Seaside Moors burnt the fire of thine eyes?

Hearing from @Fennec and @Penn lifted Sugar's spirits considerably, though it did nothing to thwart the itch in her paws. Not long after they passed through the area, she disembarked from the Frosthawks' claim herself. She headed west at first, then began trundling north, and somewhere along the way, she decided she should drop by and check on @Raleska, "Elwood" and "Finley."

It rained all morning, so Sugar sheltered in Shadewood. When it began to taper by midday, she decided to make her approach. The air was cool and damp, a strong crosswind buffeting her as she walked toward Rusalka's borders. Sugar carried a small rabbit in her jaws, a gift for her patients of yore, and set it at her feet as she paused beside the windswept moors.

Title from "The Tyger" by William Blake.

the seaside steppes were unprotected from the rains that shimmered through. often a storm could be seen far off, making its way across the expanse to where rusalka congregated that day. less den-bound now that arcelia and solaire had been turned out-of-doors to a new, wider clime, the harlot dedicated herself to patrols and hunting.
today, however, was wet and she knew there was nothing to be found. and so she kept to the densite, still populated for now by three of the five children born to rusalka. there erzulie doted upon chacal until she slept; only then did she lope out across the soaked flatland toward the paler form in the distance.
"you be sugah glidah?" the jezebel inquired as soon as she was within earshot. nares widened at the fresh killscent, but she did not comment on it, remaining warm and affable toward the young woman who had helped raleska and her brood home.

rainy days made for perfect nap days. val snoozed, opening an eye only as he heard the rain let up. poking his head carefully out of the den, he noticed both mamans were gone -- prompting him to poke back into the den and nose his siblings for attention.

when that didn't work and they swiped him away, val wandered of the den and somehow, by stroke of luck or fate, saw erzulie loping away. he clumsily chased after her, thinking this was some new game -- only for his grin to disappear as she stopped and met a wolf at their borders.

valravn's sheepish gaze climbed up, measuring this new wolf in interest. but if he did not remember his biological mother (and he didn't), he certainly did not remember her. coming to rest shyly behind erzulie's chestnut hocks, valravn peered at the nomedic and her fresh kill with mute but keen interest. "whozzat?" he probed his nose into the small of his second dam's hock, his voice quiet but insistent. who??

The figure who approached struck Sugar Glider as familiar. She had been present when the medic had dropped off Raleska and her newborns. She couldn't recall a name, if one had been given, but the woman spoke her own. This took her a little by surprise, particularly the accent, though a beat later found a smile creeping over her grayscale features.

"I am," she began with a quick nod, making sure to keep her head low. She thought to bend further and nose the rabbit toward the she-wolf with an explanation for her presence here when a second figure appeared, striking Sugar dumb.

He looked nothing like the last time she'd seen him, yet all the same, he was unmistakable. When he spoke, her tail began to wave, despite his lack of familiarity. She hardly could've expected him to remember her (even if some part of her wished for that). She was simply overjoyed to see "Elwood" again, clearly growing and thriving.

"Hi there," she said quietly, "I'm Sugar Glider, a friend of your mother's." Of course, she wondered about Raleska and "Finley," though for the moment, all Sugar could do was stare happily at little "Elwood."

valravn had followed; erzulie's lips curved in a smile as she glanced to the boy, who hovered behind her heel and demanded to know of the newcomer. a grateful look as her attention returned to sugar glider, and she extended a paw to pull the rabbit closer. "c'est une amie de vos mères," she translated, for around the densite, common was the last tongue spoken. the meaning was changed, however, and she blinked apologetically.
"valravn an' regin, they not be knowin' her as dere mot'er," she explained, fighting a sigh. "perhaps one day, but for now, my wife an' i have raised dem wid our own daughters dis year."
desperate for anything that would not barb the wound further, erzulie smiled. "it would be welcome to have more healers near. perhaps even dis one could learn from you."

the boy's eyes slid from sugar glider to the hare, back to sugar glider again in rough fascination. most commanding were the twin stripes that descended her face; valravn studied her in the manner of a wary but willful child.

he looked longingly after the rabbit as it was pulled near, but he did not abandon his station at erzulie's heels. as with any child, the conversation of adults was beneath him -- he ignored some very clear contextual clues that would have had an older puppy troubled, instead focusing heavily on sugar glider.

he was too shy to say hi back, and when sugar glider's gaze fell upon him he instinctively pulled close, as if a child threading their little fingers reassuringly around their mother's hand. blinking owlishly once or twice, val looked to erzulie and then back to the nomedic, a frown on his features as he waited for the adults to be done with whatever it was adults did. soon they'd want to play, right?

Erzulie spoke to the pup, though the words were as strange to Sugar's ears as those exchanged by Opalia and Praimfaya not so long ago. She licked her lips almost nervously, the foreign tongue making her feel out of place. But when the she-wolf turned to address her again, she switched to the common language and what she said made Sugar forget her discomfiture entirely.

Valravn and Regin... Had Raleska named them? Or had Erzulie and... her wife? She wasn't sure she'd heard that part correctly, perhaps it was the accent. In any case, she was much more focused on the information about the pups' upbringing. The way Erzulie spoke of it did not, in any way, imply that Raleska had come into any harm. But Sugar couldn't help the concern that arose within her.

"Raleska—she's okay, though?" she questioned. And then Erzulie's other words registered and she fiicked a smile at "Elwood" Valravn. "While I'd love that, I'm not sure I'm qualified yet to train anyone. I'm still learning a lot from my own mentor, Raven, from Frosthawks. I'm living with them a little south of the Teekons," she said in a flattered but regretful tone.

"And what about... Regin?" Sugar wondered, looking at the little boy, though the question was more directed at Erzulie. "How's everyone doing?" They'd had a bit of a rough start and apparently weren't being raised by their own mother, though he looked happy and healthy. He'd certainly grown quite a bit since the days she'd carried him across the wilderness.

"she is." cryptic, though erzulie knew little of the girl's processes beyond the fact she was breathing, alive, mired in sadness. but none of this was fit for sugar glider's ears, and so the harlot was grateful for the shift in conversation. "frosthawks," she admired softly, though a warning note of danger trailed the length of her spine. frosthawks. firebirds. from where had the girl come, and would she carry word of rusalka back to the bitch niamh?
the beta filed such a notion away to be surveyed later; a nod. "all are well. dey have a great territory to explore, an' we have shown dem dat de sea is to be dere birt'right."
"qualifications or not, it is by your han', an' dat of stryx, dat dey are even alive. i owe you," erzulie murmured in earnest, though her attentions returned to valravn. "go an' see what she brought," the woman encouraged, gesturing toward the limp body of the rabbit.

all of this adulty talk was not so interesting to val, whose attention had remained mostly on sugar while hanging tentatively to erzulie's side. it was a good thing that val was not much of a listener (or shrewd observer) at this stage: he had stood long enough by erzulie to decide, this stranger was not all bad. after all, his maman had yet to show her fangs to this wolf, and since they were talking, val decided they must be friends.

at erzulie's behest the boy looked from sugar glider to the hare, and then darted towards the body. he seized it and held it proudly up high, his voice muffled as he yelled "maman! look!! it's a bunbun!!" his pudgy form carried it dutifully back to erzulie, but he did not get close enough that she could grab it from him. somehow, holding the hare between his teeth had kick-started some slumbering instinct, and his eyes flashed warily from erzulie to sugar glider, having very little interest in just handing the hare over.

All was well, according to Erzulie, and Sugar found relief in this report. The pups' birth and upbringing may not have been very orthodox, though she could see with her own eyes that the boy was healthy. Hopefully he was happy too, his sister as well. Her dark eyes literally crinkled at the corners when he scooted forward to claim the rabbit at his guardian's urging. A laugh escaped her lips at the cry of, "Bun bun!"

He was certainly distracting, though her attention shifted back to the woman to say, "You owe me nothing. The pups are alive and well cared for, that's all the 'payment' I'll ever need." Sugar glanced at Valravn again, chuckling at his expression, and a small, happy sigh escaped her.

When the rain picked up again moments later, Sugar decided to take that as a cue. She had gotten what she had come here for, so it was time to move along and leave Erzulie, Valravn and the rest of Rusalka to their business. Avery would be waiting for her, so it was time to turn back toward Frosthawks, especially since the weather was proving less than ideal for scenic detours.

"I ought to get going," she said, raising her soft voice to be heard above the thrum of rainfall. "Please give Raleska and Regin my regards. And enjoy your rab—bun bun!" Sugar said, smiling directly at the small boy.

"a bunbun indeed, petit chasseur," erzulie grinned happily toward her son. and that was how she indeed thought of them, was it not? as her own. sparing a moment to encourage valravn with a teasing dart of her teeth in pretend theft, she straightened back toward their guest.
she did not agree; the loa would be asked to bless this one, to fill her days with opportunity. and in some way, erzulie wished sugar glider to carry the sea with her, but found words unable to convey such a sentiment.
"be well, healer," erzulie murmured, her blessing fully met with the gratitude she would always hold for the girl. "say goodbye, child," she urged of the jaw-full pup, though he did not think he would relinquish his hold to commit to a farewell, focused as he seemed. a wave of her tail, a silent signal of lasting approval for the young medic.

rain came in a new swell, but it was no dampening for valravn. he clutched the hare joyfully, a grin wide on his features as sugar glider spoke to him. "bunmbunph." valravn concurred, his own tail waving wildly.

he had not caught that the adults' session was coming to an end, so when he picked up on the tell-tale signs of posture shifting, his tail sagged. he didn't want to leave the new friend that had given him the bun-bun, but erzulie's guiding nips and pretend play momentarily distracted him. he darted to the side with his ears pinned, a low growl unbidden from his throat.

eyes wide with horror to realize he had just growled instinctively at his maman, valravn prepared for rebuke -- but not before yelling a muffled "byeepmh!" at sugar glider before taking off at a wild gallop with the hare haplessly flopping behind him. once or twice he tripped over it, but never slowed.