Dragoncrest Cliffs it was war and you are made of meat

anybody can pop in! tags are just for general reference :) (and invitation, ofc)

he blinked, once. twice. thrice.

the sky was clear and the blinding light flooded into the den. quennell had existed solely in the den since his return. he found the sleeping was a better existence for a multitude of reasons. yet it felt impossible to sleep with the light right on his face and the warmth that flooded his face from it.

he thought he felt @Swordfish somewhere nearby, maybe it was somebody else. the ache that ran from butt to head asked him to not stretch his neck to look who it was.

but the need to piss was strong, so he fumbled upward despite any voices that may have cautioned he didn't.

he made it to the opening of the den before he tiredly wobbled, hind legs dropped and his ass met the earth with a soft thud. followed promptly by a yelp of his startled pain.

frantically he looked around for @Meerkat or his maman @Erzulie.

erzulie had stayed beside the boys as long as she could. in shifts they took it, with her elder daughters and rosalyn and meerkat, and even mireille, who had come back belatedly empty-handed to find her search ended at last, at home.
quen stood. erzulie murmured that he must not. but she followed as he did so, wincing and moving to gather him close after his struggle. "t'ere. be still, sweet one."

he was mortified.

embarrassed of himself. embarrassed by the sudden huge burden he had become along with what he had unknowingly led swordfish into.

'm so sorry, maman.

his voice muffled as he shoved his face into the ruffles of her fur.

Just one for me. <3

 

The young man could hear their voices, just outside of reach, it felt like. Swordfish knew that his mother had been there. He knew she had hardly moved since the duo had arrived back to the safety of their home. The familiar fragrance of her coat was both comforting and heartbreaking. He hadn’t wanted her to see him that way. He had not wanted to hear the horrible screams from her mouth. 

Swordfish sniffed quietly. His heavy gaze shifted up, trying to make out the shadows. He wasn’t supposed to want his mommy, but he had wanted Meerkat to make everything better again since the bear’s claws had maimed him. The tender flesh of his ribs made him groan. Swordfish squeezed his eyes tightly and drank in the scent of the herbs.

"il tout bon," erzulie whispered into the ears of her sobbing boy.
reyes, changed. scarab, changed. sobo, changed. now quennell and swordfish, unmade and unmoored by the heavy testing hand of fate.
of bears.
her teeth ground. "you be home, you an' sword. dat be what matters."

oh sword.

poor swordfish who had entrusted quen. his gut sunk further and his sobs could not be softened now.

oh, meemee and njord be hatin' me, don't dey? his guilt bursted at the seems. busted free of him in wracked waves. i ain't fit to be no pirate leader, maman. lookit 'im!

and he most certainly did not feel fit to go to the rise now. not in the way lilia had wanted.

i ain't fit to be no pirate leader, maman. lookit 'im!

Rosalyn only heard this as she approached, there to join Erzulie and see if her wife needed a break from her watch. Quennell had woken then, and the tone of his voice struck her with surprising familiarity. She slowed down, coming into view of the entrance but stopping just outside.

They'd gone through something that had left scars deeper than just those on their bodies. She knew what that meant, even if she didn't remember all of it.

Every pirate runs into rough seas. And many of us are broken by them. We put ourselves back together, and when we do, we're stronger. We've learned how to weather a storm. Her voice wasn't soft, and she didn't crouch to meet his gaze just yet. Instead she stood and let the words linger, knowing they would only help if he eventually allowed himself to believe them. If not now, he would learn.

her son cried in a broken voice.
erzulie exhaled sharply and pulled him close.
"no hate, my sea-seal baby," and she did not care who heard. now rosalyn was close and she spoke to his pirate's soul. she looked at her wife, filled with love.

they soothed him in equal ways.

still he burned. the flames swallowed him alive and spit him back out, battered and bruised. a young ego had taken a beating that might fell even the best of wolves.

i dun know 'ow...

he hated this.

a weak boy before two grand mothers.

tell me. tell me 'ow.

for all the pieces felt jagged and like they would never slide into place again.

Rosalyn couldn’t. There was no one fix, or easy way to navigate this. He would need to recognize it in himself.

You’ll get past it. There’s no other way. Despite the apparent bluntness of the words, she hoped her confidence would inspire some of his own.

If he allowed this to break him then it would. Their children had left repeatedly only to come back changed by the world, but it was a choice they made. The repercussions of that choice she no longer accepted as her own. Her gaze went to her wife, touched with worry for him and understanding for her. If Erzulie had better words, they were ones Rosalyn could not guess at.

rosalyn was blunt. erzulie kissed his stricken face. "every one of us be facin' situations like dis, quen. what matters is what you do afterward."
how he saw himself.
how he acted.
"you came away wid your lives an' a better understanding of danger. of death. t'ese lessons are important an' vital. even if dey hurt."

it was what he needed.

the hardset words of rosalyn, the elaboration of erzulie.

his heavy crying stopped. even if his eyes still stung and held tears.

i understan'... his voice had softened, but he nodded firmly. i be restin' now, i t'ink. before he could handle things no more.

but he beckoned both of his mothers closer, if they would. so he might place respectful kisses to chins and lean upon them for a moment.

his heart hurt as much as his rear.

last from me! <3

Erzulie softened her words in a way she did not know how and Rosalyn looked at her wife gratefully. Then she came closer and bent, planting a kiss between his ears and lingering there while he embraced them both.

He was strong and would be fine. She had no doubts on this - the children of Sapphique wandered. They were lost and found again. They were never too weak to face the world and continue.

She considered staying but felt that Quennel might need some time to think on the words. Instead she settled herself outside but nearby, in earshot if anything was needed.