Cerulean Cape At the Water's Edge

Tohka walked along the water’s edge, allowing the waves to splash her feet. Her tail fanned the air behind her, and her ears stood perked, listening to the music of the waves gently splashing against rocks and boulders along the shore, which blended harmoniously with the gulls cawing as they flew overhead. She sighed contentedly as she felt the salty breeze gently ruffle her fur. She knew the sea could get rough, but today was not one of those days. It was calm and peaceful, and a real treat for her to visit. She had loved the ocean since she was a pup, and she didn’t know where she would eventually settle, but she hoped she end up near enough to visit the shore on occasion.

She walked out onto the peninsula as far as she could go and stood close enough to the water’s edge to allow the waves to hit her feet. She gazed out into the ocean, daydreaming as she often does, wondering what sort of creatures might inhabit the depths. She had seen whales and dolphins before and had enjoyed watching them, but there had to be other animals out there. She had heard stories of dragons, squids, sirens, and sharks. The stories usually portrayed such creatures as monsters, but she couldn’t help wondering if that were really the case, or if they were even real.

Strand had been traveling the coast for a week or so now, but had been taking her time at each location so that she wasn’t actually very far from her island. In fact, if she turned her head to the left, she could see it now. From here, it would take a day or so to return to the land bridge and go back, and that knowledge comforted her. The sight of it gave her the courage to keep exploring, though she longed to return. Still, it was moments like these, where she met new wolves, that kept her going. There was always a chance that whoever it was would not be friendly, but for the most part she had discovered that not all wolves were like the ghost who had attacked her.

A dark female stood far out on the peninsula, staring at the water, and Strand wondered what she was thinking about. Not exactly sure how to get the other’s attention, she meandered closer and then loudly cleared her throat like something was stuck in it. She was learning that being brash towards others all the time was perhaps not the best way to make new friends.

Tohka lost track of how much time she had spent standing on the shore, gazing out into the sea and wondering what mysteries it held. The gentle waves lapping at the shore and brushing against her feet made her think of the sea dragon playing with and protecting young whale and dolphin calves. She thought they might see her, as she presumed the dragon to be female, as a sort of god-mother. Of course, she had no idea what was really out there, but she couldn’t help imagining what she thought might be.

She was shaken out of her trance by the approach of another wolf, and she hoped the other didn’t notice her startled jump when she turned to face her. The other didn’t seem unfriendly or show signs of aggression. It only took a moment to compose herself, and she offered a gentle wag of her tail and said, “The sea sure is beautiful today, isn’t it?” She turned once again to gaze out into the depths for a few seconds before turning back to the other and saying, “I’ve always wondered what’s out there. I mean way out there, beyond where we can swim. What do you think? Sea monsters? The edge of the world?” She sighed contentedly at the calm breeze blew across the shore and ruffled her fur.

SORRY FOR THE WAIT. It's been a busy week.

Strand couldn’t help but grin at the way the dark female jumped in surprise. She had never scared anyone before. It gave her some kind of perverse pleasure for a moment, but she brushed the feeling aside, reminding herself to be nice. “Yeah, it is beautiful,” she agreed, gazing past the female out towards the ocean which she loved so much. She glanced farther left, looking at the island that was hers. It was beautiful too. She could just barely make out the line of trees which made up the small conifer forest on the eastern side of the island. 

The female mused about what could be farther out at sea. She mentioned sea monsters and the end of the world. Strand’s ears perked up. She vaguely recalled, from somewhere in her distant memories of a previous life, tales of such things. Tales told before she had woken up on the island she now called home. “I don’t know about sea monsters,” she said, “but I know the ocean is alive. It dragged me down into it and took me far away from my home. It spat me out onto that island over there.” She pointed to Wheeling Gull Isle in the distance with her muzzle. “The sea itself is monster enough. But it didn’t beat me.”

No need to apologize. I’ve been busy myself.

Tohka was unsure of whether or not to believe the other’s tale, but she did believe that even the most outlandish of stories usually had at least an element of truth to them. If nothing else, it would make for an interesting story. She had never thought of the ocean itself being alive, and she imagined something like a dragon’s forepaw reaching out of a massive ocean wave and swiping the wolf who stood before her, pulling her down into the depths only to toss her onto the island in the distance that she pointed out. Then there was her final statement: The sea itself is monster enough. But it didn’t beat me.

Tail still wagging, she took a few steps towards the land and sat down just out of reach of the waves. Her tail brushed the ground behind her, and her ears perked forward towards the other wolf. “Yeah, I’ve seen the ocean get pretty rough,” she said. “I wouldn’t mind hearing more of your story, that is if you want to tell it. I bet that was scary though, getting pulled into the ocean like that, wasn’t it?” She remembered her moment of panic when she had recently gotten pulled into a river, and she couldn’t imagine what it would have been like if that had happened to her way out there in the depths with no land nearby. “You said the sea took you far from your home, so do you live around here now, like maybe on the island, or are you going to try to get back home?”

good lord, sorry again. school is killing meeee

The woman wanted to know more about her story, and Strand was most willing to oblige. “Well, I don’t know why I ended up in the ocean. The sea took my memory also.” Before now, she might have sounded more bitter about it, but she had sort of accepted her memory loss by now and had embraced the idea of starting from scratch. “After I woke up on the island, I thought I would die. I was starving and needed water. But before I could even do anything, some psycho attacked me. That’s why I’ve got this.” She motioned towards her scarred-over shoulder. “Anyway, I showed him I was still tough and he ran off. Haven’t seen him since. And if he does come back, I’ll kill him.” Her face grew dark and withdrawn and she stared out at the ocean for a few seconds, lost in thoughts of revenge.

She shook herself and came back, looking at the dark female who had asked her another question. “No, I plan to stay. The island is mine now. And anyone who wants to live there has to accept me as their alpha. I’ll fight for it, because it’s all I have.” The island… and Padma, her only friend.

Tohka held her ears forward as her tail swished across the sand behind her while she listened to the other’s story, pleased that she seemed eager to tell it. A few things about the story caught Tohka’s attention. The other said when she woke up on the island, she starving and needed water, and Tohka didn’t think that just getting caught in a storm would cause her to be hungry. Perhaps she had been starving before and just didn’t remember, since she said the sea took her memories. The claim that someone attacked her was believable since she had the scar to back it up. She concluded with the island being hers and saying she would fight for it, which Tohka believed.

It was the claim that the sea took her memories that really caught Tohka’s attention, as it reminded her of one of her uncle’s stories, which she decided to pass on to the other. “When I was a pup, my uncle told me about a demon that usually took the shape of a rabbit and ate the memories of others. He usually just ate their bad memories because he thought that would make them happier. Although he would also make them forget about their responsibilities to their packs, so they would end up just playing with him all day, which made him happy, especially since most wolves would probably just eat him otherwise.” She paused for a moment, then explained the point of the story. “I’ve never seen this rabbit demon, so maybe it’s not real, but maybe something like that ate your memories, and maybe they were bad memories.” Finally she added with a sheepish laugh, “Or maybe my imagination’s just gone wild, but I did like my uncle’s stories.”

Strand wasn’t sure how to react to the woman’s story, about a rabbit that ate the memories of others. “How can a rabbit eat someone’s memories?” she asked, incredulous. Then again, how could the sea do the same thing? Strand sat down and tried to think this through, but for some reason, such a story seemed so incredibly odd to her that she couldn’t even seem to focus on it properly. “That’s impossible,” she eventually said. “It’s just too weird. A rabbit, of all animals? We eat rabbits. How could a rabbit eat out memories? If it was something big, like a bear maybe, I could see that. But a rabbit?” Nah. She wasn’t buying it. “Cool story, though.” Not really, but Strand didn’t feel like being an asshole today. 

“Anyway, I dunno if they were bad memories or not. Cos I don’t remember them, obviously. It doesn’t matter now. I started over. I have a new life.” Part of that was just her making herself feel better about the fact that she didn’t remember anything. Part of it was the truth, though. She did have a whole island to herself, and that was nice. Soon she’d have a whole pack. And it would be glorious.

Tohka was mildly irritated with the other’s response to her story, but she didn’t let it show. She immediately remembered how her brother, and sometimes her father, would deride her stories after refusing to grasp the basic concepts. She smiled and gently corrected her. “As I said, it was a demon that usually took the shape of a rabbit, so it wasn’t an actual rabbit. And honestly, I don’t think a bear could eat memories either. The way I understood it, the demon preferred forms that wouldn’t seem threatening, so a rabbit makes sense for that.” She thought it seemed like something any hunter should grasp. After all, spooking the prey would usually make for an unsuccessful hunt.

She could have said more, but she didn’t feel like arguing about it. That was the main reason she had left home in the first place. After the derision, the small compliment that the other offered seemed insincere, but she gave no response to it. When the other finished speaking, Tohka said, “Well, I’m glad you’re able to move on with your life. I’m not sure if I could. I think having gaps in my memory would bother me too much.” She could honestly say that even if she had lost some respect for her. At this point, she thought changing the subject would be best. “Do you know about the forests south of here? I was thinking of exploring there next.”