Blacktail Deer Plateau you shove your bright lights, big city, back where the sun don't shine

keeping some things vaguey-vague, but AW! <3

The bleakness of the days that followed had Raleska in a quiet kind of stupor. Still she kept to herself, telling none of the dark undercurrents that ran in her heart. She was of the age where trouble often settled -- and truth be told, Raleska had experienced her first taste of trouble as a whelp, and that trouble had never left.

In her paws she held the skull of a seal. It was one of the few reminders she had of home. Every now and then the wind would shift and the coast would be scented on the breeze: Raleska would close her eyes and the wind would rifle through her fur, and just for a moment she was back home on the beach with her mother and father sunning between a rout of playing puppies --

but she'd open her eyes, and that dream would close -- sharp and as thunderous as the crack of a tree striking ground.

She moved the skull over in her paws. How uncanny the teeth seemed, how deep the sockets -- Raleska wondered how it ever came to be that a skull so close to her own could belong to something that never dared leave the water.

Nieve's aimless tread across the plateau was indicative that she was daydreaming once more about the sea. This was a regular occurrence for her; she didn't think she would ever feel as much affinity for another place as she did the coast. She'd shared with Rosalyn and Erzulie what she would like in another territory if the seaside wasn't an option, but her heart would always reside beneath the waves. Not specifically the sound, but anywhere where her paws could touch the ocean.

She would've continued on in that fashion until she got home and bedded down for a nap, but her eyes landed on Raleska and eased her back to reality. Nieve hadn't spent quality time with her in some time, and she had some thoughts and some questions for Raleska that she was eager to air. She kicked up her heels and made a beeline for Delta, slowing only when she spotted the bleached object in her paws. Oooh, what's that? she asked, tilting her head to peer more closely at its grinning aspect while she approached.

Raleska hadn't been paying attention; she was so absorbed in her thoughts that Nieve's accented voice rocked her right into reality with a slap of alarm. She flinched, feeling the involuntary creep of fur rising along her back -- yet looking up, registered Erzulie's daughter with a distracted look of worry.

"Oh, Nieve." Raleska murmured, more to steady her own hammering nerves than anything. It shocked her how much Nieve reminded her of Niamh -- and how much she had grown into her own as of late. "Sorry.. I was.." She tried to even sum up what she had been thinking of, and gave up with a hapless shrug. Realizing Nieve's attention was on the skull, Raleska rolled it towards the girl without any hesitation. While it reminded her of home, it was just a skull -- Raleska had not invested much emotional feelings in the object itself. "It's a seal skull. I could take you to see them, sometime. It's from h-" Raleska stopped herself mid-word, a frown dogging her expression. "It's from the Sound."

Raleska seemed... not herself. A sense of unease stole over her, reminding her suddenly of Raleska's seeming reluctance to explore the cave mouth in the side of the mountain and how that, too, had seemed unusual. Maybe it wasn't so much that Raleska was acting strangely, but that Nieve had grown a lot and recognized these things more than she did when she was a whelp. Either way, she sensed that something was amiss with the Gamma that ignited worry in her stomach.

For the moment, she accepted the Eyjolfur's shrug without comment and returned her attention to the skull. When it was offered, she flopped onto her belly and folded her hind limbs neatly out to the side before rolling it toward her. Creepy. This is really cool, she remarked, slowly turning it between her paws before giving it a light little kick to send it back in Raleska's direction. She didn't miss the hiccup in Raleska's speech, though, and knew exactly how that felt.

Don't worry, she said, smiling softly. It's still home to me. I think it always will be. She didn't think anywhere else would ever feel the same. Certainly not the plateau. Are you okay? she asked suddenly, concerned blue eyes searching Raleska's face for signs of strife.

Raleska watched as the girl primly sat upon the ground before her, her limbs neatly folded under a blaze of goldenrod fur. Nieve turned the skull around in her paws, much the way Raleska had done moments before. The young Eyjolfur caught a flash of blackness between the dark sockets, which peered woefully back at her and reminded her suddenly of

She shut her eyes sharply, chasing the rotten image away. Think of anything else think of the beach think of sand think of Rosalyn or the cave in the plateau, anything but that. When she opened them, she realized Nieve was looking upon her with a species of concern Raleska wished she hadn't seen. She didn't mean -- and didn't want -- to alarm the girl.. and she also didn't want anyone fussing over her either.

It brought her some consolation to learn that Nieve missed the Sound too. It was where they were both born -- they had that in common. A shared blood ran through them; the blood of the sea, which they could leave but would never leave them. "I'm fine.." But she wasn't fine, and Nieve would be able to tell. Quick to change the subject (although she was genuinely interested in the answer) Raleska prompted: "Do you want to go back someday?"

I'm fine, was what Raleska's tongue said, but her body and her eyes said otherwise. If Nieve was more experienced with negative emotions and all their causes, she might recognize the look of being haunted in the Gamma's eyes, the worn lines of her face or the exact differences in her tone. Alas, all she knew was that her friend was not fine, but she wouldn't push Raleska to talk about it. Nieve wasn't always fine, either. Sometimes the grief of her missing siblings weighed heavy on her mind, but she preferred not to dwell on it too much. Talking about it only made it worse and she suspected Raleska felt similarly about whatever was bothering her.

So the girl focused on talk of the sea instead, hoping that would put Raleska more at ease. I'd like to, she shared, bending her neck to gnaw an itch on her paw. I don't think maman really wants to, though. Erzulie didn't discuss these things too much with her daughter, but Nieve suspected that her dear mama blamed the coastline for the fracturing of her family. Maybe she was just naive about these things, though. Do you think we'd be able to go back soon? If we do, I mean. This, she delivered in a hopeful tone.

Raleska felt awful the lie was accepted, and for a moment, wanted to quickly backpedal and blurt the truth: that she was not okay, that she had lied.. Her tongue stayed still, for Nieve had moved past it in a way that had the Eyjolfur awash with gratitude. Either she knew, and understood, or she didn't -- Raleska had her money on which it was, and rolled the skull between her paws in silence as Nieve mentioned her dam.

In truth she had her own beliefs about whether their troupe would make it back to the shore too. She knew Erzulie despised the Sound, and Rosalyn had no love for the place where so much history had transpired either. In Raleska's heart, she knew it was unlikely they would ever return. "I don't think so either." Raleska confided in Nieve. "But, we could always go back ourselves, just to visit." Her voice strained then, for she dreaded the rush of memories and grief that would come over her, the day she revisited her mother's grave.

Nieve shifted, placing the majority of her weight on one elbow and stretching her other leg out in front of her so she could groom the mussed fur on her upper arm. The whole time, her blue eyes remained fixed on Raleska, silently reading the Gamma's emotions. She wasn't well versed in all of them—she couldn't begin to guess what was gnawing at her friend—but it allowed her some insight into Raleska's state of being. The tightening of the Eyjolfur's tone was telling. Nieve assumed it was grief for their lost home.

Yeah, let's visit sometime, she said, heart soaring. It'd been so long since they'd been back there—little did she know it wasn't that long for Raleska. In the hope of further distracting the Gamma from her worries, Nieve asked, did you ever live anywhere other than the Sound? Rosalyn and Erzulie had, but for Nieve, it was difficult to imagine life anywhere else, even though they currently lived away from it.

While Nieve groomed her forearm, Raleska studied the skull -- unaware of her friend's inspection of her. She didn't have much hope in what was left of her family ever revisiting the sound -- and weirdly, she didn't much want them to live in the place where she had buried her mother. If Nieve wished to go, Raleska would accompany her -- but nothing would stop the dread that needled at her gut as they went.

Thankful to talk about something else, Raleska put the skull upright in the dirt and nodded. "We were chased from the sound, you know. By a bear." Her memory of this was clouded, but she did remember the misery such an exodus entailed. "We tried to join Easthollow but we were turned away. My m--" Raleska's voice cracked, and she had to look up to hide the tears that threatened to spill from her face. "Caiaphas took us to this plateau.. Redhawk Caldera, it was called. We lived there for a while, actually.. but the leadership was weak and we ended up leaving." Being thrown out, really, but Raleska didn't mention this for fear of having to mention or say her mother's name again. "So we went up the coast.. and that was actually how your mothers came into play. We met them not so far from the sound. Once we were positive the bear was gone, we went back to Ankyra. "

Raleska didn't have to talk for long before she started giving clues to the source of her mood. Nieve listened closely. She wasn't privy to most of the details surrounding Caiaphas' return and subsequent ousting from Rusalka but she knew enough to realize Raleska was probably torn up over the whole affair. It made sense. Even Nieve was conflicted about it. She trusted her moms completely and believed they wouldn't do anything that wasn't for the good of the pack or their family, but Caiaphas was their founder. It seemed wrong that she was turned away.

Sensing that Raleska likely didn't want to dwell on that, Nieve turned her attention to the rest of what was said. Sure, she wanted to know more and she wanted to lend a shoulder, but some wolves were more private about their pain. She had the idea that Raleska was one such wolf. Nieve also wanted to ask more about Redhawk Caldera's weak leadership and what Raleska considered that to be, but instead she chose to focus on what tied them together. Mamá said her old pack was chased away by a bear, too, she shared. Her pack from before. She said it was her favourite pack. D'you think maybe it was the same bear? If so, did that mean Rusalka was fated to happen?

Raleska hadn't known about Ironsea, or Rosalyn and Erzulie's untimely exodus. Now that Nieve was piecing together the fragments of their past, Raleska wondered if her question was one, in fact, worth pondering. She had only seen a bear once in her life -- she did not recall it -- but she knew they were terrifically powerful, and terrifically rare.

"Was she also on the coast?" Raleska asked absently, grappling with the idea that fate could have somehow ordained all of this. She didn't trust coincidence -- not the way most people did -- and the idea these two strings could have been pulled from the same cloth somehow made her uneasy. "Maybe it was.. but I hope it's gone, wherever it is."

Yeah, answered Nieve, scrunching her nose a little as she tried to remember what Rosalyn had shared. She said it was south of the sound, some place called Ironsea. Maybe Raleska knew of it, too, but maybe not. From what Nieve gathered, that pack disbanded quite a long time ago. She studied the seal skull momentarily while idly commenting, she said it was her favourite pack.

Was that because Rosalyn led there on her own merits, or something else? Nieve hadn't pried. She wished she knew more, and the thought absently crossed her mind that, I'd like to see it someday. The place where Erzulie and Rosalyn had come from. A part of the coast that was not Rusalka's cove or Drageda's cliffs, but a place that held happier memories for her mothers.

Raleska had never been to Ironsea; she tried to imagine where along the coast this pack had been, but there were simply too many locations. Someday, if she ever felt like talking about sentimental things again, she might brave asking Rosalyn. For now she just sat in silence, musing of events past.


"I've got a pretty good lay of the coast. If you find out what the territory looked like, I bet we could find it." Raleska had, in her short life, been dragged up and down that coast -- she remembered many places well, some better than others. "We can make it another one of our exploring expeditions." Anything, Raleska thought, to get out of the suffocating darkness that seemed to enshroud her here in Rusalka.

Sounds good, she agreed, bobbing her head in an eager nod. She'd try to remember to ask Rosalyn about it next time they spoke. Nieve had been meaning to find out more, anyway, perhaps via the use of her own four feet, so having Raleska would make any trip down the coast both safer and easier. She yearned to know if the place her mothers heralded from was as lovely as the Sound, or perhaps lovelier even than that. She recalled the trip to Drageda's cliff and swallowed down a faintly sour taste in her mouth.

I'll let you know when I find out, Nieve said, gathering her slim figure and rising to her feet. It was high time she got back to her duties, but she couldn't help hesitating a little. Whatever was eating Raleska likely hadn't been resolved here, where neither one of them had so much as touched upon it, and it felt wrong leaving her friend in that state. But Nieve knew not to push it, so she settled for offering, hey, Raleska? If you ever wanna talk or anything... I'm always here.

With a tight-lipped smile meant to dispel any tension that might arise from the over, she waved her tail and prepared to be on her way, if the Eyjolfur had nothing else to say.

Raleska glanced to Nieve distractedly as the girl collected herself and made to leave. Her company had been pleasant enough, but guiltily, Raleska was relieved she had not pressed on or insisted further. It wasn’t Nieve’s fault she was like this.  

A threadbare smile that did not quite chase the shadows from her sad eyes rose to Raleska’s features. Thank you, Nieve. She said quietly, knowing Nieve was trying — and bless her heart for doing so. 

She watched fondly while the goldspun girl sauntered away — yet the moment Nieve was out of view Raleska’s mask slipped, and she placed her head between her paws and kept her eyes closed for a long, long time.