Dragoncrest Cliffs No Time for Caution

Njord’s thread with Slate just began, but I’m going to take some liberties with IC knowledge because I have time to post and lots of muse! Gonna do my best to keep things vague.

Njord had briefly left Dragoncrest Cliffs and followed the coast, drawn by Haunt’s many earthwalking phantoms. He had run into not one, but two white women… surely it must have been some kind of omen for the seafarer to follow. It adjusted his course inland, where he had run into the elder who warned him of coming war.

Njord urgently returned home. When he arrived he was in a state, out of breath with sore paws and aching joints. He searched for @Rosalyn and @Erzulie first knowing that they must also be warned of their dangerous southern neighbors.

Last night, Rosalyn had dreamed of the cliffs collapsing, the end of it a horror-inducing struggle against the sensation of being buried alive. She'd woken gasping and, with a hammering heart, stumbled from the den; unable to sleep again, she walked their edges until the sun swept the details away. The dread remained.

In the dream she'd known they were all dead - her wife, their children. But still she'd fought to escape the same fate. It had been a heavy feeling and it still settled strangely on her, even as the dream faded to no more than a concept.

When Njord's call found her, she thought to avoid it. But the thought of sleep did not appeal yet, and it did not escape her that it was possible something had happened. She began to come and would arrive, at a slow jog, a short time later.

rosalyn had not slept.
and erzulie had not this time been able to coax her wife back to sleep.
njord would find them both drawn, erzulie seeking the red-tail's company while she waited for the tanzanite to come along. 
the man was winded and grim. "what has happened?" she asked softly, reaching out to touch his shoulder.

Erzulie arrived first followed by a tired looking Rosalyn, but Njord did not take much heed. What has happened? The golden captain asked. “Nothin’ yet,” Njord breathed, winded, “but there’s a storm brewin’ down South… a war is happenin’ and I thought it best ya knew. I almost stumbled through it me’self.”

Njord sank to his haunches the rest his tired legs. “I was walkin’ through the Plateau… on tha South side of Raven’s Watch, ya ken? An’ a met a stranger who told me ‘bout it… they were frazzled an’ lookin’ a panic. There’s a pack led by a queen… called Saint of tha Dyin’ Light. Supposedly some of their kin split off into a different clan… named Akashingo. They dinna take too lightly to this, an’ are huntin’ em down.”

“To defend themselves, Akashingo found an alliance with anothera pack called Ursus… their captn’s name is Merrick and ‘is wife died at the fangs of Queen of tha Saints.” He paused, frowning with a grim face. “Ye ken two packs would outnumber tha Saints… but tha stranger said they’re wicked beasts an’ strong warriors.”

Njord brows furrowed, “I dinna want any of Sapphique to get near ‘em… if one of tha kids wandered that way… I dinna ken what I’d do if one of ‘em were hurt.”

When she arrived she waited with as much patience as she could muster for Njord to finish, but his news set her ears laid back with annoyance. It was not directed at him, but at the notion of war.

We'll have no part in that. She said, both as her own opinion and to answer his worries. It was good to know that the south was a mess but as long as they kept their distance, there was little to fear. They had no alliances nor any ties to the names that Njord spouted.

These mainland packs could destroy one another all they wanted so long as they left the cliffs alone.

erzulie listened, ears cupped forward. 
rosalyn's staunch pronouncement brought a good and soothing humour to her features. "inlanders always be battlin'," she said, though she reached to nudge the emerald.
"dey do not know what it means to live by de sea."
"we will keep a lookout into winter," she decided. "but dese cliffs will be too forbiddin' for an army to ford."

Njord could see the visible disdain on Rosalyn’s face and her curt reply matched the emotions she wore on her sleeve. Njord gave a stiff nod of acknowledgement, relieved (but also not surprised) that his leader felt the same as he did – in fewer words, of course.

Erzulie brushed his shoulder in encouragement and solidarity. As long as the three of them lived in Sapphique, they would take no part in the Southern skirmishes. He felt heard and this fact relieved him. They would keep a close eye on their borders through the season.

“Aye,” he agreed,  blowing out a big-winded sigh to decompress.

Njord had said his piece and, though his paws ached, turned away to start a patrol with much on his mind.

Exit Njord

Rosalyn half expected argument, but it seemed Njord shared no love for these packs either. Good. Her own answer would not have changed either way, but a part of her knew that things could easily shift. And if Njord was unhappy with a call of her own, or her wife's.... they'd seen it before.

It was hard to imagine him as others had been, but all men had the capacity for change. She would never truly lower her guard in this again.

The shores are empty, and they fight over dirt and stones. Rosalyn mused as Njord departed. Erzulie's suggestion was a good one. The more they kept an eye on the situation, the better they could avoid it entirely.

last for me! <3

njord departed.
erzulie watched after him fondly.
"such a miserable existence," she said of the endless battling, but her mind was quiet and thoughtful upon the point of sapphique's emerald. "i enjoy being so far removed," she said aloud, stretching. "it means we have less shit to deal wid." 
there was a curl of rich laughter.

The comment about being removed, the laughter... both were too close to an invitation for Rosalyn to pass them by. Aye. There's nothing bad about being alone here. But her voice implied she was speaking of more than the pack itself.

She'd engage her in some play on the beach, leading her into a run that would end when they chose. There was so much carefree exuberance in dismissing the problems of other less experienced, and less intelligent, packs than their own.