Over the course of the last several years, Tephra had unwittingly become her home. It was the birthplace now to more of her children than the Valley and Dale combined, and while the volcanic kingdom does not sing to her soul quite in the same way as the others did, there was still something reassuring in knowing she had somewhere to call her own. She didn’t always stay; the quiet wild of her veins drew her away, but come spring, she could almost always be found back here.
Alleria, like her sisters before her, had been born in the sands of Tephra’s beach, beneath a velvet sky full of stars and to the lullaby of waves rolling onto the shore. Lifetimes ago, before she had come here, and even before she had met Dhumin, the beach had been her home. The shore, even more than the Valley, had woven its way into her heart, into her blood – and here in Beqanna, the beaches are where she has died and been revived on more than one occasion.
Maybe then it is no wonder that she gave birth to a selkie daughter. Maybe then, in ways that could only make sense in a land such as this, it would seem fitting that Carnage’s magic would interlace with her past and forge something so extraordinary as Alleria.
She doesn’t have a logical answer, and she doesn’t search for one. She just knows Alleria is flawless, in a way that only she could be.
Today, with the afternoon sun low in the sky, she leads her youngest up the coastline. She had promised to bring her to meet Nightlock and Wonder’s newborn children – four of them, which was incredible, even to her – and as children were prone to doing, she wasn’t letting her forget. They walk, the unnaturally white mare and the still-black filly (and she wonders if she will soon turn that same storm-gray as her father, and her brother), and while Ryatah does not insist she cling to her side, she is leery of letting her wander too far.
“Alleria,” she says softly, the sea breeze carrying the quiet of her voice as she turns off the beach and towards the alcove that Nightlock and Wonder had tucked their new family away in, beckoning the filly to follow with a tilt of her head. She brushes her muzzle along the length of her back once she is close enough, and lips playfully at the silky curls of her mane as she murmurs sweetly against her skin, “They’re going to be so excited to meet you.” There is an almost secretive excitement to her smile, glancing down knowingly at her daughter, just as they come upon the small gathering.
Ryatah goes to Nightlock first, and for a moment the sight of him causes a strange hitch in her throat, as it always does. At a glance – that first one, when your mind tries to show you the image of what you think you’re seeing, before your eyes register what you’re really seeing – he looks like his father, with the stormcloud gray of his skin and the shape and angle of his face. Their eyes are different, though – his are dark, like hers, and of course he had a sincere kindness buried away that Carnage lacked. She swallows away that strange feeling to press her lips to her son’s cheek, followed by an amused smile at the way he tries to stiffen himself and only half-heartedly touch her back.
She moves onto Wonder, and without hesitation she touches her lips to the young girl’s brow, against the armor of bone, and then lower to let her muzzle touch hers. “They’re beautiful, Wonder,” and she turns to take in the four newborns – two wolf pups, and two fillies. Maybe she should have been more intrigued by this scenario, but several lifetimes of seeing things far stranger has dulled her senses to what others might deem bizarre. But she looks back to the young mother, and there is worry evident in her eyes as she searches the other girl’s face and asks gently, “Are you feeling alright? You must be exhausted.”
okay this post got away from me so I literally just ended it. tldr grandma Ryatah is bringing auntie Alleria to play with the puppylocks.
I know Leah and Phae still haven't posted their babies so I suppose just pretend Ryatah & Alleria show up later. I am very pro fluid timelines so hopefully I didn't annoy anyone with this.