Dragoncrest Cliffs Of moon, of sea

some more gentle pp to set scene <3

Also - roll a 1d3 and a 1d11 and I’ll tell you what pearl you two got! just tag me in the roll thread so I know <3

sobeille masterfully hid the disappointment she felt when she learned arrluk was unlikely to drown. her paw swept out to the waves. okay — you each get t’ree oysters. dey usually cling to de rocks like over dere. when you get dem, bring dem to me an’ i be showin’ you what to do.

sobeille watched them after their instruction, observing as both dove beneath the waves. eventually, both ajei and arrluk returned with their fistful of oysters.

okay, you be pickin’ one now, ajei first. another unnameable emotion flit across her face as she looked to arrluk almost prohibitively. de first one to ‘ave a pearl is your special pearl.

now she leaned in, peering with intense interest as ajei set to work on the hardened shell of the mollusk.

I did tag you, but I rolled a 1 and a 6. <3

Ajei didn't notice anything off with her two friends. Though she too felt a little constricted in the tunnel, but that was only to be expected. They had after all been raised in open mountains. And she couldn't help but remember the tunnel with the skulls. 

Ajei was swift to leapt into the water. Fire and cloud fur billowing as she struck a strong form to the rock and back. After all they had been raised on the water and she loved it so. She dove once, twice three times and pulled her shells to herself. Holding them gently in maw. 

Ajei was swift to open one, empty and then the last she pulled a pearl from within, cleaning it of it's gunk and mire for Sobeille and Arrluk to look over.

tagged you! 1 & 4.

Arrluk enjoyed the sea. It was beautiful and the sound was soothing to him, as much so as the sound of the rain and flowing of the creek. The way the sand sunk away under his feet, as though compelling Arrluk forward. He thought of Akhlut. 

Yet the sea was far more dangerous in many ways. Tide pools that drew you further and further out. The salt which stung your eyes and nose and burned your throat. Of course, the raging river could be dangerous, waterfalls and swamps... but it seemed the sea forced you to pay a higher price for its rich bounty then that of the land water. 

Arrluk gathered those which he had found, careful to look in places opposite of Ajei. He would place each of the clams one by one before the seafaring dark woman and sit to wait until Ajei had finished opening her own. It was the last which had a pearl of her three. Arrluk began to wonder what would happen if none of the three had a pearl in them, then what?? 

Arrluk was hesitant, though didn't know why. Would it matter if he didn't have a pearl? He took the first of his own batch and after some rough manner of opening it (and successfully destroying the shell into bits) within the raw muscle meat was a little rounded object. A pearl? He looked to Sobeille in wonder.

sobeille measured the waves as her friend embraced the water. the tide’s strength was moderate and both wolves re-emerged sopping wet with their bounties.

ajei laid out hers first, while arrluk took his oysters and gracefully gave ajei the floor, as was his station within sapphique. for the first time, something akin to approval could be seen in the coldness of sobeille’s gaze.

it was the very last oyster that held a pearl in it. like her own, it was small — a brilliant violet that mirrored the captivating beauty of astera’s eyes. she’d never seen one this color before.

sobeille inhaled, preparing for the lyrical deliverance reserved for her tante. she would never be a good singer like chacal, but she hoped her tante would not mind sharing tradition with sobeille’s close — and possibly only (non-biological) friend besides astera.

ajei, you be de keeper of de violet pearl,
dis hue means you be steady, kind and careful in dis world;
de size means you ‘ave a good heart in you,
and to your loved ones you always be true.

now sobeille looked to arrluk, perhaps unkindly hoping he wouldn’t have a pearl at all. the lwa favored him today; in his very first attempt was a small, iridescent pearl that reminded sobeille of the captivating beauty of open skies.

it about killed her to say anything complimentary to a male — but sobeille put aside her reservations and spoke. it was what tante would do.

arrluk, you be de keeper of de blue pearl,
dis hue means you be thoughtful, wise, and in control;
de size means you ‘ave a good ‘eart in you.
to dose you protect, you always be true.

here two strangers to sapphique stood, holding the prettiest pearls she’d ever seen — and hers was shit brown. sobeille mused this irony silently, watching them both as they admired their pearls.

de wolves of sapphique keep dier pearls wit’ dem — dey are special, so if you be puttin’ dem somewhere, make sure it be somewhere important. she thought of how val had placed his pearl on his maman’s grave. you be friends of sapphique now — sapphique will see you thrive.

Their pearls were beautiful, strikingly so. And When Sobeille began to share lyrical words. Ajei couldn't help but lift her head and listen closely. Both pearls seemed to fit the carriers. And she felt a warmth lick along her innards. She smiled and moved closer to Sobeille. 

Can I hug you? I want to thank you for sharing your traditions with us.

She wasn't sure if Sobeille would want to be touched. Some wolves didn't like that. So Ajei always wanted to ask first. She shot both Sobeille and Arrluk  a blazing smile. Pleased and so very happy at the days events.

For a moment, he thought Sobeille might dismiss him. Say perhaps it wasn't really a pearl at all, or say something ominous of it; that the color or having one at the first opening might be something of a bad omen. 

Yet - dis hue means you be thoughtful, wise, and in control;
de size means you ‘ave a good ‘eart in you.
to dose you protect, you always be true.

While Ajei's description might easily be put together by the dark woman knowing her personally, the salt women knew very little of Arrluk, yet he would hope to think all of which she had said to him was true. 

Thank you. He spoke with a dip of his muzzle and continued to lower his head still as he would pluck the pearl from the oyster, licking it and settling it onto the back of a front paw to observe it against the black of his foot. He would indeed keep it close.

<3 i so enjoyed this thread! would we like a new one soon? :o

sobeille looked upon the faces of her small audience. arrluk was silent, lost in his own world of inspecting the brilliant pearl nestled in the dark of his paw. ajei wore her emotions on her face -- sobeille could see a storm of colors in her eyes.

ajei moved close and sobeille's heartbeat quickened. surprised to be asked, but altogether wanting some level of intimacy that no one in sapphique could give, sobeille swallowed and nodded.

but she found when ajei embraced her, that there was another emotion curled against her chest. it moved in the manner of an asp, fading only when ajei pulled away.

sobeille hid the conflict warring within her by fabricating an empty smile. de wolves of de moon-tribe 'ave been very good to me. it is only right dat i return de favor. she glanced between the two of them, feeling the last of that forbidden emotion within her tire. it be late - i will walk you to de border of sapphique. you two be okay goin' 'ome at dis time, yeah?

Ajei gave a hug and relieved one. And with a happy wag of her tail she backed off. It did not do to invade personal space.

She smil3d. Oh yes. We'll be fifine. We know the way home well.

Arrluk will come again if Ajei wants him! (But will also let her have girl time if she wants)

 

This place was far different tgen home and yet he had come to enjoy it all the same. The ocean waters here were far colder, far harsher. It reminded him of when his aana told him stories of the hunters on the eat ice. Of the long months of dark and how often they did not return back from the sea. It also reminded him of Akhlut and the eternal trade they had made between one another. A piece of Arrluk's heart given to the sea and in return, the strength of Akhlut's spirit. 

And now, it was time to go. He dips his white chin to the seafarer and lifts the little pearl unto his mouth, tucking it into a hollow under his tongue. It was a long road back home, yet once Arrluk would walk with Ajei each step of the way.

sobeille saw her guests to the edge of sapphique. it was only once the pair rounded the bend and dipped out of sight that her mask fell — and an ugliness seeped from it.

she wished ajei would stay, for herself. that light was too bright a thing to be stifled by male presence. though arrluk was good to ajei, sobeille believed she could be better.

nestling these thorny thoughts around her heart, sobeille returned to bluepeace. her satchel of bones were here. she added a new totem to it — the pearl she’d cracked alongside them as ajei and arrluk had gathered their oysters.

once again, the pearl was brown — but a sliver of deep purple split its face. sobeille believed it an omen.

she cast the first of many series of sigil-bones, deep in thought.