Dragoncrest Cliffs they want my soul, they want the wave

for a while she sat on the notion of dragonspine, and then she found @Val and @Chacal to inform them that it seemed as if the rise was splitting into pieces that moved closer.
she was bored then; she wandered off to find a crab for torment, idle in her movements as she considered the changing world and how she had tasted it just briefly.

lafayette wandered, too.

it was strange to do so without his twin @Lucette. perhaps, she would follow, like the shadow she was. for now, though, he was alone, and he watched chani from a distance before coming closer, like fire creeping along a bed of hot coals.

and then appeared before her in all his adolescent lankiness, head raised and tilted, seafoam eyes trained upon her next motion.

hmmm? he queried, running his tongue along his lips. the nearness of the sea intrigued him; he yearned for the salt again, and it was only curiosity in this new woman that kept him from careening into the waves as he'd done in the past.

"hello, little cousin," chani murmured, nosing lafayette with the assured invasive self-confidence of a relative. "you be walkin' around already? goodness. i bet it will not be long before my siblin's do de same."
it really was fast, how quickly they grew up, chani mused to herself.
she pointed at the crab. "do you want to eat dat?"
the crustacean raised its pincers defiantly.

his cognition was catching up, but wasn't quite all there yet. he caught most of the words, though, and he gave chani a shy smile, burnished tail shaking behind him in pleasure. 'cousin' wasn't a concept he grasped yet, but the way she spoke meant family.

and then she asked a question.

he stared at the thing with brows knitted tight together, lips pursing to the side. non, he said firmly. this was a far cry from the sweetly-scented slurry he'd begun to eat upon weaning off milk; this creature was hard, and fierce, and. . .moved.

lafayette drew closer, nostrils flaring as he sought to investigate. step by step—and stopped suddenly short with a loud shriek as one set of pincers clutched his muzzle and held on tight.

it apparently was a rite of passage that a sapphique baby be nipped by a crab. chani's ears pinned at the strident cry; she inched forward, trying to hold him still with a forepaw while she grabbed the offending crustacean with her jaws.
a crack splintered the air sharply.
the pincer fell away with a limp jerk.
chani let the crab fall to the sand. "an' dat is why we eat dem, lafayette!"

his eyes watered with the stinging feel of those claws; he writhed and moaned until the loud crack reached his ears, and the pain suddenly abated. blinking away the tears, he barely caught chani's words—but did.

ooooff, lafayette remarked, trying to fight back further emotion. his nose really hurt!

but he wanted to put on a brave face for his cousin, and so he again approached the creature—now lying quite still, with a jagged break down the middle of its tough outer shell. he didn't trust it quite yet, but flared nostrils found that sweet scent. . .that sweet-meat-scent.

how eat? he asked chani, canting his head toward the older girl.

"like dis," and chani lowered her muzzle to nip at the shell, holding it between her hard molars while canines pierced the limp surface.
when she had worked the top-shell away, she swallowed the delicious brinewater taste of crab and stepped back, encouraging her little cousin to try as much as he liked. "crabs be everywhere, lafayette. we eat dem every day. next time, do not put your face so close, oui? stomp on it! knock it senseless, den bite, right in de middle." she grinned at him. "you will learn. i know you will," she assured, soothing his bitten face with a lick.

the way she spoke was strong, assured. like lucette, he thought. he instantly took an increased liking toward his cousin upon that comparison—and even more compelling was the aroma of crab-meat that rose around them as chani cleared the way to eat.

lafayette raced forward and dined messily, tearing and swallowing a few salty mouthfuls before turning—swallowing—and speaking again.

'tank you, he said earnestly, grinning. how you learn dis? did your maman teach you?

"mmhm, an' de ot'ers, an' den i learned alone, day by day, mm? it takes a lot of hunting, but you get it. den you realize t'ere be a lot of different crabs, an' dey all taste different."
belly pleased for now, chani licked her paws cleaned and swung her tail. "easier t'ings to catch, t'ough. what you be wantin' now, lafayette, mm?"

the words swirled 'round his head wildly, but he barely took notice of them, sucking down the meat as he did. it took a moment for chani's query to reach him, and when it did, it took him even longer to answer—blank-stared and belly-filled as he was.

i wan' de sea, he admitted, dipping his muzzle that direction. and everyt'ing in it. i wanna swim an' feast.

and rule. but perhaps that was presumptuous, still.

"good!" chani crowed. "i want dat too!" she brought him now to a half-submerged stone, showed him how to pry barnacles from the weathered surface. they plucked spiky urchins from another, and when chani had cracked one between two rocks, she fed the boy the rich orange eggs and the bits of sweet meat inside the shell.
"grandmaman erzulie called t'ese 'treaties,' i t'ink."

treaties, he repeated, with a contented sigh as he feasted upon the treasures chani had found. his little belly filled fast, and soon, he found himself ready to settle into a deep stupor back in the den.

his eyelids were beginning to droop, though he tried to fight it. after a bit more conversation, he was unable to stifle a yawn and shook himself, stretching.

i tired, big cousin, lafayette announced. he gave her a glowing smile. t'ank you for showing me de crabs an' treaties.

the boy shuffled back to his mother—not without a pep in his step.

gosh was he cute. chani trailed lafayette just a little ways, making sure he was on the right track to chacal before she went back to her own foraging.
she'd have to take these different types of barnacles to someone, the girl decided, grinning to herself as she looked forward to recounting her little cousin's adventures.