Dragoncrest Cliffs gou sale

optional puptivity for @Thibault @Tousaint @Chantale @Miette @Astera @Ravin @Chani @Chiro

open to everyone even if it is pup focused!

with the help of her older sisters, mireille half lugged half carried her brood down to the bay possessed solely by sapphique. miette especially she kept close, hardly letting go of the girl and ensuring one or another of her aunts cradled her if mireille could not.
"today i will be teachin' de basics of swimmin', oui? you all must learn."
she dipped a paw into the warm water, then motioned at one of the little pups. "come on. do not go so far. stay close. but look. touch. taste. de sea be dangerous. we learn early to respect her."

He did not like being carried and protested at first. Hot breath, the gentle clench of his loose fur, and swinging from side to side did not appeal to him no matter what exciting things awaited them. Tousaint was a homebody who did not want to explore, thank you very much- but he also did not put up a huge fuss. He stiffened and leaned to one side and another, silently making it more difficult to be picked up. 

He frowned deeply when his efforts were defeated and allowed himself to go limp, quietly resigned to be carried wherever it was they were going. 

He closed his eyes as he was carried, not willing to participate and keen on expressing himself in silent protest. 

When he was set down, he opened his eyes, squinting against the breeze. Despite the encouragement, he pinned his ears and pressed his face into Clementine’s fur, only to be gently nudged forward. 

He frowned. He would wait for the others to do all of the tasting and testing.

Thibault was a log to be carried

Stiff, limp and obnoxiously heavy from how round he'd gotten. Either he had puppy muscles, or he'd been too milk and mush happy. Thibby had gotten tubby, and he didn't wanna move!

Why didn't Ma carry him? Ma supposed to carry him, not Miette! Was he not round enough for her anymore? Then, before his eyes, he saw heaven. POOL OF MILK! MILK EVERYWHERE! It behaved like milk. MUST be milk! MILK BEYOND WHERE HIS EYES COULD SEE!

..Why was milk blue?

Rotten milk. EUUCK!

He scrunched and reared his nose in disgust! Icky! Instead of following Ma out, and he cried when she did, as he had convinced himself she was going to die from rotten milk, he stuffed his body close to Tousaint's. Stuffing his mouth quiet, he leaned hard into his brothers side and refused as much as he did to go in. Then, the shivers.

Shivers, because he was so angry Ma was so foolish to dive in spoiled milk!

skippable and pp-able, just want this in val's threadlog <3

egads, how heavy was thibault? relief flooded val as they finally reached the bay's fringes. his neck protested every stride, and he felt a new ache throb just behind his shoulder.

is this what middle age was like?

while mireille and her sisters strode forward confidently, val hung back. he watched each of them like a hawk -- an irony, considering his anxiety about being adjacent to the water was through the roof and he would be absolutely no help in the case of someone drowning.

miette was pinned firmly under mireille's arm, reaching hungrily for the water that had nearly ended her little life weeks prior. neither thibault nor toussaint seemed pleased with their new digs. val smiled inwardly; maybe they would take after him, and have more than just a healthy respect of the sea.

he realized he didn't want that for them either; living close to your deepest fear was one of life's cruelties, and he wanted them each to be happy, every day of their life. his inward smile turned to a frown: what if they took after him?

he could think of no worse fate for them, and gently urged each of the reticent children with a soft and loving nudge. go on, then. but take it slow, okay?

Suzu helped where she could, minding the older children who were capable enough of walking the distance without needing to be carried. And frankly, Mireille’s children all looked like they’d be heavy to carry by now- she saw the way Val’s head slowly began to sink with the effort of carrying the heaviest of them. Disinterested in physical labour, Suzu shuffled along with her siblings, glad to have a few adults on hand for the excursion. 

The boys looked disinterested and Thibault even looked disgusted. Knowing Miette would have no issues diving right in, Suzu moved forward to wade in up to her elbows- as if to be a buffer for when the children inevitably took to the water. 

”It is very niiiiiiiice,” She enticed with a singsong voice.

sobeille miette practically screamed. "LEGGO!" she squalled, kicking against her patient maman as she was carried down to sea.

she reached with grabby hands, wriggled with little dances in the air, begged and squirmed and flounced like a fish -- but maman's grip was expertly tight.

sulkily, miette turned her attention to her siblings. why did they look miserable?? the sea!! the water!! all the interesting scents and smells! maybe miette would find a purple crystal in the sand, like astera did!

where was astera? miette turned thickly between mireille's grip. ahstera??

suddenly she was released; she fell to the ground in a slump, peering at the sour faces of her siblings. hah! pussies.

miette stole a glance to her mother, imitating mireille's elegant pat. the water rippled out away from her, as if being chased -- delightful! her gaze turned up to suzu, who encouraged them all with a singsong voice. miette crowed in excitement and began to wildly splash, overjoyed by the cacophony and the scattering of light that ensued.

Ravin was very interested and hurried over to the group when he was alerted that a swimming training would take place. That was super exciting!!

He went into the water, close to the shore, very tentatively. He squeaked as it touched his paws

"NUH!"

After gluing to his brother's side, he kicked his back paws away as Val tried to push him forward. Val was like ma, but worse! Worse ma! How could he say that big-milk was good? He wailed about it before firmly shutting his mouth, immediately turning around and wrapping his paws around Val's face. He clung! For dear life! His tail was tucked between his legs, and with beady, shellshocked eyes, looked over to the big-milk. Val would protect him! Keep him safe from it! He wouldn't go near! Refusing with all of his might, he decided then and there that he would not move and he was heavy as a rock, quiet as one, built like one. Val carried him there; Val could carry him back! For being worse than ma, he sure treated him like ma. And a jungle gym.

Tousaint recoiled as his brother shuddered against him, as though revolted by the sensation of being leaned upon. Thibault could go and swim for all Tousaint cared. He was a big kid but likely quite buoyant despite his weight, and Tousaint considered himself to be much more finespun and delicate. The salt water would surely make his cinnamon fur curl. 

He shuffled sideways, grateful when Val reached for a Thibault first to push his forward and away from his side. He could see that refusal would likely not work, though. Thibault risked being picked up and dropped in the water if he chose to be that stubborn. 

With a roll of his eyes, Tousaint stood and strode daintily toward the water. Casting his mother a sidelong glance, and a surly side-eye to his gloating aunt, he dipped one foot in to see if that would be satisfactory.

Astera knew that the swimming lessons were partly caused by the incident at the beach. She followed the pup party, eager the learn the ways of the water. Astera froze in shock as Miette squeaked out a word. Her name. Astera had never heard her dearest friend speak before. Miette! First word, hmm? She made a mental note to prepare yet another gift for the miniscule mischief maker. Today you can swim again, right? The sooner she could be assured another dangerous incident would not occur, the better.

val carried a boy that could be his son. mireille spared a small moment there for the stutter of her heart, then looked up. suzu was there among them, and mireille grinned. "look at dis," she encouraged the little ones. small miette took at once to the waves as she once had before, and her mother made a sharp intake of breath to hear the first-word. "yes, dat be astera," she elaborated, grinning at the adopted daughter of sapphique and chacal as she approached.
ravin seemed to show no apprehension; mireille lowered her muzzle to brush his head before she glanced at val and his squirming mass of carried puppy. "thibault," she crooned. "come here to me, an' tousaint also," seeing how her other malechild did not lunge into the waves.
mireille glanced again to sobeille and then focused on the more reticent children. "look. de sea be all aroun' us. de sea gives us food an' storms for rain, to grow de plants on de cliffs, to water de trees. but we must respect her, oui? dat is why we must all be learnin' to swim. to know her."
a thought gripped the obsidian, and she spoke it. "your grandmaman erzulie said t'ere be lwa spirits of salt and eart'. maybe she an' grandmaman rosalyn have become lwa t'emselves, an' watch over you as you learn de ocean."

chani enjoyed the sea, though it seemed like the older ones of the pack truly loved the waves in a way she did not yet understand. she took her task as self-appointed babysitter very seriously, trundling behind mireille and looking firmly at tousaint from time to time.
and when they were invited into the surf, chani ran forward, nipped at val's ankle, and threw herself on her belly in the sand, drawing little furrows as the foam receded. "look!" she shouted to no one in particular. "a starfish!" a tiny one, disturbed by the pup and attempting valiantly to retreat back into mother ocean.
tante said so many words that chani grew bored, but the mentions of her grandmothers twitched her bright ears. if they were watching, maybe — "do you see!" the girl shouted up at the sky, and then grabbed the starfish, hurling it up toward the heavens as a gift.

Astera and Miette, she could tell, were going to be a pairing to be reckoned with, and made Suzu smile faintly. Boldness seemed to trickle through their family lines freely, inhabiting each and every member of the pack and drawing in bold wolves who came to join them and become a part of the family in time. She felt herself considerably more mild in nature than the wild children that had been born (and found) this year, but of course, she was overlooking the times when her temper got the best of her. She'd begun to have her patience tested by the children, specifically the two troublemaking girls, but had begun to accept that there was only so much she could do for them. Holding them back would do nothing- but teaching them seemed to be a good option.

She remained in the water, paddling parallel to the shore back and forth, keeping herself between the pups and the vast expanse of the ocean while they waded in. She was ready to snatch any who got knocked over by a rogue wave or who got carried out too far and tired. She laughed as a starfish was hurled into the sky, but continued her laps, watching to see who might be the first to step in deep enough to begin to swim.

miette gurgled to herself in laughter, focused on astera as she came forth. so much was happening it was hard for her to keep track — her excitement for this watery reunion bubbled over.

while ravin made his own play, thibault and tousaint seemed more reserved. miette splashed heartily in the water as thibault clung to their father and tousaint daintily dipped a toe in. with astera next to her, miette felt she could do anything!

as much as she wanted to pay attention to what her maman said, other things were way more exciting. her attention was stolen by chani, who shouted her find for the family to see. as miette peered at the funny looking creature, it was snatched from the sand and flung into the air. she watched its trajectory hungrily, scampering after it as it fell to the sand.

hah! victory! she seized it between her teeth, but the bitterness of its coarse skin assailed her features. PFFFAT! miette spat the offensive thing out, petulantly poking its writhing arms with a disgruntled paw.

the starfish tasted terrible, thus ending her interest in it. she noticed suzu patrolling the waves and recognized her intentions; a sneaky look overcame the girl, who then shared a secretive glance for astera before she bolted for the waves in the opposite direction.

val was convinced these children would be his demise. where was their sense of peril? of common sense?! they dashed for the waves and played with things that could hurt them, or worse, be poisonous!

at least one resembled him; he grinned as his vision was obscured by a face-hugging thibault. stepping back from the lapping water, val gently lowered his head so thibault’s feet touched the ground.

it’s alright, thibault. val reassured with a warm smile that was dashed as chani sped past, a nip aimed at his ankle. cheeky! but he did not chase, because like thibault he had no intention of breaching water.

tousaint seemed reserved as well, though he at least obliged mireille’s beckoning with a hesitant toe held above the water’s surface. val did a headcount out of habit then, relieved that ravin, astera, chani, and miette were under the watchful eye of the sea-patrolling suzu. val had every bit of faith in his niece for her rescuing ability, on account she’d seized miette from the waters only a few weeks prior.

his heart, however, froze as he saw his daughter’s darkling look. don’t you dare. he cautioned, but it was too late — with a sprint she was off.

the one saving grace here was both suzu and mireille were far faster than that impish child; val dottered next to thibault, guilt riding his shoulders as he realized he was too much a coward to save his daughter if she was ever in watery peril.

If anyone could have convinced him to go into the water, it was his mother. He drew closer, flicking the water off the one paw he had reluctantly dipped into the water, and drew closer to tilt an ear in her direction, scanning the ocean as it did, indeed, sprawl out endlessly before them. He looked up to her when his grandmothers were mentioned. He had not met them, and yet he could understand the emotional weight in those names, and the way his mother's eyes always shone when she spoke them. 

Suzu treaded calmly back and forth in deeper waters. A chirp from his cousin caught his attention, and he looked up to see her fling the starfish into the air, grimacing slightly as it fell back down. Miette was upon it within seconds, and Thibault was a mess of nerves, clinging to Valravn. Tousaint remained relatively neutral for a moment, and neither dashed for the waves, nor clung to his guardians for support. Idly, he lifted his paw to lick the remaining moisture from it, wrinkling his nose as he realized he'd forgotten that it was salty. 

He looked up to his mother again, and sighed. It seemed very important to her that they learn how to swim, and Suzu made it look effortless as she paddled around, bobbing about on the waves like a big, fuzzy gull. He stood, shook his coat out, and moved back toward the water's edge. He waded in, gritting his teeth and pausing as a wave came ashore and rushed the water up to his knees. He did not like its unpredictable nature, and did not like being spashed. He cast a glance to Miette- to make sure he was well clear of her. 

He waded in a bit further, but once the cool waters lapped at his belly wave after wave, he sucked in a breath and arched his back. "Uhhhhhhhhh," He uttered a trembling note of disdain. That water was really cold against his tender underside. He looked hopelessly back to the figures on the shore, turning broadside to the current for just long enough to make eye contact with Val, knowing he might understand why this was so damn uncomfortable before a wave hit him and knocked him below the surface. 

He exhaled myriad of bubbles, watching them scamper toward the surface like little, round diamonds. The waves gently pushed him one way, and then another, and he kicked off the sandy beach below to rise above the surface with a gasp. Wide-eyed and startled, he paddled furiously, gasping and coughing as he spat out small mouthfuls of seawater. The wave had knocked him over with one motion, and pulled him out into deeper waters as it had withdrawn- and while he fought against the water and struggled, he managed to hold his head above the waves, nostrils flared-

- and he swam for the very first time.

Astera remembered the first time she and Ravin had visited the beach. She laughed as Miette tossed the starfish into the air, spluttering. Sobeille was a handful, and Astera was cautious, given her incident with the ocean. But the sun was shining, the seagulls squawked overhead, and there were no signs of riptides of undercurrents. So when Miette gave her a mischievous look, she ran beside her, yipping as she bounded through the waves.

chani threw a starfish upward. mireille hid a grin. little miette ran to claim the starfish, but spat it out, and this time her mother did laugh. but she kept her eyes on the girl, and when sobeille raced off to join astera, mireille joined them in the surf.
her daughter was a fiery child, and she would not let her be lost to the ocean again, though she knew it called the girl every hour; it must.
there was a thankful look given to suzu, for mireille saw how she watched and guided the little ones. val too, her eyes drifted upon, though the obsidian was careful not to gaze at him too long. thibault was given an encouraging grin, and she was grateful that val was with him.
her emerald eyes watched tousaint. he struggled with the waves, and her muscles tensed to see him go under, to hear his sputtering.
but then the boy swam, and his mother's heart soared. "good job!" she called to her son, lifting a paw to gesture proudly in his direction, and this time her eyes did hold val's, for a moment.

chani giggled loudly as her baby cousin grabbed the starfish, only to fling it away again! the red girl seized the poor sea creature a second time, this time throwing it as far out to sea as she could.
"bye! go home!" she shouted, then traipsed toward where tousaint was just emerging from the water. chani's tongue lolled; she cocked her head to one side, and then jumped into those foamy breakers alongside him, spun head over tail almost immediately.
she rose, choking and huffing and streaming, and laughed a short little crow. "cold!"

so much commotion in so little time! val's heart rose to his throat to see first sobeille, then tousaint tackle the waves. the boy's head went under a brief second, but he emerged spluttering -- swimming now, for the very first time.

a parent's triumph must be in soaring alongside the success of their children: he held mireille's gaze shyly for a moment, overjoyed to see his family in their element.

astera and miette dashed past him, their yips gleefully sounding over the clap of waves. suzu and mireille waded patiently alongside them; val imagined even their presence together must discourage the waves from misbehaving.

and thibault -- val paused a moment to wave at tousaint in encouragement, before bending down to pick up a shell. he'd hoped for the starfish, but that had been flung full to the ocean by chani's great toss. this he presented to his son with a dogged grin: that's alright, we can find our own fun without getting our toes wet. what do you make of this, thibault?

Can i get him added back?<3

"Yes, maman.." After hiding behind Val for all given life, it was when Val finally offered him an out that he pushed forward with a cowering body. He didn't know about the ocean- only that he knew he did not like it! Looked like big horrible blue milk!

"I go wib ma," he looked to Val, a pout desperate on his mouth in a horrible puppy-frown that wanted saved, but tried to look big and brave. He was BIG! AND BRAVE! AND READY TO POTTY HIMSELF! YEAH!

He wobble-hobbled over to maman, but once the water was close to him, he scampered backwards! "Gasp! Wut I doin'!!!???!"

last for me! happy to archive in a week or so! <3

all around her, the little ones of sapphique played. val's look heated her face; mireille held the look and infused it with an expression of pride, a wide smile for them all.
and then thibault was coming close to her.
"come! look! like dis," his mother instructed, stepping out to sea and leading her son along.
the saltwater must become their life as it was for the girls who took so readily to its nature.
mireille would see it so.
when their romping had finished, when pups began to clamber back into grown arms, complaining of tiredness, she helped to tuck them up for various naps, taking to a patrol thereafter which was devoted almost completely to thoughts of val.