Blacktail Deer Plateau i would beg to disagree, but begging disagrees with me

hoping to get @Sakhmet alone but AW!

@Mou had been so good with the children that Maegi ought to have taken them off his paws for a little while—but she didn't. She knew it was selfish, but she needed some time to herself. Time with her eldest daughter. 

It was strange, she thought, with Sakhmet. She walked along the border, gazing down the river that separated the plateau from all else. The ruddy woman at once erased the horrific past and yet brought it tumbling back to life. A reminder of good things gone by—but alone. And with Sobek and Anansi absent forever from her side, Maegi could never forget what had come of them.

She had called for Sakhmet, hoping to speak with her about Niamh's trio before it became an issue. Things would come to a head soon enough, and they might well find themselves in a position to be vilified. All of them, by association with Mou and Maegi.

She couldn't spring that on her daughter by surprise. Not if she could help it.

It was nice here, and she rued having to shatter the peace of yet another idyllic place. For a few moments, she enjoyed the quiet, the murmur of wind on the long grasses, the gentle songs of birds. The sun on her back. The feeling of a new home.

Sakhmet was not far these days. On her hunt for Kigipigak, she only ever traveled as far as a territory over. The lands that touched the plateau was where she bordered herself.

Although...with her mother (and her mate, with their bundle of children!) here she wondered if she could afford to stray a bit further. She could tell Gleipnir to stay here, guard her family fiercely. She was almost certain he would.

It was a selfish thought. One she only stewed on and never acted on. Not yet, at least.

With children — siblings! — present, she couldn't afford for them to be a set of paws down.

That thought kept her tethered here, to reality, as she set out to the call for her. How unusual it felt to hear. Someone calling for her. This place had certainly bloomed with life.

Ma. She hummed soft and warm in her throat. Odd how she felt so small and childish, even on the cusp of her second birthday.

If allowed, she sought to let their sides brush against each other.

Ma. Funny how one single word could hold her so rapt. She turned, beaming like the sun at Sakhmet's approach. Turned out, it was even more special when they had grown up and still—still!—loved their mother.

How are you? Maegi asked lightly, returning the touch and allowing Sakhmet to fall in step beside her. This is a lovely place. 

Her words were no more than idle pleasantries, meaning to soften the conversation before she moved into tougher topics. But they rang true; she really was enjoying the plateau so far, and hoped they could make it a home for the long haul. She was tired of moving, tired of running. She wanted to rest.

She wanted to keep her family close and make sure they never, ever escaped her grasp again.

I'm okay. She breathed out soft in response, tail wiggled some behind her with a fondness for this. The casual conversation missed with her mother. The comfort that came from small patrols together. Better now with you guys here. She trailed off softly.

It was funny how she had not realized all the things she had missed so badly until they had returned to her.

I'm happy to help all of you settle in. Whatever I can do. . .

Her face was tender as she took in the offer, shaking her head slightly. You've done more than enough. Given us a home. . . Jaes, I thought we'd have to keep looking for a long time. True, Aiolos had spoken well of Kukutux and her pack. But nothing was permanent, it seemed, and to be among family. . .

Family. Maegi sighed, expression shifting suddenly to one burdened by incalculable existential weight. Sakhmet, she began, her voice barely more than whisper. I need to tell you something. So you know, in case things turn for the worse. 

Not wanting to let that ominous statement hang for very long, she launched right in. The three dark children—they're not ours. Their mother came to the island, pregnant, alone. She wanted to be away from their father. But she died. . .and we had to rescue the pups from her belly.

Nausea rose up hard and fast, and she bit down a gag, trying not to think of that bloody day. She took a moment to compose herself, breathing deep, taking in the fresh, quiet air of the plateau, unsullied by any of the sounds and smells that had come with that experience.

Their father came to the island later, looking for her. But he's—he's Mou's brother, and Mou is a Redhawk, exiled from his family. It's a long, long story, Maegi said on a laugh, opening her eyes and shifting them upward in exasperation. Going back before I was even born. But suffice it to say that the Redhawks are my enemy, and his, too.

She looked back at Sakhmet. We haven't told him yet. I'm afraid. . .afraid that he'll think that we killed Niamh and took her children from her. Afraid that he'll take Blueberry, too. Afraid that he'll take it out on me. . .or worse, Mou.

Oh, Sakhmet. Child not of my blood and bone. Has all this come to pass because I ripped you from Parvati's side?

Sheepish under the praise of a mother.

Sakhmet did not know what to say and it would stay that way as her mother plunged into deeper, darker words. She wondered what it was that her mother would tell her.

Did she see the future? Would the land collapse again? Would the forest become unsafe?

Except — somehow, someway — the news was worse than reliving her childhood.

Her dark pelted siblings were not Maegi and Mou's. Only they...were. Technically. Saved from the mother's belly as she passed. Which was a thought that caused her gut to twist sharp. Briefly she thought of Lane from Duskfire and the disgust she had felt had the swollen sides of a soon-to-be mother.

Then — then! — came with it more news. The true father an enemy of her mother and her mother's mate. That he might seek to exact revenge for a crime not committed!

Goodness, She finally laughed out. Nervous and soft. I. . . such news! She fumbled for words. Unsure what her course of action was here but entirely certain of what she would say.

You're my mother — they're my siblings! — This she refused to ignore. Hungry for the relation and eager to see it in the way they had clung to the couple, saved by them! We'll protect you here. If. . .if you don't want him here, just in case, I'll forbid him. How childish it felt to declare and yet she believed it wholeheartedly.

you get post #1500 yay!

She couldn't fault Sakhmet for being flummoxed. Faced with the same onslaught of information, she'd have probably reacted the same. But the words that came next were noble, brave, and pride in her daughter rippled through her, suffused every inch of her, body and soul.

Goodness, she had grown! 

I hope it won't come to that, Maegi replied, a soft but sad smile curving her muzzle. We will tell him, eventually—and maybe he'll be so happy to have his children that he will forgive us, and let it go.

But he will take them. All of them. And how would that be different from her ripping Parvati's children away?

Phox was likely lingering near the outskirts of the territory, having agreed to follow them but not having yet welcomed himself into the fold here. The time would come to pass, and they would live with it. She didn't want it to spoil her reunion with Sakhmet.

congratulations! :D

It was a tight, painful clutch at her throat and chest.

Half tempted to shake her mother and plead for her to see! See what Sakhmet could do for her, see how she would protect this family!

Yet her mother had laid it clear. She planned to tell him eventually and hoped he had forgiveness in his heart.

So she had to swing on a pendulum.

Maybe...maybe if he knows he can stay near them — A sigh escaped her, a sag of bony shoulders.

She did not know how to appease a beast she had not met yet.

How did you do it? Make big decisions and guide everyone?

At Sakhmet's questions, she laughed, for which she immediately felt bad. She tried to look contrite, though a smile still twitched in the corners of her mouth—she wasn't laughing at her daughter, after all, but herself. Self-deprecation, one of her few skills.

I. . .didn't, Maegi tried, and chuckled. I was not a good leader, Sakhmet. I won't try to make it seem otherwise. I listened, and I had a lot of help. From my brother—your uncle, Ramsay—and Mou, and Tundra, Jakoul, Moonshadow. . .

Her voice grew wistful as she spoke of those souls, all but one of them gone, and she had to turn away, hide the ever-ready tears from her daughter's gaze. I tried to do what was best for everyone, but it's hard. All you can do is receive guidance from others, and act in your pack's best interest. Or what you think is the best interest, anyway.

Some might disagree. She still remembered Rowan, so fiercely tied to the land, angry that she would have them go. And yet, where was he? Ivory Rose, apparently, was no more.

Everyone left the Woods eventually; perhaps the bones of those before them wished to be alone.

Having composed herself, she returned her gaze to Sakhmet. I will help you as much as I can, Maegi promised. As long as we're together, I'll always have your back.

It was almost a gut punch to hear such words from her own mother.

Yet there some soothing sensation to it as well. To hear that the grand woman who Sakhmet had always looked up to was perhaps on a more...reachable level than she had thought. Maegi had not done it alone and she did not take credit for such things.

She was hushed through it all as she listened closely, a faint smile on her lips. Deeply touched by the end of it all. Sakhmet knew she could not do this alone.

It was why she had held Gleipnir so close when he had arrived.

It was why she searched high and low for Kigpigak.

It was (part of the reason) why she had welcomed her growing family back with open arms.

Thank you, ma. She hummed softly in return. I'll have yours too. Promise.

Do you like this place? A shift to lighter topics, even if she carried the weight of previous words with her still.

I do, she said, the smile returning to her face, now without its wry twist. It's lovely here—I'm familiar with the hot springs just south; I saw the steam rising when we were on our way here. She nodded in that general direction, in brief illustration, before looking back at Sakhmet.

My, she'd grown. Maegi saw none of Parvati in her, but neither did she see herself. The pale eyes, such a contrast against the burgundy, reminded her of someone, though. Who was it?

Ah. . .Damien. It gave her a slight qualm, her stomach churning, to realize it. At the same time, it confirmed that Sakhmet was, indeed, a Melonii, and meant to be hers. Never meant to be Parvati's—

you stole her like you stole the golden woman's whelps

I like any place where you are, she said, a little loudly as she tried to drown out the ever-mocking voice in the back of her mind. And who was that, anyway? One of the daedra—Sheogorath or his ilk seemed a prime candidate, or perhaps Sithis. A remnant of the past.

The smile remained, but it was watery, now.

can fade and have something new if you'd like? <3

The words were emotional for her to hear.

Yet she could not be sure what prompted the wateriness of her mother's smile. Perhaps she was effected by their emotion as well, perhaps this was all so overwhelming for the long separated pair.

She knew only for certain that the vision of it tugged at every heartstring Sakhmet still had in her youthfulness.

Let me show you my favorite places. They need not talk on the tour. She would be relieved enough to just have her mother by her side as she showed off rivers and woods before they merged back with everyone else.