Wheeling Gull Isle promise of a brave new world

Tagging @Coelacanth, @Reigi, @Moorhen who expressed interest in coming with her, but otherwise AW to anyone else who wants to say goodbye. Dated for today, I guess?

She gave an extended farewell to the waves that morning, looking out over the undulating expanse, her gaze wistful. It wasn't as if this goodbye was for forever--surely she would visit the sea again, before she died?--but she had grown so accustomed to living among the salt and surf; this was, at least, a goodbye for now. A "see you later."

Maegi waited by the land bridge for her companions, pacing restlessly back and forth by the shore. Blue was clearly uncomfortable with the other wolves--he had taken to perching on her shoulder, and while the feel of his feet digging slightly into her flesh took some getting used to, she knew he meant no harm. She felt him wiggle slightly, preening at his feathers, and smiled. He was just as unsettled as she was, today.

She had no idea what was to come. Whether there even was a home for her still, at Blackfeather Woods. Many things could change over a few moons' time--she had seen it first-hand, when she'd been born into that world only to have it turned upside down shortly after. Who still remained there? Had her brothers returned?

Out in the depths, the spray from a whale cascaded into the sky, water shimmering in the rising sunlight.

Maegi had thought once that the absence of the daedra had marked this place as unexceptional, lacking magic of any kind. Sights like that, time and time again, had proven her wrong.

Rather than saying an actual goodbye, Moorhen had taken extra pains that morning to hunt for Coelacanth's little gremlins, and to rub her cheek extra-hard against @Stockholm's as she greeted him, and to yank out a bit of the fluffy fur of her belly to line the makeshift bed her family usually slept in. Her scent was all over the island when she finally turned toward the sandbar, reluctance in every step until she caught sight of Maegi. After that, her steps were as sure as ever, and she came to stand near the young girl with only a passing glance at the bird.

Maegi had always been a weird one.

"Hei," she ventured. Maegi had become one of them during her time on the island, but Moorhen had never quite gotten around to making friends with her.

It was immeasurably hard for Coelacanth to leave her puppies, but she believed she had no other alternative. She would not bring them anywhere near the place she referred to as the Darkenwood — but neither would she abandon Maegi to seek her fate alone. This was Seelie’s Gethsemane, and she marveled at the strength and sorrow, indelibly intertwined, that tethered `Io to the island. To be driven from her home and from her babies! — Seelie had felt the raven’s heartbreak before, but despite her empathic nature, she hadn’t been able to truly appreciate `Io’s struggle until now.

In truth, Coelacanth harbored a jealous, greedy desire that no other female should care extensively for her puppies in her stead, and that her children should not come to replace her with a better alternative in her absence — but Stockholm had reassured her with relentless steadfastness that a. he would never let that happen, b. it wouldn’t happen anyway, and c. did he mention he would never let that happen?

Nevertheless, Seelie’s heart was heavy as she kissed her husband and left the Four, all round-bellied and warm and drowsing after a vigorous morning swimming lesson and a hearty meal, in the shadow of Skybowl. She padded in abject, dejected fashion to the Strand, but by the time she reached the sandbar she had constructed a veneer of calm that she tossed across her thin shoulders like a cloak. She did not speak, but she had not spoken much at all since the fires from Elsewhere had sent such thick, acrid air to Undersea. A low, soft whuff served as her greeting, as her feathered tail swept feebly from hock to hock like a slow-set metronome.

'Io did much the same as Moorhen the morning that Maegi had chosen to leave Undersea.  She had not been home long, having just returned from the Vargas Island Cortens, and her scent was not strong upon Undersea's sandy landmass.  She left as much of herself on the Island as she could muster and paid extra attention to @Komodo.

Maegi had come to be like a child of her own.  She had not seen Yakone through her journey back to Easthollow but she would be sure to aid Maegi in her journey.

She arrived with a soft noise as she hung behind everyone else, allowing someone else to take the lead.

wanted to slip in here quick -- don't let me hold y'all up though

mou's departure has rattled her more than she wishes to admit, even if her venture to search for him brought mallaidh into her life (at least peripherally). but this? this is a betrayal that cuts to her core. the titian healer stomps her way across the sands, fur fluffed dramatically about her cheeks and dorsal ridge. maegi is easy to spot -- there is a small crowd drawn around her, after all, though their presence goes ignored by reed for the moment.

right up to her friend (of a sort) the fearghal princess marches, seaglass eyes sharpened. she opens her mouth, and -- and -- "i'm going to miss you, you wretch," reed wails, flinging herself toward the other girl as if to embrace (or, more likely, expecting to be embraced) -- whether or not the gesture is granted she sniffs indignantly against her, torn between reproach and sorrow as she concludes, "you must come to visit some time, and tell me of all that you get up to. and for god's sake, don't poison yourself without me."

Her guardians came, first Moorhen, then Coelacanth, and finally, Venninne. Three women she considered surrogate mothers, of a sort. She returned the first's greeting with a silent smile, and blinked softly at the others, shifting her paws on the sand. Then--

Reed came strutting forward, thrusting herself into Maegi's embrace. A little taken aback, she nonetheless leaned into the ruddy girl, actually giving a laugh at the sentiments. "I'll miss you, too," Maegi whispered, surprised to find herself a little choked up. "I promise I'll save the poppy seeds for when we meet again." Ha. A likely story.

No one else had come so far, but perhaps that was for the best. Too many goodbyes would not only hinder her departure, but they could, perhaps, pull at her heartstrings enough to make her stay. It was clear from her dreams that staying was not what the daedra wanted. . .

But what would they do about it, anyway?

No, no. She must go. She had made promises to no one but herself, but she could not break promises to herself, even if she alone knew about them. Once she had set her mind to something, Maegi would see it to fruition. Even if it broke her heart in the process.