Sea Lion Shores dragonfly, doesn't matter

@Dakini

after profusely emptying out every last drip of her sloshing bladder all over stavanger, the cairn girl was irritable (what's new) and hungry (also what's new). she decided then she ought to visit the sea lion shores -- last time she had been there with raptor there had been plenty of sea-fare and amusement. with her gut grumbling she swung north, picking casually along the shore at a lazy and sauntering walk. occasionally gull-chatter overhead evinced an ear-flip from the girl, but by and large her passage to the rocky shore was uneventful.

she thought of rosalyn and raptor and smokestep as she went, replaying her last interaction with the liver-chestnut woman with a sour expression on her face. she did not like how easily rosalyn dethroned and emasculated her presence -- and as she rifled along the shore she thought of possible schemes to usurp her and Make Sandpiper The Only Stavanger Woman Again (not that smokestep or raptor would have been pleased with that arrangement).

Her eyes sparkled as they scanned the horizon, her tiny paws hitting the snow, barely making a dent in the pure whiteness. It was beautiful up here. If not for her wanderlust and her drive to find her father, she would have had settled here once upon a time. Her long full tail swished back and forth as she picked her way through the rocky shoreline. Swiveling her ears to listen in front of her, a pull, a call, pushed her on as she moved across this land. 
Her amber eyes fell on a wolf, and her mouth almost fell open as her lips uttered one word. Hermosa. She was striking, and her curiousity took a hold of her. How did they greet? Her lips turned up into a smile as she remembered and chuffed as friendly as she could.

sandpiper pulled back a rock with a thin paw, letting it splash back into the sand as she moved onto the next. nothing here but water, salt and sand -- the tide had come and swept away most of her favored quarry. with a sigh that announced she was about done with this endeavor she lifted up her muzzle and scowled as she scanned the coastline.

imagine her surprise when there, not several hundred feet away, was an approaching figure. too small to be rosalyn and too big to be some itinerant coyote, sandpiper regarded it with a cool glance as it pulled closer. it was a most unusual composure of wolf and coyote heritage -- sandpiper studied the female's features boldly up until she spoke.

hermaphrodite? excuse me? sandpiper's ears cupped forward in affront and she blinked and slowly shook her head in a 'what-the-hell' expression. "excuse me?" she huffed, her tail twitching in offense as she spoke up again with a stomp of her slender leg. "i am not a hermaphrodite. what the hell is wrong with you?" seriously, how hurtful to come waltzing up to a stranger and call them a herm -- sandpiper wondered bitterly if this was why the female was alone in the first place.

The cool look from the striking female didn't deter her as she looked at her again, a small smile on her face. As the female's ears came forward, a look of offense crossed her face. The minute mix's eyes grew wide as she watched her shake her head. What did she do? Chuffing was right... wasn't it? Growing up among coyotes, she did not know all the ways of wolves. Her long legs stepped backwards a couple of steps, her eyes flickering past her in case she needed to flee. 
The words that were spoken next made the girl smile slightly as she realized her mistake. She had heard her native tongue and misunderstood. 
A small, almost dainty laugh bubbled from her throat quietly as she also shook her head. Stepping forward couple of steps hesitantly, she spoke, her accent thick. Oh, no, señorita, I meant no offense. I called you beautiful, not... hermaphrodite. The word felt strange on her lips, and she hoped she had said it right. Facing her ears towards her, the amber in her eyes sparkled as she swished her tail slowly. My name is Dakini. Forgive me. English is not..my native tongue. Giving her a sincere smile, she sat down, wrapping her long tail around her feet.

first this mix called her a hermaphrodite, and then she laughed in her face. sandpiper felt her blood rise and her eyes narrowed in a hardened, angry stare. if anything, this weird conglomeration of wolf/coyote blood was the hermaphrodite! sandpiper cast her legs a quick look as if reassuring herself that there was nothing hermaphrodite about her svelte figure. seriously, the nerve!

her ears lanced back in a dark expression as the female offered explanation. her thin lips met in a purse - what the hell was a senorita? was she now calling her a man as well?

she stomped her paw again, accentuating it with a whip of her tail. "damn right, you were calling me beautiful." she issued hotly, still feeling her hackles lift at the idea of being compared to someone that had more than one gender. she thought herself the paragon of feminine beauty and her heart still stung from the perceived insult. "why'd you gotta say something hurtful like that? at least offer to get me dinner first before you start insulting me, damn."

Her eyes caught the stare, and her eyes widened again. She was not good at this, was she? The wolfess glanced down at herself, and the girl smiled. She must think she was crazy. As she talked, she watched ears almost lay back, and her tail twitched nervously. She had to watch wolves to know what she had  done wrong. 
The female's paw came down hard on the snow, and the snow crunched under it. A feeling of appreciation for the pure fire in this one flowed through her. She had not met anyone quite like her. Her confidence was something beautiful to behold as she spoke. The hackles rose smoothly, and she  got up smoothly and her small paws took her backwards yet again. Maybe she should talk in only English, even if it was a slight inconvenience. 
The wolfess could tear her apart. A look of admiration sat on her face as she began to speak, her stomach gurgling softly at the mention of food. I...apologize. I meant no insult. Definitely not towards such beauty. 
Pausing for a moment, she watched her  reaction carefully. I saw... something back the other way. I've never seen them before. They were big. Strange looking...creatures. Would you like to try for one of them? She gestured back towards the way she came, and her voice was almost hesitant as she asked the question. She was not sure what those creatures were.

she tossed her snout with a loud hmmph in dakini's direction, her gaze trailing down the coast as the mix mentioned some vague and nebulous object she had seen a ways back. sandpiper's face clouded - why would she want to help anyone, especially someone who had just called her a hermaphrodite?

clearly, she was still offended, but she gave the small creature a hefty glare before pulling away to investigate. "do you mean a seal?" she asked flatly, stopping in her tracks as she looked back at dakini. "have .. you not seen a seal before? have you ever been to the beach?" her tone was half insufferable haughtiness, half suspicion as she studied the girl bow to stem. she wasn't built like any wolf she had seen before and she blurted: "did your mom run out of milk or something when you were a kid? why are you so small?"

The mix was no longer intimidated by this beauty as she kept talking. She was one of the most svelte females she'd seen, but her admiration for the fire had begun to burn out, turning into a warm coal of irritation. As the female had her back turned, her face went deadpan, her ears twitching in agitation.
She bit the inside of her mouth to keep from spouting off a few curse words in Spanish. She was very protective of her mother and her reputation, especially since... Taking a deep breath, she twitched her tail and spoke, her voice level. My mother, a coyote, did not run out of milk. And I was the runt of the litter. Now, I assume you do not want these seals...am I right? Now, if you'll excuse me. Turning tail, her dainty paws hit the ground as she trotted off towards the direction she came.

somehow being part coyote was worse than being a runt to sandpiper -- and worse than having a defective mother that ran out of milk. as the strange elucidated the reasoning (excuses, in sandpiper's eyes) behind her unimpressive stature, sandpiper found her gaze wandering.

it was a shame sandpiper was such an abrasive and impudent thing, because she missed the opportunity then and there to secure this strange mix into their fold. the opportunity as it presented itself was completely lost on the cairn wolf, who flicked her tail as if bored by dakini's explanation.

she issued a condescending snigger as dakini mentioned the seals up shore. "you really aren't from the sea, are you?" she rolled her eyes as if it was so inconveniencing to have to explain to an outlander why seals were not exactly easy meals to obtain. "good luck - they're meaner and stronger than they look. if i were you, i wouldn't bother."

that was the nicest thing dakini would get out of the cairn child, who decided then she was done playing tour-guide, and made to leave.

The woman had begun to grate on the girl's nerves as she started away. Flicking her tail almost like a snake, she tossed a single word over her shoulder. Gracías. The word was spoken as if it were air, yet the girl was filled with determination, her muscles tense. She would not give her the satisfaction of seeing her angry.
Her eyes sparked as she trotted further away. She was small, anyone could tell that. But she could do as well as them. This was her thought as she also wondered what Rosalyn would think. Flicking her tail once more, she perked her ears up as her trot became faster.

sandpiper did not linger as the mix turned to leave, though for a moment she deliberated on why the wolf-mix had just mispronounced 'gracious'. with a shrug of her shoulders, sandpiper assumed it must be the defective coyote in the female talking -- why else would she have so many weird and made up words?

dakini did not stay in sandpiper's mind long - as she turned back to the bay another thought trickled in -- she had not seen rosalyn in a while, and wanted to remedy that. someone had to keep rosalyn sharply under heel, and obviously since the boys were infatuated (sandpiper really couldn't fathom why) it would have to be her.

determined by her new quest, sandpiper struck inland towards the last area she had encountered the prickly (as if sandpiper herself wasn't prickly?!) woman.