She walks with a false purpose. The sand beneath their feet becomes more and more uncomfortable as they move forward, one foot in front of the other, only stopping when they reach it.

She is flanked (surrounded) by her sisters, the three coiling and waving like snakes. They move as a sort of disjointed fusion, all with the same head and limbs, separated only by the physical bodies in which they were contained.

But Dieudonné women were like that. Attached at the hip but torn apart by the very natures that dragged them into packs. They were like wolves; they were united by blood, power and duty. A duty to eliminate the weak. A duty to rule over the least equipped. A duty of control.

Their duty today was simple: find Étienne, where he had fled. Find what stupid goal had brought him to this place. Secondarily, there was also the question of the Matriarch (a question that Étoile had deemed beneath her miles ago. Who cared about the stupid Matriarch when she hadn't eaten anything since yesterday? It was absurd.)

Still, it was @Victorine's lead that the dusky woman followed, and Victorine had led them here. Here to... somewhere... a somewhere that Étoile can only describe as fucking boring so far.

She thumps her tail against @Marilène's side, annoyed at this whole charade. "Je sais que je n'ai pas fait tout ce chemin pour voir la plage. Où est notre frère inutile?" I know I didn't come all this way to see the beach. Where is our useless brother?

Elaine had been trying to spend more time within the passage to bring more members into the Bluffs. She didn't know what was ahead but knew they needed more members. Elaine walked along and caught sight of a small group who seemed to be heading in the same direction. Perfect maybe it would be easier to get them all at once. She got closer and heard familiar words slipping from one. She stopped before she got too close and looked them over. She had learned her lesson about thinking just because someone spoke french that made them family. Her whole life had been turned upside down because of this. Bonjour. She decided to start with something simple to see where things went with them.

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I GOT BODIES IN MY CLOSET,
CAN'T REMEMBER ALL THEIR NAMES

Victorine leads - confidently, without questioning that either of the other two might want to. She is the ringleader of the trio, after all; it is simply how things are. But she is not the loudest. No, that particular trait is reserved for @Étoile. While her sister aligns herself against the third, @Marilène, Vic is busy studying the passage with a critical eye. An ear twists back to catch the scathing words, however, and her expression sours. She swipes a tongue across her bottom lip, swallowing the urge to snap, and instead tips her head up enough that she can pin a sharp, red eye upon her sisters.

à peine inutile, quand il fait nos corvées. She corrects, brows tightening in silent warning. Hardly useless when he does our chores. Maintenant le silence. I tire of your complaining. Now silence. Vic chastises, her own tail lashing in agitation. Much as she adores the other sides of her soul, they fight as one might expect family to. The difference, of course, being that the sisters fight vicious. Her body is scattered with scars from them - and others alike.

The arrival of @Elaine is noted, the shift of the stranger's paws against the snow and sand snapping her head around to pin crimson eyes upon her. The french slips from her tongue smoothly and Victorine's body stiffens, her head sliding lower and undulating in an almost serpentine manner. A sneer curls one corner of her lips - but she stills her aggression. Where she might have ripped the tongue from any who dare speak their language.... they had been sent to find family.

Perhaps this was it.

Who are you? She demands, jutting her chin out and flicking her gaze up and down the star-spattered Wolfbron woman.

They come in droves - a pack which advances in unison. The wolves had made the arduous trek to these promised lands. However, as Marilène stood at the foot of the passage, she was admittedly less than impressed. Silent eyes studied her sisters as they bickered, yet she gave no input on the matter. Instead, she merely opted to slither away from their positions; she stood now solitarily to the side.

In the distance, the shadows drew near, and unveiled a form - a lioness. Her eyes shifted in clear disdain as @Elaine approached, and what escaped her lips only further served to spark offense. The serpentine curled her lips, and bared her fangs in a warning: stop, lest you lose your speech. Marilène’s tail lashed now in agitation, but she did not strike yet. Momentarily, she looked to @Victorine to see how she should react. The action was subconscious, but a clear admission of who was in charge of their social hierarchy.

It seemed as though Victorine hesitated to react thusly, so Marilène opted to follow suit. Her foxy eyes gazed upon the darkened lioness before them, and she couldn’t help but continuously sneer. Her doubts were palpable, for the woman could hardly believe there was any possibility of this stranger being of Dieudonné blood. She was practically an antonym of the sisters, for her pelt stood out above all. A perfect reflection of the night, it was stunning surely, but far too foreign for Marilène to assent. Eyes flickered to @Étoile, too, to assess her position on the matter. Once the wolf was satisfied with her personal turmoils, she would approach the interloper. The lioness felt her eyes flood with insatiable hunger, and she snarls her warning: “Je vous suggère de bien réfléchir à votre réponse.” I suggest you consider your answer wisely.

Elaine watched each of them closely, their reactions would tell her so much and they did. A twitch of a smirk flicked on her lips as they reacted to her use of french. While she had come across many who spoke it, none bristled the way they were doing. None had felt the desire to claim the language like her family. Elaine listens to the question and looks at each of them. They were sisters it seems by their colors and markings. That could be good for her, at least she hoped it was. Elaine Dieudonné She said as she looked from @Marilène who had demanded her answer to @Victorine who had asked it. Et qui êtes-vous? And who are you? Elaine waited for the answer, while she had an idea, that didn't mean she was correct. She could only hope she was.

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The stranger offers the wrong answer immediately, and just as quickly, Ètoile bristles at the audacity. @Victorine's commands mean little in the face of such impudence, and Ètoile does little to hold her tongue against the stranger and her lies.

Impossible. She spits, venom dripping off her sour tongue. Nous sommes Dieudonné, vous êtes un imposteur au visage laid. We are Dieudonnè, you are an imposter with an ugly face.

Her tail lashes against her sisters, angry, ready to pounce in defense of her name, of their name. Écoute, ensuite elle va nous dire qu'elle est la matriarche. Quelle folie... Watch, next she is going to tell us she's he Matriarch. What folly... She speaks in a low growl to her sisters, a rumble meant only for their far superior ears. This imposter didn't even have the dusky coat of a Dieudonnè, let alone the royal stance or obvious breeding.

@Elaine (she's just a huge bitch, feel free to smack her down)

@Étoile was just as quick as her to raise suspicions, yet hers were laced with a much heavier poison. Although Marilène, too, had her doubts about the validity of these claims, she would hiss a silence to her sister - lest she get them endangered. “Étoile, tu surveilles aussi tes paroles,” You watch your words, too the viper retorted. Her attention turned now to @Elaine once more, and although she felt inclined to jump into action, she wondered if there could be some truth in her words. Perhaps their family line had strayed too far... She shuddered at the thought, but it was one worth noting.

“Ma sœur n'a pas tort : comment savoir si vous n'êtes pas un imposteur?” My sister has a point, how do we know you aren't a fraud? It was a call to action - prove yourself. For all she knew, this woman could have simply seen - or heard - what happens to those who steal from them. Perhaps she was simply lying to save face and tongue.

Her gaze lowered, and her figure resembled that of a predator now. Hungrily, her tongue would sweep across her lips - a metaphor for what was to come, and what Elaine may soon be losing. It seems their first impression is already toxically hostile, but what would the Dieudonnè be if not that?

The past would always shape the future, there was no way around it. As Elaine looked them over and as they looked her over, she knew that each of their pasts and her own were pushing and pulling them toward a certain outcome. Had this been a few years ago, maybe even a few months ago, Elaine would have jumped into battle as the unknown female spoke, and ripped into the other who lowered herself and looked at Elaine as if she would be the next meal but she pushed herself to learn from her past. Her claws still slipped into the sandy earth and her body craved the thrill of the fight that might be waiting for her. Je ne suis pas la matriarche, ma sœur l'est. I am not the Matriarch, my sister is. She says nothing aimed at the comment about her face, she had never been one to care about her looks and so the words fall flat.

Her gaze falls on @Marilène solely now. Elaine had never had to prove herself before. She had never been questioned but there were things that she knew that only family would know. Que diriez-vous d'une chasse au lion pour prouver que vous avez mérité ce nom? How about a hunt for a lion so you can prove you have earned the name? Elaine raised a brow slightly to see if it was enough but also made it clear that Elaine wasn't about to take them at their word if they weren't going to do the same. She could play this little back and forth for a bit before action would need to be taken. Elaine didn't wish to spill any more blood of her possible family members but if she needed to remove them from the island, she would fight to do that. They would either join her or she would hunt them down to make sure they did not cause issues like the past ones had.

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"Oh, Mari, une chasse! Depuis combien de temps n’avons-nous pas eu une vraie chasse?" Oh, Mari, a hunt! How long has it been since we've had a real hunt?

The serpent's sneer evaporated into excitement as the ugly woman offered the prospect of food - of real food. It had been far too long since they had truly hunted, far too long since she had a good meal.

"So you know the best places to find good meat?" She tilted her head to one side, fixing the stranger with her crimson glare. Maybe she had been too quick to judge...

@Elaine @Marilène

Silence befalls the viper as @Elaine mentions the matriarch; could it be, that they had finally found her? Nothing escapes her lips, and Marilène would offer only a sly grin in return. She, too, would make a mental note to report this back to her brother. Perhaps her sister’s brashness had payed off for once, for how else would they have been thrown such juicy intel?

“Far too long,” the woman sneers crookedly. It seemed that this stranger was certainly full of the same toxins as they; she liked her. Not quick to back down, yet fast to spit it all back; it was exactly the kind of woman Marilène loved to see.

There was no doubt she was Dieudonné.

“Votre feu... Il brûle si magnifiquement. J'admire votre résistance face à l'hostilité,” Your fire… It burns so beautifully. I admire your resilience in the face of hostility, she crows. Softly, the woman would give a glance towards @Étoile. Yet, it wouldn’t be long before she would stare at Elaine once more, dipping her head in respect for the woman. “Nous vous suivrons, et si vos paroles sont vraies, ce sera un honneur de servir la matriarche une fois de plus,” We’ll follow you, and if your words hold true, it would be an honor to serve the matriarch once more, the viper concedes. A quick lick of her lips once more, and Marilène would usher her sisters alongside her. “J'ai hâte de reprendre la chasse.” I cannot wait to hunt again.

With that, she would allow the woman to lead them to the matriarch. Certainly, Marilène would find great joy in reporting this one back to Étienne.

- Exit Marilène w/ Elaine -