Ankyra Sound That perfume lingers in your hair

Located in The Grotto. AW.

One of the few gifts he'd found and returned to the grotto was the small skull of a seal pup. It was a good memory, and Firefly had so very few good memories, so he'd gone out to scour the beach for the remains of the fat creature he'd torn apart with the witch-woman's aid. They'd buried most of the fatty meat, but with some investigating Firefly had tracked down the inedible remains and patiently cleaned off the skull of remaining rot within a tide pool.

As he came upon the caves, he carried the skull between his teeth. The looming shadows of the cave mouth enveloped him as he passed within them, his gait interrupted by his usual hip hitch. He gave a cursory look through the shadows in case @Caiaphas was resting inside (or any of the others recovering from the battle), before delving deeper, and placing the still-wet skull upon a patch of dry sand - there, it would dessicate and become a fixture in the cave.

curled into a tight ball of legs and fur, caiaphas had been lightly sleeping -- until a shadow and a disturbed waft of air woke her. her eyes opened into yellowed slits, watching as firefly's shadow passed her by and made its way into the center of the cavern. there he placed some grisly object on the sand -- when he stepped back, caiaphas saw it to be the skull of a seal.

approving of his home decor tastes, the sylph rose stiffly, wondering if the limping male would turn around and entertain her with conversation.

Having been preoccupied with his gift to the grotto, Firefly did not notice the slumbering siren queen until she moved. The sound of the sand crunching softly under her weight made him pause and look around, noticing the gleam of her lamplight gaze, and then trailing his attention to her pale, coiled body. The battle had been hard on both of them, and Firefly worried for the woman. He didn't mention this though — knowing that it wouldn't help to bring up her ailments, as it had never helped him in his own recovery.

He licked his lips, tasting salt and feeling grains of sand netted by his tongue. The weather's changing, he remarks casually, commenting on the slow dissolution of the dark clouds since the storm. Winter might've been on its way out, which heralded brighter days for all of them. Or was he speaking of something else? Some change that would come soon — a change in their collective fortunes, perhaps. The days are getting longer, warmer.

caiaphas' gaze was preoccupied by the seal skull, though it lifted as she caught that firefly's passing comment might have had a deeper connotation. examining first his expression, and then the fresh wounds on his already heavily battered body, caiaphas affirmed his comment with a stiff nod. "storm's on its way out." indeed, the worst of it seemed to have passed, though caiaphas knew a thing or two about how things, inevitably, could certainly always get worse.

as far as the waning of the season -- caiaphas, for one, would be happy to see the snow entirely abate. "hmm, yes. soon it will be spring, then summer, then, winter again - on and on until, well, whenever we die or the world gets tired of constantly changing."

Talking about the weather didn't really brighten the moment, nor cure either wolf of their sour moods, but he was trying. Her flippant comments about the progress of time elicited a thin smirk from him. She had a point. It was getting clearer out there, but eventually another storm would come. More snow. They'd survived a battle for their beach but who knows what disaster was next — entropy was everyone's weakness.

So, he tried a different approach. Firefly was hurting and he did not doubt that the matriarch was aching too, with the damages to her body as well as her increasing age, but he beckoned towards the yawning mouth of the cave all the same — C'mon, walk with me. And even before he got a response, he was striding (with his stupid hobble) away from the hollow, presuming she would come out and stretch her legs.

her rather cynical remark remained uncontested; the sylph watched as the man hobbled away, though not before requesting her attendance.

obligingly, and very stiffly, the siren rose and unfolded her aching limbs. walking was painful work, but the further she moved, the easier her muscles glided into place -- quiet but no less willing, the crone followed behind the scarred male and carefully matched his limping pace.

They didn't move at a very quick pace, but that was fine for him. Working the muscles would be good for the both of them. Although he wasn't going to try and venture along the slope again (as he had with Illidan), Firefly wanted to get his blood flowing and the only other option was to stroll along the beach.

He paused a few times so that Caiaphas could catch up to him, or he'd hurry along to match her in turn, but eventually they reached a ledge of exposed stone that bordered the full-sand beach. It was the last bit of not-quite-beach, where the tide couldn't reach and debris would pile up. Right now there was lots of seeweed, indicating the tide had gone out recently and left all sorts of things behind.

Firefly dipped his snout a few times but the scent of the fresh brine was too hard on his airway, so he huffed and gave up a moment later. As he looked away, his gaze caught upon the distant cliffs, and he glowered up at them — wishing he was healthy so that they could try to raid the cliff-wolves again.

they trawled through the ocean's detritus -- firefly with more dexterity than she; her neck was bothering her, and she moved gingerly. she did not miss the dark scowl that was directed towards drageda - had she know firefly's thoughts she would have illuminated him with her own -- and they were far more vulgar.

pawing through a promising brand of kelp, caiaphas exposed what appeared to be a clutch of fish eggs collected under a broad leaf. she motioned to it with a stiff nudge of her nose -- "you big into eggs?"

She caught his attention with the mention of eggs, which he didn't remember ever eating before but the term made his belly rumble. The man looked at the sand and then followed her gaze, slipped close, and looked at the cluster of fish eggs that she'd found. They... were less appealing. That twisting hunger in his belly abated almost instantly and he commented (looking a little green), Better if you have them, and after one more glance at the strange pile of alien goop, he looked away.

having once been a starving picaroon, caiaphas had discovered just about everything from the sea was somehow edible.. as long as it was not brightly colored. she looked to the male rather sympathetically as he rejected her offer -- perhaps his palate was not used to seafare.

she did not waste time scarfing down the thick goop. eggs had a way of sliding easily down the gullet, and she licked her lips in satisfaction once the deed was done. "there is time for you yet. not a fan of the sound's fare?"

He listened to her slurping at the egg pile, and even dared to look at her as the last bits were sucked up and swallowed; there was something otherwordly about the process and even as Caiaphas indulged herself in the meal, he found his belly twisting. Her question made him shrug his tattered shoulders — Firefly had eaten rabbits from the forest, seals from the beach, even some crabs when he could figure them out, but when he thought of eggs -- Just not what I expected, he said, and then swallowed the sick feeling that had worked its way up his throat.

his queasiness was noted with a shrewd glare.

sitting up from the coarse meal between her paws, caiaphas rolled her shoulders indiffidently. "ever eat bird eggs?" she queried, wondering if he had never snatched a fresh-laid egg from its mother, and savored the warm succor within. "it is not so different - just colder, and well, less crunchy shell to get between your teeth."

she had finished the small meal, and nosing further down the strand, motioned for him to follow. "what is your favorite food then? we could search for it here."

He was quiet when she spoke, and this persisted beyond the breath of her words for a few beats, but eventually he sighed deeply and said I cannot remember, to both queries. If the bird eggs were anything like that strange soup she had been slurping then he wanted nothing to do with them - but mostly he was feeling frustrated. Firefly wished he could remember more details about himself yet each attempt to recall the minutiae of his life pre-Rusalka merely brought him back to that blackened forest.

her brow furrowed -- she knew the scarred male to have a rather equally scarred past, but this was one of the first times he had so openly communicated his frustration with his failed memory. she sniffed, looking about them with a rather solemn contemplation.

"well, better find out. scents it seems, brings out the mind. do you recall anything at all? we could look for things that stir your thoughts." she rose and left the kelp behind, trawling along a column of raised rocks with her nose to the ground.

He took a moment but followed after her, feigning interest in a pile of shattered oyster shells along the tideline, and limped along. None of the smells along this salty stretch were of any value to him however, Firefly was still learning about all the gifts the sea could share.

Her words resonated with him though. The man walked and considered things, and finally commented, The smell of the woods makes me.. nervous. Sometimes it is overpowering and... he did not want to sound crazy so he fell quiet again, thinking of how best to phrase himself, Sometimes... I think I can smell more blood in the soil than tree-scent.

caiaphas paused as firefly lingered at a patch of shattered oyster shells, no doubt the remnant cache of an intrepid gull's -- she scanned the sky as if expecting the bird's visitation any moment, but no shadow darkened the grey skies.

moving on, the sylph examined firefly's words, and the strangled manner of his admittance that there was blood lingering in the monolith forest. she sniffed, fixing her gaze on the massive boughs that flanked the monolith forest's perimeter. "there is something to investigate." she commented dryly, having little interest in examining the paranormal or the spooky. "if its the forest that draws the most emotion out of you, perhaps that is a part of your past self coming to life again, the part of you that you maybe forgot."

This is old so I am gonna close it!

She had a point. It made him wonder all the more - should he try to remember? Should he push past his own limits and try to see beyond the shadows in his mind? There was worry there; he couldn't be sure he'd like what he'd find. What good would it do to remember things now anyway? Too many thoughts and too many questions flooded his mind. He didn't say another word, and fell to contemplative silence as he continued to scour the beach.