Coconut Grove the black earth
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#1
All Welcome 
referencing @Umi :o

cat, and too close to rusalka.
a whisper to @Rosalyn, an invitation to @Rosencrantz, if he was so inclined, and the harlot set off. at the densite clementine would remain; she had been relieved to have a last older child so near.
erzulie had wanted to bring her younger brood to the salt, but not while a beast of this nature lurked. she examined the pugmarks, the shredded fibers of a coconut, and ran tongue across the ridges of her hard fangs before she began to stalk.
a low, silent wending of herself among the trees; she would not be seen if possible, but she meant to draw blood this hour.
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#2
He didn't need to think about the invite as it was extended to him, he was quick to join by Erzulie's side and almost immediately did he catch the scent of the perpetrator of this investigation. A feline was roaming nearby, even he could smell their presence through the salty air. Turning his eye to Erzulie, Do you have a plan yet? Was the idea to go and hunt the thing down or just keep and eye on it for the time being and hope it was simply passing by. To be honest, he didn't quite like the idea of fighting a feline, not unless they had a plan and more members to attack by his side - it was suicide to think that anyone could take it alone.
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"chase it into de sea," she spat, then drew in a breath through flared nostrils. seeking calm, she glanced to the archangel. "i be wantin' to see if de cat makes its home in de grove, or if it was just passin' t'rough."
"if it find us, or we find it, we must lead it away from rusalka. drive it. dangerous, but dere are two of us to a single cat, an' if it can be caught off-guard, it can be startled away." she was reminded of that dark hunt with caiaphas, and unexpectedly erzulie felt a surge of grief in her breast.
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Three, she said quietly, but with a wicked smile, as she slunk up alongside them.  She did not know what Erzulie had expected... but she did not intend her to fight this creature with one other alone.  Clementine could handle the children for a short time, and they'd eaten well before she left.  They'd sleep a time now.

It was chilling news, to hear of a predator so close.  Rusalka was small and had many smaller gifts to protect.  They could not fail to find and deter it... lest the children face even more danger as they grew to desire room to roam.
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#5
With the news, the paladin wasn't all too thrilled. Though he enjoyed a good fight, and Rusalka was rather quiet lately (something he both enjoyed and found it rather dull but not terribly so), but a feline was not the answer to curing boredom. Erzulie spoke first of the two of them chasing it off, thought that he was just about to oppose until Rosalyn thankfully came to interject. 

A sigh of relief. 

Even he wasn't stupid enough to think that a feline would think just two wolves were enough to face off against a feline who was armed from mouth to toe, nimbler than any wolf they would ever face off. With three of them, the idea of facing off against the creature was a much easier pill to swallow. With a thankful nod toward the war-torn female, he was very glad she had come. 

Do we know of anywhere the thing might be hiding? They were ambush predators after all, master stalkers and struck from the shadows. Their mastery of killing was something any canine would be jealous of, even his time as a loner he envied their ability to hunt solo with such a high success rate than he ever did.
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"no. but it is not a smart beast, to come to so open a place, wid wolves close at hand." they had been throughout the grove, all of them; the marks of rusalka were strong and tried here, mixed by the dozens of paws that comprised rusalka.
she nudged rosalyn lovingly, happy for her presence, strengthened by the thought of more teeth to face this cat. erzulie had fought alongside rosencrantz and beside her mate; they were honed warriors, each of them. in their combined might she placed her faith.
"perhaps dis way," she suggested, jerking her cinnamondust muzzle toward where the grove grew closer, palmate leaves converging into deeper shadows.
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She'd worried they might question her presence... only a little.  But fortunately both seemed glad to see her, and she fell in step easily.  She was glad to see Rosencrantz there... his company was preferable to most, and his strength would be welcome.  Besides, it had been a while.

You don't think it is sick, do you? she asked, with slightly more concern, from Erzulie's observation.  Stupid could also mean desperate, and more danger for them than first appearances.  They'd still manage, she was sure, but it would be better to use caution and to get eyes on it beforehand.
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#8
feel free to fade w ur next post, or we can keep going, ur choice :D <3

before she could answer, rosencrantz sped ahead. erzulie exchanged a glance with rosalyn, pausing her answer to hurry after the archangel. relieved somehow, she stood where he had found another track, plainly showing a set of prints in the sand. "it does not seem sick," she remarked to her wife, mismatched gaze shifting also to rosencrantz a moment. "but perhaps it be young, an' dat explain its foolishness."
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#9
I'm ok to go a bit longer!

So, foolish then, she thought silently, and smiled when Erzulie echoed her thoughts exactly.  If it was young, then that would explain it.  We might need to teach it caution, but I don't know that it deserves the benefit of the lesson. she said, and there was a bite behind the words.  She'd shown charity to young wolves before because of their likeness to her own children, but she wasn't willing to extend that benefit to cats.  She'd never had a good meeting with one such as them... in fact, a few times over she'd nearly lost her life to them.  She still wore the scars, and if she could help it, none of her children would.

Have you encountered many cats? she asked Erzulie suddenly, not remembering if she'd ever said.  She knew her wife was a fearsome fighter, and did not doubt her, but curiosity from remembering her own drove her.
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#10
<3 800 for u

"not often," erzulie shook her head. "dey come into dey bayou once an' a while, but to hunt de t'ings in the water." not wolves. she remembered the feel of warm sand beneath her paws in a girlhood memory: her eyes had stared wide and mouth gaped open, watching as one of the reticent tawny cats hauled off a young crocodile, its reptillian body still thrashing between the forelegs of the panther.
"jus' enough to know dey be dangerous." the cat who had invaded the sound; it forced her to think of caiaphas, and she did not like that. erzulie tipped up her muzzle, surveying the canopy, but seeing nothing. "better den bears, aye?"
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<3

When Rosalyn thought of a bayou, she always pictured something akin to a swamp.  Now, hearing that cats occasioned there, she wondered if that was correct.  The places she'd imagined were not ones that would be pleasant for most felines... or their kind, for that matter.  Perhaps it was in reality a place she'd never seen a comparison to.

Depends on the cat, she answered, rolling her shoulders absently.  Less angry, but quicker.  Easier to bring down, hard to avoid, harder to get your teeth into.  Let's hope this one is stupid and lazy.  

But if we can corner it... easier.  Anytime it's gone wrong, it's usually when a wolf is alone.  She smiled, also recalling back to when they'd chased one from the grotto.  She'd not been there for it, but had heard tell.  A bear, well... she didn't really need to say much more to that.  She doubted either of them would ever forget that fight.
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#12
ironsea. the memory of that brute destroying the cove and scattering its inhabitants remained a ridge of scar tissue in memory. she pursed her lips, nodding, falling to seek the cat's track. rosencrantz bid them goodbye; the archangel would return to the moors and keep an eye upon the children whilst the rusalkan mothers hunted.
"are you happy, rosalyn?" she asked finally, suddenly. there was no sign of the cat now; it had faded but for a brush of fur and the hanging, stale-edged scent. she turned her mismatched stare upon her wife and was silent.
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#13
The trail ran cold after Rosencrantz left.  She'd been glad for his company, but the two of them suited her just as well.

Erzulie's question wasn't one Rosalyn thought much on, and it took her by complete surprise.  She gave a knee jerk response before even considering it.  Yes.

As she thought a moment, though, she breathed out.  I'm happy that our family is safe.  At least, in large part.  She always felt the hole left by those who were missing, but she knew nothing they did would change that.  But it is quiet.  That used to drive me nuts, and now I wonder if it's just a memory of that restlessness that makes me itch.  

She'd said a few times that she was glad now for the peace.  But there was something else in this she was unaccustomed to - complacency.  She wasn't used to being content with what she had.  It felt a weird fit, to not be striving for anything more.  And you?
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"about de same." a tense, tight smile. "i feel as t'ough we are waiting for somet'ing to happen. it has been like dat for so long." would they come to shake such shackles? she did not know, and did not want to waste time in consideration of it.
"i do not know if i miss de piratin', or just de option to pirate." a wry chuckle in her throat. they had both given themselves over to raising children these past seasons, but erzulie was newly restless to be done with motherhood, to enjoy the last and let it be over.
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It was good to know that, as usual, she wasn't alone in it.  Rosalyn huffed out a laugh of appreciation, because Erzulie's words struck fairly well at the core of it.  Perhaps she just missed what they'd had.  Odd to be surrounded by respectable wolves.  Especially ones raised by us, she teased, a glint of mischief sparking her previously serious expression.

It wasn't worth troubling over, anyway.  She was well enough for now with content; until she could nose out what more she needed, this was more than enough.
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erzulie trilled a laugh, reaching across to nip playfully toward the bulb of one ear. "dey manage to be mannerly an' feral at de same time," she remarked, dancing backward.
a bow then; an invitation for the ageing wives to course the moorlands as if their youth had been restored. in a flash, erzulie whirling in the light, cinnamon limbs churned for a flight, a race.
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Teeth flashed in a grin as Erzulie suddenly shifted demeanor, inviting her to a race to rush the tension from the air.  Mannerly yet feral; perfection incarnate.  None of them would ever be less in their mother's eyes, no matter what they might do or where they might go.

Rosalyn was spurred to follow, taking off after her wife in a gleeful sprint.  Time might weigh on them, but they were hale still, and could careen just as wildly through the shores as the day they met.  It seemed as though, while some things changed, others were destined to ever remain the same.