Dragoncrest Cliffs Lost pearl

When Tousaint finally returned to the shore, it was many miles North of Sapphique, in lands he did not recognize. Pebbles rather than sand, and inland, a marsh that stunk of bog water. Exhausted, he had spent the night just beyond the tideline, too tired to find shelter for himself. He suffered the thrust and scream of winds, a scattered dusting of snow, and slept through it all, crushed from sheer exhaustion. 

The journey South took longer than he had expected. he'd made good use of the riptide, but now he suffered the consequence of being taken so far out to sea. Travel by land was slow, and he knew that if he was to survive the journey, he still had to hunt, and find fresh water. He survived off what he could scavenge from tide pools, so that he could conserve energy. This early in the year, though, the waters were cold, and there was not much food to be found. 

He saw the cliffs, and nearly wept at the sight of them. He took no time to clean himself, to tidy the fur which he had unfailingly kept so well maintained, until now. It curled lightly from the salty breeze but did little to hide his ribs, or the sunken point near his flank. 

He wondered who remained, and who survived. When he reached the borders, he hoped for some indication that the pirates had been vanquished, that his mother and aunt still reigned- but their scents weren't there. In their place, a scent that nearly made his heart stop-

Sobeille.

saltwind bore tousaint's scent inward, drawing sobeille's attention towards their windscoured borders.

he looked like shit. even his fur, which had always carried with it sheen of the ocean's scintillating beauty, seemed drab. the tousaint in front of her paled in comparison to the tousaint held in her mind's eye: neat, impeccably groomed, and erring on pretentious.

where was he when her maman had been taken away? sobeille approached with icewater in her veins, recalling the tension of their last encounter. studying him over, she made a point to let her eyes linger a little too long on the crimped flyaways in his fur.

finally, her voice broke over the tradewinds. where 'ave you been?

His head lifted slightly when he caught sight of his sister, her dark eyes glowing like fireflies against the dark mask she bore. Never before had he feared her, but now, in his weakened state, he felt a sickening dread settle in. A wave of nausea hit him, and made him waver slightly on his feet; the rushing winds certainly didn’t help. 

Mwen ta ka mende w’menm bagay, la. Sobeille had been gone by the time he’d returned. By his understanding, she’d missed much- some sort of trial that had been set for her, Val’s death, and the arrival of pirates at their borders. With more urgency, he spoke, his voice hoarse. Ki kote yo ye?

he stood before her and asked the unthinkable. sobeille's expression darkened, an ember of resentment kindling to life in a throat raw with anger.

i was kidnapped -- she snapped back, hackles flaring as the memory - the injustice  - of it all came flooding back to her. the indignity of being hauled; the heartsickness; the long and lonely nights spent wondering of her maman -- anyone -- searched for her.

if anyone cared at all.

in the end, no one came to rescue sapphique's lost pearl. the girl stolen by sivaak had grown into a woman shown true hardship. gone was the safe harbor of sapphique, replaced by a shore cold and indifferent to suffering.

she saw the way he wavered and a repulsive, ophidian instinct slithered in between the bloody spaces of her heart. carefully reeling in the volcanic surge of emotions seeping from between her tightly clenched chest, sobeille looked him up and down before delivering a terse response.

dey be down de coast.