Ankyra Sound gatorwine

Returning to find the cliffs barren had been a shock at first. She worried for them, of course - the seal-nursed babes were still so little - but with the threat of pirates reduced to a pile of bones, Yura found herself caring little for Sapphique and the flecked Carnelian's whereabouts. At least, compared to one particular seawolf.

Her heart leapt to find @Sobeille's faint trail descending the rocky landscape to the cove below, picking her way carefully down until her grey paws sank into the soft, sun-warmed sand, feeling her toes curl almost unpleasantly. In all her moons spent at the coast, Yura had never quite grown used to the different terrain. 

Hugging the stonewalls, she followed a small, jagged set of prints to the mouth of a dark cavern and watched as the crab scuttled beneath a flat stone.

when at first a shadow eclipsed the shaft of daylight filtering into the cavern, sobeille’s ears slid forward. she barely registered the scuttle of ten small crab feet as she squinted, hair lifting ever so slightly as she realized this wasn’t treepie.

yura! sobeille exclaimed, pressing towards moongirl with a low sway of her tail.

As she had suspected, the pooling of familiar saltbrine scents soon gave way to the figure of her friend who, at this moment, was little more than a dark blob. "It's good to see you," Yura grinned, closing the distance as her muzzle came to nose amicably at Sobeille's cheek. 

In the damp gloom, she could just about make out the woman's flank still slack in the wake of childbirth and felt a pang of guilt that she had been absent for the birth. At least, she reasoned, there would be no need to hunt another sealmother as Sobeille was very much alive.

"Though you're not a fat as I remember." Her words held no bite, fondly remembering a previous conversation.

not as fat? the seagirl pulled from yura's embrace to swipe playfully at the space between them. an' you be smellier den i remember. her nose wrinkled to accentuate her good-natured antagonism.

so many questions could be asked, but in that moment sobeille was grateful to just see yura again. she'd learned -- fast and hard -- that presence was not always a given. there were many in her life she'd give anything to see again, to hear again, to laugh with again.

i suppose you be wantin' to see de pups. sobeille exhaled, the step she took backwards giving symbolic space to the distance between them. i been t'inkin', it's too bad we released de seal. she rubbed at her sore flanks and then turned, waving yura into the cool gloom of the grotto.

Recoiling swiftly to avoid a paw to the face, Yura dropped her chin and stuck her tongue out at Sobeille. "You're the one that smells like old milk." Though the aroma that wafted through the grotto was more pleasant than the moongirl would admit; perhaps that was the one thing stopping Sobeille from turning on the little suckers.

At her friend's offer, her voice dipped to a gentler sombre. "Sure - I mean - if that's not too much to ask." By the looks of things, they had taken a toll on the young mother and although they had raised the orphans together, these pups were different. They were Sobeille's own flesh and blood, and Yura was still trying to decide her place among them.

But Sobeille was already disappearing into the tunnel, and Yura, hard pressed to miss out on such invitation, followed curiously behind. "The poor thing missed the sea," she snorted. "I doubt she would enjoy a cavern."

When Treepie returned to the grotto with a dead rat clenched in her teeth, she discovered that Sobeille wasn’t alone. She paused in the cavern’s mouth to listen to the women’s voices echoing off the stone walls, moving further inside. The tone of the conversation indicated one of Sobeille’s relatives. Pie hesitated, uncertain if she might be interrupting a reunion, but her curiosity was more compelling than her propriety.

Slipping in quietly, she set her kill in a small cache just inside the entrance to the innermost chamber. Her yellow eyes lit on the two feminine figures, though she didn’t move to interfere. She simply stationed herself by the wall, her eyes flicking between Sobeille, her companion and the little ones bundled on the entresol.

I hope you don’t mind a cameo! :)

old milk? sobeille scoffed, flicking her tail at yura’s face as they descended. she imagined there were many worse scents lingering here — stale fish and crusted guppy puke being among them — but she did not call attention to such things.

stepping down with practiced ease into the chamber, sobeille stood back and waited for yura to navigate the stony lip before continuing. just past the flowstone columns, near the moonpool’s glittering surface, sat the pelts procured by yura all those weeks ago. wrestling within those pelts were three cubs which sobeille regarded with a strange coolness.

she’d been so eager to be rid of them, those weeks she’d grown fat and sick. pregnancy hadn’t agreed with her — and the subsequent stress and grief ran her gaunt. birthing them had been no cakewalk either; they’d caused her significant pain, and even a week later sobeille found it difficult to look past the insult they’d done to her mind and body.

but they were hers — so distinctly sobeillian; they’d come from her blood and bones, just as she’d come from her maman’s, and this softened some of the rigid misgiving stirring in her spine.

treepie’s scent lingered in the cavern, coupled with an odor of fresh blood. abruptly brought back to the present, sobeille’s gaze flickered to where she thought she detected treepie’s silhouette, then back to yura.

she might like dis cave better. sobeille remarked, motioning to the pool where she was certain the seal could have made its escape. treepie, dis be yura. sobeille called into the shadows, tail swaying as she turned back to the three grubs nestled in furs. an’ yura, dis be your nieces. she stepped back, allowing space for yura to inspect the young if she so wished — her attachment to the cubs had yet to become fiercely protective. as if in afterthought, she tacked on and one nephew. sobeille was irritated by her womb; why could it not produce three daughters? the only thing that softened her disappointment was the fact that the boy was darkly reminiscent of her blood, and surrounded by two sisters besides. it was better than three boys,l: perhaps marinette had visions for him not yet clear to his mother.

Cameo!

As if on cue, the lone boy cracked his jaws in a wide yawn when the yellow of his mother's eyes hardened upon him. A flash of pink tongue followed, as though to say, hi ma, I'm no threat. Eventually, the boy would learn his place in this world was not as assured as it felt in these early moments. For now, he turned over to his other side and let out a long, slow squeak of contentment, unbothered by the presence of newcomers nor his mother's disappointment.

Looks like Yura dropped, so I figured I’d post again. Hope that’s cool!

Nice to meet you, Yura, Treepie replied when Sobeille made formal introductions, dipping her snout respectfully.

She intended to resume her silence then, though she suddenly remembered that she hadn’t yet told Sobeille about running into @Etienne. She rolled her shoulders and waited for Yura to seem preoccupied with the three puppies before plucking up the rat again and sidling closer to Sobeille.

I ran into a man called Etienne yesterday. I know he’s a relative of yours, though I wasn’t sure if you two were close, so I didn’t tell him you were here, Pie relayed after setting the rodent at her friend’s feet, concluding with, I know where to find him, if you want me to fetch him.

pleased by yura’s introduction, sobeille set back upon her haunches. her son’s — how strange that word felt upon the mental docket! — quiet yawn petered out into a soft squeak. surely she had never been so small?

distracted by such things, sobeille’s eyes flashed to treepie abruptly as a familiar name hung between them. eti? this surprised sobeille; though he’d stayed close following their family’s rescue, she hadn’t accounted for him lingering. much like val, she believed there was too much salt for the blood — etienne had stayed inland a long time. 

undecided on whether she wanted him fetched, sobeille glanced back to cairos. fixing an edge of fur over him that could almost be considered motherly, sobeille spoke. what is he doing out here?

The nickname implied some flavor of familiarity if not affection. Treepie’s head canted, one ear bent to indicate that she was listening raptly even as her eyes drifted between Yura and the three newborns. She felt a sense of posessive pride that didn’t belong to her, eliciting a loud swallow as she turned to face Sobeille’s question.

He was injured, actually, but not very badly, according to him, anyway. I offered to help, it felt important to mention. He said something about traveling a lot and always coming home to the sea.

She trailed off with a frown. Their home was gone and they had Tiuttuk’s empathy, of course. Perhaps it would be nice to reunite with someone who could even better understand that loss and pain, though. Pie wetted her lips with a pass of her tongue, waiting for Sobeille’s response.

Idly, she wondered if she could send Wyvern to locate him and bring him here, though she discarded the idea out of hand. Sending a bird after him so soon after his attack seemed like it would be in very poor taste. Besides, she hadn’t seen much of the nightjar lately, as Wyvern was even less inclined toward caves than the Ostrega herself.

as yura rearranged a cut of deerskin over miralyn’s body, sobeille’s mind wandered. almost immediately, she blurted: ’ow? an’ who? had the pirates already come back again? a restlessness shifted within her, segueing into a cold rage.

appreciative treepie offered to help, sobeille settled; she knew Etienne well enough to know such assistance would likely be politely refused. still… if there were more raiders at the coast, she needed to know. sharing a dark, knowing gaze with yura, sobeille set her yellow eyes on treepie in expectation.

Sobeille’s rapidfire questions implied some level of concern; she cared about Etienne. Treepie felt a small flicker of guilt for gatekeeping him, though Sobeille didn’t seem to fault her for her caution. Anyway, Tiuttuk would not apologize for keeping the mother’s and pups’ best interests at heart above all else.

He said he got too close to Gyrfalcon Keep and they attacked. As in, the falcons, she reported with a slight cant of her head. He said he wouldn’t go far, so just say the word if and when you want to see him.

She glanced at Yura, who seemed happy enough tending to the pups. Treepie suddenly wondered if she was the cousin. Sobeille hadn’t named her, nor clarified whether she was dead or simply elsewhere. She’d assumed the former, though she shifted her weight ponderously.

I’m happy to take over if you want to spend more time catching up with Yura, or if you want to eat, Tiuttuk said, pointing out the rat. Just say the word, she repeated with a little smile, stepping back to resume her quiet hovering.

falcons.

sobeille scarcely hid the derisive snort. this was such a male thing to do, going off and pissing off the birds.

trailing after where treepie was looking, sobeille remained silent for several beats. she felt conflicted; there wasn’t the swelling of love for her offspring that she saw in mireille’s gaze, or even echoed in yura’s. even treepie looked upon them with a measure of love so profound it made sobeille’s regard for them seem small.

actually, i’d take you up on dat now. sobeille decided, shaking her rufous fur. you save dat, pointing towards where treepie had stashed her kill earlier — for later. you an’ yura look after dem, i’ll get us somethin’ to eat.

shoving the conflicting feelings she felt inside of her, sobeille crested the rim of the cavern and peered back at them both. their silhouettes cupped around the bundle of writhing bodies and for a moment a peculiar thought struck her: one puppy for each of them.

turning back towards the grotto’s entrance, sobeille ducked under its low overhang as the roar of the sea met her.