Broken Boulder leaving traces of us down the boulevard

@Seabreeze
theme :)

Perhaps — just perhaps — the sylph’s days of vagrancy were behind her.

Like the seasons of the earth, or the changes in the tides, or the rise and fall of the sun in the sky, Olive was a woman always changing. How could she ever think she would not? Had her ego grown so much that she thought herself separate from the ground upon which she stood, or the stars above her head; that they might alter and change consistently, while she remained ever the same? It was simply not so. 

Where she once traveled upon her own volition, scouting lands far and wide and meeting wolves of all shapes and sizes, she now traveled only out of necessity. She had been a scout, once upon a time! Since then she had shed such a skin and adopted the guise of astronomer and botonist, which we far better fitting titles, especially nowadays. Before, she had been free and unfettered! Though she had not noticed the change, she did come to see that, if she left for any extent of time, someone was negatively affected: her love, their babies, or their group as a whole. Moving with pups was a burden, and not something she preferred to do unless absolutely necessary. As her obligations began to change, so did her life evolve to reflect it. 

The one thing that did not change, was Seabreeze. 

With her nose to the ground, she sought out her soulsister. It was never a difficult thing to find her, for there was a very subtle pull of her heart towards where ever the sea sprite was at that moment — and, very rarely, was that ever not at her side. The woman was comfortable, so comfortable! and in a way that excited the Shakti woman and held her close. The sense of safety, support and sisterhood; it was so real when it came to the pale woman, who’s exterior paired well with Olive’s almost as much as her interior did. So deep was this trust, that Olive ever dared to uproot her entire existence with this woman and rebuild a life which so depended upon hers. It was love, a real love, and Olive’s subconscious greatly loved to toe that fine line between familial and romantic.

 

rust nosies

Seabreeze was not so sure.

It was not as bad for her here as it had been at Sunspire but it was still concerning to the sylph.  It was more often than not Olive and their children that drew her from these thoughts.  She had so desperately wanted Terance to follow her here, perhaps foolishly she wanted to spend her days surrounded by her sister and her best friend and her husband as they watched their children grow up together.

Now that they had settled in a little better... she found that she did not mind Terance's absence so much.  He had not been around much to begin with — she would not be surprised if, in time, her children forgot his face — and it was easy for Olive to slip in and fill that void.

The druid's nose was to the ground, seeking out Seabreeze's weaving scent.  Seabreeze was after her soul sister.  She came from behind and did not announce her presence; she simply became next to the other woman, teeth playfully searching the plush fur at the druid's hip.

Looking for something?

Seabreeze’s approach was so subtle and so demure that, had it not been for the woman’s fine teeth nibbling and announcing her presence, Olive might have just assumed that it was a whisper upon the wind. It was how the gods spoke to her nowadays, in voices that were soft and kind and loving, and it was also how the seasprite spoke to her.

Almost immediately upon finding what she sought, Olive dropped her pursuit and melted into the woman’s nearness. It wasn’t often that they were without their children — were they ever, really? — so when they were, the silvered sylph yielded quickly to what felt right and natural. At that moment, it felt oh so natural to glide back a step or two, to come cheek-to-cheek with her sister and welcome her with a kiss upon the side of her waxen maw. 

"Yes, indeed!” she chirped with an exuberance that had rarely been seen since before they put the heaviness of their involvement with Sunspire behind them. In many ways, the Shakti woman felt restored and renewed — and thankful that, though more changes loomed ahead of them, the most important component was rock solid. “Oh, I was looking for you,” she said simply, as this was not out of the norm, and bestowed her sister with another kiss. 

 

post #400

She did not deserve the kind of pure, undying love that Olive gave her so freely.  She did not deserve her children, for she had put them through hell coming here.  She had not deserved Terance, for everything she had to repay him with was nothing but sorrow.  Perhaps she had not even deserved Mato.  If she had stayed inside the territory, she wondered if they would be ruling the King Elk together now.  Not that she'd change anything.  But if she ever saw him again...

Well, it didn't matter, because it was likely that she never would.  Olive's smooth tongue smooths across her lip.  There is a spark that she hasn't seen in the druid since before the birth of their babies.  If nothing else, Olive was entitled to the happiness she'd found in the Sanctuary.  

It even lifted Seabreeze's spirits.  She couldn't help but cheer up, even just a little bit, when her sister was around.  Olive's smile was infectious, and she did everything she could to see it.  Me? she goads, pressing the cold leather of her muzzle into her sister's smooth and finely crafted cheek, Why, what ever for?

If there was a certain state the Olive preferred to live within, it was this — light and blissful and possibly a little ignorant and all-too-willing to lean into the good parts of life. It was always this way in the beginning of things, was it not? Beginnings were always beautiful in ways that endings rarely were, so she was quick to embrace it, and cherish these feelings while they lasted. Nothing was ever permanent, she had come to learn with the death of Oaxaca, and it was a reality that could either help her remain firmly planted in the present, or could threaten to rip her from it.

Were her babies not at the best age of their nascence, when they were beginning to piece together thoughts and make sense of the physical world within which they existed? She so loved to listen to them speak with the other children, whom the entire family group considered to be their bothers and sisters, and steep her soul in their lovely innocence. Was her partner, her sister, not the most gentle and devoted of individuals — and was she not the most fortunate wolf to have found such a kindred spirit? It was as if things were working out perfectly now, but as she was quick to remind herself, the future was always bright when it existed solely in her own mind.

The present, though — it was not so bad.

There was something about Seabreeze’s touch that simultaneously put her at ease and lit her nerve ending on fire. It was so clear that their bond transcended simple friendship, for the feelings that stirred within her were reminiscent of her feelings for the late Dakarai, or the anonymous man who had fathered her litter. When she was near Seabreeze, she felt safe and at the same time, piquant and playful in a way that it had not been with the others. With men, their romances had been fast and fiery. When love bloomed from a friendship, it proved to be gentle and sweet and strong in the face of hurdles; strong in a way that her relationship with Dakarai had never been.

Grinning into the fur that lined the sprite’s shoulder, she cooed “I missed you —” pulled her beaming visage from the fluff to clarify “I missed your scent…” and then re-buried her head to take a big inhale — a drag on something that was very much a drug to the ashen sylph — and noted affectionately “I think you smell sweeter away from the mountain.”

Funny that she reminded Olive of Dakarai.  He was one of Seabreeze's biggest concerns, despite the fact that he was now dead.

It was very typical of Seabreeze to move on so quickly after a breakup and latch onto the first person to give her any ounce of affection.  Her relationship with Mato had started as a whirlwind, and then Zada had swept her off of her feet.  It happened the same with Terance.  This did not feel the same.  Her feelings for Olive, as reluctant as she was to admit it, reached all the way back to long ago when the sylph had saved her from the peak of the Sunspire.

They had birthed and raised their children together.  They had spent countless days sunbathing, relaxing.  Olive had helped @Hyacinth mend her back from the brink of death.  And now they were here.

The thing was, Olive had already had her One Big Love.  That was how things worked, right?  Olive's soulmate had come and gone, and anything that came after would be no match for the One.  Still..

I've been here the whole time, she chastised playfully, although the soft expression in her seaglass eyes spoke that she knew of Olive's intention.  I like it better here.  Promise me if you ever make me move again, we won't live on a mountain.

Olive chuckled at Seabreeze’s joke, letting her shoulder blades roll up towards her ears and down her back as any remaining tension released and melted away.  She shook her head from side to side, energetically demonstrating her agreement to Seabreeze’s request and her simultaneous dismissal of any potential of them ever living on a mountaintop again. The sylph had done this twice now — one mountain named for the moon, the other mountain names for the sun — and quite enjoyed how the elevations provided an imax view of the stars, but Olive was always quick to remember Seabreeze’s negative experiences with them — the episode, the crying, the trying to throw oneself off of the bluff — and suddenly, mountains were not so grand anymore. Anything that worked for her, but did not work for Seabreeze, did not actually work for her. 

“No, no more mountains,” the woman agreed with a sigh and a smile, placing her check to rest against Seabreeze’s withers and surrendering the whole weight of her head to its new pedestal. 

Olive was actually quite content right here, to do nothing more than rest against her lovely sister and feel her heart beat against the gentle swell of her own feathered chest; but Olive’s mind was always working, always churning information input and seeking more. She loved to learn about Seabreeze and hear how her mind worked, the dulcet tones of her voice, her likes and her dislikes. Olive wondered if she might ever tire of it. “In your dream life — the life in your head, where everything is exactly how you want it to be…” she started, massaging her cheek against the crest of Seabreeze’s shoulder and gazing up to the tired, autumn sky. “Where do you live? What do you do? Who are you with?” Had they ever truly talked about their dreams, and not their present reality? Sometimes, to be so firmly grounded in the present, was too…. real.

She couldn't help but laugh.  Not here.  There was nothing wrong with the company but a rock is a rock is a rock.  This one didn't even have the scenic advantage of being a tall one.  I don't know.  Somewhere grassy and secluded.  Maybe somewhere by the ocean.

She feels the weight of Olive's head between her shoulders.  She wonders if this is what it felt like to Terance, to have something so delicate and fineboned pressed up against you.  Her ears flick back, she closes her eyes.  I sunbathe and tend to the babies.  Maybe they stay small a little longer than they do in real life.  There's enough room for us to have a garden.  I'm with the people I love.  Delight and his partner.  All the children.  You.

Silence.  A gentle breeze rustles through the sparse trees of the sanctuary.  ...And what about you?  Where are you?  Who are you with?

Seabreeze’s verdict towards the sanctuary and the boulder was rather black and white, but not wholly unexpected. It wasn’t the perfect situation, rocky and suddenly ridden with cats as it was, but it was a good place for the family to regroup, garner strength and, in the pup’s case, grow a bit larger. Like her lover, Olive often vacillated very strongly between the good feelings and the bad — but having since fallen back in line with the gods’ divine plan for things, and making progress towards her ultimate destiny, she couldn’t help just enjoy the sense of lightheartedness and gratitude that came with it. She was getting better at these things, reading messages from the stars and heeding them fully — perhaps it was something that came with age, or more likely, trial and error — and it felt good to be making any progress at all, even if it was slow-goings, and even if she did not know the end result.

But she trusted.

Olive allowed her moonbeam gaze to slide shut behind pale lids, as her mind began to construct the portrait that Seabreeze painted with her words. The sylph had to agree; there was not much more than she could ask for than that. She sighed, audibly, letting a little gurgle of laugher ride upon her exhale. “That’s a very pretty picture, my love. I agree with every single part of it,” she chimed, letting her mind rest of the perfection of it for a moment longer. Was this not their reality at the moment, sans cat infestation? Yes, the framework of their dreams was already theirs, but there were minutia that Olive was all too happy to hammer out.  “I’ve always dreamt of having an altar, you know? A place solely devoted to the gods, and blessed by their presence.” Olive, a woman blessed with the sight, had been able to find communion with her deities any place that she could muster the will and the focus. She lifted her head to glance about her. It was not perfect, but they were blessed.

“Oh, in that case, perhaps all the earth in our altar.” she admitted, offering her sister a sheepish smile.

She didn't understand Olive's gods, and she still wasn't sure she could love the stars like Olive does (like Terance does, like Mato does, like).. but she trusts in her sister as her sister trusts in the gods.

She plants a kiss on the druid's cheek as she admits her desire for an altar.  Somewhere, the memory comes forth of scouting out geodes with Mato's sister Nova; maybe she'll go on a hunt to find some in secret so Olive can have all she desires.  

I believe it, she says, you seem so.. in tune with things.  It only makes sense.

Should we close this thread up here, or with your next post, and then have a new one?

At the behest of her Seabreeze’s kiss, Olive melted. It felt so simply divine to let life be good, instead of complicating things with all the nuanced details of their lives. It was nice to dream, but with ambition and goals came hardship and hurdles that needed overcoming — but it was nice here too, being kissed and cajoled by her lover.

Olive leant the crown of her head against the crook of the seasprite’s chin. “If that is the case,” she chimed, “then we will find happiness anywhere.” It was one of those platitudes that others might not take any stock in, but Olive believed it wholeheartedly. If Seabreeze had dreams, then Olive would move mountains and beseech the gods in order to actualize them — but the sylph was happy right here, with her sister; anywhere with her sister. “Everywhere with you.” she echoed her own thoughts, and nuzzle in deep.