Ankyra Sound He was growing in my garden

She had made the choice to stay with Marina and her children. She was unsure of what had compelled her to do so, but it felt right.

Often now she came to and from the den with the small prey she could catch on her own, or sat with the puppies while Marina went hunting herself. They were loud, whiny, but Leonore didn't mind it much anymore. It was nice to see them grow, in a way.

She was growing herself, and quickly at that. Her legs had grown longer, lankier, and her fur thicker. She was still thin and smaller then most her age, but that could not be helped. She missed maman and uncle Etienne, her siblings and Violet too. They would be proud if they could see how much she had grown.

With stilt-like legs carrying her Leonore made her way forward on a make-shift patrol, though a pre-teen girl would do little against any real threats on her own. She could tell by scents carried on the wind that other's lived nearby, it made her curious.

that a squatter set shop beneath the cliffs did not escape sobeille. she intended to resolve it.

she followed after a greyling girl whose figure was warmed by soft tones of sand. only her age stayed sobeille’s cold impulse to subvert her.

you be traipsin’ saffique’s sacred ground. the emerald informed young doe, expression severe. where your maman be?

It was not long before someone came along to satiate her curiosity. A woman with an accent she did not recognize, but a word she did; maman. It was not often that she heard another use it.

But nonetheless, she didn't like her attitude.

My maman is not here. She lives in the valley, in Swiftcurrent Creek. She responded to the question with the light furrow of her brow.

She did not care for sacred grounds, she only wanted to ensure that she would not bring any trouble to Marina's doorstep. The woman had been kind to take her in, and Leonore was not quite ready to go off on her own again. Once had scared her enough.

sobeille’s gaze swept over urchin child, contemplative. sapphique did not tolerate invasion of ankyra’s hallowed grounds. if this girl’s family intended refuge, a tithe must be paid.

only the mention of the creek further stayed sobeille’s ruinous impulse to run her out.  she sniffed the air between them, finding no scent of riverwater. leonore may well be a liar, for all sobeille knew — and yet, a memory niggled at the back of her mind.

a memory of suzu abandoning her birthright, casting aside the sea on the premise of protecting her young.

even all these months later, such decision left sobeille cold.

an’ who your maman be? queried the emerald, posture that of a guardsman uncompromising.

The posture of the other suggested a tough exterior that Leonore was yet to gain, but she could very well try. Standing tall with shoulders pushed forward, she met her gaze rather than shying away from it.

My maman is named Suzu. She lives there with my siblings and uncle Etienne, unless they left while I was gone. She knew nothing of what had come before the creek for her family. She had never cared to ask and often did not bother to listen. I wanted to see where the water ended. It brought me here. Maybe not to the Sound exactly, but the coast.

She looked back south, as though to prove her point. Leonore had travelled much too far, she did not intend on turning back.

when suzu left the brine behind her, she did more than abandon sapphique. in sobeille’s eyes, she robbed her children of their legacy.

yet the salt in their blood was so strong, even now the sea pulled suzu’s children back to sapphique.

she met the girl’s eye with a lift of her chin, muzzle crinkling in displeasure to have her status challenged.

you be my niece, den. sobeille informed her, gaze intent until her eyes averted. and dis be where you belong. did she feel it? the thrum of shoreline in her veins?

who else be wit’ you?

Her niece.

Leonore was confused, she would need more explanation. But not now. Whether this woman was her family or not, she was still a stranger. I am staying with a woman and her babies. Maybe she was revealing too much, she could not be sure. It rained when she had them, she hid in a cave for shelter and can't leave. The puppies were too young, too fragile.

She considered the situation for a moment now. If this is where I belong, then stop trying to chase me away. It was a weak argument, but there was not much else she could think of. If this auntie of hers wanted to bite, there was nothing she would be able to do but run.

how could this be, a woman whelping children under sapphique’s claim?

for a time sobeille remained unmoved, processing what her maman or tante might say. she knew her instinct was often at odds with the wisdom of her ancestors.

if they were children of the sound, then this was their birthright. yet sobeille could not tolerate strangers beneath sapphique’s grand and far-reaching wing.

relative or no, their worthiness shall be measured and they must not be found wanting.

take me to dis woman. sobeille spoke at last, in a tone which brooked no quarter.

Her demands were direct, firm. It gave Leonore something to consider.

It was difficult for her, to be put in such a position. She felt responsible for them; for @Marina, Lilimar, Lucyne, Riptyde, Crosscurrent. The adult in the situation had been left weak, recovering from her birth, the other four were just young pups, and it all left Leonore in the centre of it though she was not much more than a pup herself. She couldn't imagine Marina would have stopped her from leaving, but she just couldn't.

No. The word was muttered out after a moment. If a stranger asked you to do the same, I doubt that you would bring them directly to a litter of little pups.

That would be stupid. I don't know if you'll try to hurt them.

Good lord, she's never wanted to cry out for her maman more than she did now.

so much of suzu’s unyielding spine in this girl! irritation flickered beneath sobeille’s chest. 

she had many options, but really only two that her maman would find appropriate. in a less perilous time, sobeille would laud this girl’s pragmatism. right now, it served an inconvenience.

sapphique’s shores teemed with enemies. if she was to protect the lives remaining, every stone must be upturned; every denizen beneath these stones vetted. including this mystery woman camping sapphique’s ancestral home.

sobeille did not wish to strike child, but neither could she accept refusal. she must show this young girl her mistrust was unfounded.

your maman — suzu — i grew up wit’ ‘er. sobeille exhaled through her nose, searching for strength to ignore the impulse of physically strangling suzu’s daughter until she broke. your maman be fat. an’ not much good at runnin’. she be dark like de color of wet sand, an ‘as lilac eyes. she ‘as no love for de sea — dat be why she left sapphique an’ carried child elsewhere. an’ eti, ‘e be kind an’ soft spoken. singing or humming where ever ‘e goes. dere be a pearl around ‘us neck from our pearl ceremony, ‘e always keeps it close.

do you still believe me a stranger?

pausing to reel in her slipping composure, sobeille met leonore’s gaze with a hard look. i would not be askin’ if it were not important. your grandmaman and aunts be in grave danger, kidnapped from dese very cliffs a month ago. you t’ink she an’ ‘er children be safe? dey will come for ‘er too.

lowering her head so they might speak eye to eye as if they were equals, sobeille continued. dis sound is as known to me as de cliffs. you either bring me to ‘er, or i be findin’ ‘er myself. an’ i guarantee you, one option be more pleasant den de other. i will not ask twice.

She listened as the older wolf spoke, quiet as she listed off traits of her maman and her uncle too. Leonore had opened her mouth to speak once more when auntie continued, telling her of what to Leonore sounded like a horrific fate which had befallen family unknown to her, a fate which could very well claim herself and Marina's litter as well.

Hesitating momentarily, she turned back the way which she came. She would take her to the cave if that was what must be done. Be kind. She doubted that this woman would listen, but it was the attempt that counted.

If we are family, then what is your name? She asked, eyeing the other as she began the trek back to Marina's cave. Mine is Leonore, or sometimes Barracuda. Maman uses both.

sobeille.

expecting they would turn to the grotto, sobeille’s intrigue grew as the girl — an honorable likeness to the barracuda in which she was named — took her past it.

her lip twitched in a half-smile. if she be friend, sapphique ‘as no quarrel. many lives the matriarchal pack had granted safe harbor, so long as those lives were worth preserving.

pausing upon the sand where fresh tracks made themselves known, sobeille motioned for leonore to enter the cleverly hidden den. tide marks informed sobeille this den must be partially submerged come high tide. she marveled the stranger’s utility.

i wait out ‘ere. you tell her a woman ‘as come to see ‘er.

She spoke no further, offering Sobeille a final glance before entering the cave to look for Marina.

Hoping to find her sleeping among her children, she called out. ..Marina? She spoke, turning an ear to the dark where the woman usually laid. Someone wants to speak to you, about the Sound. That was what it seemed to her, at least.

Her lips peeled briefly away from her teeth at the approaching sounds. Two wolves, one whose gait was an unfamiliar rhythm to her ears. The expression smoothed in the next instant as Marina rose to greet Leonore and her guest. She spared only a single glance for the pile of puppy fur she left behind, a mix of silvers and ruddy greys. Moonlight against bloody waters, she thought, and turned away before these cursed musings could further taint her thoughts.

It was for love of her sons, for guilt over her daughters, that she stood firm as she stepped from the den to meet the stranger. About the Sound. Thank you, Leonore. Would you mind watching the babes while I speak to our guest? They get cold so quickly, Marina managed a flash of a smile for the girl, words kind in spite of the hint of strain behind them. Then she turned her gaze to the stranger. A young woman, surely not yet a mother herself. Her sharp yellow eyes reminded Marina of another time.

Marina regarded her in cool silence. Speak, then, her own blue eyes bid.

a woman some months her senior emerged from the cleverly disguised mouth of the den. at once, sobeille took in the full breadth of her.

she held the sea entire in that reserved gaze.

you be ‘arbourin’ a child of sapphique. sobeille informed the seaward nymph, glancing pointedly where leonore’s body disappeared into the gloom.

she tells me you be wit’ children also. woven into the saltsilver of marina’s pelt was notes of lavender and milk. where was her family to protect her during this vulnerable time? did she intend to raise them herself? you ‘ave protected her, and birthed children in dis sacred place. for dat, i will not run you off.

but you must tell me - who you be, and ‘ow you be comin’ to sapphique’s ancestral ‘ome.