Stavanger Bay Take some books and make a smoothie

@Huā 

On the first day the sun appeared from behind the rain clouds and lavished the Earth below with light and warmth, Wraen finally felt good enough to take a stroll along the coast at a leisurely pace. The air was crisp and fresh, the sound of waves on one side and the wind playing in the forest trees on the other was a pleasant backdrop for quiet contemplation. She tried to recall the memories of her early childhood there, but very few resurfaced and even those were blurry and she did not feel sure, what had been real and what had her imagination improved. 

Then she thought about the future - stopped and observed the horizon, then turned to continue her walk along the coast and looked ahead. The destination she wished to reach had come no closer now that they had settled at the Sentinels. How great it would have been, if the forest had not been ravaged by fire so many years ago, then she could rebuild Donnelaith or a pack of any other name and live out her days as she wished. Yet all she had there were a couple of memories, plenty of rubble and the fact that the lifespan of trees was not only way longer than hers, but they did not hurry to grow up quickly. In her lifetime Sentinels would always remain an uninhabitable place. 

Yet not far from the wreckage lied another abandoned place - Wraen walked through the village that had once been home to proud Ragnar and his folk (her mother's tales) and, where she had met Charon for the first time. And while she had arrived here, when this pack had long since disbanded, she did not understand, why would someone wish to leave a place that had so much to give. Lost in thoughts again, she sat down and traced the landscape with her gaze, wondering.

Each week or so, Huā had made her way down to the beach at some point or another, looking to see whether the waters might lower with time. She did not want to keep her people stuffed up in the forests forever; they deserved their return to the safety of the island, though presently nature had forbade it. Today she looked out across the sea to the island, and saw there the thin line of the land bridge: still partially submerged, but recovering as far as she could see, a sign that their time on the mainland would soon draw to a close. A soft smile to herself, and then the siren's gaze pulled away from the sea and to her surroundings on the bay again. 

Quiet days like these were perfect, she thought, as she began to stroll lazily across the earth, recalling how she had met here with faces like Abaddon and Nefris. Her time in the wilds was much younger than Wraen's, but somehow she felt she had lived a lifetime here already. She had never known she might flee home and find a new one among people who were once strangers, make a pack, find enemies and allies and crushes. 

Huā looked up again, realizing she had drifted into thought and stopped paying attention- and found ahead, a grayish woman sitting comfortably there on the shore. Huā would not recognize her just yet, and thus only approached slowly with an amiable chuff.

"Good afternoon, miss!" Wraen greeted the fellow seashore philosopher, once the latter had made her presence known. She pulled herself up to her feet, stretched and then approached gingerly, stopping at a polite distance, while still close enough to have a conversation without them shouting out to each other. 

The female seemed vaguely familiar, but Wraen was unable to put a name under her image. In her youth she had boasted a superb memory for people and faces, but as the list of people she had met during the course of her life grew longer and longer, her ability to recall every one of them dwindled. Therefore rather than assuming that this stranger too thought of herself as someone, who has been seen before, Wraen went on with harmless small-talk: "What brings you out here today?"

Luckily the woman was good-tempered, greeting her easily with an amiable nature. Huā smiled as the stranger stood and stretched, making her way to the mermaid. Upon seeing her face Huā unintentionally squinted her eyes slightly, brows furrowing as she studied her features. There was definitely something familiar to her, but she couldn't place her finger paw on it just yet. Do I- do I know you? Before, did I meet you? She laughed lightly, not wishing to be rude by ignoring the question directed to her, and continued: I am visiting to check water level. My pack lived on that island- There she paused to gesture her black muzzle to the distant land, But we temporarily moved in-land until the rain ends. What about you?

"I have the same feeling. So either we have met before or it is that star-crossed fateful thing. Femme fatale for each other," Wraen laughed, sharing the sentiment and feeling very amused. It was not every day that deja vu hit too people simultaneously. "Anyway - it is nice meeting you... for the first time or again," she chuckled.

"I recently left my pack with two other comrades. We are travelling together and for the time being we have settled in a forest near the coast. Not much of it's grand and glory days is left, but it is hospitable enough for travellers that are in no hurry," Wraen explained. "Did the rain flood your home?" she asked.

Ah, so she felt the same. It was an unfortunate thing that Wraen was no longer with the 'Firebirds', in this case- though her name was lovely, the granduer of such a dramatic pack name as Firebirds would likely stick with Huā for a while yet to come. And then again... Yuèlóng was debatably even more dramatic, with its meaning being 'moon dragons'. She could blame that on Mei. The term femme fatale went over the siren's head- not native to English, and certainly not French. But there was little time for her to inquire about its meaning. Wraen seemed to be a chatterbox in a good way; she casted light despite the dreary weather, and Huā was charmed by her personality which came off as so amiable. Nice meeting you too- and forgive my poor memory, Huā laughed lightly. 

The empress listened to the short tale of Wraen's conditions. Hearing that the forest was not so grand made her consider offering the woman and her comrades a home upon the island- but she seemed so content already, in the way she talked of the place. And if she was a traveller in no hurry, there was no rush for her to be leaving. Still, it was good that she might be informed of Yuèlóng. If ever they found themselves in a tough place...Huā assumed the woman might think to lead her company to that nearest paradise resort. At the question, she tilted her head slightly. Uh... some. Like, when I go to look, the water look higher. But the island is still there- it is only the coast that may be bothered. At least she hoped. It wasn't always easy to tell from a distance, but at least the water didn't appear to have risen to the moors. As long as the island wasn't submerged completely, Huāzhēn was determined they would have a home to return to soon, even if the coastline might be eroded. Did you leave your pack because of floods? Huā wondered in return, with no judgement. She was not an ass about loyalty to the death- and sometimes a natural disaster could give individuals a push in a different direction, she supposed.

"That would be irresponsible, wouldn't it?" Wraen replied with a question of her own and sighed. No, had it been floods, she would have set aside all of her qualms about the alliance with Moonspear, helped to lead and do, whatever possible to make sure that everyone was okay. On the other hand, secretly she was glad that she had not been there. It had been difficult enough to weather through the famine and she did not believe that she would have into her to face another tantrum of Mother Nature. In fact, she felt lucky that she was far away from all of it.

"No, I left well before that. I don't even know, if it affected them in any way. If it did, I hope that they are fine and well," Wraen said and meant it. She would be very sad, if anything bad happened to people she had called her family and friends for a long time. "Do tell me more about your pack - what's it called and what traditions you live by?" she asked.

Irresponsible? Perhaps that was something to call it. Huā didn't think she would hold such a choice of leave against one of her own- she knew the dangers of the sea well enough by now- but she could see how it might be considered irresponsible, in the sense of failing to remain at the side of braver packmates who might face the troubles of nature head on. Huā watched her companion sigh and awaited her words, listening steadily. She wondered briefly why then, she had left, but she would not bother to pry further, hearing that Wraen seemed to be on good terms with them still, wishing them all the best. The woman wondered about the island pack, and the empress was as happy to share as she always was. My pack is called Yuèlóng- this means Moon Dragon, in my language. It is not a favorite name for me, but my sister was religious, and name it this way. Huā paused with an awkward smile. It was still something of a silly name to her, but she would not dare rename what Mei had helped her to found, and she had grown to love the phrase. In my home there are a lot of traditions... in Yuèlóng, we have so much less. We celebrate both winter and summer with festival... and, I think of ideas for other festivals, like marriage... but no one marry here yet. She laughed, and hoped one day she might live to see her son bring home a lovely wife, and her daughters marrying strong men. We are... good people. We leave peaceful on island, and never bother those who do not bother us first. It was a biased view. Of course there were times she had been territorial, perhaps unnecessarily so... but since becoming a mother, Huā was all the fiercer with the protection of her island. The safety of her people came first, but sye tried her best to be considerate to strangers whenever possible.

Wraen could not wait, when she would be able to tell Maia about this encounter that entailed real dragon! She was definitely going to be over the moon about this! "It sounds truly beautiful," she remarked, when Huā shared the gross details about the life on the island and among the dragon folk. 

"And, what exactly do you do during those festivals?" she asked, realizing that all her life she had lived in very traditional, down-to-earth packs, who were more concerned about surviving in day-to-day life than actually involving themselves in fun activities or such bonding experiences as Huā had mentioned now.

"Do you worship gods - dragons, maybe? Or appease the kind spirits of the nature?" she questioned.

Beautiful indeed, She chirped in agreement, and continued, In the festivals, we will gather food to feast, and the entertainers will dance, and we will tell stories to the children. In the summer festival we will spend our time by the sea, and in the winter we will stand upon the hill, and look to the moon. Huā grew starry-eyed talking of her party plans, and was brought back to earth when she finished, though still wearing a dreaming smile. At the question of whether she worshipped gods, she shook her head. My sister worshipped a dragon-god. I am not relig-religious, but I do believe... hm. I believe nature is honorable, She decided, My island provides for me, as the prey do also. I think I am thankful for that. And she looked almost inquisitively to Wraen, wondering if she looked at the world the way Huāzhēn did.

Huā was good at painting a vivid mental image of the traditions of Yuelong and Wraen soon found herself drawn into that story too. Though she may have not seen the same that the proud leader did, she was there present for the story-telling sessions, she was there to celebrate the glorious reign of Lady Summer with them and sing to the moon on crisp and cold winter nights. It gave Wraen sense of longing for people she had left behind and those, who she had not yet met.

"Oh, I agree. Nature is honourable. I may to believe in gods either, but Nature is something bigger than anything... everything we might put on a throne and wish to worship. She can be the most beautiful artist and most generous soul and yet it is her character too to be cruel and merciless," Wraen mused. "Though, what makes her stand apart and above any god is that you cannot make a bargain with her. She does, what she pleases, and the most we can hope is to be smart and lucky enough to survive."

"But that's a tad bit morbid," she sighed. "What about that dragon-god your sister worshipped? I am asking from a standpoint of an old fan of dragons. I was obsessed with them, when I was a child."

Listening to Wraen made Huā wish she had studied the common language harder, so that she might become so poetic as her companion. Instead she could only listen with awe to the lovely way her words flowed, and nod along to that declaration. Wraen made nature an unpredictable woman- Huā enjoyed that metaphor. She seemed to dismiss her words as morbid in the end, but the little empress found them truthful if anything, and still hung to the beauty of it.

But a new question, Mm, obsessed, really?~ She laughed, and continued, Me and my sister... we experienced some, difficult time together. She found her gods in that time, Huā explained, I am not a master of it, but I know what she told me. One dragon-god is called Rìzhào, who lives in the moon, and gives the sun its light. He is the controller of the tides, and gives her wisdom. And the other dragon is Cāng- the giver of life, controller of weather, who gave her prophecies. She finished, feeling very much that she was reading a page from someone else's story. If only Mei were here to tell it all herself- but Huā knew her spiritual journey was important to her.

"Prophecies - now this is interesting," Wraen commented, squinting her eyes against the bright sunlight, as she had turned to look at it, perhaps, unconciously wishing to catch sight of the said dragon. It only hurt her eyes and reminded her that Rizhao's primary home was moon and sun was only a weak reflection of his dragonness. 

"Did he tell any that have become true in your lifetime?" she asked looking now at Huā again. "I have observed that the thing with any future-telling is that they are valid only, if they come true. You can prove it being correct only post factum. Anything before is like an amusing story, but not much of anything else," she said.

I wish I know, She admitted in a sigh, though remained good-humored, My sister was mostly a private woman, who did not share all of what gods told her. Sometimes, I wondered though, if her advice was informed. She paused, and continued with an explanation: Last winter, my other sister wants us to join a pack. Mei, my religious sister, said we should not- that it was not a good idea. We ended up in Rusalka, but they threw us out later, for reason I still do not understand. They did not like that we were related, and spoke our own language, Huā inferred, and laughed with a shake of her head. Perhaps if we listened her advice, we could have save time.

"The line between instinct, premonition and a prophecy is not that clear," Wraen remarked, wondering really, whether there was more to that story about Huā and Rusalka than she had let on. She had had nothing to do with the pack in question herself, probably never would. 

"I would love to stay and chat longer, but I have to return to my group. It's getting a tad bit late," she rised to her feet, stretched and smiled at Yuelong's leader apologetically. "Good luck throughout the winter and I sure hope that we run into each other some day again. I would love to see that island home of yours."

Last one from me. Thanks!

Premonition was a word Huā did not know, but the other two were familiar, and she pondered Wraen's comment for a moment before the woman dismissed herself. You are always welcome to visit, and I hope we see each-other again, too! Be safe, goodbye! Huā offered the woman as she began to move away. The empress would linger in the area for a few minutes longer before returning home. 

thanks for the thread!!