Dragoncrest Cliffs don't forget to pick up what you sow

aw <3 if it gets lots of replies maybe we can go for short no-order rounds? tags are for reference and OFC invitation <3

a lot had changed in the last few weeks. his baby siblings were getting bigger and bolder. loko left them little treats by the den sometimes. a small hare ear for @Aminthe and a pretty feather for @Quennel.

@Meerkat had given birth. of his da, he gave nothing -- but one day meerkat would find little shells outside her den, collected the day he and meerkat had strolled down the beach. he was too shy to linger, but for @Swordfish, @Stingray and @Mercy loko had sourced a fresh hare. he did not know if puppies could even eat meat yet, and felt too stupid to ask - so that was left along with the shells before he scurried off.

he had not seen @Sobo in a few days, mostly because he'd spent the last few days trying (and failing) to hunt an injured doe he found down in the sound. he'd wanted to get his brother's opinion on the dark man that had arrived with a wolf their age last week -- @Indra III, wasn't it? maybe @Mireille was with sobo somewhere, discussing the loa or da's children.

picking now at a root that had scores of bitemarks on it, loko tugged at it despite how firmly it was wedged into the ground. maybe @Chacal would be up for some sparring later, but if he couldn't find anyone to pester, he would probably check in on @Coraline. doubts about his sister's health nagged at his mind and he took it out on the stub of root, grunting with each hefty tug as if by uprooting it himself, he might pull the rot from coraline's pelt and throw it down over the cliffs.

Since kicking the shell off the cliffs into the sea, Sobo felt lighter than he had in days. With it had gone all his negative thoughts and feelings about his father, replaced by total indifference toward his former idol. Njord was not his da any longer. He was just another packmate now. Occasionally, he brought tidbits of food to leave outside Meerkat's den, if there was spare left over from providing for Aminthe and Quennell, but he never stuck around to chat and never made any effort to see the puppies.

He simply did not care anymore, could not care anymore, and boy, was it freeing.

Loko! he called out when he saw his brother twined around a root in the ground. It wasn't only Loko's fault they hadn't caught up recently. Sobo spent a great deal of time outside the pack territory, so much so that he could not blame anyone for wondering when he would officially disperse, only he had no intention of doing so. He had needed the escape from everything and everyone that seemed unfazed while he was hurting, but no more. His first order of business was to reconnect.

loko knew little of sobo's recent enlightenment, though he would have been bemused to hear it seemed family practice to therapeutically fling things (symbolically, of course) from high locations.

he nearly landed on his ass as he heard sobo's voice. turning around with a wag of his tail, lobo aimed a habitual and affectionate ear-tug at his missed brother. where ye been, troublemaker? i been findin' all sorts of innarestin' things t' show ye.

quennell and aminthe were quiet for now. mireille left them with erzulie, jaws splitting and head in need of a nap.
but then she heard sobo call to their brother, and suddenly she was not so tired. the girl trotted in that direction, plume lashing happily through the air as ears smoothed. she kissed first one cheek and then another, chuckling between them.
"what sort of t'ing?" she demanded playfully, having only caught the end of loko's words.

The sudden absence of her sister had woken Aminthe from her nap. Her face was smash against her mother's chest, her mouth full of fur because she had likely been suckling in her sleep again. She coughed out the waded mess of drool and hair and stared at the entrance. She heard voices, familiar ones—her brothers and Mireille. 

Suddenly she was shuffling to her paws, probably stepping on Quennell. The tiny girl paused only to make sure he hadn't woken and then she was galloping outside the den on legs that had only just started to work properly.

Loko's gifts stole her attention once she was close enough, and she leaped onto the velvety ear. She looked up and babbled nonsense that might have sounded like soft and pretty. 

Then she immediately took the soft tip into her mouth and began to chew, settling down to hold the ear between her front paws.

Sobo flung up his paw to bat away his bitey brother, chuckling low in his throat and twisting his head to the side. Dat be none-a your business! 'Tis a secret not for your ears. There was no secret, in truth, but it was their way to tease one another. Sobo didn't know how to tell his siblings how often he had considered not returning from his frequent and sometimes lengthy absences, especially after his conspicuous exclusion from the wedding.

So, in true reticent Sobo fashion, he did not. He pretended everything was fine and joked about it and hoped they would never ask in all seriousness what kept him away so much. Grinning at Mireille as she joined them, he fell back on his haunches and let his tongue loll to hear about Loko's promised treasures, then spotted the fast moving brown-and-red form of Aminthe streaking toward them from the densite.

Sobo threw out his arm to bar her from going any further, but it turned out unnecessary when she latched onto a rabbit ear. Ya... You be runnin' right off de cliffs when you goin' dat fast, Amint'e, he playfully scolded with a roguish smile.

your bidness be my bidness. loko informed sobo with a playful growl that nearly brooked no quarter. any further teasing was stalled by the arrival of his lovely sibling. though they be related, even loko could admit how well she had grown.

dat is for me to know, and you to find out. he informed his sister with a beaming grin, inviting the lash of her tongue upon him.

then came a streak of red. loko moved to block her path, but sobo had already moved in. he sat on his haunches and regarded his younger sister, who spoke nonsense and chewed with an eagerness that pleased loko. mebbe we make a game, see who jumps de cliffs better. loko winked to aminthe. i fell off it twice.

mireille wanted to join her rowdy brothers but lingered close to aminthe, watching her pick through loko's gifts. they all seemed to focus on the small girl for a moment, before loko suggested a horrendously dangerous game that was equally as appealing.
"tch!" she scoffed, pretending to cover aminthe's little ears with her forepaws. "don't ya be givin' her ideas, loko," mireille scolded in a faux firm tone. "you know maman an' mama would have a fit if she learned to jump from de cliffs."
she glanced between the boys. one of them would go first anyway. she suspected it would be loko.

Aminthe was ecstatic to be the center of her older siblings' attention. She looked to each one as they spoke to her, never ceasing her chewing of the rabbit ear. It was growing soggy between her teeth, something that intrigued the seastar. She wondered how much more the texture would change the longer she chewed. 

Her brothers and sister spoke of the cliff and some kind of business, and she was content to chew on her present. But when Mireille placed her paws over her ears, she dropped the ear and looked up at her with a puzzled look. 

She would wiggle free and run up to each sibling and nip at their paws. She could feel the excitement, even if she didn't know why they felt that way.

Hah! said Sobo, turning his toothsome smile to his sisters. You only say dat 'cause you be too scared to do it! Aminthe was too little to make this jump, but the older siblings were fit swimmers and at home on the cliffs. He rolled his shoulders in the manner of a pre-game stretch. Aminthe was a smart kid. She wouldn't attempt to follow her older siblings over.

It was probably best that Mireille stay with her, just in case, but he truly did believe this was one area where he and Loko had the upper hand. Boys will be boys, as they say. Bet I can jump fart'er dan you, he challenged his blood brother with a smirk. Come, we show de girls how it be done!

if mireille was hoping for maturity in the face of aminthe's presence, she got none of it. loko's eyes swung to the cliff, an ear turned to his brother as he issued a great -- and in loko's estimation, fanciful challenge.

in one loud whoop loko was loping towards the worn spot on the cliff's edge that demarked where it was safe to jump. he didn't even consider the possibility aminthe would follow before he was launching himself from the stony lip, a loud and crackling "BAAALLLYWOOOP!" expelled from his jaws before his form disappeared over the edge.

when both landed, loko would eye each of the rising bubbles and foam that marked their landing spot, and realize he had jumped ever so slightly shorter.

"loko!"
mireille's voice was a scream that still managed to hold surprise and not horror. she had not expected him to jump and yet he had all the same! she was glaring toward sobo next, fully ruffled and horrified.
to her chagrin, little @Aminthe charged out next, but mireille scruffed her sister with a smooth motion. "absolutely not!" she exclaimed. 
loko's head surfaced. "you idiot!" she shouted down at him, hackles ruffled as she herded aminthe back from the cliff.

Ending here! <3

His eye passed over Mireille almost sheepishly, but it did not stop him from streaking after his brother and launching himself from the cliff with an equally raucous whoop. Aminthe would not follow, and if she did, Mireille was here to stop her. The concept of being a bad influence went straight over his head.

The sea rushed up to swallow him as Sobo plunged into icy water. He surfaced with a gasp and tread water, grinning up at Mireille's adominishment from above. It was a complete fluke he had managed to go just a hair beyond Loko, but Sobo didn't check to see who had gone farther. His sister's aghast expression would make even a loss well worth it.

You just be jealous! he called back, jostling his brother in the water before following Loko through the swelling waves along the cliffs to the distant shoreline. They'd be in for an earful from Mireille when they came ashore, no doubt, but he would never forget her face so long as he lived.