Stavanger Bay on the alter

Qilaq was starting to get used to stationary life that she sometimes has to fight the urge to pick up and move the next morning. She and Silas often spent a few nights in one place but they were constantly searching and tracking and trying to keep together that a home base has made it so much easier. If she can’t find him right away, she doesn’t have to worry and eventually they return to where they sleep. The additional help with hunting has put a few extra pounds on her scrawny, unkempt frame.

This morning, she finds her legs itching to be used and so she finds the quickest way from the plateau, travels around the burnt forest, and makes her way to the bay. The trip was made with relative ease but she does not note it. Instead, she moves through the familiar sandy patches until she feels like stopping and sitting.

Arrille needed to take some time away from the bay. Away from everything that was happeneing around him. He needed a distraction from the his parents and pack disappearing, leaving him all alone...well, not entirely alone. The only one that was there for him was a wolf he barely knew, Maude. 

He spotted someone off in the distance, and crouched down. Watching them as they went along before they stopped, sitting down on the sand. He was unsure what to do from here, so kept on looking, unaware his hiding spot wasn't the best.

Spending time on the bay reminds her of an easy life where the ocean gently woke her up and just as gently sung her to sleep. Her mother and father were never too far and they were all the friends she needed. Now, with Silas just as close, she doesn’t miss them as much but looking out into the water as it crashes against the shore sends a shock through her heart that makes her want to go back home and find them.
 
With a sigh, Qilaq’s shoulders slump and she plops down on the ground but the lumpy sand does little for comfort. The girl picks herself up and turns, shaking out her fur, and makes another circle, but something from the corner of her eyes catches her off guard. Her entire form jolts to attention and she swings her head, noticing the wolf in the distance before she drops down and shrinks into the sand to hide as best as she can while she sorts out why she’s being watched.

Arrille watches as the female shifts herself around, trying to get more comfortable no doubt. He felt this was wrong, to spy as such, but he was curious as to see what they were doing. He felt he should speak up, but that feeling dropped as soon as he was spotted. He ducked down lower, basically digging his snout into the sand as to avoid being seen.

He went to speak, but it sounded muffled when he heard himself, "I-I didn't mean to spy on you! I was...I was just curious!"

Not long after she spots him, she can tell she startled him just as much as he had to her. He dips back and she is able to focus a little better, ears perking up when she hears his voice. It is apologetic and she frowns, uncertain what to do. The crash of the waves behind her and the wind make his voice muffled, plus the distance doesn’t do them any favors. Qilaq coughs, clearing her throat, as she remains in place in her spot on the sand while she tries to sort the uncertainty clouding her mind. “Wh-who are you?” she calls out, unaware she is equally muffled and distant.

Arrille wasn't sure how to answer that. He knew how he could answer it, but he wasn't sure if he should say his name or not. Finally, since he had been the one to cause this encounter, he gave an answer.

"Uh..A-Arrille...My name's Arrille" he called back, his voice getting quieter. He peaked his head out from the sand, gazing over at her. "What's...What's your name?...And why are you out here alone?" He caught a whiff of a pack smell, and wondered why she were out here alone.

The boy stammers off his words—his name—and Qilaq stiffens, watching as he returns the question but he doesn’t try to move any closer. She notes the youthfulness of his facial features and she’s able to soften a little, picking herself up out of the sand. If both of them remain scared opposite of one another, they aren’t going to get very far. She shakes out her coat, sending sand every which way, and slowly she takes a few more steps closer so she doesn’t have to shout anymore. “I am Qilaq,” she tells him though his question causes a wave of confusion anyway. “This use to be home. Why are you here?”

Arrille listened to her name. Qilaq. It was an odd name to him. He watched as they took a small approach, and decided to act brave like he had always believed he was, standing up himself to take a couple of steps ahead. "I, uh...Just visiting someone" he said, shying his face away at the lie.

"Who...who was in this home of yours?" His mother had told him she was from the coast. "I'm sorry, it's probably none of my business" he quickly added, as if he suddenly changed his mind. He didn't want to hear about his mother again, he wanted to forget all that emotional pain.

The boy attempts to explain himself but it only leaves her more confused than she had been prior. Her brows knit together between her eyes as she comes to a stop. He takes a few steps to close the distance, loosening up a little, but she twists her lips in contemplation. “My family,” she tells him with a quirk of her head, ears flopping to the side as her confusion becomes obvious. “Who…” she pauses, struggling to wrap her lips around the words she wants to say. “No one lives here now,” she states matter-of-fact. He isn’t going to find whoever he’s supposed to be visiting.

Arrille's head dipped down. "Oh...that's too bad then..." he said to Qilaq. So his mother hadn't come to the shore. That small bit of hope he had left was gone again.

"So...if no one else lives here, are you just here for memories?" If he was to come anywhere that his family had been, he would either come to find them, or for memories. The latter was becoming something he would not be willing to do, so really he wasn't entirely sure why he was here anymore.

Arrille’s mood changes a little while she’s watching him and her brows knit together in concern. She takes a few steps closer to the dunes where the boy stands so their distance isn’t too far. Still, she’s left with uncertainty on how to answer. She’d come to the bay to remember her family and the life she used to have but there isn’t anything wrong with that, is there? She glances behind him but she’s quickly back to him, shrugging one shoulder. “I don’t… live far from here now, though,” she says, “do you have somewhere to stay?”

Arrille backed up a little as Qilaq came slightly closer. She mentioned she lived nearby, then asked if he had somewhere to stay. Technically, he did with Maude, his carer. "I, uh....yeah, I have somewhere. I live somewhere along the shore" he said. He didn't want to say that it was just him and one other, thinking he would get some offer to a pack. Really, he didn't think he could live among the shore.

"Very far from here, you probably won't find it..." He kept on adding onto the lie, stopping there. "I...I should go...it was nice to...nice to meet you Qilaq." Arrille started to head off.