Dragoncrest Cliffs The Bends

The travel back to Sapphique took a toll on Suzu, who arrived tired, on sore feet, and with more twigs in her matted fur than she’d probably ever had in her whole life. Still, her spirit burned; the news she brought with her of Etienne’s state lent her strength. 

Glaukos had forbidden her from remaining in Rivenwood and given the impression he’d made, she chose not to disobey him. She bid adieu to @Etienne, explaining that she would return to Sapphique, and assuring him how certain she was that Sapphique would have a place both for him and the younger mop-faced funsuck. 

The older mop-faced funsuck would soon be judged by the leaders of the pack. She called out for her mother, to @Val and @Mireille as she returned, sauntering along the sandy beaches that rose up into cliffs in the distance.

he’d been investigating what looked like a raid to their medical stores when a call came; his head snapped up so abruptly he almost bashed it on the cave’s ceiling.

suzu!

he came upon her breathless, nose thrusting into her pelt to read of the varied accounts there. his heart twisted to see she was not as in good condition as she left; her fur hung over a thin frame, and her eyes burned with a particular species of resentment that val had never seen in her before. suzu! you are back. he’d begun to worry a few weeks prior — it was a great relief to see her, even if she looked roadworn and tired. how was your trip?

with few men around, and none who would dare demand a performance of peak post-partum potential, mireille was free to move about sapphique with no sense of shame about her recovering body.
the scent of milk and moss often clung to her, but with many types of help available, mireille was free to have time to herself, and so thrived in these early weeks on the empathetic support of her coastal pack.
suzu's call pleased her; she came sauntering along the slopes and clucked her tongue, eyes narrowing, to see the state of her niece.
"where have you gone?" she asked, not in an accusatory manner, rather a casual way of asking what has stressed you to this degree? i want their head.
val was close; she glanced up at him and then began to unsnarl tangles from suzu's pelt.

While it brought her joy to see the signs that she would bear children again in the summer, when the voice of her eldest daughter caused tears of elation to spring to her eyes. She bounded toward the borders, puzzled that her daughter felt the need to announce her return, worrying that perhaps she would be coming back to them wounded or sick, as had happened before.

The world was full of cruel wolves- she had sensed that something had to have been wrong for Suzu (the epitome of a home body) to have taken so long to come home.

She looked well enough- dishevelled and tired, and if she wasn’t fooled, more lean than she’d ever been. Mireille pulled tangles free from her fur and Chacal moved in to circle her daughter- appraising her for any sign of physical harm before she snapped her gaze to her daughter’s, in time to hear her response.

Like racehorses the three leaders came, one after the other but in quick succession. Her fury was quick to dissolve, rapidly dissipating as she felt flooded with relief. She was home- but that wasn’t where it ended. 

She held her answer to Mireille’s question as she saw her mother come barrelling into view and sought to tell the story once- so they might all take the news simultaneously. 

”I foun’ Etienne,” She said. ”’First in de forest where ‘e said ‘e was, but den we got separated when dere was a mudslide…’armless but ugh, entirely an inconvenience,” She rolled her eyes. The cold rain had been bad enough, but having to traverse the gravelly scree afterwards had been exhausting. 

”’im an’ ‘is friend were gone when I went back,” she kept her tone neutral when speaking of Anselm. ”But I foun’ deir trail in de valley- dey be wid a pack called Rivenwood,” She drew a sharp breath in and bared her teeth when she spoke again. ”But not by choice.” 

She allowed the words to sink in, but left little time for interjection. Every moment that passed left Glaukos time to do something. He was a mountain of a man, dangerous enough as he was- but like a sleeping volcano, she believed he possessed the capability to do great harm. 

”Dis man, Glaukos, ‘e ‘ave two pregnant women wid ‘im…One of dem is Heda,” She feared for the woman, now. Especially if Etienne and Anselm were to leave. ”When ‘e found out Eti could heal, ‘ attacked ‘im an’ forced ‘im to stay.” She growled, her matted guard hairs lifting in spite of the weight of dust, twigs and debris. ”’E cast me out. I ‘ope Eti will leave, but-“ She shook her head. Glaukos had threatened to keep him there once- what was to stop him from harming Etienne again if he decided Etienne’s help was in fact needed? 

”We ‘ave to do somet’ing,” She pleaded.

val stepped back as mireille arrived - her curt inspection and the cluck of her tongue brought a small smile to val's face.

chacal was next to arrive; val gave the trio a wide berth now, recognizing his station here was more by honor than necessity. his ears strained forward to hear suzu's account, but he was patient -- his eyes gradually widening as each layer of this complicated onion was exposed.

val's mouth formed a thin line. the news suzu brought was troubling. his gaze cast between mireille and chacal, deferring to them first. the more suzu spoke, the more val's anger directed to this strange man mounted.

he tried to make sense of this puzzle. etienne had legs, didn't he -- couldn't he run and leave the complicated lives of the inland wolves behind?

val loosened a sigh. in his mind, it was time for etienne to come home.

val and chacal converged as suzu gave the story. 
she had been on a bit of an adventure with etienne, it seemed; his matant was pleased to hear he was well, and for a moment this showed upon her face.
she had tracked her brother and this friend to a place called rivenwood, where it sounded as if a son of the shores was being forcibly kept.
mireille did not move her intent gaze from her niece until suzu had finished speaking. and then she stared first to chacal, then to val.
etienne was not a boy, he was a man. how could he be trapped? but she believed that something forceful was afoot, and like the aventurine, felt it was time for him to come back to sapphique.
"i t'ink t'ree of us should go back an' see about t'ings." heda? why was she there? "suzu, you have only named one man, would a trio be enough to — mediate t'ings?" she asked pleasantly, though the emerald eyes had hardened to know that etienne was in any trouble at all. mireille herself could not go, much as she wished, but she knew whatever firm emissaries were chosen would be effective.

Someone had harmed her son- and had done so to keep him as a prisoner to tend to women…She couldn’t help but wonder what state the women were in as well- and her heart twisted at the thought of Heda being held there, potentially as a captive.

She marked the man as a villain; anyone who knew Etienne would know that he would never turn his back on someone who needed help. There had to be something wrong with this Glaukos- a bully who would harm others just to get what he wanted from them rather than asking.

She tried to project when her own birth loomed, and found herself helpless. She would not be able to properly protect either herself or her unborn children if a fight broke out and she doubted very little that the man would not hurt a woman.

But it would mean turning her back on one of her children for the sake of others, and it broke her heart. ”I will see if @Svalinn will go. I will be in no shape, as so,”