Blacktail Deer Plateau His son would think his father could do no wrong

I'd love @Erzulie!

Along the plateau's craggy edge strode Nieve, thin and delicate looking but eyes filled with determined fire. There wasn't much she felt she could do to help Rusalka now, as they squatted on the plateau and waited for their fortunes to change, but what little she could do, she made sure to do often.

Today she was marking borders. Her bladder was empty, so she swung toward trees along the path worn in the dirt by wolves of the past, rubbing her shoulders and flanks against rough bark and leaving behind snatches of golden fur. It wasn't the strongest way to announce their presence, but it was better than nothing, Nieve figured.

she had become bitter, withdrawn, churlish. rusalka was no more; they had fragmented, and several times erzulie had all but taken her leave of them. yet for her children's sake would she stay — they deserved even a sundered home over attempting to find one while the snows howled.
today was no different. a despairing glance toward the sea, and then she set about hunting. it was eternal; they had lost the bounty in the sound and the plateau was all but bare. even despite her grudging willingness to stay, it did not seem supportable, this place they had found.
discovering gilded nieve along the borders, erzulie joined her daughter quietly. no words rose to tongue; she strengthened their mark alongside her child, despondent but determined to make a brave face of it for her young ones.

Erzulie didn't need to say anything; her presence alone strengthened her daughter's resolve. Even though they were away from the sea and there was still no sign of Scarab or Rosalyn (or Marisol?), they still had each other. They still had Clem and Reyes. Raleska was still with them. The sea's raging hadn't broken those bonds, so for Nieve, there was some hope to be found in all this.

Mama, said Nieve, pausing to rub the side of her head against a tree with an audible groan. That felt nice. When do you think we'll be able to go home? She knew the answer in her heart was not going to be a kind one, but she could handle hearing any truth that was offered her. She was strong enough.

ah — little nieve. still a believer in a possibility that erzulie had long since cast aside. she gazed at the girl a moment, then turned her expression toward the churned sea.
"not for some time, mon cœur," she sighed listlessly into the cool air.
"we be learnin' how to get along wit'out it now." without the sea, without rosalyn, without scarab, marisol.
wanting to turn nieve from the heavy dreariness of their current situation, erzulie canted her head. "in de meantime, if you could live anywhere else, what would you want dat place to look like?"

Erzulie didn't answer the way that Nieve would've hoped, but for all her optimism, the girl was being raised as a realist. Her mother would not lie to her about their situation, and in return, she would not despair. She missed the sea terribly and yearned to return, but in the meantime, they could only do as Erzulie said: learn to get on without it.

Somewhere with a lot of water, she said, veering away from the trees to rub her flank against her dam's, if permitted. Maybe a river? With big trees like the Sound, but less cliffs. Not that she truly minded cliffs, but there was strategic value in not having a sheer wall at one's back or front. What about you, mama?

sorry i missed this last round!

nieve was perceptive. acceptant. erzulie knew that the drastic changes foisted upon them in such a short time, but she hoped that her children would recover.
a lance of pain flared through her heart for the ones she had lost, but the harlot pressed on, regarding her gilded daughter warmly. "i would like that also. rivers. trees; a deep forest. perhaps a cliffside."
she glanced to the skies, cinnamon hackles ruffled against a gust of cool air. "winter is soon to come to de lan's. i look forward to snow."

Erzulie painted a better picture of it than Nieve ever could. She would've liked less cliffs than Ankyra Sound, but a small cliffside overlooking a vast forest with a glimmering river, that seemed nice. Or perhaps a vast forest and river on a cliffside, where the wolves didn't claim the land below and didn't have to climb up and down and up and down to cover the entirety of their territory ...

It wasn't unlike Blacktail Deer Plateau, this vision of theirs. The only thing lacking was a significant water source to put visions of the beloved sea in their heads when they laid down to sleep at night.

Erzulie changed subject then and Nieve took a moment to butt her crown against another tree, leaving small snatches of golden fur shimmering on the rough bark. Snow? she wondered, peering inquisitively at her dam. The concept of winter had perhaps come up in conversation before, but to Nieve it sounded like a time of hardship and strife. Why are you looking forward to snow? Maybe that was just something you had to experience in order to appreciate it.

"i t'ink de snow is a beautiful t'ing," erzulie ventured. "you were named for it. snow touches de lan'; it gives us all a fresh beginning."
without marisol or scarab or rosalyn; she finally could not fight the sound of the sudden low son that case to claw her throat. 
"when we settle, i want to make for dem a remembering place, with little objects to remind of us who dey were," erzulie breathed. "what do you t'ink, nieve?"

De snow is a beautiful t'ing, said Erzulie, and Nieve nodded, believing her completely. She would see it for herself soon, and hoped its beauty could begin to fill the void left by the sea in her nature-loving heart.

Really? she asked, blinking curiously at her dam when Erzulie revealed that she was named for snow. Nieve didn't sound like snow, but then again, there were many words for things besides just the ones she knew. Perhaps it was a more romantic term, a thought that made her heart flutter hopefully. The same heart that stuttered moments later when her dam spoke again.

What do you t'ink? Nieve wasn't opposed to her mama's idea at all, but she was a hopeless optimist who believed fully that her family was out there, alive and well, if alone. I think they'll come back to us, she said resolutely, fiercely, in a manner that might remind Erzulie poignantly of Rosalyn in spite of their lack of blood relation. Mom's gotta be okay. Scarab too. Mari will come home eventually. We'll all be together again someday, I just know it.

She didn't know it, but she wanted so badly for it to be true and she clung to the hope of it. But in regards to mama's suggestion: I do think that's a good idea, mama. We can put little objects for all of us, then if any of us ever feels sad or lonesome, there'll always be a piece of us all there. She knew exactly what she wanted to contribute in her own name, but retrieving such a thing right now when the coast was battered and bruised was out of the question.

nieve was ever-hopeful, and erzulie had no heart to enforce the cruelties of realism in her gilded child. the names of the children who had disappeared, even before the sundering of the earth; her heart ached with each syllable she had spoken at birth. but the harlot said nothing, would only bury her pain deeply in the fetid soil of her sorrowful spirit.
a slow blink, the soft caress of a smile. "that is a wonderful idea," she murmured, thankful for the kindness that had come to be nieve's birthright. "this coast was always ours. it is fitting we make a little altar here."
an ofrenda, rosalyn might say — a place of remembrance. "what will you choose for yours?" the chai-tea wolfess inquired.

This coast was always ours. She'd heard the stories of her mothers' lives, perhaps not in full detail, and knew that to be true. She felt much the same about the coast, having both inherited and developed a strong affinity for the ocean. Returning to the sea was a goal she kept within her heart, even if it wasn't a dream shared by her dam these days.

A piece of sea glass, said Nieve without hesitation. It only made sense, she thought. Something from her beloved ocean to represent her, and sea glass was one of Nieve's favourite things. A blue or green one, those are the prettiest. After a beat, she bounced the question back: What about you, mama?

lettuce wrap up and have a newer one soon <3

"sea glass is a good pick for you, nieve. i do not t'ink i have seen any in a long time." rare, like the heart within the little golden chest, which had suffered so much these past months and still beat with kindness and gentility. "i would pick an abalone shell. dey remind me of myself, wid all de colors whirled toget'er."
a slow warm silence, after which she shook herself and smiled at nieve. "i have some dried octopus stored near de den. come wid me."

Nieve tried to imagine what might best signify her missing family members. For Clementine, she would bring a dried flower; for Reyes, a bit of preserved mahogany wood; for Scarab, the shell of an iridescent beetle; for Rosalyn, a shark's tooth if she was so lucky as to find one, or a whale's bone if not. Marisol was the only one she could not think of something for, and she was saddened by the knowledge that her littermate had been gone so long that Nieve couldn't well remember what she was like.

That's beautiful, she said, agreeing that such a shell would be a good token for Erzulie. She sought to bump her crown affectionately against her dam's shoulder, then swept eagerly forth at the mention of octopus. Their departure from the seaside would only ever be an upsetting event for Nieve, but small reminders would keep it dear to her heart. She knew that soon they might run out of the fare they were accustomed to and would need to eat like wolves of the land did, so she would relish the taste of octopus, even dried.

Yes ma'am!