the finer things

Breathing in deep the sun coated male paused at the edge of the sand, he couldn't believe it! There wasn't even a trace of salt yet lo and behold a beach! His eyes widened in awe, boy oh boy what a find! He wiggled in his excitement with a barely contained squawk before he was all limbs throwing himself forward to race through the warm and bespeckled sand. Laughter falling from his maw he tumbled down and rolled for a second. He fell with as much grace as he'd like to imagine he could. For the time being, he would push the discomfort of sand between his toes out of his mind. The heated particles felt so nice against his aching paw pads, the traveller had lost track of how many steps he had dared to trod during his trip through a valley as of late. The joy of rising over the crest of a hill and seeing the light spillover unexplored lands would never get old to Bayani. He buried his cheek against the cushioned earth. "Ah I should visit the beach more often." His voice was muffled but he felt better just being able to speak out loud. It wasn't always the best to keep one's thoughts trapped up top yeah? Rising to his paws he peaked along the shore in thought, ooo what if the little shelly leg things were about? He began his trek of snuffling about in the sand. After half an hour of only finding soggy greens and empty shells he huffed in defeat. He was close to calling it quits and leaving when he paused by a paw step in the sand. He stared blankly for a second realising this one wasn't his own. Nostrils flaring he peeked up, ears perked. "Ehh?"

"Beautiful day, isn't it?"

With a jolt the short furred male whipped his head around to find himself facing a water goddess rising from the depths of lake. His muzzle parted in astonishment, and here they tried to tell him holy beings didn't just pop up out of no where...He blinked the sun reflecting off the surface messing with his vision until finally a full image of a beautiful wolf stood before him. "Ah-hh yeah!" His tailed wagged as the excitement of meeting someone new hit him. 'Okay okay calm down! Don't scare em off.' He took a shuddering breath to calm himself.

"Care to join me?"

He gave a dopey grin then padded confidently into the lapping waves. "It's not every day a water goddess ask me to swim with them." He said a little cheekily. He gave himself a moment to sink into the soil and let the water roll over his back, tugging at his strands and soothing his muscles. "I think this might be one of my new favourite beaches. The last one had the whitest sands, it was stunning....a little blinding on a sunny day but I think the freshwater here is better." He murmured with bliss.

"Oh, you flatter me, sir," "Despite all appearances, I'm no goddess. In truth, I'm just as mortal as you are."

Just listening to her chuckle and the sound of her voice brought warmth to his chest, man he was so excited to see someone. It had to have been many moons since he last ran into another loner. Usually he has the luck of passing by some grumpy packs and a couple of crazy rogues.  

"Personally, I miss the smell of the sea, Though I suppose the freshwater does have its upsides... it's drinkable for one, and there are no sharks. Or at least, I would hope not!"

He watched with a pleased grin as she slid further into the water. He nodded in agreement, his eyes glazing as he remembered the sunny beach and seagulls oh and the smell. "Ay and those little crabs, and the weirdest things tended to wash up on the beach...shattered pieces of creation made from humans." He sighed wistfully thinking about the broken pottery pieces he had found one of the first beaches he had stumbled upon. He paused at the last bit of her sentence, ears perking he stared at the lapping water in thought. " Nah I think the most there'd be would probably be an alligator but at this time of the season their courting probably in their birthlands. Think we might need to mind the catfishes though." He said with a laugh. "They do get pretty big so mind your tail."

"How come you left the ocean? If thats okay for a stranger like me to ask." He gave a charming smile before he let it slide off with a gasp. "Oh goodness! I'm so sorry I haven't even minded my own manners and introduced myself!" He rose back up onto his haunches, his face feeling hot from not just embarrassment but also from his poor manners,  he was a little displeased that he was doing something so formal while looking like a wet rat! "I am Bayani and its most certainly a pleasure to meet you miss."

Tags: @Cedar

The stranger reminisces of crabs and the strange things that would wash up on the beach. "Shattered pieces of creation made from humans," he describes, far more poetically than Cedar herself would offer. Personally, she would call it trash, pollution, among other things. She liked that the beach by her old kingdom was fairly secluded. Humans rarely ever came by, though their influence was felt as much as it would in any other part of the world she imagines. It seems no matter where you went, there they were.

They are the reason she's in this country now, rather than back in Europe where she belongs. She tries to look on the bright side of it: her old kingdom will never be able to track her down here and there are things to enjoy about being an "exotic beauty" in the eyes of the locals, what with her accent and unusual appearance.

"Crabs are such strange little things, no?" Cedar decides to settle more on that subject. Not as heavy as humans and their waste and what a blight they are on this world. "I heard they're actually quite delectable, though I've never tried for myself." Their hard shells and pinching claws have always been more trouble than Cedar thought they were worth. She imagines she would eat one and still be dreadfully hungry afterwards.

Cedar tilts her head when the stranger mentions something called an 'alligator', saying they're likely elsewhere this time of year but that they should still watch for catfish. "Alligators? I can't say I'm familiar with those. A type of fish, I'm guessing?" she says. Her tail flicks above water level and she glances behind when he says to mind her tail. "Hmm... I think I would prefer for my tail to stay intact." Not that she was expecting a catfish to take it off, but they are indeed big, nasty things.

"How come you left the ocean? If thats okay for a stranger like me to ask." Before she had the chance to answer, he gasped and apologized for his lack of manners, he hadn't even introduced himself, for goodness sake. "I am Bayani and its most certainly a pleasure to meet you miss."

Cedar chuckles. "It's quite alright, Bayani. My name is Cedar. The pleasure's all mine." She doesn't mind. Bayani hadn't been outright rude to her the way some wolves might be. In fact, he was very much on the polite side of things. "As for your question... I thought a change of scenery would be nice. I'd always had such a thirst for adventure since I was a girl. So I ventured away to the forests and cliffs, until one day I was captured and brought here."