Totoka River with every breath you take, my heart grows weak

After the girls had made up their minds to take a quick visit the shore, and informed @Aningan of these plans within the next few days (who hopefully happily obliged,) they made their way out from the plateau together. Through Ravensblood Forest, and soon they were back on the familiar sands, on the river's north side and padding closer to the sea.

It seemed that the little chat from the week before had brought the warmth back. Even as Huā and @Mei still felt rather uncomfortable with the situation they were in, the atmosphere between the pair and @Ying was better. And now Huā wore a contented smile as her ocean eyes scanned the not-too-distant blue horizon. A little dot out there catches her eye for a moment- but she thinks little of it, turning gaze back to her sisters, eager for conversation.

the journey was not a long one. rusalka sat near the coast, so it only took but two nights to reach their destination. ying was grateful for this; she often grew antsy during long-distance travel, and didn't want her temper to reveal itself to either sister. 

once the ocean came into view, she bound forward ahead of them both, chirping sounds of pleasure. a fair distance away, she settled into a play bow and waited to see who was interested.

home is where the heart is, and mei's heart laid nestled in the sand, caressed by the sea's lapping embrace.

she was home.

ying, bursting with energy as always, dipped into a play bow. In her euphoria, mei was inclined to mirror the gesture and bound after her platinum-clad sister. if she ran, she would give chase. should she stand her ground, she'd leap and attempt to rest her arms on her sister's dark nape, tail waving like a banner in the wind.

being vague since idk how Ying reacts to Mei's approach :P

Instead of conversation she was greeted with playfulness- which she did not mind either. Either one would release her joyful energy, and that's what she wanted. A cheeky grin met her face at the sight of Ying's invitation to play. Tail wagging side to side, she bounded towards the hunter to chase her, but Mei arrived first, and Huā slowed to a halt to watch. And perhaps search for a good entrance into the scene, unless someone decided to chase after her first.

the invitation was well-received. first came mei, wrapping either arm around ying's neck. hua appeared to have been interested as well, so the huntress tried to wrestle her way from the first sister's grip, exposing her full flank in the process. a playful bark was sounded, albeit strained and somewhat forced.

ying wriggled out of her grasp, leaving mei's forepaws to return to the sand. should her sister run now, she would pursue her & aim light nips at her exposed flank. she kept an eye on huā in case she decided to come for her, though mei wouldn't be opposed to a playful scrap with her.

Ying's bark caused blackened ears to perk up again, and her gaze caught on her sister's exposed flank. It was like an invitation to join in the fun. She races forward, bounding with spindly black legs towards the pair, letting out a few short barks purely for fun. She attempts to make playful nips at the huntress' side. She shot Mei a cheeky glance as they tag-teamed the cloudy girl.

the bliss of freedom was tragically short-lived. ying was able to escape from mei's grip, but was just as quickly bombarded with nips from hua. growling through exposed teeth, she playfully knocked jaws with whatever part of either sister she could reach. 

to spice things up, nuvujak broke off into a run, hoping to escape from their reach.

huā decided to tag-team ying with her, causing mei to smirk. however, ying's swinging jaws made her pull back. if huā didn't stop her from bolting, she'd give chase, literally nipping at her heels.

Ying's jaws reigned down, and soon she felt the piercing of fire in her shoulder. It prompted a laugh from her, the sting of play. She backs off from the little nips, but as soon as Mei backs off, Huā changes her target. Now she chases her doppelganger, hoping that if she could catch her, she would tackle her in a rolling ball.

ying was no longer the target, it seemed. she took advantage of hua's disinterest and turned on mei, nipping at the in-seams of her either ear. 

finding herself tiring oddly fast from their play-session, the huntress took a step back and allowed the twins to finish their game.

she'd let her guard down & was blindsided by huā, who sent them tumbling down. mei rumbled, & her tail lashed as they fought for dominance. however, she ended up on her back from her sister's tackle. aimlessly, she snapped at huā, tugging on whatever part of her she could reach. ying nibbled on her ear, but there wasn't much to be done about that in her current position. for some reason, that drew a giggle from her, rare as those came. fortunately, ying soon backed off to leave the two of them to their scuffle.

Huā and Mei rolled a few times over and she tackled her. The dark siren found herself on top, while Mei's back stayed pinned to the sandy ground. Sister snaps at Huā, getting in a sharp little bite at her ear. The sting comes once again, and she laughs, enjoying all the play, even the pain. Seaglass eyes move backwards to notice that Ying has settled down, and so Huā joins her, crawling off of the elegant girl and moving to sit by the huntress. Her chest moves up and down, and she realizes she's a tad breathless from the action.

the trio soon settled down, each sister sitting and catching her breath. ying looked between hua and mei, ignoring the burning between neck and shoulder as she continued to calm her thumping heart. i'm happy we're taking this trip, she told them. a smile was plastered onto her maw, stretching from one cheek to the other.

after allowing a moment for either hua or mei to respond, she continued. i think i needed a break from rusalka, too. the kids there are insane. ying shared a hardly laugh, shaking her head at the thought.

huā laughed along with her, & joy bloomed in her chest. soon enough, she moved off, & mei rolled onto her belly to sit up & shake the sand from her pelt. she panted with a lolling tongue, & had mostly caught her breath by the time ying spoke. she huffed at her comment.

我总是很高兴在沙滩上... she trailed off, & her gaze drifted to sea. noticing something in the distance, she squinted. 你看到地平线了吗？看起来像...一个小岛。

Mei joins them, and as they settle down Ying begins the conversation. Huā nods at her first statement. "我也很高兴." She sighs dreamily. At her next comment, Huā's cackle breaks the cool air, echoing over the shore. That was her way of agreeing- yeah, those kids were weird. A product of their weird culture which somehow thought that children had authority over full-fledged adults. 

Mei comments something, which Huā first finds irrelevant- but as her head turns to look, she realizes it's the dot she saw on the horizon before. A little island out there. She squints, realizing there was something of a hill- or was it a mountain? And distant trees, and a glowing little smudge of purple. It was a whole place of its own, secluded and cut off from the mainland by water. She wondered if anyone lived there. Voicing her thoughts immediately, "我想知道那里是否有狼..." Her voice trailing off as she eyes it.

the opportunity to impress her sisters was happily taken. let's go see! wolves living that far from shore would have no use for a border, but if they did, it wouldn't be as prominent as those found on land. the tide was relatively low, revealing a slightly submerged sandbar; if the sisters wanted to know whether someone lived there, now was the perfect time to make a visit. 

without waiting for hua (to agree) or mei (to disagree), the young huntress started making her way toward the bridge.

LMAO, ying knows them too well.

as if reading her mind, huā voiced the question she wondered next. but before mei could comment, ying insisted they investigate & bolted off, not even giving her time to protest. she shook her head & glanced at huā before reluctantly following behind her reckless sister at a lope.

LOL, what she said^^^ also separate little thread to explore WGI? or just assume they explored? 

Ying suggests they go visit. She wouldn't have to tell Huā twice! The furry mermaid followed her sister eagerly with a skipping step. Seaglass eyes take notice of the same feature- land which was almost apparent, just beneath the water's surface. "一座桥. 我认为退潮时最好," She muses thoughtfully out loud as they follow the path. The land would fade behind them as they traveled on the wet bridge, making their way towards that mysterious smudge on the horizon.