Wheeling Gull Isle when we're young we set our hearts upon some beautiful idea

The closer they got to Undersea, the more comfortable she became.  The sun was high overhead when she arrived on the island with @Rokig in tow.  She thought about calling for @Coelacanth, @Komodo, or @Stockholm as they crossed the land bridge, but instead she howled a greeting to the island as a whole — "I'm home!"

She needed to get back to the children so she clipped her way across the island, marking the borders here and there along the way, but her body language was inviting enough that even as the squeals of her children could be heard it was obvious that she would not mind the company.

He almost hesitated to follow her deeper into the island, nervous that someone might take his presence the wrong way. Rokig just kept his posture low and kept close to the streamlined female. It was only when he heard the soft sound of children that he halted. His gut clenching with a foul feeling. He had nothing against the children. It was more the feeling of the curse that his family had branded him. While he had no way to confirm it, he also couldn't deny it.

Rokig shifted his weight slightly as a small chuff escaped him, ears folding against his crown. He could wait out here at a respectable distance from the family for now.

Well, this wouldn't do.  She checked on the children — one, two, three, four — and made sure Maegi was content remaining in charge (although she probably wasn't).  She slipped in and allowed them to suckle for some time before she grew anxious about the newcomer's distance.

But Blondine, too, had been nervous around children — she figured that it was probably something like that and nothing so insidious as being cursed.  She emerged from the den after the children had fed and shook the dirt from her pelt.  'Io began to walk towards one of the island's more scenic territories that she'd come to learn was christened Coaltree Rise, hoping that maybe this would entice the newcomer.

He was content to follow her away from the den that housed the children. "Where are we going?" The question was asked in soft tones as he upped his pace a bit to get to her side so he wouldn't have to talk too loud. Rokig had been fine with staying silent on the trip here but the curiosity nipped at his brain when she kept leading him.

Carefully, he glanced over his shoulder wondering if anyone else was nearby. The place by no means was deserted - he could tell in the scents - but so far he had not seen anyone else other than his lean tour guide.

They would find the sheepdog at Coaltree Rise, carefully planting a garden in the soft loam. She was planting berry bushes, of course, by macerating the fruit and then burying it in a soft section of spongy earth between the veldt and the Skybowl’s forest. Berry juice stained her mouth, but her indelible, aphotic fur kept such secrets well. This was her second garden — the first was planted in the peat moss that could be found where the wood met Morningside Moor — and her hope was that if she continued to throw a multitude of efforts at the wall, something might stick.

Fox-fine muzzle touched down, featherlight, on fragile shoots of calendula and yarrow, goldenseal and echinacea. Her back was turned toward the approaching twain as she watered her garden, streaming with water from one of the many rills that fissured through Skybowl’s skirts and then tiptoeing through the meticulously tended rows. She believed that seeds were just sleeping plants, waiting to wake up and reach for the sun — so she moved on tenterhooks, not wanting to disturb the ground under which her treasure trove waited. She was not typically one for border-marking, but with furrows of her claws, tufts of her fur, and scent marks, she had sectioned off this wide swath of earth. Thus far, it had remained untouched by the other seawolves —

Her Neptune eyes narrowed as she spotted in the earth nearby a hoofprint that was too fresh and close for comfort, and as she turned — her back still facing the general direction of the sandbar — she spotted one of the shaggy horses that made a home of the veldt and neighboring beach. “Hey!” she boofed in indignation, damp hackles lifting like inky sea urchin quills. She nipped at the equine’s heels, narrowly dodging a kick to the jaw, and began nimbly driving it away.

I am slow. ♡ ? 
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Unfortunately for Rokig, the less she felt she needed to use words the less communicative she got.  She licked at his muzzle in response instead to soothe his worries.  As far as she was concerned, he was safe with her.

They arrived at the edge of Coaltree and found Coelacanth nipping at the hocksof an unfortunate equine.  She jack knifed close without instruction and took her move as if they were hunting, launching behind the shadow as she barked back at Rokig as if to say, "come on, help us."

While the lick to his muzzle did not answer any questions, he found himself not asking anything further. Rokig could be a follower. He was rather good at that he found out.

It was a familiar inky figure that made his tail sway behind him. That was until equine was being run off. His gut clench at the thought of those hooves hitting anything or anyone. He couldn't let the two lean females take care of the issue by themselves, though. They had been so kind to him. The least he could do was help run off the hoofed creature.

He let out a deep woof as he aimed to close in on the equine's side, with hopes it could be herded elsewhere.

The horse was too healthy for the three of them to take down, but with a whisk of her feathered tail the Aralez made it plain that she was not out for blood. At last, accosted by not one but three pairs of darting paws and snapping jaws, the horse wheeled and beat a swift retreat.

Buoyed by their victory, the sheepdog offered her first congratulatory kiss to her black-masked packmate. Berry-stained tongue enthusiastically laved the slim, tapered muzzle just before her cold, wet nose made an invisible stamp upon `Io’s cheek. Then she turned to Rokig, and her tufted ears perked in surprise even as her body wriggled with delight. “Rokig,” she whispered, crossing the distance to kiss him, too. She was only slightly more reserved with him than she’d been with the island’s guardian; a fraction of hesitation preceded her attempt to smooth her sticky-sweet tongue along the underside of his jaw. If he allowed, she would nuzzle at his cheek in turn with her nose.

Stepping back with a dancer’s grace, she swept her fox-fine muzzle toward the tilled earth. “See?” she said in lieu of a verbal greeting, pride dancing within her Neptune eyes. `Io, she was certain, had probably already seen her garden on the other side of the island. The sleek she-wolf seemed to patrol tirelessly, when she was not tethered to Poppy’s legacy. Coelacanth had been taking turns with the babies, too, but her body — despite the telltale changes of her body — was not yet producing milk for them. Most importantly, she felt as if caring for the children helped soothe some of the ceaseless ache she knew `Io felt for her missing children, Nunataq and Marten.

Glancing between Rokig and `Io now, Seelie wondered: “Rokig — come to say? Stay?”

wrapping this up. PP approved by KJ

At the inky female's question, Rokig let his head nod at first before he spoke. Yes. Stay. If you'll have me. He would not wait long for a confirmation, though. The inky one seemed rather joyed at his words and in her usual calming tones (at least he found them calming) spoke "Welcome, Tauhou." Rokig merely smiled as his tail gave a few eager sways behind him. He took that as a sign that he was one of them now.

With that out of the way, he would spend a few more moments with the lean females before exploring the island on his own.