Dragoncrest Cliffs so, i robbed you blind.

just getting this in sobeille's timeline, keeping references and timeline vaguey. can be a RO or can be a thread, ill probably archive in a few days if no reply. <3

enemies at every turn.

sobeille spent the next several days canvassing. maman, tante, her siblings, all gone. she searched for each of their scents, backtracking over and over with a growing sense of futile irritation. after countless hours, she came across the faded scent of chani and then, as if pulling one thread from many, came to frozen scars in the snow that spoke clearly of struggle.

there was a story here waiting to be deciphered. her brow bent in frustration as she studied each pawprint, nosed each long score in the earth, scratched and overturned everything she possibly could.

scouring winds and time erased any remaining clues. sobeille struck at one set of prints in the snow with frustration, throwing back her head in a bellowing howl.

who?

her mind raced -- it was impossible, or so she thought, that cen and sivaak arrived before her. the tracks in the snow were bled of their scents, suggesting their marks were dated; whatever happened here transpired well in the past.

the creek wolves? she thought this equally unlikely; she believed them too soft. maman and chacal were wolves both hardened by the season; it would take a significant number and power to overwhelm them. and chani -- chani was so fast!

what of her sisters and brothers? and the men? svalinn and val where where? sobeille thumbed through a troubling index of thoughts.

she, yura, and astera had no hope of countering whatever hidden power had stormed sapphique. sapphique's allies must be informed of this; the moonpacks notified, and those in eresta sent for.

sobeille would not stand for this. this was her family and her home. hatred boiled hideously within her as she stalked away from the marks in the snow.  and though she had no specific target yet, only sobeille knew what appalling things she was capable of once she found them.

lafayette had let shadess go ahead. he knew she was eager to get back to sapphique—as was he—but he wanted to see if there were other packs he could ask for help. not much luck on that front, though.

where were those royal wolves from the gathering, the ones neith had spoken about? he found no trace of them.

he felt utterly helpless in the wake of all this upheaval.

still, life had joy to offer. for as he passed the border and crested a small slope, he spotted a wolf ahead that was all too familiar, and his heart sang at the sight of her.

sobeille! the boy cried out, breaking into a gallop. he came to a stop just a pace or two away, tail wagging furiously. where you been, sè mwen?! we been searchin' for you—an' now you're here, and—

did she know? she must know. shadess had to have arrived by now.

lafayette! sobeille met him as her hackles only just began their settling, her gaze cool with frustration ebbing away as her brother’s face came to view.

she pressed her nose to his shoulder; he smelled of woodland and open air; gone was the salt that so handsomely spiced their furs. tell me everyt’ing came her murmur, eyes pinned insistently upon him.

his relationship with sobeille had always seemed somewhat strained. given his gender, he had come to expect the women of sapphique—at least those apart from his mother and twin—to treat him with some measure of contempt.

the embrace, though brief, surprised lafayette, and he leaned into it before pulling back to answer her query.

men came—one woman, too, but mostly men, he explained. by de time i got dere, manman 'ad given herself up, but chani an' de ot'ers fought. dey only left wid de t'ree of our women when one of dem said he'd kill us all if dey didnae go.

or something like that. lafayette shuddered as he remembered the hot, stinking breath on his nape, the feel of those teeth so close to the base of his skull. whatever words the man had spoken were at least passively, if not actively, repressed.

he sighed, adrenaline wearing off and the weariness of travel settling into his bones. shadess an' i went to de moon villages. . .i t'ink dey may help. but i don' know who else to call on, sobeille, he admitted a bit sheepishly, feeling as if he had fallen short.

what if moonwoman did not send warriors? 

and even if she did, what if it was already too late?

sobeille pulled away from the warmth of her brother's pelt, noting the way he leaned in and yet choosing to say nothing.

lafayette spoke of men and one woman. a shudder rent his spine as he detailed maman's surrender and chani's fight. sobeille's gaze gleamed in admiration for her cousin, knowing sapphiqian fierceness flowed through them all.

but why had maman surrendered? and moreover, what did these men -- and one woman -- wish for captives? sobeille's mind churned over the possibilities, each somber scenario colder than the next.

thse brutes did not know the tenacity of sapphique. her heart thrummed with dark furor.

cupping his slender face with one paw, sobeille met his gaze for a long time. she saw so much of maman in his angular features -- but she saw val, too. he had done the right thing, alerting the moonpack of sapphique's intrusion. sapphique would be lost without him.

dey will come. she was sure of it. injustice and violence on the shore threatened them all. you must go to de wolves of swiftcurrent now. suzu and etienne be dere. you tell dem all you tell me. tell dem we must 'ave bodies, or sapphique will lose all..

lowering her paw, sobeille glanced past him. where be val, an' svalinn, and dogfish and dem? an' what did dese wolves look and smell like?

he felt stupefied by sobeille's touch. he looked at her, slightly slack-jawed, as she spoke.

etienne. he knew that name. but he did not know where swiftcurrent was.

and then his sister spoke names dead and gone, and his shoulders sagged with the news he had to give her.

papa val is dead, lafayette told her, and felt the wind go out of him, all of a sudden. it took him a moment for him to regain his composure. the ot'ers, gone. dese wolves live near de coast, down from us.

he cocked his head. i will go to etienne an' suzu, he promised. where? how far?

time was, after all, of the essence.

all this she had learned from her mother; all this, put to good use.

val, dead? sobeille’s gaze flickered with something not quite grief, not quite love. irritation, maybe — how he died did not matter. if val was to die well, it better have been defending her family.

a small measure of disappointment settled within her to learn dogfish and svalinn abandoned them. sobeille vowed to trust outsiders a little less, for each time they left they stole from her a section of her eroding good will.

was it coincidence the raiders lived near the coast? she met some wolves settling to the south, and in her long foray back up, discovered no other packs. this could only mean one thing.

see dat mountain range? she pointed to the cascading mountains blue with distance, their shapes indistinct. follow dem, keeping to dere east face. go until you scent fresh water, and follow dat water sout'. you will know dem by dere scent, de river clings to dem. 'owl for etienne, and 'e will come. but go, now. it be far -- four day's march at least. keep to de shade an' travel quick, and tell no wolf dat you come across of your errand.