Sea Lion Shores hey alligator, have some mercy on me
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#1
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Hydra had departed earlier than Dirge, not to quit his company but simply to get a headstart to make it to the Coast. There were plenty of loud noises and new, strange scents as she came closer and closer to the shore; in time, earth became sand and the roar of the ocean outweighed the commotion the large, blubbery beasts created. But her attention was upon them. Hydra observed them guardedly, the furs along her nape rising. She did not recognize them as predator or prey; the way they wormed along the shoreline made her imagine that they were the latter.

The coast was far different than the mountain. Hydra found her attention divied between many things. The tactician within her saw an advantage in the coast, at least for those experienced with it. The crashing waves of the waters were loud enough to make it difficult to hear any who might be approaching her. The scent of the salt was overwhelming, though it was not altogether unpleasant to Hydra, who imagined her father in such an environment. Her ears cupped backward as she continued to observe the barking sea worms ahead of her, not too sure what to make of them. She adjusted her own stance to better take in her surroundings.
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#2
Her travels had been interrupted by the scent of a pack, which she had swiftly skirted in a large and generous arch. Now, the earth gave way to sand again, and the heavy crash of the ocean's waves drown out the peace she had found in the pastures to the South. She couldn't see the fields anymore, but she searched a wistful moment before she turned to carry forward. For all the miles of shoreline she ran, she had yet to find what she was looking for, and as far as her eyes could roam, the stretch before her appeared no more promising than the land she had travelled for days already.

Yet there was something different here and she eyed the pools with a cautionary prod. Strange beasts crawled along the sand bar, thick and ugly, and their novelty rung the instinctive alarm to keep away, so she shifted course and chose a wide girth around them, when something else grabbed her attention. A dark scar against the pale brightness of the sand. The promise of opportunity sparked through the woman's eyes. While the prospect of a pack unsettled her, with their numbers and camaraderie, she felt herself on level ground with a lone wolf like herself and, with a flag of her tail, she covered the ground between them with long strides, despite the stiffness wrought by her chest's heavy scarring.
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#3
The sign of movement in her peripheral caused Hydra to turn her head and note a wolf moving toward her with what Hydra perceived as some sort of purpose. In knowing she had but one enemy, the Beta of Moonspear did not feel ill at ease—but in knowing the wolves of the world by now, Hydra prepared to be met by a lunatic. It was with this in mind that the she-wolf turned on her heel and headed toward the stranger in turn, her own stride confident and self-assured. The heavy scarring on the others chest was something to behold, and even she could not help but feel slightly unnerved. Still, the scarring could represent loss, and it was this Hydra banked on as she approached.

Her demeanor was not unpleasant or unwelcoming; it remained altogether neutral, even as she prepared to retaliate should the other seek to strike her. Her ears cupped backward before pivoting forward as Hydra made to close the distance between them, a cool breeze rifling through her fur while she walked.
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The stranger met her with equal vigor - yet hers, so youthful, and abundant. The sun-touched woman felt the sharp sting of envy bite through her for lacking that nimbleness she supposed the other possessed, yet she carried on with unwavering resolve, and scored her eyes in intense appraisal of the other. She was dark, completely so, from her tail to the crown of her head. Even her eyes lurked in shadow, and the leviathan settled her watch just askew of the other's face, grateful that respect called for such a diversion. The woman didn't seem violent. In fact, she didn't seem much of anything - and the leviathan preferred this.

She skipped the formalities. "I'm looking for something," she rasped, and stopped, perhaps a stride closer than most would venture. "A mighty river, that flows from the ocean, down through the mainland. I've been told it starts somewhere along this coast - " And though she twitched her ear in direction of the ocean, she otherwise remained intent on the stranger, and spoke no further. This one had intelligence in her face - she could deduce the rest. And besides, her voice still hurt, along with the skin around her mouth, from the scars that had just recently sealed.
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#5
The others gaze shifted, though Hydra's remained upon her to better note the wounds she carried. She wondered how they were received, and who was worse for wear between this stranger and their apparent enemy. The fight, clearly, had not been a friendly match. The other spoke, and Hydra listened to their rasp—the females voice sounded strained, and Hydra's gaze shifted now to the others scarred lips.

The river the other spoke of was not yet in her vantage point. Still, Hydra knew one thing for certain. I am no wolf of the coast, but I have passed no such river from the way that I came. I am heading that way, she now looked beyond the woman, into the distance that would, coincidentally, lead to the place the other sought.
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#6
The leviathan followed the other's gaze, the same direction she was heading herself. "Then I will come with." Whether or not the other would like this fell beyond her concern. She had wasted enough time already, and she couldn't afford to wait until the stranger moved away to continue her travel along the coast.

With her gaze still fixed on the unseen land, formalities now seemed of importance, and she pried her eyes away to turned toward the stranger again. "What's your name?" If the leviathan had one, she would have offered first - but as it stood, she had none to give - so she would let the stranger speak first, and deal with that after.
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#7
The other invited herself along, and Hydra's ear flicked. If that was so, she would need to know a few things. Where is the wolf that gave you those wounds? What way does he head? She inquired boldly. The scars were not old, she observed. She remembered the fleshy softness of Rannoch's when it was new, and how over time it had hardened, somewhat. Her question was pointed, and truth be told Hydra cared not if it made the other uncomfortable; if her safety was in jeapordy, if another sought the agouti female, Hydra wanted to know. They had damaged her pretty good, which meant they were skilled. Hydra then asked, openly, did you win your fight?

The other could deign to forge ahead of Hydra and not accompany her. That would be just as well. But Hydra knew that she had no pack at her back in this Wilderness, and she could not afford to be a kind fool.
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#8
Her question went unanswered - ignored, more like - in favour of the stranger's own - but the leviathan understood. If she were on the stranger's end, she would have made the same demands, and though she wished to continue on her way, she also wondered if this woman could help, and she lowered herself to sit. Her brow fell to a hard line and she glanced at the ground in thought as she sought to remember the haze of the day, and the details her healers had given her. "I don't remember." She admitted - but continued to try to offer something of worth. "A group of nomads pulled me from the river. Say they found the body of a coyote downstream - ripped up, bloated, and beat. Reckon she put up a fierce fight - but I dragged her down. For some reason they didn't want to stick around, and lugged me with them to the coast. They gave me herbs to numb the pain while we travelled - but they also must have numbed my brain."

She puffed a frustrated sigh, and shook her head. "I don't remember much myself. Only pain, and water, and the haze of someone's face. I'm sorry I can't give you more. That's why I need to find the river. The river will give me answers, or at least trigger something that will help me remember. I just know it."
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#9
Hydra's tail lashed behind her as the other responded in a way that was not at all fruitful to her. Still, if that wolf was around, Hydra decided she wanted to know it. If anything, she could flee and leave this wolf to her death—after all, Hydra had already deduced she was the swifter of the two, what with being in better condition than her. You didn't need to be strong enough to beat a bear, just the fastest one who fled from it. If it was a coyote, good. But the wounds on the others person hardly seemed like something a lone coyote was capable of. 

Alright, Hydra responded, but when you know, I want to know. It sounded like it occurred far from here, and yet, if this river could restore her memories... that probably wasn't the case. Hydra began to get a move on, ears flicking. What do you remember? She asked next. Maybe she could help the other piece things together. Hydra had legitimately forgotten the other had asked for her name in the midst of trying to figure out what must have happened to the other woman. It was a soap opera she was decidedly invested in.
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#10
She could tell from the way the other responded that her words didn't offer much to satisfy, and truthfully, she herself felt frustrated at how little she remembered. The leviathan wished she had more to offer the woman, but she knew she had given all she had.

"Of course." It was all she could do to comply to the stranger's wishes, and it would please her to share, provided the stranger was still around if the remembering began. No - when it began. Because surely it would.

The leviathan moved to follow, and at the woman's question, felt her brow furrow and her gaze drop to the ground in contemplation. It took her a moment to understand exactly what the stranger was looking for - after all, she thought she had given her all she remembered. But there were things, small things, she recalled beyond the event, hazy though they were, and memories she knew were long past - and though she didn't know how a stranger could make use of them, she wondered if this was what the woman sought for now. "I know I didn't always live here," she began, slowly at first. "I was born somewhere else. I remember fire, that I had siblings - and my father." She frowned, confusion in her voice. "I saw his eyes when I was in the river - but he died in that fire. But at the river, there was - there was someone else. Someone else I remember. Tall... and dark... with bright blue eyes - and he was - " injured? Dying? But that's where things went fuzzy, and she shook her head with a frustrated grunt. "He's someone important, I know that much, and I think he's hurt. He's the one I need to find. But I don't remember his name. If I heard it, then maybe I'd remember." She paused, and barked a laugh, a touch of bitterness creeping through the fringe of her voice.  "And maybe if I heard my own, it'd be easier to remember that, too." But from her reception so far, she didn't think this stranger could help her with that.
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It was the haze of someone's face Hydra sought to pull from the others mind, specifically. Was it a face she might know? Tall. Dark. Blue eyes. Hydra looked thoughtful as she reflected, and decided she recognized no such descriptors. The other did not even remember their own name, which Hydra thought was a shame. Hm, Hydra responded, thoughtful over the confession in full. The others predicament was one that Hydra could not assist in solving. Though there might have been a desire within her to help once, she had been burned by those who would betray her. She desired no favors in return from those she had ever considered a friend, but she did wish for loyalty and honesty. In every friend she had found that had come out of Moonspear, that she had aided and cared for, she had been nothing but betrayed. 

She walked with the other more for selfish than selfless reasons. Dirge was not near, and Hydra was interested in what the other had endured for the information that could be gained from it. New enemies, to look out for? They might have attacked this nameless stranger out of the blue, as Vaati once had against Rannoch, but the description did not fit. Not in physical appearance, at least. 

Hydra and the nameless wolf drew closer to the River, and the Ostrega wondered if this wolf might find her answers. Her blue eyes shifted back to the features of the other. My name is Hydra Ostrega, she introduced at last. Hydra had determined that if it was this wolf that was the danger, she would not be too difficult to dispose of. At least, not in her current state. Hydra humbled herself as she observed the permanent wounds upon the others features and looked away. She hadn't the slightest idea what the other was capable of. They were still living, after all. 

Vanity and narcissism had no place in battle, Hydra knew.
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#12
Throws timelines to the wind 8D

The stranger gave a hum, and for a second, the leviathan thought she might have struck some memory in her. But she provided nothing but a lasting silence, and the amnesiac felt the burn of hope snuff out with a heavy sigh. Looks like she'd find no answers today - but the river, at least that still lay ahead. With the waters, her memories would come. She knew they would, and she wouldn't think of what would happen if she ran to the river's end and found nothing but the same empty shadows that held her now.

Their conversation fell to the noise of the shore after that, the lulling crash of waves and the seabirds overhead. She found familiarity in the silence, but with the stranger's presence at her side, the usual accompaniment of loneliness was nonexistent. The leviathan hadn't been graced with the company of others for many days, and the isolation had taxed her. Even if the stranger hadn't given her answers, her company seemed to settle her restless thoughts and reminded her of the moment she lived in, even as she fixated her energy on the past.

The crash of waves continued along the coastline, but then the noise shifted to a source up ahead, and the leviathan straightened. That could only be the River - but instead of charting ahead, she found her head swinging to face the stranger with eyes notched wide and ears now keen and cupped toward her. Chasing the river - so front on her mind - fell to nothing next to that word, that name -

"Ostrega?"

And the remembering hit her like waters pouring through a dam smashed against a stream.

"I know that name."

And the faces sprung up, one after another - and she knew them, their liquid eyes, and she remembered their names. Dhani. Ciervo. Sumayl, Chehlia -

"Andalusia."

"Andalusia Ostrega."

"That's my name."
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#13
The other knew the name, and Hydra found her attention honed into the stranger, contrasting entirely her aloof and stoic appearance. There were those that she knew might seek to besmirch their name on baseless lies, and she was prepared to confront such rumors with her teeth if this was how she was met. Though the others voice did not seem to hold an aggressive note, Hydra did not know her enough to think that this may not be the case.

Though when the other finished, Hydra slowed to a stop, ears pricked.

For Hydra, there was much in a name. Her demeanor changed entirely, warm and welcome rather than distant and cool. We are family, then, Hydra recognized. Distant or otherwise, it mattered not. Hydra was protective and devoted to those that shared their name unless they proved they did not deserve it. Family, she felt, she could trust. Hydra bridged the distance between them, her tail waving.

Is that all that came to you? Hydra asked next, wondering if now she could think of the wolf that had brought harm to her. She licked her chops, wondering if this might be the case.
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#14
They were family.

The complete 180 in Hydra's demeanour did not go unnoticed by Andalusia, and the sudden warmth brought a soft and knowing smile to the Ostrega's lips. She felt like she understood this fierce tie of kinship. There was something familiar in Hydra's reception, as if Andalusia had once been the one offering to others what Hydra now offered her. Through the loss and confusion,  her muscles relaxed and she felt, for the first time in many months, something of a peace. Something of home. That she wasn't so alone anymore.

"It seems we are," she grinned, and a glow of light returned to her eyes. She welcomed Hydra's closeness, and her tail swayed in tandem with the motion of the darker woman's. It was as if a barrier never stood between them at all.

But she still knew so very little, and she shook her head. "Not much. I can remember my family, but I don't think they're who I'm looking for." None of them were like the blue-eyed man. They were smaller, fleeter, made of the wolf and coyote blood that ran thick between them. "Ciervo, Sumayl, Chehlia, Dhani... unless those mean something to you, I guess I'll just have to trust the river's the right way to go." The water still piled closeby, and soon, they would part their separate ways. And yet, did they really have to? She might not know Hydra beyond a name and a face, but with her, she had something concrete. Something alive, and something familiar.

What if the river only brought her ghosts?
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Andalusia began to list her family, though Hydra did not know a single name upon that list to her disappointment. But it did not matter; she understood that the tree of their family was a large one, with deep roots. I have never met them before, she admitted, as Andalusia asked if they meant anything to her. On principle, they did. She had yet to meet them and yet she cherished them and hoped, someday, that she would. 

To trust the river seemed silly to Hydra, but she did not say so—she wanted to keep the female close, to protect her, now that she knew who she was. What caused such a fragile state made no difference to her. When Andalusia remembered, if it were a wolf within this Valley, they would find themselves marked as her cousin—that was who Andalusia was to her, she determined—was.

She had to respect her cousin's wishes, however. Though she wished to remain with her now that she knew who she was, Hydra had her own path to keep to for now. If any were worth interrupting it for, it would be the agouti woman she was with... but Andalusia seemed to believe she might find her answers where they roamed to, which they were fast approaching. 

Hydra paused to gesture to the mountain that stood tall and proud in the distance. That is Moonspear, she informed. If you cannot find what you seek... you will find me there. You are family. I do not know if the name Charon means anything to you, but he is my father. There are many Ostrega's there, though none that you mentioned... you would be welcome to run with us, she expressed. Hydra would not ever express the invitation to an outsider other than one that bore their surname, given her developed mistrust. But Andalusia was family, and Hydra would not have her feeling lost any longer than Andalusia herself felt she needed to be.
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