Dragoncrest Cliffs Argue with angels and I always win

Suzu carried the sooty pup back along the shores, feeling relief when she spotted the rise of the cliffs. Her pawprints still remained in the sand from her trip away from the pack’s territory, so few would have noticed her absence. 

The muscles along the back of her neck were sore, and she needed to give her jaw a break. She continued until they were beyond the borders, choosing to stop to rest near the freshwater pond before she set @Ravin down. 

She worked her jaw a bit, and stepped from his side for just a moment to get a drink of water before she turned back to him again. 

Now what? 

She’d wondered the whole way if this was a bad idea. What if this pup belonged to a pack? Would it bring war to Sapphique? But she couldn’t leave him? Surely. She’d have to bring him to her mother to see what was to be done- but she needed a break first, and figured Ravin might appreciate a moment or two on the ground after being carried all this way. 

”We are here. I will call for my Maman soon…You doing alright?” She asked.

Ravin opened his eyes and nodded. "Yep." He said. "I be... I be.. doing alright." He said, repeating what she said, trying to learn new words. He figured what they meant and knew he was doing fine so they were accurate. He sat up a little, feeling smart.

She squinted, her caring gaze softening. He was a trooper, alright. Suzu thought of her own loss, and clicked her tongue. She moved forward to reach for him, cozying herself up to the young boy. 

”Ohhhh. You poor sweet t’ing. I am so sorry,” She said, hoping might accept her condolences. ”We will take care of you, oui? I will…” She couldn’t make promises, but she wanted to. ”I will make sure you have a home.”

"Home." Ravin said, repeating that word. "I dont... i dont know Home." He said having never heard the word before. He appreciated Suzu's comfort though. "What... your name?" He asked her as well.

Suzu wanted to squeeze him tightly, but he was so young yet- so she refrained and instead just gritted her teeth together and nuzzled the top of his head gently. He was so soft, still- he hadn’t yet grown out of his puppy fur. Far too young to be out on his own. She felt more and more convinced that she’d made the right decision.

She wasn’t sure if he meant he wasn’t familiar with the word, or if he simply had no memory of ever having a home- but she could change that. She was determined to. 

”Home is where you live; it is where you live wid de ones who love you, where you grow up…Where your heart longs to be, whenever you leave it.” Suzu did not have much experience with travelling, but she had felt terribly homesick when she had fled to Wheeling Gull Isle. 

She felt guilty when she realized she hadn’t told him her name. She’d first considered him to be edible, and had them picked him up and carried him a couple miles back to her home- and hadn’t even taken a moment to tell him her name.

Maybe she still had a few apprehensions about what she’d done. Perhaps it had been hasty- but at least she hadn’t let the birds get him.

”I am Suzu.” She thought she owed him an apology too-  but she didn’t want him to worry, or demand that she return him to Ankyra Sound. ”I ‘ave two sisters about your age,” she supposed, anyway. ”My Mot’er…I t’ink she will take care of you. You…Ravin, your mother…Do you remember what ‘appened to ‘er?” She asked, squinting lightly. In a way, she hoped he didn’t. It might be easier that way.

Ravin absorbed the information as he was told it. “my home… waz de den by de wader.” He said, trying to figure out and use the term, and successfully identifying his birth place.

“Suzu.” He said repeating her name. “Suzu Suzu Suzu” He said three more times to ingrain it.

He smiled when she talked of her family, but then that faded when she brought up his own. He strained his memory to try and think and remember where his mother went. “wit anoder wolf… she put me and my siblingz under a bush. I left and den u founded me where’d i waz” He explained the best he could.

The realization that perhaps his mother wasn’t absolutely gone began to emerge when Ravin declared that he had some memory of her…And where he was supposed to be. How he’d ended up out on his own was another story- but she quickly decided she would rather deny the possibility that she’d just stolen someone’s unattended child. 

Within the hour, perhaps his Mom might have returned, and found him missing. Maybe she would feel the way Suzu and her family had felt when Requiem had been taken away by an eagle. Her mother would surely be furious with her.

It was too late to backpedal now- and she feared she could never utter enough of an apology to remedy what she had done. 

”You will be alright.” She reassured him, pulling him close- remembering not to squeeze him too hard. ”Sometimes…Sometimes t’ings ‘appen. An’ we lose de ones we love most.” She was a quick thinker- a strategist. If she could reinforce the idea that he had been abandoned…She’d have a chance to save face. ”Mot’ers do not leave behind deir children unless…Unless somet’ing ‘appens to dem…An’ I am so sorry you lost your Mot’er, Ravin.” She said. 

Surely, his mother was gone. Not just gone, but gone gone. 

”I can go look…Later. You ‘ave siblings?” She asked. This could complicate things- but if she could not find them, then nothing would get harder.

Maybe she wouldn’t even look. 

”I will take you to my mot’er’s den. She will give you milk, dat sounds good, hmm?” She asked.[/b]

Ravin nodded. “I tink she gone gone. Becuz she nervered leaved us befored either. an she lefted for dayz.” He said.

“Ya my siblingz dey be by de wader last i saw dem. I wented out for help cuz i be the biggest.” He said. He was also the first born but he didn’t know how to say that. “Milk be nice it be days sinced i eaten.” He said

She felt affirmed. It wouldn’t take any convincing, then, for her to get her mother to accept an orphaned child. She hoped that the burden of raising him and possibly his siblings- if they could be found- would not be too much, but surely, if Chacal had fed four children last spring, she could feed three now.

”Well den we will t-“ She began, but wouldn’t finish her sentence.

”Berceuse!”

Chacal called out. She’d caught the scent of her daughter along the border- noticing it was mingled with another, one who smelled still of the sea, but who left behind no pawprints.

Chacal had paused- but could scent no others following them, only the faint scent of @Svalinn, who must have still lived along Ankyra Sound. Then, she’d turned and tracked her daughter all the way to the lake, where she sat with someone else’s young child at her paws. 

She thought her daughter was smart enough not to steal a child- but she also knew Suzu to be a bleeding heart. She likely had good intentions, but even that was not enough to explain why she’d brought a toddler home. 

”Please, explain?” She hoped her daughter would be quick- whoever this mother’s child was, they were likely worried sick.

Ravin got scared from the new women and hid himself under Suzu. But he didn’t want her in trouble and understood some what she was asked so he whispered. “Suzu be savin me. I be Ravin. My mama lefted me.” He peeped

Ouch- her full name. But before she could make a pretty face and explain, she let out a giggle unwittingly, as Ravin’s whiskers tickled her belly. Now she figured she looked even more foolish, though Ravin peeped an explanation that caused her to sober up a bit.

”Maman, ‘e was all alone, ‘his Mot’er is just gone…Been gone a while. I couldn’t just leave ‘I’m,” She reasoned, giving her mother her best puppy dog eyes.

Her daughter was a gleeful creature- but Chacal would not have her mistake bring angry vengeance to their pack. She looked down to the child, and then back to her daughter. 

Her expression still somewhat cold, and approached. To Suzu, she gave a soft nudge to her cheek, reassuringly. She then lowered her head to sniff the pup. 

He was young enough to still need milk. Some trace of his mother’s scent still remained, which caused Chacal to bristle slightly. 

His mother had passed their way some time ago- and had trespassed. She’d been foolish and impolite, impulsive. Chacal had given her some instruction, but clearly she’d not been successful in joining a pack, and more foolish still to try and raise a family on her own.

Chacal suspected Sydney was still out there somewhere- but that she was inadequate as a mother. 

She softened, then. 

”You be one of us, den, Ravin. Suzu will be your sister, an’ I will feed you alongside my girls, Chiro an’ Chani.” she reached forward to smoothe the fur on his forehead, introducing him to her scent. ”Bring him,” She said softly to her daughter, keen to lead them back to the den, where he might begin his life anew, and forget any memory he had of his birth mother.

Ravin smiled as she softened and came out from under Suzu. He rubbed his little head against Chacals muzzle. “Fanks.” He said, in his sweet little way of saying thanks

Gently, though she shook lightly from excitement, Suzu moved forward to pick up Ravin as she was instructed. Now that she'd taken a break, she felt confident she could carry him the rest of the way- especially now that she was certain he would be adopted into the family. Another little brother!

She grasped him with gentle teeth, and carried him toward his new home.