Wheeling Gull Isle The Boy Who Lived

Radcliffe felt...alone. The scents had gone stale as he had trailed off somewhere. Only to return to those who saved him. And they did not seem to be around. The place was as unfamiliar as always. He was lost, here. Unsure where he was meant to go, now. What was he to do?

Cowering under a rock, he whimpered. Radcliffe whimpered, hoping another would come to rescue him. As they always did. 

@Strand @Padma

I guess we can skip Padma for now until she shows up? If you want.

It was the whimpering that alerted Strand. It was a strange noise, one she hadn’t heard before that had been caused by something other than her own angry presence. It wasn’t Padma, for the voice beneath the whine didn’t sound like her friend, nor did she smell Padma’s presence. She followed the sound, brows furrowed, and called out, “Who’s there? Why are you crying?” She was silently judging this stranger for whatever they were whining about. After all, she had nearly died and had cried less than this about it (not true, but she told herself that it was). So, unless this stranger was literally dying, she would think them a fool for crying like this. Besides. She didn’t recognize their scent, which meant that they were trespassing on her island. “Come out where I can see you,” she demanded.

Radcliffe paused his whimpers as he heard something. A voice. Someone was asking for him. Almost like his meeting with that female that offered to teach him to fish...for a moment, the boy even thought it to be her. As he popped his head out slightly, he realized it was not her. But another.

Quickly, he ducked his head away. Having shown a bit of his face. "D-Do you know where they went? I can't...I can't find them."

A head suddenly popped out from under a rocky outcropping. Strand jumped back despite herself, not expecting to see a random head pop out of nowhere. She glared at him, trying to look intimidating, and it seemed to work because he soon ducked back down under the rock again. She smirked, and then her ears perked at his question. His not very specific or helpful question. “Ugh,” she sighed. “Do I know where who went?” she demanded. “I can’t read your mind.” Still, even as she spoke, a small portion of her heart, the part that was actually nice and didn’t hate people, felt bad for the boy. He seemed to be around Padma’s age—still a pup, but not for much longer. That meant Strand wasn’t much older than him, but she still felt responsible for him since he was younger than her. Maybe she could help him find whoever he was looking for.

Radcliffe went quiet at that. What...what had their names been? He did not exactly recall just what their names were. And he suddenly grew somewhat worried at that. The boy tried to think it over in his head. "The...the others. That were here before. Did you not see them?"

By now, he was just sounding rather crazy. Radcliffe had not grown up, he had none to help him grow. Every time he came across one who could, they were gone. "You cannot read mind?" Now he was thinking that there might be some that could, for some odd reason.

SORRY FOR THE WAIT. Oof. Busy week.

The others that were here before…

Strand squinted, trying to figure out what this boy was talking about. Then she recalled meeting others who had mentioned a pack that had once lived on this island. “Oh!” she said. “You’re part of the old pack, right? Well, I have no idea where they all went. By the time I got here, they were all gone, except for a few that have stayed behind here and there.” Strand was young, just a teenager herself, but once again, as with Padma, she felt some kind of motherly responsibility towards this pup. He wasn’t that much younger than her by the swift look she had gotten of his face and the sound of his deepening voice, but he was still younger. Somehow, Strand had been left to become the big sister once again.

She sighed, knowing a bit of what it felt like to be abandoned. The sea had swallowed her, both her body and her old life. It had stolen her memories. Her family. She couldn’t just leave him here alone to continue fending for himself. “Look, kid,” she said. “I don’t know where your family is, but you could stick with me if you want. I… I could teach you how to fish or something so you can catch food for yourself.” She didn’t have many other skills to offer him. Except… “Maybe I could teach you to fight too, once this shoulder heals all the way.” She motioned towards her right shoulder, scabbed over but still healing internally.

Radcliffe heard them speak of them...so they had no idea where they had gone, after all. It saddenend him. He had wagged his tail for a couple seconds when they asked him what he meant. Then it stopped, and his ears wilted down. He missed them. The last to care.

Then something they said brought up a little hope...the promise of fishing. Just as that female had done. He dared to pop out more, to show his face. "You'll...you'll teach me? To fish?" The fighting part went right over his head.

The boy seemed at least kinda happy at the thought of Strand teaching him how to fish. She grinned. “Yeah! I’m the best fisher this island has ever seen, and don’t you wanna learn from the best?” That was a total lie. She still mostly sucked at fishing. But he didn’t need to know that, right? Besides, the more she practiced the better she would get anyways, so maybe one day that lie would be true. “Why don’t you come outta there so I can see you,” she said, trying to coax him out from his hiding place. “I won’t hurt you. I don’t hurt pups.” That, at least, was the truth. Strand might have been an asshole, but she wasn’t evil. Pups were all on her safe list no matter what they might do to her.

Radcliffe was not sure of it at all. He hummed to himself as he thought over what to do. The promise of teaching how to catch fish, he liked the idea. He did want to learn from the best, for sure. With some massive hesitance, the boy finally decided to leave his hiding place. Showing himself fully to the other, he sat down.

Radcliffe's gaze however stuck to the ground. Almost a year old, one may see he was a bit too big to be a pup. "Hi...you promise to teach me?"

The boy came out of his hiding place eventually and Strand wagged her tail at him in greeting. “Nice to finally see you,” she teased. He wanted her to promise to teach him how to fish. “Psh,” she said. “Of course! Didn’t I say I would?” She looked him over. He seemed to about the same age as Padma—almost an adult, but not quite. Why was she always finding pups? She was hardly out of that stage herself, just a teenager. She was in no shape to be taking care of pups. But if he was as old as Padma, then surely he could take care of himself… aside from the part where he didn’t know how to fish. If she was going to convince him to live on the island with her, she’d definitely have to keep her word and teach him all that. And how to swim, if he didn’t already know.

“Now, listen. I’m Strand and this is my island. I’m the leader here.” Her voice was calm, but firm. “If you wanna live here with me and let me teach you how to fish, then you gotta respect me. I’m in charge, got it?”

Radcliffe was more curious now, even as she gave the greeting. He wagged his tail back in response to her. "No, I want to hear it. The promise" he stubbornly demanded of her, putting his paw down. If Radcliffe was about one thing, it was getting promises. 

"Strand's island, yes. Strand's island, okay. Your the leader here. If I want to live I have to respect and let me teach you to fi- let you teach me to fish. You are in charge." Once he repeated it all, to the best of his ability...he sat.