Dragoncrest Cliffs doulè

swordfish and quennell were back, wounded but alive. mireille's days were spent running for things her mother needed, keeping the boys company, feeding them, and patrolling where she was able.
she was young but eventually tired out. a moment's respite found her at corsair beach, where mireille dropped at once to her belly for a quick, intense nap before she was called once more.

Worry dogged her, and not knowing right away how to help made Suzu feel all the more flustered. She didn’t want to be in the way, or pester Quennell or Swordfish while they healed but staying away and helping just in the fringe was driving her nuts. 

She brought what she could find for food, but felt out of place when she wanted to linger when the boys had mothers and siblings and healers. If she could tag along with someone, though…

She caught sight of Mireille, laying quiet and still on the beach. She froze, but let out a surprised bouf, breathing a puff of air from her cheeks before she could help herself. She flicked her ears back, hoping she hadn’t roused her aunt from her sleep.

sweet little suzu.
mireille lifted her head and gave the girl a weary smile. "it be all right," she crooned, pulling herself into a sphinx position. it had been good to sleep, even for a second.
"you be stressin' about sword an' quen, hm?" the young obsidian beckoned suzu closer, offering a hug. "it will be all right," once more.

Mireille perked up, and Suzu felt a bit less guilty for having awakened her. She wouldn't know the true tiredness of adulthood until she reached it, and assumed that her aunt would recover almost instantly. She did not hesitate when she was invited over, and she took advantage of Mireille's lower stature for a moment to step one leg across her shoulders and nibble at the fur between her ears before she slid to the ground beside her, nestling herself against her aunt's side. 

"Ya," She sighed. The boys were back- that much was a relief. She had had enough of the not-knowing, especially after having felt the same for both Theo and Requiem. She had no idea how lucky she was that all four of them had turned up, alive. "I do not know what to do for dem." She admitted. "I do 'ate blood...I feel like I can do not'ing but feed dem." She said with a shrug.

mireille nodded, rolling somewhat to tuck a half-sleepy arm around suzu. "dat be all we can do. mama watches dem. we help wid de medicine an' de dressin's an' de work. but really, t'ere be not'ing to do but wait."
mireille sighed. "i don't be carin' for blood eit'er. wish t'ere was a way aroun' it." she kissed suzu's ears thoughtfully and then fell silent, thinking of the boys and the future.

Feeding them didn't feel like it was enough. She frowned, and was quiet for a moment in thought, trying to convince herself that whatever care she provided would be enough, but her attempts fell short. 

"I knew dey been gone too long." She said regretfully. "I wished...I'd wished dat Fish would've asked me to go wid him...I am glad, now, mebbe, dat I did not but...I don't know. I felt left behin'. And den he was gone too long." She, too, struggled with feelings about boys.

mireille nodded. "boys do not stay in sapphique very long. dey get restless, maman says. dey want to explore. to wander. to pirate," she said with a small smile. "an' dey not often t'ink of t'ose aroun' dem."
women. girls.
"i be glad you did not go. now fish has you close again. an' i do not believe he will stray so far or for so long."

Boys did not stay? Suzu frowned, worried at the implications of this statement. "If dat be true, den..." She trailed off. She had two brothers, who remained with the pack; and then there was Stingray, Swordfish, Quennell...If it was in their nature to wander, then she would be left with no others her age save for Aminthe. It troubled her to think that this was something to be expected; she'd made her brothers promise so many times that they would not leave her, not after Requiem had been taken away. 

"I do not want dem to go." She said, and buried her face in her aunt's side.

mireille sighed softly. "dey must, suzu. it be de way t'ings are." she supposed it was unfair; she had missed sobo and loko and val by turns.
but maybe in the missing, suzu would come to understand. "now," the red auntie said in a lighter tone, "i know maman erzulie always be havin' sea urchin eggs. come on. we go an' ask her, oui?" her smile meant to encourage her niece. it was not always easy to be a daughter of the sea cliffs.

They must? As in, they had no choice? She took her aunt's words fairly literally, and frowned even more deeply. She wondered if there was anything she could to do stop them from going. It was already hard enough that Quennell and Swordfish had gone away on a hunt without her- and it had turned out horribly. But for all of the boys of the pack to leave? It pulled so strongly at her heart. 

Mireille tried to distract her with her favourite treat, but she found that her gut felt empty, but not hungry. No amount of sea urchin eggs could make her feel any better, now that she'd found out her brothers, her cousins, her family...They would go off, and leave her there. But maybe it would do her heart some good to see her grandmothers. Maybe they might have more advice, so she solemnly nodded, and stood up, not bothering to shake the sand off her pelt. 

What would it matter if she was a bit sandy? What good was being clean, and what good was eating tasty things when she knew she would lose her brothers?

cool to fade! <3

poor suzu. mireille wondered if she should have softened the blow of that, the truth that her little niece was bound to lose her brothers. "sobo stayed. eti loves de sea." she smiled softly, wondering if these things would be encouraging to suzu.
"val comes an' goes. loko too." she glanced at the girl. "boys leave. it do not be meanin' dey will never be back."'

Suzu knew nothing but kindness from the few men in her life. Both strangers and family alike had given her no reason to carry forward any bias- and she found herself wishing that perhaps their home could be more hospitable for everyone. 

But if Mireille could manage knowing her brothers came and left like the tide, maybe she would have to learn to be that way as well. In her eyes, Mireille was warm, happy, safe- so a life where brothers came and left could still be an enjoyable life. 

”Let’s go fin’ dem sea urchins,” She said with a sad, but resolute nod.