Ocean's Breath Plateau a feast, but the seating is strange

she ventured from the isle her sister and cosuins claimed for now and decided to head just a bit inland. it was no surprise these wilds were the home to many, the sights she saw were undeniably beautiful. ocean waves and the tide rolling in and out -- they were daily sightings she would see. yet, they still held natural beauty in lei lei's eyes.

here she was now, a cleaned kill at her paws as she laid herself against the edge of the platueu. a safe enough distance from the edge, but close enough to see the endless water beneath her. cries of sea birds, the daily breeze of salty wind, the scurrying of lucky rabbits who escaped her grasp; the sounds were intoxicating and practically lulled her to sleep. rich cobalt eyes close themselves, letting no sunlight in. for a moment, lei lei knew why ruo always wanted to keep to herself, she got to have moments like these.

Hey! Ying walked to greet her cousin and sniff at the kill between her paws. She was impressed by Lei Lei's kill, and so offered a congratulatory nod. Good job, she laughed, Rabbits are too fast. The huntress sighed and settled onto her hindquarters, closing her eyes to bask in the sunlight. Their game had been forgotten, as had her sour loss; Ying was content to spend the afternoon in silence, if that's what her cousin wished.

her sea foam cousin has found her again, and lei lei offered her a smile. "they're quick, but sometimes never quick enough. how goes it, ying? been on any adventures since the last i've seen you?"

lei lei appreciated silence in times of need, but when she was around ying, she couldn't help but converse with her. ying and her were quite similar; strong and forward-thinking, stubborn if you wanted to put it more negatively. 

"you and your sisters have picked a good spot to claim, so many wonders to it." she had yet to fully explore more, she had busied herself with caches and food and sand-walking and other activties. she had made herself a small collection of sand dollars and shells she had picked up while on her morning strolls. she hoped to share it with someone who'd appreciate her efforts.

Adventures? Sorta, Ying laughed. She didn't want to go into details about the events following their separation. Deciding to move on in conversation, she plopped onto her side and sighed. Yeah, it's good until you get to the brine pools. The smell of sulfur had been burned into her nostrils, much to Ying's dismay. There's a lot of good fishing spots, though. Wanna check one out?

brine pools? lei lei knew that in her childish head, no matter what anyone told her, she'd still check out the dangerous places others would warn her about. reverse psychology, or something along those lines. maybe it was just her desire to poke at the others just to annoy them. in the end, she'd probably get her nose burned off, but she'd deserve it.

as for the talk of fishing, lei lei had never really picked up the skill for it. however, if she intended to live on this beach, she'd have to learn how to catch all the game here."sure! they're so scaly and slimy though, how could you possibly get a good grip on them?" 

soon she found herself standing, though picked up her rabbit kill and dangled it in front of ying's face. "share?" she asked, voice muffled by the fur and meat.

That's for you to figure out. Ying stood to walk away, but was stopped abruptly by the corpse in her face. Agh! Go cache it or something, she laughed. The offer was tempting, but her mind had already been set on something more...fishy, so she had to keep room in her stomach.

She decided to lead the way. Assuming Lei was still behind her, the huntress began her stroll toward the fishing traps which she'd set with Nuka. These fish aren't slimy, Ying explained, then at a whisper, If there's even anything there. The short walk was coming to a close; the beach was within view.

ying didn't seem to like the idea of sharing, so lei lei sighed before scuttering off to cache the rest of her rabbit. her white cousin seemed confident in her skills as a hunter, and lei lei felt a small fire get lit underneath her. she bested her cousin once before, maybe she'd do it again. she soon returned to ying and their walk towards the fishing spot ensued for a few minutes.

finally once they arrived, lei lei nudged against ying. "traps?" she asked. it certainly didn't look like a fishing hole. though, fishing could come in many shapes in sizes and tactics. as long as they were successful, lei lei wouldn't complain.

Well, she sighed, there were traps when I left. The beach was now smooth with little evidence of the shallow holes previously dug. Ying pawed at the sand, pushing away the newest supply to reveal empty imprints. Let's dig some more, I guess.

Their game could still happen, but it required a slight change to the rules. She looked up at Lei with a mischevious glimmer in her eye. Let's see who can dig a trap the fastest. You know how? If not, Ying would proceed to demonstrate and explain before circling back to her starting point.

another challenge? a childish grin spread itself against lei lei's face as she looked towards her white cloud cousin. "is the great huntress challenging me again?" she asked with a teasing tone, tail propelling beind her. "i wouldn't know how to dig these traps, so a demonstration would be appreciated." she hadn't really trapped food before, lei lei was a basic wolf who just ran after what she saw and hoped for the best.

ying on the other hand had her trade and probably was an expert at this type of stuff. perhaps lei lei would pick up a thing or two from her cousin, maybe even get the trade for herself. "i didn't realize you could trap fish on the shore." 

Yeah, I didn't either. It's Nukilik's idea. She shrugged her shoulders and looked to Lei, nodding a silent question — You ready? Assuming her cousin would nod her reply, Ying began digging thick paws into the sand, hoping to make quick work of the challenge.

the idea of another was taken and adapted by her seafoam cousin, and after seeing it done once, ying was ready to go. lei lei felt unsure of her skills with digging, but nonetheless she'd try her best to dig them right. once ying gave her a seemingly notably look, the two were off!

paws and sand went flying, lei lei doing her best to keep up. one would think she may be quicker, but she remembered ying probably had bigger paws then her, she'd easily claw it all out before lei lei could get started. her pace quickened, however, the stormcloud wasn't fond of being second place.

There was no competition. Lei had proven herself to be a confident worker in the skill, but she was a novice; Ying easily plowed through the sand, as she had practiced before, and presented a well-arranged trap.

Done! she called out. While waiting for Lei to finish, she would hold her gloating and settle into a patient seat.

a word she didn't want to hear, the cloud finished her digging and looked over and expected to see a gloating ying. she was an expert at this stuff, no wonder lei lei didn't finish first. she puffed her cheeks up before sighing in defeat. she came closer to ying and fell to the sand in defeat, striking up a dark paw against the stark white fur of ying's chest.

"ah, i've been bested by the great huntress!" she cried dramatically, her other paw reached up to cover her eyes in a fake sense of shame.

fade?

It's not that hard. She shook her head and laughed, gesturing toward her completed trap. Her first attempt had been pitiful at best, but with practice, Ying had become somewhat decent. We can dig some more, if you want.

Having a beach littered with shellfish traps would prove useful, come spring. It would boost their food stores on an island with little prey to pick from. Ying gestured for Lei to follow and walked toward an unmarked section of sand.