He'd found it. A freshwater source nearby.
He hadn't slept. The areas around the sea were plentiful with water but little of it drinkable. How one could live their life along the shoreline seemed daunting to Andr in this moment. Hydration would be the limiting resource to anyone trying to make their home here. Although once found the task would prove quite a bit easier.
Once he found it - after taking a plentiful drink for himself - he returned in the direction of the Gilded Bay. As his paws ran over grass to sand his chest began to pound. He worried that she would somehow not be there when he returned.
The sloping hills of sand obscured his view. Until he reached the top and looked down to see the fragile black and white still laying atop the flat rock on which he had placed her.
He lowered his head and a great sign of relief escaped him. A slow deep breath in as he lifted it. She's still here he thought.
Still filled with nervous adrenaline he made his way to one of the nearby pools, trapping fresh fish from the overnight tide. Here, in a trapped enclosure skill went out the window. Persistence was all one needed. He shopped around for the fattest fish he could find and sank in his teeth.
Carrying it in his mouth he brought it over to her on the rock. Dropping it down and nudging it within her reach.
Another mild hesitation before reaching forward and resting his ear against her chest to hear that her heart was still beating.
iaghe did not dream.
it was only dark. quiet.
she could not have said how long she'd been lost to the void when the touch of something against her chest startled her awake.
a light pressure but felt all the same.
baby blues snapped open, the woman reeling back -- paws scrabbling as her weight shifted back onto her hindquarters. ready to run.
one. her vision pinholed with black.
two. her heart gave a sickening lurch.
three. her bloodstream sang with the heady swirl of nauseating adrenaline.
the sight of him slipping from his place near her chest sent a bolt of panic through her. at first glance, the sea sprite did not know him. some sound began to build in her throat, only to die.
a heartbeat passed.
a memory emerged from the heavy veil that shrouded her mind. it was a blurry one but it was enough.
stumbling along the shore. being hoisted into the air.
the ghost's tongue rasped along her chops in a nervous, submissive manner -- a flash of black and white like the rest of her skin.
the glacial freeze of her gaze softened just a fraction, remaining glued to him cautiously in spite of the logic that prevailed: if he'd wanted to hurt her, he'd already had his opportunity.
her tail beat twice against the stone in apology as she hunkered, perched in the same spot she'd retreated to. guarded curiosity regarded him within her tired gaze.
Though hopeful of it he had not expected her to wake up. After such a period of lifeless movement, it was a stark contrast to the sudden jolt of consciousness. Andr was quick to lift his head and back away. So quick that his back legs nearly tripped as they had not anticipated the edge of the rock. Now off the stone, he looked at her as her frightened flight reaction began to lessen. She hunkered down looking towards him.
"I'm sorry Miss. I did not mean to startle you. I only wished to check your condition. That..." he paused. Saying to someone you were checking to see if they were alive seemed like a recipe for panic that Andr did not wish to bake. "I brought you a fish, should you be hungry" he offered, changing the subject. Keeping his distance and a calm tone so as not to startle her further.
she watched him as he spoke.
the words were not nonsensical.
it was only as if there was some key she was missing. the words should have made sense but the meaning danced out of her grip.
her ears twitched just once, the only sign that iaghe heard him at all.
there was one sound that stuck out amongst all the others. her gaze flickered of its own volition, darting down to the slain fish at the he-wolf's paws before meeting his again.
when the sound fell silent and his lips stopped moving, iaghe cocked her head at him.
'what do you mean?'
sorry for the wait! I've been absolutely slammed with class and finals.
All good. I started too many threads all around the same time so I've been feeling slammed myself
She was more responsive than the first day he had seen her, but she still did not seem to have all her wits about her. Her eyes followed the subject and her ears noted the sound, but words of her own were not to be found. All culminating towards a final conclusive expression of confusion.
Moving slowly he approached the fish and tore off a piece which he placed before her. He then tore a piece off for himself and ate it. Perhaps a demonstration would be easier to comprehend.
the ice blue aquamarines remained glued to him, watching warily as he dipped and tore at the fish.
a portion for himself and a portion for the ghost.
was it a trick? the marooned woman could think of no other reason why he did it. surely, it was a trap.
even so.
the shadow flashed forward, gobbling.
another flash and the morsel disappeared down her gullet. iaghe could not have even said if there were bones in it, so quickly was it eaten.
she retreated, watching the man relentlessly as she did -- silently wondering. perhaps waiting for his ire, to see what andr might do that now that she had partaken in his kindness.
Her eyes continued to follow him, but her mouth did not utter a word. After a moment of quiet, she snatched up the morsel of fish, swallowing it whole, before retreating again to the edge of the rock.
A good first step Andr thought. He approached the fish again, slowly. He took some time and ripped more of the flesh from the carcass. The equivalent of cutting it up for a small pup, leaving a small pile. Once again he flung one piece in her direction, hoping she would eat it and inch closer to the meal he had prepared for her.
He stepped back off the rock to give her some space to feel comfortable and move forward.
andr butchered the fish. iaghe watched.
the winterborne's gaze flitted in small tics of movement. his teeth shredding the pale meat. the angles of him as he bent to do so, making himself vulnerable before her.
the prospect of an attack from the wildling was laughable and yet, it was a marvel he could do such a thing.
a piece was launched in her direction, startling the islander from her vigilance. a ripple coursed along her skin, not unlike catflesh against a touch of the spine.
iaghe's tongue -- a patchwork of ivory and ebony -- flashed along similarly speckled chops. still, the woman did not move.
her gaze flew back to him.
she desperately wanted to eat.
she could not understand any reason he would lure her closer that did not sound a broken, screaming film within her skull.
she was locked in place there, unable to steal forward and unable to look away for fear he would move as she did.
The space that he had given her wasn't enough. She still stood there in shock and had flinted as he tossed food her way.
Much of the fish had been filleted before her. She simply needed to step forward and take it. But he knew her obstacle was him, at least mentally speaking.
With a deep breath, he turned his back to her and moved away a few more paces before taking a seat. Though his back was to her, he kept his ears peeled. He was hoping to hear the sound of her enjoying the meal.
Turning your back to an unknown individual was, at least on paper, risky. But he couldn't imagine her having the strength or desire to attach him when she could barely be in his presence. The worst that could happen would be for her to run away. Another outcome he feared.
soooo sorry for the delay!
even as he turned his back, wilin only shifted her eyes. her breath hitched within her lungs, waiting.
wondering.
eons seconds passed. andr did not turn back around.
the petrel inched forward, nose lifting a fraction to sniff in his direction -- belly brushing the ground as she all but army crawled to his offering.
a pebble was knocked aside. a hiss escaped her, another wince rippling through her as wild eyes flew to him. again, uncertain if now would be the time he turned on her.
the girl could scarcely believe his kindness, let alone that it would last.
when still, he remained transfixed in his place, only the copper auds atop his crown turning back, iaghe snagged another tidbit and gulped it down.
another piece of fish was launched through the air, though this time it was the shadow that tossed it in andr's direction.
a muted, placating rumble scraped its way out of her throat.
it was one thing to be hungry. it was another to be in a man's debt.
The sound of a moving pebble.
Faint winces. A meal being consumed. Something tossed in his direction.
Then a muted grumble.
But he remained still. His back turned to her with his eyes closed taking in the sounds and smells to visualize the situation.
Though the piece of fish had been thrown in his direction, it had not passed him. Determined not to turn around, he was unaware of its existence and the clouded shadow's offer.
the seabird's brow crumpled, frustrated. though mostly with herself.
the muscles within her throat shifted, scraped against each other silently. if she'd been capable, a whine might've whispered from her.
as it was, she shifted (best as one could in her position anyways -- rocking her weight from left to right in indecisive agitation.
a few long moments swelled between them. the symphony of the shore falling somewhere in the back of her mind where it soothed the frayed fragments of what remained of iaghe.
at last, the wildling took up the portion of fish and crept forward. pale eyes flitting to him but never resting long, two hummingbirds of ice that hovered and brushed rather than landing.
she rose to a half height, ghosting her nose against the man's ribcage.
and waited; feathered auds pressed close to her skull in anticipation.
Fade soon?
The soft touch against his back sent goosebumps down his spine. He was not afraid but surprised and still nervous. She had chosen to approach him, but he needed to be sure of his next actions. It would either solidify in her mind that he was not to be trusted, or leave her with at least a hinting feeling that he was worth being around.
Slowly turning his head he looked over his shoulder and found her looking at the ground with a portion of the fish in her jaws. An offering he thought. He didn't need it. He wanted to refute it. She needed it far more than he did. But it was more than that, and he knew that refusing the offer would be a setback in the sliver of a connection he had built thus far.
Even though he was sitting he made a point to lower himself further as he turned his body to face her as to be less imposing. He hovered near her and the fish. Willing to take it from her jaws or pick it up off the ground, whichever she proceeded to do.