Stavanger Bay Wash away us all

@Olly

Floki visited the beach on a daily basis, although he knew full well that Jorunn wasn't coming back. It wasn't his twin that was on his mind during this particular trip, however; it was Atreyu. The older wolf had been incredibly brave when facing the bear, and though Floki hadn't seen what had happened to Atreyu, Charon had told him. Atreyu had been gravely injured, and to make matters worse, he had disappeared just like Jorunn.

The pup trudged through the wet sand, the water lapping at his feet. Briefly, he considered plunging into the ocean as Jorunn had -- maybe, if he swam and floated far enough, he would find his brother. But then he thought of the sadness on his mother's face after Juju's disappearance, and he knew he couldn't leave her. He sighed, his gaze scouring the beach for any sign of Atreyu -- but even his blood had been washed away by now.

As a warm, salty breeze ruffled the fur at his nape, Floki leaned down to inspect a curved shell, nudging it with his nose.

One place Olly could never forget was the sea. His favorite time to vist the salty water was at night and mess with the sea creatures, but he had more important things to do than play with fish. His siblings were counting on him to find them a home, and he intended to do just that. The little otter took a deep breath to fill his lungs before closing his eyes and plunging underwater to avoid the waves. He was no sea otter and the salt always bothered his eyes, but nevertheless he loved the beach.

He swam and resurfaced every few minutes to breathe again, before making the decision to rest and regain some strength. He paddled closer to the shore and sat in the shallow part of the waters, when he noticed a strange little thing looking at a sea shell. Olly let out his own type of bark before hiding in the deeper water once again. He let his head stay above the waves and watch the creature with curiosity. What the heck was this fluffy thing on the beach?

The sound of a distorted bark caused Floki's hackles to stand on end. He whipped his head up, sand speckled across his nose as his bright blue eyes scanned his surroundings. He didn't see anyone at first, but then he turned his gaze towards the water. There, he spotted it -- a brown, slick head bobbing on the waves. Floki knew immediately that he wasn't looking at a wolf; the creature was too small, and its skull was too round. Besides, the noise it had made was unlike anything he had ever heard.

The pup took a few steps back, leaving imprints in the sand that were quickly erased by the tide. Without taking his gaze off the strange animal, he tilted his head and released a bark of his own; it was a short, sharp question, a test to see if the sea monster would respond.

When the little beast barked back at him, it took Olly by suprise. Was he being challenged to some bark-off? Without warning the otter paddled closer to the beach until he was standing on his hind legs in the water. Olly had no idea if he looked like a snack to this creature, but he not dare get any closer until he found out exactly where he stood in the food chain.

Instead he examined the creature before him. To Olly, the pup looked like a hideous demon with it's long skeleton legs, and big ears. Curiosity kept the otter planted firm where he stood, and in a desperate attempt to actually communicate, Olly mimiced Floki's movements. He let another bark and tilled his head to the side, but thanks to the fact that his neck was as fat as his head, it didn't tilt very far.

Much to Floki's surprise, the sea creature paddled closer to him. He continued to back up, though he halted when the animal reared up onto its hind legs. Now he was really confused -- this creature was small, but how did it stand on its back legs like that? It appeared to do so effortlessly, even with the waves gently pulling at its body.

It barked at him again, but instead of trying to reply, Floki had another goal in mind. Carefully, with his back paws placed firmly in the damp sand, he lifted his forelegs. He tucked them close to his chest, his tongue protruding from the side of his mouth in concentration. The pup mimicked his companion for a solid three seconds, then began to wobble and -- before he could stop himself -- he toppled over.

Olly was quite enjoying the fact that this was one of those rare moments in his life, that he actually believed he was intimidating. With him being able to get the little beast to back up farther away, Olly now felt much more confident in approaching the stranger. While the fluff ball failed at standing on his back legs, Olly had his webbed feet and long, tapering tail to thank for his superb balancing skills.

When the creature toppled over, Olly lowered himself onto all fours, making him much smaller. Slowly he crawled onto the sandy beach and approached the demon beast. Olly kept a distance between them and stuck his nose out, attempting to try and smell the fluffy animal.

As soon as Floki fell, he quickly righted himself. He didn't want to give the other animal the upper hand in this situation. With a spray of sand, he gathered his feet beneath him, and when his gaze settled on his companion once more, he saw that he was being approached. The puppy stiffened, the silver hair along his shoulders going rigid.

He didn't retreat any further, however. Instead, he kept his eyes focused on the creature's wiggling snout and quivering whiskers. He, too, gave the air a tentative sniff, and was met with the smell of wet fur. Formulating a plan in his head -- basically, that he would turn tail and run the moment he felt threatened -- Floki licked his lips and then said, "Hi."

The boy's scent was of the ocean, with the smell of salt and sea spray practicaly fused into his fur. Olly pondered on how one could have such a thick smell of ocean breeze embedded in their fur. The pup did not look like a sea creature, but yet he smelt as if though he lived in the ocean. A confusing and strange animal this fluff ball was, but also quite similar to Olly himself. The pup had wiskers, fur, and a tail like the otter, but the boy was taller with long legs and a thinner neck.

When Floki reached out to inspect the otter, Olly pulled away and sneezed to releave his nose of the creature's odor. However it was when the boy spoke, did Olly have his complete and full attention on the wolf. Wide eyes filled with shock and wonder looked back at the pup, before other words were spoken. "Oh look, the sea demon speaks" Olly said happily to himself, figuring he could now have a conversation with whatever this creature was. "Hello there" he chirped, finding himself curiously fascinated with the pup.

The animal responded first with a sneeze, which caused Floki to lean back slightly. He was overwhelmed with curiosity, however, and now that he had determined that this critter wouldn't cause him any harm (hopefully), his fear had dissipated. After a moment, a response was given, and Floki was pleasantly surprised to find that he could understand what was being said.

A small smile crept across his lips; he didn't know what was meant by "sea demon," but the creature's tone was friendly enough. "What are you?" he asked, not meaning to be rude -- but it certainly wasn't a wolf. He didn't know what sort of being had fur, legs, and paws, but seemed to live in the ocean; he was much too confident in the waves to just be an occasional swimmer.

The pup's smile was met with one of Olly's, although he couldn't quite keep his cheeks up all the way to make a full smile. He let his smile fade away as the youngster asked what he was. Usually Olly would have been offended with someone not knowing what he was, but in this case he didn't what this creature was either. "I'm an otter" he said proudly with his head held high. Olly found that he didn't enjoy being so small compared to the animal infront of him, so once again he propped himself up on his back paws.

Slowly he stuck one of his stubby arms out and pointed a finger at the pup. "What are you" he demanded with a determined yet soft expression. He wanted to know if he had heard of this creature somewhere or if whatever this thing was would eat him. So far it seemed like the boy wasn't interested in having Olly as a snack, but the otter had seen many times how an animal's personality can change quickly. He awaited the boy's answer anxiously, with forearms tucked close to him and the tip of his tail swaying at a relaxed pace.

"An otter?" Floki asked; the name wasn't familiar to him, but he immediately began to associate the word with Olly's appearance. Living in Stavanger Bay and so close to the sea and its tributaries, he would likely become familiar with otters as he grew up. The creature returned the question, and the pup drew himself up taller, emanating Charon in that moment.

"I'm a wolf," he replied. He was growing braver -- especially as he thought of the way Charon would interact with an otter -- and added, "I live in the forest. Do you stay in the water all the time?" He gestured over his shoulder with his snout, back towards the trees beyond the beach; there was a well-worn path there that would lead to his family's den.

When he looked back, the playful otter was scampering away, splashing through the water. It seemed like he was inviting Floki to play, but the pup was not nearly brave enough to venture into the ocean -- not after what it had done to Jorunn. So he watched his sea-faring friend for a short while, then turned and padded back up the shore, heading for home to tell his mom about his experience.