Larksong Grotto A Million Years

Heat wave event!

It was early morning, but the air was already hot as hell and thick like water. Njord had hoped to do some early hunting on the plains, but he retreated to the shade of the grotto as the temperatures began to rise. His tongue hung from his mouth, sides heaving as he panted. The seafarer couldn't remember a day hotter than this in his entire life... and he was beginning to regret leaving the cliffs on a day like today. 

The shade provided some relief, but soon he would need water to make the journey home. He picked himself up and, lethargically, began to meander in hopes of finding a stream.

The wound on her leg had since healed from that time, but the fur from that patch had yet to grow back. It would probably stay like that for sometime, or forever -- who knew? Though a patch of pale skin didn't bother her much, at least she could walk properly now...

The heat from this morning was starting to give the crane a headache, and it wasn't long until a pink tounge began lulling out between her dark maw. It wasn't as if Izumi hadn't walked through a sunny day in the past, but today was ridiculous -- dangerously ridiculous. As if passing out any second now was a possibility.

Temporarily would she close her eyes to block out the sunlight -- only for a second, or longer -- for a break against these UV rays. She could've sworn she passed someone just now, but she was too beat down by the temperatures and too set out on finding water to notice at first...

As the islander writhed in the blasting heat, a wispy figure – like smoke – caught his peripheral gaze. He swore it was a mirage: a young, doe-legged woman spun of silver and charcoal meandered across the grotto. She reminded him of the ethereal Kukutux of Moonglow. Despite her beauty, she appeared soon-to-be sun sick, like himself… but perhaps she knew this terrain and where water hid.

“Ahoy, travel’r!” he called. In better conditions he would have trotted up, but even Njord could hardly muster the energy to move faster than a snail’s pace. He looked very much melt-y: folded ears and drooping posture. “Do ya know where there’s water ‘round these parts, lass?” he asked.

She did pass someone!

The young crane's legs came to a halt, though she'd falter a little from the faintness already being indured -- could she really afford to stop right now? Too late, Izu's curiosity already got the better of her. Her crown swiveled sideways, and her lilac depths drawn to see a grey-swarthed man with a sapphire stare. Through all this heat was the scent of seasalt, which radiated off of him like the ocean itself -- was he from the shores just up north?

"H-Hello." That's what he was saying to her, right? Did 'Ahoy' mean hello too, or was she misinterpreting something? Izu wouldn've opened her mouth to speak again, if her eyes didn't become fixated on something else which peeked just slightly behind the pirate -- and that was his vibrant red tail. It was stark contrast in comparison to the rest of his body, and the girl found herself staring at the velvety tassel for a bit longer than necessary...

Until she realized she was staring.

"I...Yes, yes I do." The crane finally said after a while, a still-doll expression hiding the inner tension she'd felt from that akward pause. 

This aside, yes. Scouting around the Teekons in the past granted her the luck of knowing where one was, but it was the draining energy brought by the heat causing movement to feel like a chore. "Do you want me to show you?" hopefully, Izumi wouldn't pass out on her way there.