Coconut Grove When I was older, I was a sailor

@Amatsu

Let's get this trainwreck started! ♥

It was the peak of summer, yet Dianne was already planning for the winter. She made this a habit of out of force, as winter was an especially cruel beast when one was a loner. For now, though, she found herself wandering by the coast, pads sinking into the sand. She hated the feeling and had to resist the urge to shake the granules from between her toes with every step. The scent of sea salt was so pungent in her nose that she was bordering on nauseous.

Why was she here again? Ah yes, learning the lay of the land. Well, her first impression of the coast wasn't great, but it was vacant, at least. That was something, especially in comparison to the neighborhood of packs nearby. If pressed, Dianne could adjust to life on the coast, but she really didn't want to. It was different, and different was almost invariably bad to Dianne. And yet, as fate would have it, the only consistent thing about her life was its inconsistencies. No wonder she was unhappy. What she desired, what she craved was control. With control came power, and with power came safety. Deep down, that's all she really wanted.

But back to surveying. There were trees here, which was a pleasantly familiar sight until she realized how strange these trees were. Dianne had never seen ones so odd before, with broad, feather-like leaves only at the very top. Where were their limbs? What were those stone-like growths that fell off of them? Why couldn't anything be normal on the coast? She hated it here.

how long had it been?

too long, really.

---

and she was tired. oh, so tired. months had passed since stormrift's departure: swallowed up by the very ocean they revered... and she was over it, really-- though she'd still live on the coast so long as she could help it. the dragoness had been everywhere at this point, she had seen everything the beach had to offer: a shark on their shores, waves taller than two oak trees, winds so violent they split the seas down the middle as the two forces battled for dominance, and she'd lived through all of it.
surprisingly so.

but if there was one thing she still could not understand-- those damn trees. she turned a corner and found herself back where it all started-- the coast with those weird not-trees. she'd seen these all over, but could never comprehend the damn things. they were tall, as all trees where, but they seemed to have exploded at the top of them. like, they just... didn't grow the way they were supposed to, and to make things worse, their trunks look almost decayed. it splits off in various directions and is just... unattractive to her.
amatsu, as always, was completely oblivious to the world around her.

The soft sound of sand shifting under weight caught her attention, and she tore her eyes from the strange trees to glare at the disturbance. Not far off stood another wolfess, similar in size and coloration. Dianne posited she would've ended up looking more like her if not for the domestic blood that gave her an exotic flair. Her gaze softened. Now was the time to forge connections; make allies, not enemies. She had enough of the latter. Noticing how the woman was peering at the trees just as she'd been, she latched onto that as an icebreaker.

These trees are ungainly things, aren't they? Dianne started, calmly drawing her gaze back to them as she took a few steps closer. I'm not familiar with the coast. Are you? She looked back at the stranger then, willing an inquisitive expression.

she's startled, but not deathly so. she's been slowly improving with her skittish nature and although she has quite a ways to go anything is improvement to her. maybe that's a bad thing? she doesn't think about it. instinctually, amatsu pedals slightly backwards to take in the features of the damsel before her: a pale creature, but not so pale she looks sickly, there is gold scattered sparingly into her coat which is something the young girl had never seen in any creature she had encountered. her face was framed by large ears with her head being a striking contrast against the rest of her body. her patterns her unique, moreso than anyone else she had talked with previously.
anyone that she can recall, anyway.

one thing the two shared was their eye color. both girls dawned an icy gaze with which they could probably stare into eachothers souls. it was poetic, in a way. after taking a moment to collect herself, amatsu peers over to the stranger as she stares at the same weird phenomenon the wolves here call trees. a question is poised to the silver shuck to which she responds softly, ,,yeah... i'm not entirely convinced they're natural,'' the direction of her attention turns towards this greyscaled doe as her words come to a close. ,,i'm unsure.'' her answer to the second question is a statement dripped in melancholy as a slight sigh forces its way out of her lungs. honestly, what did she really know anymore?
did she ever know anything at all?

She took note of how the woman started and backpedaled upon only just now noticing her. Absentminded and skittish, which meant malleable. That could be useful.

Offering a single chuckle to her initial response, she said, Neither am I. That mystery would remain, she supposed. The wolfess' second answer was not expected, so she tilted her head. Her tone was somber, and her verbiage suggested insecurity. Was she an amnesiac? That wouldn't surprise her given the woman's demeanor, but the chances were unlikely. What do you mean? Dianne asked gently.

it takes her a moment to realize that she probably should have kept her second statement to herself. something like that won't make sense to literally anyone else-- but she never thinks before speaking. her mind dazes about as she tries to come up with something that makes a lick of sense to the wolf before her. smacking her lips with her tongue nervously, her eyes anxiously dart from left to right, her tail curling itself slightly between her legs. she coils back slightly as words absently escape from her chest, ,,it's complicated,'' she starts, her voice is quiet, almost as a whisper. ,,i'm familiar with the ocean. the sky, the clouds, i hear their voices and simply heed their calls.''

... and with that, off she goes. the divine tangent that she recalls to be her 'tragic' life. a bubble forms itself deep inside her throat as she swallows, hoping to push it further into her stomach but unfortunately for her, it would not be going anywhere. nervously licking her lips once more, she continues in a hushed voice. ,,i-i'm not big on sand.'' is all she offers the stranger, which wasn't entirely a lie-- sure, she didn't mind the sand, but would much prefer the wreckage of dilapadated ships and cobble from the greedy humans who thought they could disrespect her seas and get away with it.

The woman spoke again after an anxious fit of some kind, her voice so soft that the waves nearly overtook it. What she said had no basis in the real world, but it was at least something Dianne could work with. Her comment on sand was out of the blue, leading Dianne to believe this lost soul was a very confused being. She pitied her, in a way.

I see. Being near the coast must be comforting for you, then, She said in a facade of understanding. I'm Dianne, by the way. What is your name?

she might have been on the verge of an anxiety attack-- but most of the time she feels like she's constantly on the verge of one of those things. the pressure of conversing with others was something she never handled well... she wasn't exactly treated normally, ever, in her earliy life. although the conversation was mostly small talk, it was still difficult for amatsu to formulate her thoughts into a string of words that actually make sense to anyone outside of her delusioned mind; the other wolf had introduced herself formally after the short conversation the two had. dianne, the name slipped off of the lady's tongue effortlessly. a delicate name, short, sweet, simple.

,,amatsumagatsuchi,'' she has a bad habit of spitting her entire name out at people rather quickly, it's something she's tried to mend, but the divinity her full name holds is unmatched by any other creature that she comes across. if only she could say it more elegantly, and ideally, not be a disaster when doing so. ,,but you can just call me amatsu.''  she finishes her statement and relaxes her body, her breathing, her heartbeat. amatsu lowers herself downwards onto the ground, laying on the sand while crossing her paws over one another, directing her gaze out into the ocean. ,,i am rather comfortable around the seas.'' her tail sways behind her, dusting the sand around her body.

She gave her name in return, and Dianne blinked. All she really caught was "Amatsu". Thankfully, Amatsu was fine with being called just that, which worked out because she wasn't going to make a fool of herself every time she tried saying her name. 'Amatsu'... beautiful name, even when it's shortened. Do you know anything about its origin, its meaning? Her voice conveyed genuine curiosity.

Amatsu settled down in the sand without a second thought. Dianne, however, debated whether she really wanted to or not, dreading the thought of having more sand trapped in her fur. For propriety's sake, she sat, albeit with reluctance. Her wispy tail curled neatly around her paws. It was partly a prudish habit but mostly one out of anxiety. She let people believe it was just the former. Amatsu confirmed her assumption, to which she replied somewhat lightheartedly with, That makes one of us.