Wheeling Gull Isle bleu, bleu, le monde est bleu

AW, but looking specifically for @Reigi and/or @Coelacanth

It seemed like each and every search mission she undertook was destined to fail. And while this was hyperbole, considering the girl had only embarked on no less than a handful of said quests, that did nothing to alleviate the sorrow that hung over her as she crossed the sandbar. Past the rotting seal, decayed in the sun. Over the sand, unchanged since she last touched it.

Finally, she found herself on the island again, and made her way to the treeline--out of the sun, which burned down upon her, searing her to the marrow. Only when she was in the shade did she let her guard down, and she placed her muzzle on her paws, staring blank and straight ahead. It was a mirror image of when she had rested here after finding Vaati--and she was even more miserable now than she had been, then.

Mou was gone. Ramsay and Euron had slipped away once again.

Her only comfort was the bird. Maegi had formed a sort of kinship with him, over the past few days, and the bond was solidified further as he crossed over to the isle with her. Now he meandered around close by her side, pecking at the unfamiliar fruits of this new home. His antics brought the barest of smiles to her face. She had named him Blue, for his head. Simple--a childlike name--but memorable.

It is good to be home.  Yakone has left her and it hurts.  Nothing can fill that void, but her paws are always busy in an attempt to forget.  There is a seal on Undersea's shore that is sundried and covered in flies.  She cannot bear to look at it.  

She is pricklier than usual, and she sweeps the island over and over, unwilling to rest.  Yakone will come home.  Yakone will come home.  Yakone will come — Maegi.  The girl enters her mind as she enters her vision, and she approaches from behind silently, eyes trained on the girl's bird.  As she moves to the Melonii's side, her head cocks in confusion.

A familiar, comforting scent shimmered suddenly in the air, and Maegi lifted her head, joy suffusing her face as her gaze locked onto-- "Venninne!" she exclaimed, clambering to her feet and rushing toward the woman with her odd, three-beat gait. She all but pummeled into the brown, solid form, tail wagging madly.

The normally quiet girl was full of words, now. "I missed you! How was your trip? Where did you go? What did you see?" She forgot entirely that the woman did not speak, and her grin morphed into a grimace as the realization hit her. "Um. . .yeah. I'm so happy to see you." She snuggled into the sleek fur instead; if she were a cat, she would have purred.

Maegi noticed her bicolored eyes fixed on the bird. "That's Blue," she added casually, as if it were the most normal thing in the world to have an avian friend by your side. "He followed me here from the mainland."

Cameo for now; she doesn’t want to interrupt. ♥ Please skip me.

Despite the return of Komodo, `Io, and Rokig, Coelacanth had suffered a heavy blow to her self-confidence that she couldn’t seem to bounce back from. It was this renewed sense of inadequacy that made her pause at the sound of voices instead of moving forward with characteristic curiosity to greet the two females she so loved and revered. Instead, keeping meticulously downwind, she shifted her weight to her hindquarters in preparation to go — their reunion was a thing she did not wish to intrude upon, and she remembered keenly how awkward she’d made things when she bumbled into Mou’s recovery den that time. Poppyseeds. They’d been on Maegi’s paw, then, and had readily been given to Mou to help him through the worst of the pain.

(Should Coelacanth have been more watchful about the poppyseeds?)

Hemlock had told her of Maegi’s overdose, and the Aralez was still unsure what she ought to do about it, if anything. Overindulgence and addiction were things wholly unfamiliar to the little wolfdog, but anxiety and depression? They were old friends, and the former was particularly insistent that she go, and go now, because she would only besmirch this tableau — and really, Seelie, haven’t you done enough?

Maegi did not know how much her Venninne had grown during her time away from the island.  She nestled into the girl's embrace and kissed the top of her forehead.  Although 'Io had been gone for the majority of Maegi's tenure in Undersea she still thought of the young Melonii as her own.  

W-went to Mee-ress, Modo and Kona, saw many wolf.  She did not mention getting to see her children; they were no longer hers if they were under Indra's care, though Maegi might still scent them on her.  Blue?  Bird?  Her brows furrowed as her nose got perhaps too close to the bird.  She knew she wasn't supposed to eat it, but she kind of wanted to.  Friend?

Words! They took her thoroughly aback, and she pulled away from Venninne, staring at her with delight. The woman looked. . .different. She just was different. She thought of meeting Komodo on the mainland, contemplated the absence of Yakone. She hadn't seen the girl--was she just hiding? Was she gone? What had happened?

Maegi held these inquiries back, knowing that it might be a difficult subject for Venninne. Instead, she nodded at the questions given her, glancing over at Blue. The grackle had puffed up at Reigi's too-close proximity, taking a few steps back and preparing to squawk. She, in turn, padded protectively closer, not exactly distrusting Venninne--but knowing that most wolves saw birds as food and not friends.

"Friend," she confirmed, nodding. "In my old home, there were the ravens--they didn't bother us, and we didn't bother them. We lived with them in peace. Blue and I are the same way." Thinking of journeys away, she looked once more at the woman. "Are you back to stay?"