Dragoncrest Cliffs Capture the Conch

pack activity! 
@Rosalyn @Lilitu @Wing @Raelle @Valravn @Theo @Etienne @Ancelin 
Second round will begin as soon as we get a post from all who would like to participate, or about May 2!

Quick edit on my behalf to include Ravin in the kiddos :)

Mist rose over the Bluepeace Meadow in veils, shimmering in the early dawn light. As the sun combed through the trees to the East, it dissipated the most, but left behind a field of blue flowers sparkling with dewdrops. 

It was here that Chacal and Mireille brought Chani, Ravin and @Chiro, with Suzu helping to carry the third child- the newest addition to their family, to a place where they had previously brought two beautiful conches. Each was just a bit smaller than a wolf’s head- and easy enough to grab and carry. 

Ready to throw their packmates into a very unexpected Springtime frolic, they sounded the call together, summoning all the folk of their pack to participate in an activity together.

When taken from the den, Chiro was rather surprised. And yet, she enjoyed it very much! The outside air was far more pleasant than that of their sleeping place, and there was so much space to wander.

But she would not go far. Near mother and @Chani she stayed. She even began to tussle gently with her sister while they waited.

Etienne arrived fairly quickly and settled nesr his baby sisters watching them with careful eye. They were 3xploring now and being generally busy, but there was a deep seated fear that somwthing could happen, but he tried to ignore it.

He tilted ears forward to listen to his manman and matant.

A summons.

Rosalyn was already nearby and picked her head up to watch, though she did not rise to join the game. Even if she understood it, she was past the time when she cared to play on the scale that the pack promised. Perhaps alone with the children she could be goaded, but not here.

Still, she would observe and enjoy the salt air and the passive company.

likely a cameo only!

Suzu loved her new sisters- but was wildly excited about having brought Ravin home to live with them. She felt proud that she had potentially saved the young pup’s life- and stuck close to him, carrying him wherever her mother needed him to be taken.

And so, she totes @Ravin along with her to the meadow, though she’d been kept in the dark about why the pack would be called there. Perhaps it was to celebrate their newest addition, but the conches that had been left there at the edge of the meadow hinted that something else was afoot. 

She set Ravin down, gently, so that he might go and play with Chiro and Chani too.

Ravin started to explore and walk around when Suzu placed him down. He padded up to @Chiro and @Chani, his new sisters, and smiled. “Hey!” He said. “Wanna pway?” He asked them, dropping his little body into a somewhat challenging pose. He didn’t care he was a bit smaller and younger. Soon it wouldn’t matter and he wouldn’t be able to remember ever not being a part of the family

Theo joined his siblings, and watched his little sisters and new little brother tussle and play together. He smiled at Suzu, knowing she was happy from finding the little boy, before turning his attention to his mother, who had summoned them.

like redtail rise, this pack focused upon their bonds of family. but where his home held a feral edge, there was only a warmth here, generations featured as the pack gathered. 
and he could not help to notice that several of the younger were quite pretty, though his eyes fell eagerly to suzu as he saw her again, carrying a pup here and there.
scooting as quickly as he dared, wanting to be polite and all, ancelin grinned. "is this your brother? or, um, one of them," he added sheepishly.

there was a new one among them! and then they were all new, and her eyes grew wider and wider as her senses were filled with a dozen fresh things at once.
she heard their voices; she heard the murmur of the sea. chani looked up at her mother with mouth formed into a small 'o' of shock at it all, and then her wondering eyes snapped to the boy ravin.
he wanted to play!
after a moment's hesitation, chani growled, tail waving furiously as she snapped for his paw, pulling away from chiro.

time passed. mireille felt unchanged, save for a near constant urge to relieve herself, which proved quite annoying. stuffing down a bitter pawful of dried kelp, the type maman had said was good for such ailments, she joined chacal and lifted her voice melodically.
the pack gathered swiftly, and she went around, greeting them all with soft words and licks of her tongue to muzzle or ear or forehead. mireille did not forget her mother, retiring for a moment to groom tangles from rosalyn's coat before she rejoined her sister.
only a single sideways flicker of her emerald eyes suggested that she looked for val.

quick dice roll to determine teams:
Étienne: 1
Suzu: 1
Theo: 2
Ancelin: 2
Mireille: 1
Chacal: 2

Team pebble: Étienne, Suzu and Mireille
Team no pebble: Theo, Ancelin, Chacal

They waited for the arrival of their packmates, and Chacal smiled as her youngest children gamboled on the sidelines. They would be too young to participate- but they could watch, still, and become familiar with their new brother. 

She counted them as they arrived- noting with a somewhat strained smile that their pack seemed to have a divisive age gap. Her three children came to play the game, and her mother who settled down in such a way that Chacal knew she meant likely to rest. She was pleased to see the young man who had come from Redtail Rise join them- though she raised a brow when he approached her eldest daughter.

She cleared her throat. With Theo, Étienne, Suzu, Ancelin and Mireille present, it would seem that she would need to play too- to even out the teams. She murmured quietly to her mother, with a smile, before licking her cheek. The children would be safe under her watch. 

”We brought you ‘ere to play a game-
Games be fun, but useful all de same.
De Bluepeace Meadow be divided in two- 
An’ so it will be wid all of you.
Two teams, each wid deir own end,
An’ one conch shell dey must defend.
Once you set foot across de line,
If you be tagged, you sit out for a time.
De aim of de game is to capture de shell-
An’ make it back to your own side well.”

She explained. 

”’Ere before us, dere be oyster shells-
Pick one, an’ dat will tell,
Which team you be on.
Turn it over an’ ‘ave a look- 
‘Alf ‘ave pebbles, half be empty,
Dat will let you know on which team you will be.” 

She said with a smile, before she gestured for the small gathering to come forward and select their own shell- to turn it over, and find out who their team mates would be.

Etienne watched his youngest sister's and then a careful eye on Suzu when the male approached her. He didnt' think that there was an issue, and Suzu could take care of herself. But he was just always a little protective over his family.

He picked his own shell to flip it over and see what he had a pebble so it was. Then he would wait to see who else picked the same.

Theo flipped over a shell finding no pebble underneath. He saw Eti had one with a pebble so he was a bit sad to see he wasn't with his brother.

Suzu smiled down at the kids as Ravin invited the girls to play with him. She would’ve been happy to just hang out with the little ones and watch them play, call out encouragement and break up any rough play- but this wasn’t what they’d gathered to do.

Her ears fell back when she was addressed by someone whose voice was still new to her, and she looked up to see the scarred face of the boy from Redtail Rise. She caught the glint of her mother’s eye, and the lightly concerned gaze of Étienne too. 

She straightened and stiffened a bit, made uncomfortable by the attention. ”Yes,” She answered, abruptly. She avoided looking at him, so the others might not think that they were fast friends- and so he might not ask her anything else. She felt relieved when her mother began explaining the game.

While it sounded interesting, Suzu despised the thought of being made to run for sport, and especially in front of Ancelin. She pouted slightly, but knew she’d look like a bad citizen if she tried to back out now. 

She chose an oyster next to Etienne’s, hoping perhaps to score a pebble as he did- and breathed a sigh of relief when they managed the same outcome. It was an excuse to drift away from Ancelin, and crowd her brother’s shadow- though she peered past him cautiously, her breath held-

Waiting to see if she would be on Ancelin’s team, or against him.

oh. oh. oops.
immediately aware of the tension, ancelin shrunk away from suzu, feeling as though he had committed some faux pas. he caught the eye of the boy watching them, someone he assumed was family too.
desperately grateful for chacal's voice, ancelin listened raptly. 
all right, sounded like a fast game, something he could do. eagerly he pushed over his shell, only to find it empty.
briefly chagrined, the boy cleared his throat and looked around in curiosity to see who would be on his team, studiously avoiding glancing toward suzu again.

mireille admired her beautiful sister so very much for her attention to games, and listened happily as she watched sapphique gather and comingle once more. the sea blessed them, and she hoped it too would bless her in time.
when chacal had finished, mireille flipped over her shell with a flourish, revealing a pebble. "ha!" she exclaimed, joining etienne and suzu with a laugh. "we are going to win!" the obsidian exclaimed, nudging each of them in turn.
the boy from the rise was given a long, appraising look. not cool. not warm.

chani growled and leaped onto chiro again, rolling around under grandmaman's watchful gaze. ravin too was treated to a couple of her playful snaps, though chani would allow herself to be parted from both by rosalyn if need be.
at length, the small girl lifted her head and looked toward the gathering.

Etienne warmed under his Matants gaze, but he felt her coolness to the boy of the rise and felt a small spark of commadri3. Why should he be treated better cause he was born here. He was still male. So he moved away from the two and got closer to the male.

I'm Etienne, but you can me Eti. I don't t'ink we've met.

The two girls, his adoptive sisters, were down for his attempt at play. He growled slightly at both of their 'attacks, and swiped his paws towards Chani in a response to hers. Ravin bounced around in a circle then, waiting for their next moves.

Sorry about the wait- that was my mistake. No posting order and no definitive rules- roll for success or just write it out :)

As the wolves toppled their oysters over, Chacal watched and smiled faintly as each wolf reacted, and realized who would be on their team. She knew her sister would have a competitive streak, and would draw Chacal's eye the most. It seemed fair enough, to have one adult on each team, though if the children thought that the older generation would go easy on them, they would likely be surprised. Chacal's eyes flashed with merriment as Mireille encouraged her teammates, Etienne and Suzu. Chacal, then, turned to her own teammates, noticing the way her sister sent a look toward the scarred one. 

"Don't let 'er get to you-
we'll 'ave deir conch before a minute be t'rough." 

She gestured for Theo and Ancelin to draw away from the others with her, after allowing Ancelin a moment to share his name with Eti if he chose to. 

"A moment for strategy- 
an' den ze game will begin,"

It would allow them some time to assign roles, and for Mireille's team to do the same. She lowered her head so that she could speak in a whisper to Ancelin and Theo.

"We should 'ave at least one on guard,
one to distract, an' another to charge." 

She suggested, though she pricked her ears, willing yo take suggestions from the boys as well.

"I am fast, so i could be de charger but also i could be de guard. whatever you want me on, i could do." Theo told his team

his eyes flicked to the other boy and he managed a small smile. "nice to meet you. i'm ancelin."
though he wanted to chat more, he saw chacal. ancelin would have been happy to get away — were it not for the fact it was suzu's own freaking mom waving him over! sheepishly, desperate to make a good impression on her, the riseboy padded over.
"i could charge," he blurted, then walked it back with a smooth, "if that's okay with everyone else, i mean." too late he heard he'd spoken over theo, and smirked sheepishly. "then i could distract."

good competition! mireille tossed her head at her sister, then gathered etienne and suzu. "i t'ink maybe i can do de runnin', but i need someone to guard de conch. and sharp teeth to keep de ot'ers away!"
a wink to them both; she made a show of keeping their heads together, as if they discussed some deep secret.

chani grabbed for ravin with a growl, leaving her sister behind. she wanted to bite his paw, his shoulder, his nape, throwing her puppyish body against him with all her strength.
he was brother but also opponent.

Running, tagging, being chased….None of it really appealed to Suzu, though she did have a streak of competition in her spirit. Having her aunt on the team was a relief and she smile gratefully when Mireille suggested that she be a runner. 

”Pleeeeeease can I guard?” Suzu asked, turning big, doleful eyes to Étienne. 

She craned her neck and flicked her ears forward to see if she could hear what the opposite team was saying. She couldn’t make out words- but given Ancelin’s expression, Lilia was inclined to believe that he might be the one to come running for their conch. She gulped.