Dragoncrest Cliffs Wisenheimer

Now that the boy felt way better than few days ago, he was back to being his curious self and wasted no time to go ahead and explore the lands that he would now call home. He had intended to go down to the coasts first thing, because that had been the place, where either Erzulie or Rosalyn had said food could be found, but either he had had different expectations, not listened carefully about directions (if such had been mentioned) or misunderstood everything completely (either neither or or), he soon lost himself in the labyrinth of the jagged rocky cliffs.

After nearly tumbling down for the second time, Merlin made his way back to safer grounds and decided to hunt in a terrain he knew better. Once among trees he realized that, thoug ocean was marvelous, he felt more at ease in the forest. The wind here was also not that strong. Humming to himself, he browsed through myriad of smells, searching for something useful to start tracking.

with what she had heard, the harlot was terse. her steps reflected this as she went on and on, neither hunting nor avoiding the trails of prey. therefore she was led back and forth through the familiar sequoias and blackpine. it reminded erzulie swiftly of the sound, of rusalka's origin, of the war they had fought here.
blood spilled.
annoyed by the tracery of her own thoughts, she turned inward, pleased to catch a flicker of familiar russet. merlin, seeking his own day among the gentle shadows here. quietly she joined their granite, keeping apace within him a polite distance away.

Ever since that first encounter on the borders Merlin had kept his distance from Erzulie. Rosalyn he could tolerate, her wife on the other hand evoked such a myriad of emotions in him that they threatened to drown him, even if he caught a glimpse of her from afar. Had there been any parent figure in is life to aid him now, they would have told him that it was perfectly normal to feel that way. Some people were able to raise "attractive" to new levels and this lady was that person to Merlin. A lonely boy's first true crush. 

Therefore, when she joined to run alongside him without so much as saying a word, Merlin cast her a fleeting glance of shock and fear, then, being unable to say anything at all, he dumbly stared ahead, feeling suddenly very painfully aware of all the things he was not, while Erzulie was the very impersonation of Venus in a wolf form.

the face that merlin showed her for a moment provided erzulie a great deal of pleased amusement. recalling now how he stared upon her during their first meet, against the backdrop of her great and wordly experience — the harlot considered it in an affectionate silence.
"have you been yet to de sea, merlin?" she asked in the moments to come, slowing to a more sedate pace before she turned to rest her the green of one eye and the gold of the other upon the shy young hunter.

Merlin's mind was in a complete disarray, him frantically searching for anything to say to Erzulie and after coming up with nothing at all, he clung onto hope that the lady would grow bored or annoyed with his silence and go away. He tried to recall, what his old pals in the bachelor pack had told him about women and realized that cheesy jokes bordering rude and stupid would be the worst possible option. The least he wanted was to insult her. He had learned very recently, what could happen. 

Finally she broke the silence and he let out a loud sigh of utter relief. "Ah... no, not yet, no," he shook his head, looked quickly up at Erzulie's mismatched eyes and looked away abashedly. And once again he had nothing to add. So much for being eloquent with words, huh?

not a way with words, but he charmed her all the same. merlin bumbled before her eyes, put out and off-guard. erzulie, who found a sly pleasure in eliciting such from men
— still, at her age and a mother to add — rolled a slim shoulder in the vague direction of the water.
 "come wid me."
not a demand, though not a request. the harlot set off for the stonecut pathway that would lead to the stretch of beach belonging in totality to sapphique. here held the coldness of winter without the wind, the gentle lap of surf on the smooth beach a quiet ambience for the protected locale. 
erzulie glanced toward the water, then back to merlin with an expectant look. she herself padded to the icy touch of the salt, slipping into it as far as her shoulders with a sharp intake of breath at the chill.

Merlin was glad that he was not required to come up with more topics to keep the conversation going - it was easier to follow requests. And following Erzulie down the slippery path to the shores was the easiest one to get around. He was far from graceful, when he made his way down. You cannot have one's mind taken totally over by truly astounding woman and focus on, where you put your feet. He fumbled, he tripped, he brushed against the stone walls and merely avoided his skull being bashed in one more time by a piece of rock poking out in the path. The only consolation to his rapidly crumbling self-esteem was the fact that the object of his adoration and love was walking ahead of him not from behind and therefore did not see all his failures. 

He had imagined that Erzulie would simply stop at the water's edge and watch the grand landscape before her and he was proven to be wrong. Much to his astonishment, she slipped in the icy water, as if it was nothing at all. Was he expected to follow? Her expectant glance over her shoulder suggested - yes he was. Unwillingly he moved forward and forward, stepped in the water, winced, clenched his teeth, closed his eyes, moved onward and onward and then all of a sudden he lost his footing and found himself completely submerged in the slush that saltwater and sands were. Scrambling, spluttering and panicked he paddled his way back to the shore, where he stood shaking the excess wet from his fur and coughing. The utter embarrassement was just to come.

i love him so much ahahsjssslshsgdgddg

the embrace of the ice transformed erzulie into a siren of ice. her breath came more easily; she dipped her head beneath the frosted surface, feeling the sting of the cold along nose and the delicate silk of her ears. when she could bear it no longer, erzulie breached the ocean with a gasp, turning her spice-muzzle to see poor merlin spluttering upon the beach.
"pauvre garçon," the harlot clucked when she had come to join him upon the sands. "she not be a mistress wid an easy hand, de sea." there was no shame in ducking from the salt this time; the skill of it was eventual, inevitable so long as one lived alongside the ocean. 
if merlin bore no qualms, erzulie would seek now to help comb the brinewater from his shoulders and ruff.

Well, what qualms could Merlin bear against being groomed, if he had had no experience in having a female for a leader? With men it was clear - they either let you fend for yourself or you could tell them to eff off, if they pushed on your privacy too much. With Erzulie, who had the same effect on him as Valmua had had on Njord? Using foul words, even being the slightest bit rude seemed wrong and utterly repulsive. Quite the contrary - he sorely wished that his tongue wasn't that tied, that he could utter something intelligent enough to make a good impression. So far - no such luck. He thought about his pal, who had been beaten up by a jerk, and his already low self esteem dropped few stories lower at the realization - that he was bruised and battered by his own cowardice. 

"T-t-thank y-y-y-ou," he told her through chattering teeth, when he felt that Erzulie had wasted enough time on his unworthy hide. He got carefully to his feet (he had been half-lying the whole time), took few steps away from her and gave his coat a hearty shake. Did not help much with the cold that was setting in, the winter wind that blew from the ocean was hardly any improvement either. "I-I-I th-th-th-ink," I have enough of sea for one day ,but it was a bit too long of a sentence for someone rattling as an old loose glass pane in the frame right next to the busiest street of the town. "Ye-e-r br-r-rave," he uttered and managed to smile awkwardly. "I'l-l-l-l-l fi-i-ind s-s-s-somewhe...re to w-w-w-warm," he said next, but since he was in a company of a leader and he was a subordinate under her rule, he stood and shook, waiting for her to grant him permission to leave.

fade? we need an updated one <3

"dis bravery will come to you too," she assured merlin, watching him rise and tremble through his departure. it occurred to the woman that she might show him where best to lie his head, but perhaps it would only shame him for her to hover.
"i will see you again, merlin," the obsidian spoke by way of urging him off upon his own,
for her part, if anyone were to look upon the harlot again, she was slipping into the slicing waters once more, returning to the icetrapped embrace as she slowly considered many things in the internal recesses of her mind.
erzulie would speak of them when it had come time.

Merlin was not so sure, if he would ever feel brave enough to try the ice cold waters again - he felt chilled to the bone, as he made hasty exit away from the winds and up the rocky path, past the windswept fields and relaxed only, when he had entered the forest and the exercise had warmed him up somewhat. After some shuffling around, he found a den to disappear in. There he slipped it and slept of this whole embarrassing ordeal as a drunk would after a spree.