Oystercatcher Tide Pools searchin' for my lost shaker of salt

She and @Tristan hadn't strayed far from the grove in days and that suited Bat just fine. Today, however, she felt a familiar itch beneath her skin and ventured out on her own to explore, just a little. She headed farther west along the coastline, her silver eyes lighting up when she first caught sight of the tide pools in the distance. She raced toward them, feeling like a kid again as she skidded to a stop near the closest one and peered into the shallows.

There was a whole world beneath the crystal clear waters, just inches from her nose. Bat contented herself to simply sit and watch a while, then waded into the water to take a closer look at the objects further away from the edge. She paused when a shoal of small fish darted and weaved around her banded ankles, flickering tickles that elicited a light bray of laughter from her.

vegas had departed the coast and made his way to a place that might bring his smile back for a few moments. the familiar rush of spray crashing against the seastones brought him a sense of...familiarity. 

He soon realized that he was not alone and this tore him a bit. for one thing, he never wanted company these days. but for another, interaction with a one of his kind may welcome an even deeper distraction to his grieving mind. he chose not to flee, but rather to approach. the woman stood in the water a bit lower than midleg, and she was just gazing at the creatures living within the strange pools. Vegas thought he heard a giggle and the sound was not unwelcome.

"Have you seen them before?" he called to her. "The tide pools, I mean?"

When a voice spoke nearby, Bat turned toward it and responded as casually as if they were already acquainted and he'd been standing there all along. "Not these particular ones, no," was her answer, "but there were some tide pools at Drageda, where I was born."

Her ankles sloshed as she turned broadside, so she at least didn't have back toward the stranger. It wasn't so much about trust as curiosity and manners. She eyed him curiously, noting his striking eyes and the creamy hues of his pelt.

"I'm Bat," she offered, having grown weary of aliases lately (they were hard to keep track of!).

she answered with the confidence of someone who had long been a friend and this he appreciated. the woman was somewhat intimidating by his perception, black fur and winglike markings of gray.

she turned broadside as he waded into the water to meet her,careful not to step on any of the sea creatures linked to the rocky seabed. 

"I'm Vegas," he answered with a soft smile and another swift way of his tail. "Drageda. Is that around here?" he wondered conversationally.

His question was met with a ponderous silence. Were they still around? In Bat's mind, Drageda had simply ceased to exist with the death of her nomi. It hadn't even occurred to her until this very moment that it might still be around, possibly with Artaax or Blixen in charge. She blinked loudly, mouth falling ajar as the possibility struck her.

"It was further up the coast," she eventually remembered to say, pointing with a banded foreleg, "but I'm not actually sure if it's around anymore." She might have felt sheepish, if she wasn't deeply caught up in her thoughts all of a sudden.

Wait! Was that where Kiwi was ruling? Bat thought back to her brief conversation with Revui. No, he said something about Nova Peak... She shook her head, marveling at it all. She couldn't decide whether or not she regretted not finding out more about Kiwi's pack and the fate of Drageda. But there was no going back now.

"Ah, sorry, I got lost in my thoughts," she apologized after noticing the silence stretching. "I'm just a traveler nowadays. What about you, Vegas? Where are you from?"