Sea Lion Shores horse to water
what would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark?
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#1
All Welcome 
The Captain had done his rounds at the bay and had made sure that the borders were carefully marked for passersby. He did not want travelers wandering through while he was attempting to reestablish his home. After having done so, he'd left Sandpiper to Raptor and wandered down the coast a ways. He wanted to ensure that he would know the edges of the waters as well as he had come to know those of Warsaw. Still, as the shores stretched on, Kingfisher felt that he had plenty to take in.

Along the edge of the beach, he caught sight of two sea lions who were beating their torsos against the sands as they headed toward the water. Smokestep watched with moderate interest, wondering if he would be able to manage a hunt of his own against one of the creatures. Typically, he had only ever caught a sea lion with Sandpiper and one of the others in Skellige's home pack. Still, he knew that their meat with rife with fat and would surely feed the wolves in the bay for a short while. The pirate stood, debating on turning back to retrieve Raptor before he opted against it and moved closer to the animal.
calling to join them the wretched and joyful
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#2
tagging @Wilhelm since he'd be traveling with her. If we could forward date this a bit? She hasn't quite healed from what transpired physically enough yet to travel very far.

She'd come to accept what had been done to her by this point. There wasn't any changing it or making it go away like she used to pray for. She couldn't wrap her mind around it quite yet though, the blatant fact that true evil did exist had shocked her to the very core.

She kept close to Wirt, walking so close to him that her flanks nearly pressed to his as they moved. Her rosebud eyes flicked to and fro warily as did her ears, always alert and searching for something that might jump out at her. Then she smelled it. The salty,Sandy smell of the coast that she remembered from when she first entered these parts. It was the first thing since then that brought a hint of a genuine smile to her maw and before she could stop herself she took off running until her paws hit the sand. As soon as she stood upon the sand, she flexed her paws in and out of the substance like a cat kneading a soft surface for comfort. inhaled the scent of the sea again her features relaxing along with her body. This...was a place she could stay for quite some time.

And that's when she noticed them. Two large brown shapes moving upon the sand in weird ways. She cocked her head to the side and studied them for a few moments. They looked like they had a ton of meat on them, too much for just her and wirt but maybe if she dragged the carcass away someone else would find it and be able to eat it. Turning around she backtracked her steps and looked for Wilhelm, chuffing to him so he'd be able to find her.

Returning to the shore she crouched down and circled around the animals, finally spotting the strange male that also seemed to be hunting these odd beasts. Sharply inhaling she felt her hackles rise along her spine. Would he hurt her? please don't hurt me...please don't hurt me... she pleaded in her mind, praying that wirt would be there soon. She gave a low noise, a plaintive whimper loud enough for the white brute to hear. If he turned his head he'd see her crouching into the sand, tail nervously tucked and wiggling between her legs.


The prospect of food was too much for her though. She hadnt had a good meal like this offered in a very long time and so she raised herself up.  She motioned to the seals, trying to gain the white stranger's attention without speaking so she wouldn't alert the prey. Motioning to them again she mouthed the words "I'll help" and circled around the opposite side so she'd be attacking from the back. Still though she kept her eyes on the stranger in case he made any threatening moves, if he warned her off she'd take the hint and bolt immediately.
I watch as the planets turn and the old stars die and the young stars burn
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#3
It had been a long journey North. They moved slower than even he was used to. But Awinita had healed enough to travel - physically, at least - and so he had led her the moment he was certain her body could endure the trip in a direction he had never charted, to a land he did not know. Sun and moon passed above them in a cycle he did not count. It did not matter. He would not be returning to these thirsty lands. Neither of them would. And with every step, he felt the darkness shed.

And it seemed Awinita did, too. He felt her shift at his side, and he turned his eyes to inquire, only to meet the sliver of a smile before she was gone, sprinting ahead like a child of the light. He watched her disappear through the trees, but he could guess at what had spurred her: the scent of salt, the crash of waves. He inhaled deeply and closed his eyes, before her chuff roused him and he sprinted out to join her  with a smile himself.

They had reached the sea.

His gaze fell first to the monstrosities on the shore - strangely lumpy things - but pale movement called him elsewhere - Awinita, and a man he didn’t know. His guard piqued, and he watched Awinita shuffle from the ground to round on the creatures. He glanced between the two, but he hadn’t seemed to scare her - she rather looked at ease. He approached with a measure of caution, circling around the brown animals and taking position between the man and the girl. He cast the stranger a curious glance, and hoped he would prove a friend.
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#4
The forward date is fine! :)
The body of one became three. Before long, another pale figure came along with a few svelte steps. She seemed to be struggling slightly with carrying the weight of her own body. Smokestep watched her curiously for a moment or two before she caught sight of what he was attempting to do and mouthed her vow to assist. He could not read the words from where he stood, but the seafarer imagined that she was just as hungry as he. Another showed up not too long after, coated in charcoals and dull browns. This was smelled distinctly male. The pirate watched him for another moment, wondering if he was paired with the white female or traveling alone. His protective and cautionary stance seemed as though he was tied to the woman. Either way, they appeared eager enough for a hunt.

Moving with leonine steps, each lengthy stride pulled him closer to the flapping sea lion. Both eyes watched the beast with tact, making sure not to alert it back to the waters. If he was swift enough, he would be able to swing himself around so that he had positioned his body in front of the water, blocking all passage back home for their prey. As long as the other two were hasty, they would surely catch their desired meal and sate their hunger for a while longer. As harsh as the winter was, it was unbearable without the ability to catch your own food. The pirate would not mind sharing as long as they contributed to the capture.

Pulling himself in a wide arc, the pirate plunged his feet and legs into the frigid waters so that he had gained an appropriate position to block the nearest route to the waves. Once he had found himself in a ready stance, he looked up toward the woman and her companion with an expectant expression. It was time to go and if they wasted their time, the food would slip back to the waters and they would go hungry once again.
calling to join them the wretched and joyful
shaking the wings of their terrible youths
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#5
It seemed that her presence was accepted and while that was enough to make her feel more comfortable the quick appearance of Wirt quickly soothed her further. The pale man crept to block the waves and she knew immediately that if the blubbery prey was left a moment longer it would make a break for the waves. "Wirt, go to the right side where it had more open spacing to run" she said her tone more of a request than a command. After that was done she nodded once to signal she'd make a move and ran straight for it. She was quick despite the ache in her hip and quickly sprung on to it's back, hoping to slam it down into the sand.

It almost worked but the creature began to thrash and Awinita began to slide off. Before she could fall to the sand she sank her fangs into the back of it's flesh, hanging tight. Even as she slid off she hung on, her eyes narrowing as she found her footing and began to shake her head back and forth slicing with her fangs. The seal began to make the most guttural sound and it tossed it's head back slamming into her muzzle and stunning her for a moment.
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#6
Hunts are my weakest thing to roleplay. I have no idea what I am doing haha

Wirt quickly deemed the man a friend, or at least, an amicable stranger. They would be safe with him - more precisely, Awinita would be safe, and he watched the ivory fellow move with long and practiced strides through the sand and the salty shore.

Awinita’s voice moved him, and he slipped along to follow her direction, taking up his position with quick and quiet steps. All the while he eyed the blubbery beast. He had never hunted one before, let alone seen one. The thing bore an appearance unlike anything he’d found in the forest - thick, grotesque, and altogether bizarre. It charmed him in a way, stroking his muse. Imagine the tales he could spin with this -

Awinita’s sudden motion hurled him back to the present, and he staggered before he charged to help her. The creature thrashed with powerful rhythm, and he watched Awinita catch a blow from its whiskery head. Wirt seized the moment to strike the beast off-guard, aiming his jaws toward the creature’s neck. A sense of surprise rattled through him when his teeth sunk into nothing but fat, and he leapt away as the creature turned its focus on him with a powerful swing of its head and a vicious snap of canine-like fangs. Not expecting that. Wirt tecouled and spring again with a snap of his teeth toward it and hoped, at the very least, to distract the thing long enough for Awinita to regain her sense, or for the stranger to turn the fray in their favour.
what would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark?
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#7
nah your post was great!

The trio moved fluidly, and it took only a moment for the pale woman to take an advantageous strike. She dove onto the back of the sea lion with a snarl. Smokestep held his ground for a moment, watching her struggle with the weight of the sea beast. He would have gone to her aid, but the corsair did not want the beast to retreat back to the water, and his limber frame and snarling expression were all that stood in the way. The woman did well to hold her claim on the sea lion's back, and Smokestep released a bark of some encouragement for her to keep strong with the beast. It would not take too much more to bring it down, though the pirate knew how difficult it was to dig through the blubber that surrounded it.

The other male took a shot at their prey's throat. Smokestep watched how the dusty-coated brute recoiled at the sight of the lion's fangs. A small chuckle escaped his throat, but the pale wanderer was keen on eating, so he did not let them flounder for long. With a few careful strides, the pirate closed the space that was between them and darted toward the sea lion with a precise aim for the top of the animal's skull. He would hope to close his fangs around it and crush it, rendering the large flapping beast useless.
calling to join them the wretched and joyful
shaking the wings of their terrible youths
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Awinita blinked for a moment after being slammed in the head. She didn't stay that way for long however and gave her body a quick shake of her fur, rosebud eyes now gleaming with the malice of a hungry predator. As Wirt recoiled and the other male leaped for the skull, she once again threw her weight on top of the struggling beast, sliding her forepaws down on either side and pressing her chest onto it's blubbery back her fangs seeking hold of it's throat slicing through and digging deep,blood seeping into her maw.


The hit on the beasts skull ended it quickly as the male's jaws crushed through the bone. The beast's thrashing halted and with a shiver through it's body it collapsed in death as it's blood pooled through the holes in it's skull. Awinita hung on for a moment teeth clamping down harder with a triumphant snarl before she remembered Wirt and the other male were beside her.


Immediately she hopped off the beast,tongue swiping across her bloody jaws as she moved so stand beside Wirt. Whether it was the adrenaline rush from the hunt or she felt comfortable with Smokestep now that she'd hunted with him she dipped her head to him and then stood up fully instead of cowering. "I've never seen one of those before. What are they?" She questioned the white furred man assuming he'd had experience with them from the way he'd hunted. She wouldn't breach the subject of splitting the meal quite yet, she'd see if he offered first which would be fair. If not she'd speak for her claim of the hunt, and Wirt's.
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#9
The white man stole into the hunt as Wirt staggered back and felled the beast with what Wirt could only describe as practiced precision; he went straight for the skull, crushing the bone between jaws the bard wouldn’t want to find himself between. The stranger had obviously hunted these creatures before, and though Wirt had failed to lend much aid in this interception, he would learn what he could, and remember this for the next time.

Awinita held onto the prey after it stilled, and Wirt took the moment to size up their company with new eyes. The comfortable way he moved along the shore, his admirable skill in the hunt - Wirt wondered if he made his home here along the waves. But more important, he wondered if would he stay a friend, now that they had a meal to share.

Wirt was willing to take his chances, and Awinita seemed to think the same. A light smile touched his lips when she drew herself to the strength he had first known. “I’d like to know the same.” He motioned forward and prodded the beast with the press of his paw. The fat compressed with his touch, and when he pulled away, jiggled and recoiled. This thing was gruesome and marvellous, and Wirt circled the tusked creature with a crooked and curious smile. “It’s quite possibly the strangest animal I’ve ever seen.”
what would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark?
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#10
As his fangs had sunk into the beast's skull, Kingfisher could feel the life as it was drained from the beast. He held his locked jaw to the crown of the sea lion until it had fallen completely limp in his grasp. When he did remove his fangs from within the animal's head, he cast a blood-soaked look to his party members. They stood with their lungs filling with air. Smokestep too felt the weight of having brought the creature to the ground, but he had known from the start that they were difficult to fall and if he hadn't had the present company, he would not have been able to endure it on his own. Even more than this, he was pleased he had not been forced to turn and search for Raptor before his hunt. Instead he could eat and help supply the caches in the bay.

“Good on ye, both,” he remarked to them with a firm nod of his skull. The pale woman inquired what they were hunting, and her companion echoed the sentiment in a few words. Smokestep glanced to their fallen prey and then back to the two others with a bit of a humored expression. He had imagined they were joking about not knowing what the beast was. Their features told him otherwise after a few moments and he blinked away the surprise as quickly as he could. “Oi! That's a sea lion, there,” he explained to them with a small nod of his crown. “Nasty brutes when ye fight 'em on yer own, but they're full o' fat an' they'll keep ye healthy through winter if ye can get 'em,” he then explained.

The pale corsair stood awkwardly for a moment before motioning with his muzzle at the sea lion in question and then back to the two travelers. “Go on, then. Fill up.” Of course, they had both shared the same inward fear that Smokestep would turn against them in favor of the meat, but he was as proficient as they came in the water. His father had taught him that those who starved in winter were never meant to have survived.
calling to join them the wretched and joyful
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Awinita turned her gaze toward Wirt when he also questioned what exactly the blubbery beast was that they had caught. She had of course seen the sea before, back home there was a coast as well but it was a good distance from their pack. They travelled to it once a year and she had been brought once when she was a small child yet she never forgot the smell of the Sea, something that was beautiful despite how it had burned her nose at first. The white male turned to them with laughter in his eyes and she wondered what was funny before he blinked and told them that their catch was called a Sea Lion. He sounded surprised that they didn't know this and she ducked her head sheepishly "I've not been around the Sea enough to have seen one before, but I'm glad I know now." She explained with a small smile. As he offered her to eat her fill she hesitated, considering being polite and offering the first bite to Wirt or the unnamed male first but her stomach growled rather loudly. She flicked her ears back with embarrassment and stepped forward, lowering her muzzle to the spot she had opened along it's neck and tearing in more. 


The taste was amazing and the meat was rich with fatty tissue and she became full rather quickly. She ate until her belly felt heavy and the warmth of a full stomach settled in warning her to stop before she ended up getting sleepy. She released a satisfied sigh and stepped back once more, pink tongue swiping across her jaws to wipe away the remaining blood and flesh that had stuck to her lips. She stretched out and gave a shake of her pelt before looking out to the Sea again. "I'd like to stay here for a while Wirt....the Sea..it brings me peace. There's just something calming here." She spoke softly, turning a hopeful and inquiring gaze toward her companion. If he wanted to move on she wouldn't complain about it, but she really felt good for the first time in a week.
what would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark?
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#12
I am skipping over Wilhelm and PPing him to go wander off a bit because they've fallen inactive. Willhelm is welcome to return if the account is reactivated.
The two were a noticeably strange duo. Smokestep knew that he had come across much stranger wolves in his time, but they were kind enough and he wondered what had shuffled them toward the coast in the first place. It seemed that they had been searching for food, at first, but after not having known what a sea lion was... well, the pirate was not entirely sure himself. Still, he watched while they fed on their share, and the male wandered a bit to explore the territory on his own, leaving the pale woman behind to fend for herself in front of the great and mighty sea captain. Smokestep cast her a smirk and nodded his head at her remark on wanting to stay by the sea; he would not have had the cut to live anywhere else in the world. The water was deeply sewn into his very making, and he imagined it would remain this way for as long as he was to live.

“Y'know I've got meself a crew that's formin' down there,” he mentioned with a tossing of his muzzle toward the neighboring bay. Drawing his gaze back to her own, he canted his head to the left and cast an inquisitive look. “Yer welcome to join, lass, if yer willin' to commit yerself to a life o' piracy. Once yer a member of me crew, yer always a member. We don't take kindly to deserters,” he then cast the typical warning for the Ironsea requirements. The rest could be learned at a later date, but that rule had proved to be most important.
calling to join them the wretched and joyful
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Mild PP of what Wirt said before wandering.

Winni shifted as Wirt nodded his consent before murmuring something about exploring their new home and heading off. She wasnt exactly comfortabe being left by herself with this stranger and took a few steps back to distance herself, hoping that if he moved to attack she would be far enough away to bolt and escape. Yet as she turned her rose red eyes to look at the man she was relieved to see a smirk upon his features. He began to speak and she listened, ears flicking with surprise as he invited her to join a crew he was starting. She assumed a crew was like a pack and thought about it for a moment.

"Piracy...What does that entail?"She asked with a small wag of her tail in apology. She had never heard the term before but was genuinely curious. She lowered her haunches to the sand and gave him a head tilted look, eyes wide and curious like a pup's. "I've never been in any pack besides my parent's. I surely wouldn't leave one that I swore myself to though." She said earnestly, hoping that would get her a bit more information from this man. Before she let him continue however she realized she hadn't introduced herself yet or eve gotten his name, somehing that seemed in order for joining a pack. "My name is Awinita...but you can call me Winni. My friend is Wilhelm,but he's called Wirt. If I join he'd stick with me...he's protecting me" she said and almost began to babble off her story before she caught herself and snapped her jaws shut with an audible click, a comical expression of embarrasment on her face.
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#14
Smokestep had not been interested in fighting with pretty young girls; he always viewed them as an untouchable specimen; there for him to woo, but not to mark with his teeth. If the pale wolfess had attempted an attack first, he would have no qualms with meeting her fangs with his own, but it had never been his intention. Now, the quiet and awkward male was a different subject. Wilhelm caused the pirate to feel less than comfortable in his own skin, if only for the judgmental stares that he seemed to be collecting from the stranger. The two wolves were guarded and careful, so he remained at a short distance and put a great effort into keeping himself friendly.

The pale waif inquired about the likes of what pirates did and the corsair chuckled at the question. “Well, ye see, lass... pirates do damn well what they please,” he stated simply and shrugged his broad shoulders. “Take wot ye like an' die fer each other. Yer crew is the most important thing ye've got, so they'll always come first, y'hear,” he then elaborated some, but it was difficult to sum up just what piracy entailed. It would have been easier for her to experience it first hand. Every member of the crew was different in their own right. She would have been bound to get a taste of everything in their midst.

“Awinita, the pleasure is mine,” he then said with a dramatic flair and small bowing of his crown. “Me name's Smokestep, an' I'm the captain o' the Ironsea crew.” Rudely enough, the pale marauder did not make an effort to even acknowledge the wolf called Wirt; other males tended to get in his way and he was doing his best to work the charm.
calling to join them the wretched and joyful
shaking the wings of their terrible youths
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She was entranced by his words, whether it was the rough around the edges way his accent made him sound or the words themselves she found herself yearning for this life. She could learn to become a different woman, someone who wouldn't lay helpless as she was used like...a slave. She could be fierce and take what she pleased while surrounded by like minded wolves who would die for her as she would for them.

Her eyes holding a starstruck look in them she, ducked her chin closer to her chest as he bowed down in a charming gesture that caused her to blush, once again looking like the young inexperienced girl she really was. "Well Captain Smokestep...If you would have me, I think there is no other place i would rather be. I offer myself to your crew...I will be loyal and do whatever nescessary to earn a place here." She spoke hesitantly at first but then spoke in a more certain and firm voice, lifting her eyes to look at him dead on.
what would an ocean be without a monster lurking in the dark?
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The pale young lass seemed as though she was interested and after a short time she accepted his terms and conditions with a vow that she would do whatever she could to assist the crew. The willingness was all he really sought, as he believed he could shape nearly anyone into a pirate if they were willing. So, with a nod of his head and a quick swish of his tail, the pallid marauder smiled at her. “Right then, o' course yer friend is welcome too, so long as he can keep the same promise,” the pirate added with a gesture in the direction of where Wilhelm had wandered. To be fair, the yearling wasn't exactly fond of her mostly-silent counterpart, but he understood her need to feel protected and could not blame her for hiring a guard.

“If ye'd like I'll take ye there an' give ye the grand tour. That's special, mind ye... not everyone gets the Smokestep treatment,” he told her with a flashing wink and a dip of his muzzle toward the sands. He had wanted to let the rest of his crew know that they had fallen a sea lion that still had plenty of meat and fat on its body. It would feed those wolves well and he was mindful of their well being. As long as the crew was happy, they would thrive.
calling to join them the wretched and joyful
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A surge of gratitude and relief as he accepted Wilhelm too was what made her relax fully into his presence as well as the knowledge that he was now her superior, someone to be respected and look up to. He offered her a tour and told her it was special, adding in a gesture she only knew as flirtation from Engel. Since she now felt comfortable and considered him a friend of sort, she was unable to hold back her own playful response of "Not everyone? Just the pretty, young sea wenches?" She flashed him a grin and gave a lazy sway of her tail before giving a slow nod "I would be honored to get the Grand tour Captain, I wouldn't pass up this once in a lifetime opportunity"She hoped she wasnt stepping over some line by playfully flirting with him, especially since he seemed to have been flirting if only by a little bit.
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#18
I'm gonna fade here and archive. We can have an updated one if you'd like.
Of course, Smokestep had offered grand tours to almost each one of his crew members, but she didn't need to know such things. All she needed to think was that she was getting treated just right by the big man in charge and she would be smitten. Of course, these were all the things that a yearling would imagine if he thought as highly of himself as Smokestep did. “O' course just the pretty young sea wenches,” he assured her with a grin and a sweeping of his tail. At that rate, the salty hound thought that he would be getting laid without fail. He could have only imagined that she was eating out of his hand, but he was almost addicted to the emotion. The young wolf's eyes had fallen on many a pretty young woman, but he had only intimately been with a small handful at his age. The more, the merrier.
calling to join them the wretched and joyful
shaking the wings of their terrible youths
freshly disowned in some frozen devotion