Blackbeak Bluff I'm in danger!

He hardly ever ventured out this far, but it wasn't snowing for the first time in a while. He was in need of a good walk, and the view up here was one of the best he'd found. Really showed off how endless the ocean was. That good, good sense of being so miniscule compared to the rest of the world. 

He'd watch the sunset, then head back home.

The birds were only mildly annoying, as most of their noise got drowned out by the crashing water below. Pepper sat near the edge, but not near enough for a slip to cost him more than a bruise.

Mictec heard the crashing of waves before she could hear them. Her wandering had led her towards the coast, waves so unlike where she had come from. The water near her birthplace was only a lake, whose waters stayed docile. Here, the chaos of its sea shanty was luring her in ways she could not explain. Thus, she did not notice until she stood behind him that she was not alone.

Panic slowly rose within her, it was clear from the scent of others that clung to him indicated a pack. If one was here, there was a chance she was now intruding on another's territory.

Normally she would have asserted dominance, but her fatigued body from travel took away her aggressive drive. Tiredly and cautiously she spoke, "why does the water make such sounds?"

Last time he'd run across a stranger, it ended in a several week long den-confinement. So when the unfamiliar voice permeated from behind the thick noise engulfing him, he raised his ears and turned fully to face it. 

She was strange. Like she'd lost the skin covering her face to some unfortunate encounter, and her ear appeared deformed in some way. But her question wasn't immediately threatening, nor did she appear as if she meant to hurt the old wolf. 

"Waves." he replied, which was a simple enough answer to a question he might've had a few months ago. Though, they were particularly loud here, given the were smashing into the cliff below. 

"You can come see if you want."

"Waves.." She said aloud, moreso for herself to be learning a new word that felt familiar yet foreign on her Spanish tongue.

She slowly rose from her semi crouched position though her head stayed lowered towards the ground. Mictec did not sense that he was a threat, rather his graying fur reminded her of her former pack elders, ones that were to be treated with upmost respect. Though for Mictec, she thought they were delusional and letting their vices run their pack into the ground.

She made her way slowly towards the edge, her composure calculated and calm like she had always been told to do. She sst beside him, not close to where she could reach a paw to touch him but enough to still hear him against the high tide.

"Why does it move back and forth and not stay still?"

Seeing that she wasn’t meaning to bring him harm, he relaxed once more, eyes finding the horizon. She joined him, but he only offered her a momentary glance. 

Her company was welcome, so long as she didn’t try anything. 

”Don’ know.” he said. He never thought to ask. Mireille probably knew. Val, too. Could be big fish, like the one that washed up. It’d have to be a lot of big fish, though. 

Could be something else. 

”Ain’t ever seen it before?”

Mictec shook her head watching the waves turn from the blue water and turning white once it crested.

"No, where I come from, our water does not move much unless something disturbs it. We'll at least the lake does. El rio feeds the water into the lake but it only moves fast after rain."

She though back to the times she would stare at the lake, watching the fur around her left eye turning white as she grew. Mictec never let anyone know how terrified she felt seeing her fur change before her since they already viewed her as a bad omen.

"I wonder if a lot of rain made this big lake that I cannot see the other side."

Pepper had similar experiences with water. Lakes didn’t move, not like this, and rivers had no waves. He was assuming El rio was a river, given the way she spoke of it. 

”Could be. Don’t taste much like rain, though. It’ll make ya sick.” 

Something else he’d never questioned. He had no reason to. Some things simply were, and having an answer made no difference.

"Water that doesn't taste like water, interesante.." She trailed off in her thoughts wondering if the taste was similar to the metallic tang of blood. Her introspection amused her, allowing herself a small smile as her tail coiled around her.

"It's soothing to hear, now that I understand where it comes from."

Mictec turned her gaze towards him, "But where do you come from?"

He thought so, too. Maybe a little loud near the bluff, but still listenable. 


He broke his fixation on the quickly-yellowing sky to look at her. 

”Pack a short walk east o’ here. We’re near the water. You?” 

She didn’t smell like a pack wolf. Though nothing smelled like much else aside from brine and bird shit around here.

Her gaze shifted towards the horizon to focus her attention away from her sudden muscle tension.

"No pack just myself."

Mictec debated whether it was worth to divulge more than that. Sensing that there was no danger, she felt an odd sense of peace a desire to share her tale. However, her own insecurities made it difficult for her to not assume others would be able to accept her.

”Should be careful, then. Mate and I had a run-in with some dangerous wolves nearby, and I’m bettin’ they aren’t the only ones around.” 

He wondered if the pair were out to harm any wolves, or just Phobos.

"Well they can't be too dangerous if you look unharmed," Mictec spoke in jest, forcing herself to relax in his presence. 

"I usually am quite distrusting and would assume that not everyone is welcoming as you." The streaks in the sky seemed to reflect the same orange hue of her eyes, ones that once belonged to her mother and her abuela, a curious trait that only seemed present in the women of their lineage.

"My name is Mictēcacihuātl, Mictec for those not familiar with my native tongue."

Unharmed now, not so much a few months ago. 

Some might not consider Pepper to be the most welcoming. Maybe in the past, at least. Seemed a laid back pack life was really changing how he perceived company. Or his age. 

Her name went over his head at first. A lot of noises, none of them standing out as a name. So he was grateful when she gave him something pronounceable instead. Still an odd name, but one he could actually say. 

"I'm Pepper. My pack is called Sapphique." he added. It'd become habitual at this point to mention that. 

"You just passing through?"

Mictec nodded in response to his question. "Yes, this is such a foreign place and I imagine much great history here. I admit, I feel awful that I cannot express appreciation, that I am out of place in trying to understand why I am here."

She had taken herself aback by how easily she was finding it to open up. 

"Strange, this may be the most I have spoken in a long time and you have yet to say much. You remind me of my abuelo, stoic and silent."

If there was history, it was lost on the large wolf. He never gave much thought to non-immediate history. If it was useful, it wouldn't be considered history, like a lot of hunting tactics. 

He did feel pride when she mentioned his silent nature. He enjoyed being seen as a wolf of little words, though he was not entirely certain why. He still took it as a complement regardless.

"From what I've seen, there's something for everyone around here. Places to settle, if you're looking to do that. Or if you ain't ready to do that yet, packs that encourage exploring."

The high tide seemed to have past it's peak as the waves lessened in their chaos. Off in the distance, a strange creature could be seen breaching the water. She had never seen a fish that large as the ones from the lake were much smaller.

Mictec let the silence sit for awhile, finding that this experience was able to be shared with another, something she had lost so long ago that it made her smile softly.

"I am unsure there will be a place that can accept me with all my faults, but if I were to find one then perhaps this may be the new start I needed."

Shifting her weight so that she sat more comfortably, she turned to him. "So why do you sit here, so close to the edge?"