Shimmering Sands muradoii III

directly @Yakona @Ts’okhun @Cetseni but other saatsine welcome to join!

 

her brood follow obediently behind her. rambunctious, even feral, bickering amongst themselves and squawking like beasts, but always obediently. the muradoii queen would tolerate nothing less—the calves knew this the moment that their legs began to operate correctly, ears could hear her growls and bodies could feel the nip of warning teeth. 
her niece is no longer with her. her mate exiled, and too exiled by sivaak. traitor lanzadoii, and her chance at renewal as muradoii gone. sivaak knew not where suliya, talvani, went—but she was weak again in her mind. very much like sivaak’s rancid, weak sister. she had been proven right. 
she goes to the sea. she hears in the wind, whispers. she tastes on the wind, salt. it is not her black sea, it will never be her black sea, but it is the sea; and that is enough. carrion queen herds muradoii calves to the sands, so they will feel it beneath their paws. they might taste it upon their tongue. the lanzadoii boy is not in attendance; sivaak would bestow him these lessons, but that was not for her to decide.lanzadoii and muradoii existed in odd, unusual symbiosis now. but still: lanzadoii and muradoii. 
ts’okhun wanders and she snatches the boy by the scruff and hauls him violently back to where his sisters gather before crashing waves. sivaak stands before calves and sees each their crimson eyes. 
listen well. the sea is not just water; it is the breath of our ancestors, the cradle of our beginnings. before our people walked the land, we swam in the depths, guided by the spirits of the waves. in our rituals, we give the sea our finest catch, be that fox, bear, wolf. this is our way.
you will not whine. you will not plead. if your leg breaks, you crawl. if your brother falls behind, you do not wait. if your sister dies, she becomes sustenance for the sea, not the ground. you carry only the strong. the weak rot.