Seaside Moors Seeing fire, I'm told it never burns.

here we gooooo

By Rosalyn's estimation, it was past time they gathered anyway.  She'd struggled with the drawbacks, the timing and the way it all fell.  @Valravn's disappearance was what haunted her most, but if they did not leave now, they risked losing everything.  Winter would come, and with it, she could not be assured the bear would not follow.

If she had to rush this, so be it.  They could return to search more in the meantime.

Rosalyn lifted her maw and howled a powerful summons, hoping to bring all that remained of Rusalka to her presence.  @Erzulie to her side, their children - @Solaire, @Regin, @Arcelia, @Chacal, @Clementine - and the rest.  @Raleska should be near, as her new joiner @Kaertok, who Rosalyn had yet to measure.  @Aningan... neglected after his fall.  She needed to meet with him, but it would wait.  @Miranda and @Grímnismál, neither family but both trusted.  They were not a large crew but she had always found quality to matter far more than quantity.

As she waited, she prepared what she would deliver.  Doubtless there would be reactions, and doubtless there were thoughts already in the minds of many of them.  She'd watch them carefully as they came, read the language in their approach.  But no matter the reception, she knew this was the course that would best serve them all. 

She could only hope they would agree.

had she become soft in her age? erzulie had told her wife of not wishing to fight any longer, but with a new claim came always the threat of teeth. and it was not one she welcomed. valravn's disappearance weighed heavily upon the harlot, and a great part of her shouted no! at the idea of departing, but always,
bear cursed and bruin chased,
rusalka could rest no longer here.
she was silent at the side of her wife, watching packwolves and children alike come before them.

Vaguely did she know the disappearance of one of the children. However, not being a warrior, a hunter, and barely a scout, only occasionally would she leave Rusalka and scout a bit beyond, before fleeing back into the moorside. The reaper was intimidated to what was out- she was only used to the little island of home, and knowing there was such a large world out there, it was simply hard to process.

Otherwise spent days simply tending to her herbs, but as the season was coming, what she had gathered in summer was slowly dying away. Her spiders as well were slowly preparing so, and an abundant of spiderwebs were fresh for the picking. Thankfully, none had called her as a medic- neither did Grímnismál expect so, she was far too new to be worth something.

Then surprisingly, the first call since she came arrived. The yearling was quick to arrive as she gave a rather nervous look around, and sat distanced away from Rosalyn and curiosity; why were they called?

Rosalyn would read naught but shame in the way Raleska slunk forward, her eyes along the ground. Not even Grimnismal was spared a glance as Raleska pulled along the gathering, silent and radiating fraught energy.

It had been she who had lost Valravn -- she'd made a horrible mistake and now her mothers and Val suffered from it. Damn the bear, and damn her own stupidity and short-sighted nose.

She sat close enough, ears trained on both Erzulie and Rosalyn -- but Raleska dared not speak. Not when they were here because of her own hideous mistake.

The call came, and Kaertok answered. He slipped silently alongside Raleska, shoulder brushing hers gently. Her eyes were downcast. She felt shame for losing the child, he could tell, but there was little he could do to console her. The most he could do, he was already doing: he was here for her; he was searching for Valravn. The other wolf already here was not one he knew, and Kaertok made note to acquaint himself when the timing was better. His eyes found their place at the feet of his superiors, ears ahead and awaiting instruction.

Fallen from the throne—a blessing in disguise, he came to wonder. And wonder alone he did, caught up within his own mind. But then came the howl and he was soon to be alone no longer, joined briefly by Arcelia as she, too, sought to greet her mothers. He trailed behind her all the way there but, ultimately, settled next to her once they both arrived—but his attention did not linger, snapping instantly to the wives.

There are already a few Rusalkans at the meeting when he slips in, a touch self-conscious. Raleska's head, collapsed in between her shoulders like a roof beam had given away. The pale man he had seen before sits alongside her. As he sits behind the small grayscale girl he had seen when he had first joined, he notices the clean smell of herbs. 

Nothing much else to do other than to sit and wait and listen. The golden woman and her pirate wife have his full attention.

let me know if you want me to pp you getting here other kids <3 but also feel free to jump in anytime.  I'll be vague

They had mostly gathered.  Those who had not were young, and Rosalyn would seek them out immediately after.  She wasn't immediately troubled; sometimes the children took to the shore, or may not feel up to coming with their brother still lost.  All who arrived seemed respectful, open and ready to listen.  She shifted, touching her flank to Erzulie's lightly.

The moors have been a good place for us to settle, these past few months.  With winter coming, and the bear that caused Valravn's disappearance, I do not think we should risk staying here.  We need somewhere better defended.  She glanced at Raleska momentarily, noting again the guilt in her stature.  There was little Rosalyn could do about it, but she felt her stomach clench.  The monster.... was it the same?

There are cliffs, on the far northern shore.  We've scouted them and they seem empty.  The only wolf they had met had been a loner, hardly a threat to their claim.  They'll provide shelter from the weather and from anyone who would seek to harm us.  Closer to the ocean, defended from surrounding strife.  She was so tired of feeling as if jaws were closing in on their heels.

We should go before winter makes the trip dangerous.  All of us do not need to stay and search.  She hated this... were it up to her, all would.  But she would not sacrifice the rest of them for his sake.  If the bear truly came, she knew that they would not all survive it.  

She paused then, looking at them as though to invite them to speak.  These words had been entirely her own... her wife, too, might have had more to add.

leaving again. first the sound, then the plateau, then the moors — and now back to the beginning of it all, back to the foremost change that had spurred rusalka to depart at all.
but it was time to leave, and unbeknownst to her, a gathering of pirates were massing, searching for her son.
a nod was given to raleska; she was not blamed, and then her eyes drifted over the others, and she was silent, breathing, breathing as her gaze fell to aningan and she wondered how he felt within his spirit.

When Miranda sat next to her, she visibly straightened up with a shiver, and held her mouth in a line. It was easy to see the vibrations from the reaper, as she was quite nervous a strange man was sitting next to her. Of course, they've met, and briefly hunted, but she was definitely not one to be friendly to unfamiliarities.

Upon hearing the news, it felt dreadful. Grímnismál was happy it was by the ocean- where she was used to, but it was still moving. The yearling wasn't one to object to such matters, understanding the reasons why.. However, she wanted to set roots somewhere, and not continue moving. She was unaware of that theme, with Rusalka, and only hoped that it would be the last land to claim.

- basically :I

Moving was but another course of life for Raleska.

She felt eyes land upon her - Rosalyn's, Kaertok's, Miranda's, Erzulie. She knew her hand in it was not small.

Her gut clenched as she received the news, but in truth, she had wanted to move well before that bastard bear ever darkened their doorsteps.

She gave but a nod, eyes still firm on the ground.

They could go to the jagged mouth of Scylla, and still Raleska would follow.

He did not know exactly of where Rosalyn spoke, but he knew it to be in the (very rough) direction of Legion. If Raleska had given him the choice, he would have returned there to let them know he would not be coming back. Alas, that was not how things had worked out, and here he was, far away from his children and Arbiter. He did not think she would be angry with him. He had given her everything she had wanted: a stable pack and children. To Raleska, he owed much more.

Moving from place to place was in Kaertok's bones, and he had long ago learned not to fight it. At least this time, he was moving with Raleska, not away from her.

one or two more rounds to wrap <3 no post order! I just wanted to get this up since it's relevant to timelines, but please lmk if you were gonna throw a wrench and my skipping sidelines that

None of them seemed particularly enthusiastic about the move, but none of them argued.  They seemed... weary.  Or perhaps she just was.

The cliffs would revitalize them, she decided.  She would ensure it.  The claim was beautiful, well hidden and sound.  In it they could rest and bond, scout the shore and just live.  And if the bear came calling she would collapse the cliffs upon it herself.

She dipped her head to them in closing, grateful that they trusted she and Erzulie to lead them in this.  Then she turned to her wife and passed her a look, an invitation to follow as she stepped forward to slip between and go to Raleska and Kaertok.

Rosalyn saw the guilt that her daughter wore plainly and knew that it wouldn't be dispelled until Valravn was found, one way or another.  I have a favor to ask you.  And you, she added, looking at Kaertok.  Will you stay? Just... a while longer.  To look until another can return.  She did not want to ask Raleska alone, and did not know if she trusted the white man just yet.  But it seemed he held Raleska's well-being as a priority from appearances, and she seemed to enjoy his company.  She did not like the thought of the woman out here alone right now.

WC: 220

Rosalyn spoke to Raleska, and Kaertok flicked a curious ear forward when he was included in her request. Of course, he replied. Staying behind a bit longer in case Valravn returned was a logical step in finding him, if he was to be found. And, if it were the two of them, they could travel together there if Raleska wished. It seemed as though the announcement was over, and Kaertok was eager to get back to looking for the lost boy.

erzulie drew after her wife, heard the whisper. as kaertok exchanged his own with raleska, the harlot sought to touch raleska's shoulder, gently. no words would dispel the dismay writ quite clearly into her daughter's heart. and so she offered none, only her love. "i will be back when we have settled dere, to come an' search again." split from the moorland or not, valravn could not be forgotten, and erzulie would travel down the coast as many times as she must until the boy was found.

She was to be left behind.

Raleska understood. Her face crumpled -- for a moment, she was dangerously close to losing her composure. Until Erzulie touched her, assaying all the guilt that nipped at her heels like a pack of furious dogs. Kaertok answered for her - Raleska gave a nod of her head.

She swallowed dryly, feeling a stab along her throat. If she could not control things in her life, she could at least try to help those important to her -- she gave each of her mothers a light brush of her shoulder in farewell, before she placed herself along Kaertok's flanks and saw them off.

wrapping! Last from me <3

Raleska seemed to falter at being left behind, but Erzulie's touch helped.  Rosalyn did not bother with reaching out as well.  Thank you.  Instead she allowed warmth to spill with the words.  Someone needed to ensure he wasn't forgotten and of all of them, Raleska was the one who was most trusted.  The rest had not been there as long and if she sent them, chances were good in Rosalyn's mind that they would not return.

With one last, meaningful look, and a lean into the touch of farewell, Rosalyn turned and departed to leave them all to their preparations.  It was going to be a long trip, yet in the end, they'd find it worthwhile.  She had to believe that.

WC: 121