Totoka River reefed

Beyond the shores she'd clung to Catori was watching the river. Beneath it's calmer waters flashes of silver promised fish no doubt taking the advantage of the bounties that came from the sea that fed the river. One of the things that always intrigued the Spiritwalker was when it went from saltwater to freshwater. How did that happen, when it turned from the bitter undrinkable waters she so loved to surge through to the sustaining, life giving water that was so much tamer? To some they spent their lives never seen the sea and relied only on the rivers and lakes but Catori couldn't truly imagine that life. 

She gave a little hum, leaning down to watch for another few moments before she snapped her jaws beneath the water and brought a fish out with it, retreating to the edge of the river to enjoy her kill. 

A brisk wind cut through the Timber wolf's thin coat as she aimlessly threaded between clumps of sea grass and driftwood strewn about the shore. Her paws sunk with every step and she stumbled more than once, correcting herself with a swaying hop-skip-jump each and every time. Her eyes were on her feet, heedless of her direction, though her body seemed to curve away from the sea itself. At first glance, one might assume she was afraid of the rolling waves, and they would be right.

Celephais didn't look up until the murmur of running water had grown into a growl, and her heart jumped into her throat when her eyes went not to the river, but to Spiritwalker's brilliant red mane. She hadn't expected to find someone else on the shore. The heavy salt air made her feel sick and the sand and debris were a hindrance to her. Compared to the deep misty forest of her origins, the sea and the shoreline were both open, vulnerable, and positively disgusting. Not the sort of place she would look to find anyone, and she was none too pleased about the potential interaction.

The lone wolf sought her solitude with furtive steps toward the forest in the background, but she couldn't help the conspicuous hacking gag she suddenly issued when a strong wind gusted in from the sea, carrying that horrid salt smell directly to her nostrils.

 

Catori was content to focus on the fish between her paws, swiftly gutting it to get the best portions as quickly as possible, and for a time didn't notice the other wolf nearby. With her pale fur she quickly became a near bloodbath, muzzle and legs coated in the sticky blood from the fish. She didn't care exactly, the meal was pleasing and it was a fare she was used to. When she heard a gagging she paused, ears arching as she scanned the area. Her eyes narrowed - she was headed back towards the forest but she didn't feel exactly like exploring. 

She stood up, shaking some of the sand from her coat as she gave a low bark, wondering for a moment if there was an issue. Maybe she'd eaten something off, or worse, gotten a belly full of sea water and didn't know about those dangers. "You okay?" She called out - tongue slowly sweeping her maw to clear some of the blood from it. 

Spit dribbled past her lips as her body heaved in another retch, and only after a brief period of staring at the sand and breathing deep through her mouth did Celephais manage to recover. If not for her strong desire to be away from the south and never wind up back there, she would depart from the shoreline at once. She couldn't handle the strong air, the rocking waves, the persistent racket of gulls, or the sand under her paws. But this salt lake was the largest she had ever laid eyes on, and Celephais believed that following its edge would ensure she didn't double back toward the south by accident.

She lifted her bleary eyes to observe the other wolf only to shiver as her gaze met the milky orange of Spiritwalker's. Celephais had been noticed. Well, how could she not? That gag was louder than a car wreck. She watched the creme-and-ginger female near the river for a moment, noting the careless streaks of blood that indicated recent feeding, but she couldn't make out the shape of the carcass at her distance. Celephais licked her lips several times, willing herself to not give in to the continued urge to gag against the air's scent, and thickly she asked, "how can you stand it?"

She could barely breathe it in without feeling ill. How could this woman stand to eat in it?

Catori's eyes widened a bit at the words the other said, abandoning her half eaten fish to take a few steps further from the river and more towards the forest where the other was clearly still struggling with the environment. "Stand what?" She asked, head tilted a bit, looking around as if she could find the specific assailant to the other woman's senses. All she could imagine was that maybe - foolishly, perhaps - it was the scent of fish, not everyone liked it. Another sharp gust of wind carried the scent of salt from the ocean and whipped some of Catori's plush fur. "Would it be better further inland?" Still, an assumption it was the whole fish thing but then Catori had always been around the sea and the scent of clear fresh wind was almost odd to her. 

She certainly could handle being away from the ocean but it wasn't the same to her. She was at her most natural half in the water, half out, with the sea clinging to her coat. She drew in a deep breath, sucking in that brine again, but still it was different to her. There was still a look of concern on her face, wondering if the other woman was going to be alright given her strong reason; maybe if Catori got her somewhere further towards the forest it settle her stomach and let her rest. 

The bitch's ears preened up and forward when her collared companion drew nearer and spoke and her gaze narrowed. Could this wolf not notice the sickening stench in the air? Celephais would be truly floored to someday learn that some wolves chose to live on the shore, permanently soaking in the salt scent at the edge of the earthen world, and she would be even more blown away to know some wolves even preferred it. The heavy air and the perpetual stink of salt just wasn't for her, so it couldn't possibly suit anyone, right?

"That—" Celephais didn't finish her thought before another blast of wind and shuddering heave had her hunching closer to the ground, drooling profusely. As of yet she hadn't gone so far as vomiting but the fact that she had made it even a few miles down the coast without doing so was miraculous. The wind had surely been quieter when she first set out on the sands. Now it was persistent from the outer sea, and she knew she had to be away from it or she would lose her lunch for good.

She nodded weakly when Spiritwalker guessed at what might help. Any smell other than the brine-y scent of the ocean would be preferable. Even the noxious gases of a bog would calm her lurching stomach, and that was saying something. So she began to crawl haltingly toward the forest, though her legs felt like jelly under her as she went.

 

Brow furrowed Catori only turned to briefly look towards the fish she'd left behind before the other female started gagging again, profusely salivating. It was almost uncomfortable and Catori considered calling Seelie but then - well. That was a whole other matter and she wasn't quite sure if her cousin would hear her over the break of the sea. "Let's go," She said with a nod as she offered the other female her support. She stayed close, ready to press shoulder to shoulder if need be to provide the extra support in case the other went down. Once they'd cleared the brush and her toes dug into dirt rather than sand now. 

"There's a stream, you can get some water." Catori suggested. She could still hear the lapping of the ocean as it broke along the shore but the wind was cut by the growth of the plants around them. The forest nearby and it's massive trees weren't quite the same but she didn't want to focus on getting that far away. 

The sour taste lingering on her tongue from her retching—no doubt exaggerated by her constantly thinking about it—wasn't likely to go anywhere soon, but the offer of water that didn't smell like Satan's asshole heartily rimmed with salt was very welcome. It wouldn't take away her disgust with the otherwise refreshing sea air, but Celephais abruptly felt certain that water would help. If nothing else, it would give her something to throw up if she gagged again. It had to be better than dry heaving until she expelled her organs.

The woman wondered momentarily if that was possible and decided not to think about it any further. The imagery was liable to make her throw up for real.

She tottered along beside the pretty coast dweller, vaguely aware that the other was not only older than she, but much more mature as well. Catori had a matronly air about her that Celephais had never enjoyed from her own mother, and that alone helped to quell some of her nausea. They crossed the natural boundary between shoreline and coastal forest. The moment her paws registered firm, rich loam beneath her toes, she felt steadier, and crawled to the ground with a ululating cry of gratitude. The sand may as well have been the rolling sea itself under her feet, and the foliage seemed to absorb some of the salt smell so that it was bearable even when it gusted. The moist smell of earth and decay took its place, and Celephais felt instantly at home.

"Thank you," she whispered hoarsely as she twisted her head around to fix a watery light blue eye on the she-wolf whose mane veritably blazed in the shadowy forest. It was beyond comical. Celephais' relief was exaggerated a hundred times over so that the whole affair was one poor drama act worthy of an eye roll, but to her, it was so real she felt like she could faint. Her stomach still rolled though and the promise of water was still a major temptation, so she eventually dragged herself to her feet and attempted to suss out the stream's location.

 

Catori couldn't help but wonder how was this real? It seemed extensive - a bit excessive - but maybe there was something wrong with her. Maybe there was a whole lot going on. She watched as the woman crawled and moved closer the moment that she'd made it far enough that the sand was no longer beneath their paws. "This way," She said quickly, reaching down to nudge the girl's shoulder again. "It's past the treeline," She offered encouragingly - wanting to guide her as close as she could to water, maybe even watch over her while she recovered. "Did you eat something bad?" A guess, of course, but a common one when it came to the ailments of another. Especially when it rendered someone so out of it Catori just had to assume what she could. 

She didn't smell anything like blood, she hadn't seen anything like an injury, so maybe it was the left overs from something that had soured in her stomach. "Maybe your stomach will settle in a bit." Catori couldn't glean the details after all from the future - she could only hope that things got better for the stranger soon. 

No one could be blamed for thinking that the overdramatic little she-wolf was addled in some way. Hell, she probably was. She'd grown up with some of the strangest beliefs and rituals, and she'd be joking if she said her family life was very normal. That Catori hadn't simply abandoned her for acting the way she was was nothing short of a miracle, and spoke highly of the beautiful wolf's character.

"I owe you my life," Celephais insisted when Catori offered to show her the way. Another major exaggeration. The worst that could have happened had she stayed on the coast was that she would actually have thrown up real substance, and then she'd probably have just tried to eat it again. Still, the loner believed in her heart that the smell of the sea was capable of killing her, so she also believed that Catori had saved her. She followed along in relative silence, at least until she was asked a question.

"Wait," the loner said, taking a steadying breath and swallowing thickly when she tasted the remnants of salt on the air, "you mean... it doesn't bother you?" She left that cryptic for way longer than she should—long enough for them to reach the creek and for her to throw herself at it, guzzling down water as if she was in a desert rather than a forest—but finally, licking her chops, she scrutinized Catori and explained, "the air out there smells like shit. Like... so bad, it almost made me puke every time the wind blew!"

 

Oh goodness. Okay, that was a bit...um, extreme, and she appreciated it and all but she didn't think she'd done anything that special. Catori shook her head and quickly looked around - like someone else might find them and help them or come to take over this moment. "Oh, no - no, you're fine. Seriously, we're good." Catori said quickly. She was a bit perplexed until the woman went on to ask how she could stand it - and she was just as confused as she'd been the entire time with the whole matter of why the woman was sick in the first place. 

But then it made more sense, the air, the wind - oh, it was the salt on the air. "I grew up on the coast." She said smoothly, which meant that even the smell of her probably made the other woman's stomach churn. "You have anyone around here to help you out till you settle? I probably stink then, don't I?" It wasn't a personal thing to Catori, she wasn't offended. She knew it could be....intense to others, though she was as comfortable in the brine as she was anywhere else. If she was honest with herself, maybe even more comfortable. 

After she was assured the female was alright Catori left her to herself, going back on her own.