Dragoncrest Cliffs bòn volonte

now, only time would tell mireille.
rosalyn rested. jorunn was not there. brow furrowed, the obsidian hunted for the scent of her mothers' wife until it disippated amid the sands.
sorrow clutched her. suppose the loss of erzulie had been too much.
sighing, she informed @Chacal with a murmur, and then in a fit of necessary adrenaline, she ran right along, searching for @Wing.
she had missed the delicate creature, and was all the more determined to deepen their friendship.

Hope you don't mind me, I've been having a little trouble getting Raelle threads

It was not a delicate creature that Mireille found but a scrappy and determined one, covered in sand and bearing the fruit of her latest labors. A bird, a whole bird! So maybe the head was a little smashed, and she'd cut her lip pretty good on the beak...
It was still a total win. Rae was very proud; her head was held high and her tail was swinging cheerfully as she crossed paths with the red-furred leader. She was a little startled to see her, and temporarily lost her grasp on the bloodied bird. Oh! Hey! Rae gathered up the bird again, and her voice was muffled as she added around it: Sorry, didn't see ya there.

ur always welcome!

in the end, she did not find wing but raelle. the joy of feminine company now that she had come home was greatly welcomed, and mireille smiled broadly toward the other woman.
"settlin'?" the obsidian asked of raelle, stepping out of the other's path. "good job wid dat," she praised, nodding toward the kill. and then she peered closer. "are you hurt?"

<3

Rae nodded, sparkling a little under the leader's praise. 'M good, jussa scratch, She mumbled around the bird, then finally caved and set it down. You hungry? She thought to ask, having initially overlooked this possibility not out of possessiveness but out of a distinct lack of familiarity with the dynamics of a pack. It just wasn't a habit of hers, to consider the needs of others — or to have her own needs considered. But she felt a growing fondness for Sapphique, and so the learning of such habits was not quite as painful as it might have been.

mireille shook her head. "you eat it." for a moment she only basked in companionable silence. "anytin' to report while i was away?"
her smile was wry; she did not actually expect a rundown of sorts, and hoped this showed in her eyes. chacal would fill her in on any of those things. "i t'ink i will swim today," she decided, though she remained seated for now, content to wait for raelle.

Mireille seemed to sense Raelle's detachment; in her words the Blackwood-Mayfair felt a hint, an implication that she should be able to really answer the question. She quickly covered the sense of inadequacy with her own humor. Oh, ya know, the usual. Mostly seagull fights. Nasty business, Rae found herself forcing her smile.
She was quick to jump on the implied invitation to swim. I could go for a swim. Let me cache this, She said, and turned to do just that. Rae returned in short order, and in the time between, found a small resentment for the red-furred leader. It was easily swallowed in favor of companionship, but Rae was put off by the perceived implication that her isolation had been noticed and judged.
I've never tried to swim in the ocean, She admitted on her return, to cover the awkward feeling.

mireille, turned completely inward, noticed nothing of this. "seagulls be nasty t'ings." the obsidian rose and walked easily beside raelle. "it will not be easy at first; even t'ose of us born to it, we gasp the first time we be in de col' surf."
the ocean lapped invitingly up its banks, and mireille tested it with a paw before padding to ankle, then to shoulder. "only go so far as you feel comfortable, raelle," she warned, though her emerald eyes were warm.

Only so far as she felt comfortable — well, that would be all the way up on the sand where the water couldn't reach her at all. So Rae ignored this advice, though she offered a smile in return for Mireille's consideration of her. She followed the red-furred leader slowly, determined to take this new experience in stride.
It felt, when the water first started to swallow her, like the grip of death. Rae froze a few seconds before Mireille reached her own intended depth, but kept her mouth shut and her eyes trained on the green-eyed woman. After a few moments, she relaxed, and dared to look around at the water surrounding them. It goes on forever... She murmured, half to herself.

"it does," mireille said softly, pulling her emerald gaze away to observe raelle. the sea was second nature to her, as she hoped it would be for her children. the obsidian ducked beneath the cold salt, surfacing with streaming fur and slitted eyes some feet away, deeper in the ocean.
"i come to swim every day, like my mo'ter," mireille sighed, fighting the emotional surge that rose in her heart, her soul. "it could get you used to de water, raelle."

Her own gaze was still wandering, but she felt Mireille's eyes on her nonetheless. Every day, huh? Rae repeated distractedly, too focused on staying calm to even realize what she was saying for a moment. Then she shook her head slightly, and turned her eyes back to Mireille.
Guess I should try that. Gotta get used to it somehow, She grinned, but it didn't quite reach her eyes. Stress shone instead in her expression. You ever worry about getting swept away? If she did, Rae thought she hid it well; Mireille practically oozed confidence in the water, as if she'd been born there.

"i do." her chin was wet even before she nodded. "i t'ink dat it has taken many of us out t'ere. it took my brot'er scarab, once. and my sister regin. he came back. she did not."
had it taken coraline? loko?
her breath stirred the surface. "go under wit me?"