Shimmering Sands glass teeth mask

at last they had hit sand, though it appeared the duo had a ways to go before they would reach the depths. sandpiper split from her brother for a moment, trotting down the compact line of sand that marked the swash of the ocean. the sand felt more forgiving than soil ever did and soon, she was possessed by soaring spirits that compelled her to break into a lope along the strand.

@Smokestep was sure to see her, and likely would easily match her pace. ahead of them she saw the mark of a river and steered towards it with long and efficient strides.

When his feet fell from the hard touch of the earth to the grainy sands, it was as though he was immediately relieved. The tight muscles in his shoulders and chest had begun to fall. The waters crashed against the shore with a gentle push and pull. While his legs continued their move, his eyes were trained on her power. He would not have lasted in his right mind if they had been trapped on the land for another day. It was as though the cogs in his mind had been freshly oiled and cleaned; ready for the next hard day of labor.

Without pause, Smokestep turned from his sister's side and began to sprint. His long legs stretched out on the sand with each pounding step that he took. The seafarer slammed into the water with his chest. His legs buckled from underneath him at the sudden resistance. Smokestep rolled into the water without hesitation. The freezing touch of her hand against his flesh was electric. He could have existed beneath the swell for the rest of his days without emerging.

with the sea roaring besides her, the sand beneath her, and her brother with her, for a moment sandpiper forgot their purpose and smiled - a rare and scant smile that faded quick as it surfaced. a splash besides her announced smokestep's cacophonic reunion with the ocean - bounding with strong strides sandpiper could not hope to match. she slowed and turned towards the briskly chopping waves, trailing in the seafoam after her brother.

she swam in circles, dipping her head under water occasionally - snorting and bubbling and drawing great amusement from the froth of bubbles that snarled to the surface each time she dived underwater. when she had spent enough energy the thin wolf turned towards the shore, adopting a slow walk just adjacent to the tide. ahead the river grew more and more apparent until the rush of fresh-water roiled under her feet. sandpiper stopped where the dark water met ocean and stilt marked the strange union of two foreign bodies of water. upstream she spotted the thin-legged form of a stork. further upstream she could hear the chatter of otters. curious to see if her brother was still with her, sandpiper turned her attention on him and silently seemed to ask 'what now?'

Life returned to his limbs. Swimming in the swell was almost a second nature to the pale Cairn. His sea legs were far stronger than they would ever be on firm land. He was beginning to wonder how he had lasted so long in their travels. Skellige had made the journey, twice over. Smokestep knew that they were sent because they were meant to reclaim their home. Sandpiper was certainly strong enough; he would have chosen no one else to have at his side. Bobbing beneath the waves, he could see that his sea-salted sister had joined him in the surge.

The two basked in their moment with the ocean and Sandpiper was the first to return to the shore. Smokestep did not take long to follow her. He dripped with brine and the smell of saline waters, but he was alight with energy. It seemed as though his sister wished to move on with their quest. As he trotted to come up at her rear, his eyes scanned his surroundings. Watching the stork with narrowed eyes and an empty expression on his pale features, Kingfisher lost himself to thought for several long seconds. The chattering of the otters brought him back.

“Are ye hungry?” he asked with a grunt.

"I am!"

Raptor hollered from off a ways. The sable pirate could seemingly hear any mention of food or hunger from one end of the earth to the other; and it was his never ending quest for grub that had pulled him away from his adventure pals. Unfortunately, the masked wolf had come up short in his brief excursion.

He sprang to his companion's location and skidded to a sand-flinging halt beside them, hastily glancing about to see what prompted the question.

"What's here? What have ye got?"

rofl HALLO FRIEND

sandpiper did not miss kingfisher's momentary lapse from the presence - she followed his gaze to the stork, yet somehow knew whatever he was looking into was something not visible to her eye. eventually he came back and she set her golden gaze upon him, a quick nod given in affirmation to his query. "am i ever not?" she quipped, a smile playing lightly and briefly on her lips.

it seemed she was not the only wolf to be perpetually hungry -- seemingly out of nowhere a dark-pelted wolf appeared. sandpiper knew him as a comrade of smokestep's, though she had yet to make up her mind about the rowdy companion. "nothing yet." she answered amicably enough, inwardly envying the raptor's cocksure aspect.

Sandpiper confirmed the boy's assumption. He smiled softly at her response, looking back to the bird in the sands. It seemed as though the siblings were not quite alone, though. A loud call came from behind the two Cairns. Smokestep's ear swiveled atop his head, recognizing the cry immediately as a familiar one. In a matter of minutes, the sands beside them were flung upward and into the air, peppering the pirate's coarse white coat. Kingfisher calmly turned his head to face the masked bandit. His dark lips curled upward in a suitable smirk at the familiar face. He would never have admitted it, but the companionship of another thief and rogue was more than welcome to the pale Cairn. Sandpiper eyed Raptor with a curious glint in her gaze.

“Aye, Raptor,” Smokestep jeered with a chuckle that rumbled within his chest. “What took ye so long, mate?” For the two Cairn siblings had been in the wilds for days longer than Raptor had. The marauder was curious what his friend had been up to and why he hadn't been invited to the heist. Surely if there had been something enthralling happening, Smokestep would have received the most royal of invitations from the dark-furred scoundrel.

"Someone's gotta watch yer back," Raptor responded smoothly as he shook out his coat and undoubtedly showered his companions with yet more sand. But what sea wolf worth their salt did not have a briny, gritty coat on their hide. "Gotta make sure you ain't missin' nothin'." The sable corsair was prone to distraction and impulse. The latter of which was part of the reason he had chosen to accompany the pale pirate and far more radiant sister on their quest. So it was any number of things that had caused him to lag behind and he could not be arsed to recount them all. In the end and certainly when push came to shove, Raptor was dependable to the few he associated himself with. In between, he was just a gallivanting youth looking for his next shot of dopamine.

"We gonna stand around yakkin' or get some grub?" His eyes flickered between Sandpiper and Smokestep, lingering just the tiniest bit longer on the girl before fixing on the larger wolf. Their undisputed leader. "C'mon Smokie! Or have I gotta go ahead now and find somethin' to keep you two fed with?"

sandpiper fell silent, preferring to let the two males interchange by themselves. it was a tremendous task keeping up with raptor's cleverness -- she preferred to reserve her barbed comebacks for when they were truly needed. all the same, she did not miss raptor's lingering gaze and sought to forbid it by a deep and intimidating scowl.

she was ready to hunt -- already she was picking her way up the frozen banks of the river -- leaving the two to gab to their heart's content. they'd notice she left eventually, right?

Raptor had always been something of a candid fellow. Smokestep had come to find that while the sable wolf was wild in his actions, there was no better to stand beside. The burnt titian color of his eyes had always held a spark of impishness, but the pirate was confident in all of Raptor's abilities. The crew was forming well enough and the pale creature knew that it would not be long before they would have others within their ranks.

At the corsair's reply, Smokestep cast him a crooked smirk and shook his head. “Oi and you think that yer the one to watch me back?” he inquired with a small snip of acrimony. Of course he did not mean it; there was not a finer pirate on the coast than Raptor, but the ghostly seafarer was keen on keeping their relationship brimming with sarcasm and rancor. They'd spoken far worse to each other in the past, and would surely degrade to much worse after they'd ingested the rum. Of all his pirate skills, Raptor had a knack for making some of the best rum and grog that Smokestep had ever tasted.

“Ye hear this cad, Piper?” he began loudly, hoping to draw his sister into their clucking. When she did not respond right away, he turned his attention to where she had stood and saw that her freckled frame had traveled away from them.

“Aye, then. Let's get some grub,” he smirked, turning and flipping his tail toward Raptor's face with a playful and brazen swagger in his steps.

Raptor had snappy reflexes. He caught Smoke's tail and gave it a light chomp before he kicked off and sailed past his pale brother-of-the-sea with a devilish cackle. Raptor could hold his own in most spars — if only because he was a quick, clever and dirty scrapper — but Smoke had the edge on combat prowess over him and he knew it. So his tactic was simple: strike and fuck off down the coast before Smoke could get him back (hopefully). It was a good excuse to run if nothing else.