d seen just how small and ugly her pearl had been by comparison.

she knew this as a reflection of her own mind and heart.

wordless, sobeille sat just adjacent her tante, studying her maman and wondering why this year mireille lead the ceremony.

Shadess was as prompt as ever, always wanting to be involved, always the nosey buddy. If Shadess wasnt hot on the heels of her mother, she was so to her elder sister, who she had come to take quite a liking to and the fire and confidence of Sobeille had come to help shape Shadess herself as she grew. 

She came trotting into the gathering not far after her sister, giving a big grin to her mother and aunt as she did so. She was nearly squirming in her place as her mother spoke and when given the go, rushed past her siblings to try and snag the three oysters she had been eyeing: a great big one, a dark grey one and last, one that seemed to streak with silver and peachy tones.

lafayette and @Lucette were not far behind shadess, trotting alongside each other with long, elegant strides. for his part, the boy broke into a wide grin upon hearing mireille's words. the pearl ceremony!

he'd heard tell of this magical occasion from a couple different souls. here, his journey in serving sapphique would begin.

what d'you t'ink you'll find, luce? he asked her softly, sea-green eyes solemn as he gazed over the assembled oysters. a bright pale one, maybe? or somet'ing more colorful? his heart leapt at the thought, even as he wondered what that would mean.

he caught manman's gaze and straightened proudly, standing at quiet attention while he waited for the proceedings to begin.

and then it was time.

lafayette rushed eagerly forward, but when he reached down for his oyster of choice, he felt eyes upon him. glancing upward, he saw lucette had dived for the same smooth disk, and was holding the other end in her teeth .

now what?

Going to bump this along :) feel free to do your rolls and once you have, you can reply to this round.

They gathered, and Mireille led the ceremony. Chacal remained with Val as her sister swept forward to gesture to the oysters with an arc of her paw in the air, inviting those gathered to come forward and choose their oysters. Chacal's eyes glimmered with memories of past celebrations- watching youngsters, yearlings and veterans alike hasten to collect theirs, not knowing what their oysters might reveal.

Chacal remained where she was, and watched as the initiates moved forward when invited. The children were the first to rush forward and grab at the shells- the twins shared the same mind, it seemed, and grabbed for the very same one. She smiled and nodded to them, encouraging them to settle the choice between them.

She looked then to the Slate and the Granite- Pepper and Phobos- and gestured for them to choose their oysters as well. At this point, they were a part of the pack, and would be treated with the same ceremony.

For a moment, Shadess was almost in a panic as one by one an oyster came up empty. First the great big one, then the dark grey one, then the silver and peach stripped- ahh, finally!! 

Shadess sighed with great relief, her whole body slumping as the tense energy released from her. There, in the center, a tiny pink pearl. She wondered then what it meant for those who didn't get one. Did they try all day long until it happened? Maybe it was a bad omen. Maybe it meant the Iwa looked down on them. Shadess was awfully glad to be spared such embarrassment. 

None the less, despite her relief, the pearl wasn't exactly amazing. Tiny, cute maybe. At least it wasn't plain white or silver, or ugly BROWN like someone's she knew. It could be worse, she guessed. Well? She murmurs to her elders, though her gaze remained fixed with uncertainty on the pearl.

Pepper had been under the impression that pearls were for the young wolves. They were largely something he still did not understand, admittedly, but most packs had rituals like this one. If anything, they could provide entertainment--especially for the younger wolves, and give them a sense of belonging. 

A sense of belonging like he felt when Chacal motioned for him and his mate to retrieve their oysters. He returned the motion with a smile before pulling to his paws with some difficulty. He collected three of the salty creatures in his maw, then returned. He hadn't been picky with his selection, figuring each one had the same chance of containing a pearl as any other. 

Before coming here, he had no idea what a pearl was. And the revelation that they formed inside of these creatures--which, also surprising to find out that shells could be alive--was a strange one. He'd learned quite a lot about the sea in these past months. 

Things like how to open an oyster, which would be helpful now. He took the first one. It was a large oyster with a color similar to his coat.

After some gnawing with no luck, he glanced at the other two, wondering if he should give up and opt for one of them with a hope that it would be easier to open, but his perseverance was rewarded when the damn thing finally gave and his tooth slipped between either shell. With a paw, he pried it all the way open. A large, dark lump filled out the now-exposed meat (which he fully intended on eating), and after a bit of squeezing with his paw, out rolled a large, shiny black pearl, which he quickly placed a paw over to keep from rolling away. 

It was quite pretty, and as he stared at it, his old tail gave its best few wags. He imagined if Phobos were a pearl, he'd look something like the one beneath his paw.

Phobos had little understanding of the traditions of Sapphique, but he would respect them as though they were his own. He had assumed Pearl Rolls to be a coming of age ceremony, creating some level of surprise when himself and Pepper were invited to collect their own oysters.

Until joining his mate in the coast he had never seen the ocean, only hearing whispers of it from the well-travelled wolves of his birth pack. It was a marvel to him, the wonderous things it could create. As he retrieved his own oysters he questioned how something that he often thought to be rather ugly could form something as beautiful as a pearl. It could be quite the metaphor, he thought. He would have to save it for if he ever grew old.

Laying down the oysters he began his attempts to open the first. It looked to be easier to open than the other two, and he wished to spare himself the struggle and the chances of a sore tooth. Cracking open the shells the meat inside was revealed, a small black pearl rolling out after some pushing.

Looking over to Pepper he couldn't help but feel some level of joy when he noticed that they had rolled the same colour. It was silly, he thought, yet his tail still managed a few wags.

it was up to them to decide. feeling sheepish, lafayette was about to release his half of the oyster to look for another—and then he felt a front tooth scrape quickly, a bit painfully, against sea-stone and inside its mouth-slit.

surprised, he bit down harder, which only leveraged the thing further open. the twins dropped their collective oyster; luce can have it, he reasoned, always conflict-averse.

but there was something very special about this particular selection.

lucette, the boy whispered, bending low. there were not one but two pearls nestled within, tucked together by fate and fortune. he glanced at her, green gaze full of light. just like us, non?

the nearest pearl to him was of middling size and cloaked in an ethereal peach color that reminded him of the prettiest shells on the beach. lafayette gently plucked it from the oyster and then placed it at his forepaws, staring down as if it was the most miraculous thing he had seen.

but what did it mean?!

@Lucette hope you're okay with this! I left size/color/etc. of your pearl vague so it's up to your roll <3

I’m not sure of post order but just chucking this in <3

sobeille’s attention remained mostly on her sisters. the males participating in this ceremony were incidental, only worth her full attention once important matters were settled.

sobeille noticed with some blade of annoyance that once again, her sisters found prettier pearls than her. she found herself pulling an oyster closer to her absentmindedly, once each of them had discovered their pearls. shadess’ was pink, a color reminding sobeille of early dawn.

the two males discovered black pearls. hadn’t tousaint’s been black? sobeille tried to remember if black was fundamentally a masculine color. ugly and absolutely useless.

she passed the unopened oyster from paw to paw as she turned to lucette and lafayette. something unusual was happening between them (but when is that not the case? they both were weird). sobeille craned her neck to see not one, but two pearls spat out from what appeared to be an extraordinarily unexceptional mollusk.

she looked to tante first, then her maman — reading from either of their faces what they might make of this most unusual discovery.

posting to keep this moving! last round! no posting orderrr

@Sobeille's eyes received a measure of her mother's surprise — and delight. as the twins bent heads over the pearls, she nudged @Chacal in pride and then looked steadily at val. in her eyes was appreciation, for things said and things unsaid.
her sister's poetic ability was not her own, but the obsidian would speak into existence each meaning.

---

mireille moved across the sands to stand before her daughter, joy beautiful upon her face. another daughter to sapphique, another heir to the seacliffs.
"@Shadess. you be de keeper of de pink pearl. your spirit be kin', your love generous. your heart be pure. de size say you are loyal to who you be among us. use t'ese t'ings to help t'ose around you. but you willnae let anyone mistake a gentle spirit for a weak spine."

---

the obsidian stepped next toward the men who had joined them, a slender soul with a lovely pelt. her eyes shone to see that they had rolled the same, as if their love had touched the heart of the sea.
"@Phobos. you be de keeper of de black pearl. confidence an' wisdom belong to you. de size of de pearl speaks of your devotion, an' prosperity follows in your steps. be true to what it is you know. you are seen."

---

now she looked to the man at his side, the brave one who had entered the sea though he did not first know her embrace.
"Pepper. you also be de keeper of de black pearl. its size says you have a great an' boundless heart. de powerful mysteries aroun' us beckon your confidence, dat you be brave enoug' to explore what your wisdom already be knowin'."

---

mireille stood before another son, their verdant eyes meeting. such love she meant to imbue him with, a shield against the forever storm.
"Lafayette. you be de keeper of de peach pearl. dis size means your mind be good an' strong. you be bringin' allies to us wid your brightness an' joyful heart. de sun be in your smile, an' your energy will be everlasting. no one be standin' against such beautiful light."

---

now the obsidian looked fondly upon his twin sister, seeing a ferocity in the girl that translated to what the saltwater had offered.
"@Lucette. you be de keeper of de silver pearl. its size speaks dat your mind be swift. elegant an' graceful, you also carry our strengt'. you put faith in your knowledge; already you listen an' collect wisdom. use it to serve sapphique well."

later mireille would inform lafayette of the history thus far behind the peach pearl; that his cousin suzu had once pulled one of her own from an oyster. and quietly, for lucette; that erzulie had drawn the exact same pearl in her own time.

but for now she encouraged them all to mingle, to speak of the pearls, to ask more questions, and to bask in the warmth of their kinship.

Shadess wasn't quite sure why, really. Maybe she never would. Yet in the lingering moments as she spared a glance to look at what the others had received as their pearl, an anger welled up inside the girl. The two men having the same colors of a mysterious glossy black. Then there was the twins, too stuck up one another's ass to be their own self and get their own damn oysters. Yet oh- look! twin pearls. 

Shadess' nose crinkled quietly. Oh of course that would happen. The lwa must certainly shine down on that pair! Growing up around twins are rough. Probably why she and Jadou spent time following Sobeille around so much. Hell, maybe she should have gotten a brown pearl. At least then she could say she matched Sobeille and her maman. 

Maman. Shadess' irritation melted away when her mother stepped forward, coming to her first. The deep red girl straightened, her chest out in a sense of pride and readiness. Her maman spoke. 

It... It didn't really sound much like her, did it? Kind? Gentle spirit? Pure heart? Hmm... Their was a truth in her loyalness to her people and a strong backbone to boot. Time would tell how much the rest panned out. She would listen now to each description given to the others, her ears flickering with interest and, maybe, a bit of jealousy in parts. Alas, the little pink pearl was all her own and hopefully, would keep her grounded.

He watched as she addressed the young Shadess first, then his mate, and then him. He wasn't so sure about his heart being boundless and hardly considered himself one to show anyone other than a select few the warm side of it. In all honesty, he still wasn't convinced the pearl had any bearing over who he was or wasn't, but it had been a fun ceremony regardless. And deep down, he did have a feeling of belonging to a pack that had only a few months ago been entirely foreign to him.

So suspicion or not, he chose to keep his pearl safe and maybe attempt to live up to its ideals. Courage was easy, but empathy needed work.

there was no describing the joy and love that rose up within him as mireille explained his pearl. it was everything he could ever want and hope for himself, and lafayette stood noticeably prouder and taller under her warm green gaze. 

keeper of the peach pearl. never would he forget.

and lucette and shadess, too, had received such blessings! he brushed his shoulder against his twin's and gave his other sister a broad grin. pepper and phobos had also been given their future in sapphique, so he ought to get to know them better.

manman, what color did you get? lafayette asked, tail wagging. he'd talk hers and others' ears off on the matter, slowly adding to his understanding of the wolves around him—past and present.

As the meaning of his pearl is deciphered, Phobos listens with care. While he had never been one for such rituals it was pleasant to feel valued, like he had something to offer. His natal pack had never done such things for him.

Wisdom, devotion, prosperity. He clings to the words, hopes to manifest them, hopes that they are true.

He offers Pepper a silent glance, his ever-hardened gaze softening for him and him alone.

The initiation event was always exciting; since its inception, a broad variety of pearls had been obtained by the wolves of Sapphique, and given meanings by the leaders. Chacal watched with subdued pride as the children and newcomers discovered what colour their treasure would be- and to have its meaning announced by Mireille.

She mused quietly to herself about the meaning of those pearls, which she thought had shifted slightly since the events conception. She remained the lone keeper of the white pearl, and she had to wonder if there was some meaning to that.

Regardless- time would tell, and the pearls might one day begin to speak for themselves.