Stavanger Bay aefder

anyone!

the sound of waves struck against his ears. this was before he realized that he had been washed ashore by them. it was not until the third pull of the sea that the fiery orange of his gaze opened to see a stretch of blue and grey so foreign, he thought himself to be dead. another crash of the waters against his frame and he struck against the sandy shore. 

without the ability to restrain himself, the behemoth felt his stomach lurch and he lost whatever was inside in a mess of sea salt and what appeared to be tar. everything that had happened before was like a blank page in his mind. all of the things he had once known felt so distant to him, as though he were watching them through a movie. he could not even remember his name. 

with an aching frame, the behemoth rose to his feet and staggered his way onto the shore. water drizzled from the thick chunks of his dark coat. the sun illuminated the firebrand that stretched like a stripe, from nose to tail tip. the aark did not know better, but he was fulfilling his own destiny and was following the path of his people. 

Honestly he'd felt a bit lazy. His prolonged presence along the shorelines wasn't driven out of some plan he had, or some forethought. No, it was the sheer desire to not have to move any further. The mild weather, warm sun, and cooling sea breeze lulled him into a sense of contentment, with fish and crustaceans galore to fill his belly.

And that's where he'd been when the beast washed ashore. Laying out on the bedrock normally submerged, but with the tide out it exposed a feast tied to a countdown. Taking advantage of the receded waters, the brute had collected an assortment of snails and crabs, their emptied shells piled high as though some sort of trophy or achievement to his side. Legs sprawled out and his tail swayed without intent as those deep copper-orange eyes peered to the black and golden stranger.

Initial intentions of leaving the bastard there to prune were dashed as the unknown male all but seized awake, hurling up empty contents from his guts. At that, Khan licked his lips and bounced down off his sideshow throne, tail upright and bobbing with each exaggerated step. An odd, coy smile spread across his maw as he closed in on the stranger, a quick cursory glance sizing him up. "Damn there boy, thought ya were dead or somethin'..." Tongue clicked against the inside of his cheek, "Woulda been a fucking waste." Only a blind fool would call this creature before them anything less than a formidable beast.

Keeping an intentionally safe distance between himself and this waterlogged savage, the arctic mutt began to trail alongside the male's right side, as though they were acquaintances. "Now now, where does one particularly sea-savvy fish like yerself plan on floppin' off to, heh?" Where did sea demons deign to roam? Khanalyr was dangerously, terribly filled with curiosity about his new friend.

@Blackjaw

finding company so close to the edge of the world had been unexpected. the aark had not anticipated the presence of another so jovially bounding toward him. the inky creature regarded the male with a scowl, curling his features downward and casting a dark shadow over the burning orange of his gaze. the way that the stranger was speaking to him, it was almost as though they knew each other. for a fleeting moment, blackjaw thought that he had simply forgotten the familiar features of someone who had once been close. when the scent of the other reached him, he felt his nostrils crinkle with the unfamiliar wave that passed through them. 

as the other brute made his way closer, the swarthy aark felt his coat bristle out of instinct. everything that had happened before was nothing more than a distant fog that had drifted over his mind. the brute could feel the complete lack of understanding before he even had a chance to sputter a word to two in retort to the stranger. all of it had fallen on him far too quickly; the words, and the way in which the other male roamed toward him without so much as a care in the world. blackjaw bristled and held his ground as well has his weak limbs would allow him. 

there was scrutiny in his gaze. he tried as best as he could to distance himself from the peculiar creature, but it did very little good. all at once, the form of the other wolf was near to him and the weight of his words felt like a driving force. blackjaw did not hunker against them, but stiffened his back and drew his skull upward so that he could stare into the features of his approacher with a more at-ease posture. his stomach still writhed within him, but he forced it to remain steady. 

"mmm... you ever seen a sea-savvy fish?" the swarthy brute inquired with a slight cocking of his brow. in all his life, he would not have estimated that he looked anything remotely like something that belonged in the water. he wondered if this beast was blowing smoke up his ass. 

Oh yes, yes indeed Khan picked up on the obvious signs of discomfort and irritability from the stranger.

Yes, a polite individual might take the hints and give some space, ask if they're okay, maybe even go so far as to get them a small snack to hold them over just a bit. An average individual might just hold their fucking tongue. But who in their right mind would deign to classify Khanalyr as either of these?

Instead he kept that beaming, coy smile stretch wide and crooked on his maw, eyes narrow but brows high. While there wasn't any malice behind that stare, and he certainly had no intention of leaving this guy in any worse condition than he'd found him in - let's be honest though, it's a shitty condition to start with - Khan had this inevitable way of being the most annoying shit. On some level he was aware of it, but on every other level he gave absolutely zero shits about changing it.

That left him here - tagging alongside a worn, starving, waterlogged stranger and pestering him with the most senseless, pointless questions imaginable. As the other drew himself up and managed a response, the giddiness within Khanalyr surged, his teeth shining just a bit brighter as his grin widened. He was, in a sense, emboldened as this black and gold stranger accepted the banter.

"T'be honest yer the first fish I ever saw flop outta th'water. Most yer friends tend to stay in!" With a sweeping gesture he motioned with his paw back to the oceans behind them. The sea's sunshine brought a cocky glistening to his copper gaze before it came back to his friend. "So what's brought ya t'this here land, fishy boy?" He could only wonder at what terrible callings would bring such a monstrous, tank-like beast at the mercies of the crashing waves.

@Blackjaw