Dragoncrest Cliffs with a crew that’s bound to pack them in

tags are just for reference <3

something had been bothering val of late, or several things, really.

firstly, he mourned the loss of chacal’s voice. it used to be that he would weave through the mosswood and the lilt of her song would reach him, suspended softly on the breeze like the mesmerizing scent of cinnamon on a warm summer day. now the woods seemed cold, eerily unwelcome in their silence.

he worried. his stomach knotted to think of what this loss might entail.

he worried too, for the others. he’d noted the absence of two of sapphique’s more stalwart troublemakers. @Svalinn assured his fretting nephew he’d keep an eye out for them, and val felt measurably better knowing eyes outside of sapphique watched their flock. pepper settled into a good routine, the two of them often sharing an early breakfast by roja den’s feet. astera stayed close to home, ranging out at times to do errands on his and mireille’s behest — but sobeille had ranged far, bringing chani with her. he fretted from the moment they left up until they returned, roadtired but no worse for wear.

now sobeille was sick. he thought of asking @Phobos to tend her, but was not sure how she’d receive such a gesture. truthfully, their relationship had been fraught ever since their last interaction, and ashamed of himself, val knew he’d taken pains to avoid her. it was not that he was upset or angry - his heart burgeoned with love for every one of sapphique’s daughters — it was that sobeille’s contempt, so ophidian in its glittering malice, had burned itself into his brain. he’d seen something that he’d wished he hadn’t — and this sight had worried his chest to frayed ribbons.

so he thought of other things instead; chani was becoming more and more like her maman every day. lucette had woken and mercifully was recovering. tousaint had made a miraculous reappearance — the sight of him twisting val’s face in a joy he’d not experienced in some time. he had not known how many shadows had infiltrated his heart until that moment — and for a time, the reappearance of tousaint, the steady improvement of lucette, the ironclad adoration lafayette tenderly administered his sister, and the cheeky games played by shadess chased the dragons away.

he knew he would need to talk to mireille and chacal soon.