Dragoncrest Cliffs PA OREVWA

sendoff for @Maleah & @Thibault! <3 no posting order, single replies welcome! @Chacal @Val Sobeille @Kheviel @Judith @Svalinn Cayetano @Saint @Lucette @Lafayette Jadou @Roux Jean-Heron @Etienne <3

the sea and the springtime brought new life, new breath, new change.
thibault had grown distant since tousaint had left for the rockway island home of eresta. and while mireille had adjusted more easily to the departure of her children, knowing where they all were, she did not like to see her son so upset.
maleah too, had grown wan. the sea for them both appeared to be a strain, and with falling heart, in determination the obsidian visited them both.
a trip to eresta would settle them, it was decided. that too was a home for all wolves of sapphique, founded by their blood, but with none of the teekon influence. 
as before, a feast was held in siren's bay , and a racing competition. splashing and sweeping laughter filled the seacoast, and for a long while, they were united in their love of one another.
"de fern forests be beautiful, you will love dem," she told thibault, hugging him tightly. "an' maleah, such great trees t'ere be, i hear, taller than any here. use one of dem for a healer's den," she encouraged, embracing the other woman — they lingered there, mireille unable and unwilling to sort her emotions at this time.
when she waved them off, her voice was brazen and bright against a briny sky.
and for a long while after, mireille stood, staring at where they had stood.

another cousin leaving. this time chani felt a little put out. she had toyed heartily with the idea of simply joining them all, but couldn't reconcile that with leaving her baby siblings behind. chiro had been gone so fast that she'd never — well. 
she needed to stay, at least for a bit. wanderlust, angst, and responsibility warred in the girl; her send-off cry was there but short, and she lingered in no way on the beach after hugging thibault and nudging maleah; in fact she went to spent the remainder of the day tucked away into the tangle.

Etienne heeded his aunties call, but stayed in the background. He was not yet settled and besides her children did not know him, probably did not trust him.

So he watched and he smiled. And he waited for the pain to pass. For his heart to go back to its normal rhythm by the sea
But it hadn't yet. And Etienne was wondering if it ever would or if this was it for him.


If he would always wear a smile and cry inside.

once more, sapphique sent off its children.

that of thibault, that of maleah. after the feast, he gave each of them warm hugs, and felt sadness pool his heart to see them go. but their life was their journey. out on the road, they would be on their own terms, unbound by any sense of obligation that sedentary life tended to shackle upon its occupants.

sapphique will see you thrive, val murmured, the oft repeated phrase once uttered by mireille that was now their parting mantra.

eresta would welcome the souls of its kin with open arms.

Kheviel stayed at a distance from the festivities, like always. The sea was still too cold for her old joints, so she did not participate in swimming or splashing, but she did take a bit of meat and go off alone to eat it, and watch the fun from afar. Vaguely, she wondered if @Cayetano would join her, but the two of them had been distant as of late. She wondered if, now that he'd had his fill of her, he no longer cared for her company. Feeling grumpy, as usual, she gnawed on a bone.

Chacal weathered goodbyes with tears in her eyes, but she managed a brave smile nonetheless. She had learned that there were the goodbyes that one must utter, knowing that she would never say hello again. There were goodbyes that could be uttered with the knowledge that the other wolf would be alright- and that they might come back. There were goodbyes that came suddenly- that robbed you of any chance to even utter the word.

So saying goodbye to their beloved family members, knowing that they were going to Eresta, was easy in comparison. Each wolf was given a soft uttering to know they were cherished, and a hug to know she would love them even from afar.

she found the thing wholly unusual!

with the pirates, partings were as taboo as they were infrequent—and those were usually just sea burials or plain execution.

she lingers on mirelle and maleah for a moment, finding the exchange curious and limned with something green and ineffable that was probably none of her business.

if any looked at her, she would nod in polite silence, as she would copy the ritual of sapphique's goodbye to the otherwise strangers.