Cerulean Cape all are equal in the eyes of the reaper

@Huā

his mind was blank as he wandered the shore, paws dry atop the sand one moment while submerged in sea salt the next. the ocean, gently lapping at smoky heels, washed away any trace of his movements leaving nothing behind but his scent among the breeze.

he continued down the water's edge until eventually stopping at the sight of a clear, mushy, circular creature that lay dead along the beach. curious as to what it was, or if it was somehow still alive, astaroth carefully plucked a foreleg from the earth's floor and swat at the lifeless figure. no response.

interested in the peculiar little thing, he briefly leaned in close to try and let his nose breathe in the creature's scent. only it was odorless, the smell of the sea being the only indication of where it had come from. and so at the end of his swift investigation he found himself more confused than before and simply wondering if the thing was safe enough to eat.

Just further down the coast was a dark smudge, like a dark cloud that had fallen to the earth. Huā eyed the figure warily; it was not like Orochi or Nukilik, weakened by some sickness or perhaps a lost limb. The man was fully intact it seemed, and this had her more hesitant to approach. What if he was dangerous? She was still cautious of the foreigners, especially the men. Rusalka had proven once again that those people were difficult to truly trust. 

But as she watches, he seems to curiously bat at something- transparent and slightly deflated looking. She could not see from this far- perhaps it was a jellyfish who had met the grim reaper? Yet somehow, his unfamiliarity with the thing had her thinking that perhaps it was something new to herself too. 

So ccuriously Huā comes closer, knowing now she would certainly be noticed by the man- but too interested, or perhaps too foolish to care. She's a few yards off to his left as inquisitive seaglass eyes study the unfamiliar object below him, eventually wandering up to his golden gaze with a little tilt of her head as if to question him on his knowledge of this thing silently.

for a moment he considers sticking his tongue out and licking the thing, curious as to whether or not it would even taste like anything. but just as his tongue is about to slither between velvety lips, he realizes he's not alone.

watered down gold finds it's way to the feminine figure, his attention briefly taken away from the lifeless jellyfish as he invites her closer with a swish of his tail. "you know what it is?" he asks, curious if she'd be able to tell him whether or not it was edible.  

Finally the shadowy male turns his attention upon her, and seeing that he does not seem aggressive, she takes a hasty few steps forward, closer to him. His question comes as no surprise. They were wondering the same. 

I... not know. I also am wondering that... She hums curiously in response. She pays him a slightly nervous glance, and creeps even closer. Was it some sort of dead jellyfish? Only one way to find out! A petite ebony paw reaches out, poking the thing quickly, once. There was no electric shock sent down from the gods, no sting of evil sea creature. The puffy object gave only slightly at her touch, but quickly her paw moved away, as if she'd anticipated a shock. Huā gazes back at the dark man with her shining seaglass gaze. I think is not... j... jellyfish, She stutters as the foreign word comes to her slowly.

he takes notice of her nervousness and shifts to give her some space so that she might have plenty of room to do her own investigation. curious, he watches as she takes her turn to poke at the lifeless form, her reaction and words causing his brow to arch with interest.

"jellyfish?" he asks while turning to search for her gaze, the name unfamiliar to him. "think i can eat it?" because honestly at this point, that's all that was really important.

He moves away a little, which pleases her. He was a nice man then- or so she hopes. He seems confused by her words- only interested in devouring. It figured that he had no idea what a jellyfish was- he was not a seawolf, after all. Some small part of her celebrated at the fact that she knows a word of the common language that even the foreign boy did not know. 

At his inquiry, she shrugs. If not jellyfish... maybe you can. If it jellyfish, I not reccomend eating... parents back home always say is too risk to eat. Up to you. And then she would remain, uber-curious as to what he would do next. She was just as uninformed as he, and so she marvelled at what it might be like to see him consume the otherworldly thing. And if it was dangerous, a harm to him- not so fun anymore, but still somehow exciting nonetheless.

he'd heeded her warning, but had already made up his mind on the fate of the slimy creature. carefully he leaned in close, nose scrunching as he tried to pick up any scent once again. nothing. and so without any hesitation he took the clear, lifeless body between his jaws and tore off a piece for himself.

it wasn't good, and tasted mainly of seawater with the consistency of rubber bands. immediately, without any regard for the seafarer staring at him, astaroth spat out the creature and left his tongue hanging from his mouth, hoping somehow the air might rid his tongue of the foul flavor.

Huā made no attempt to stop him when he decided to devour the rubbery thing. She watched with some disgusted delight, like a child dissecting a frog in biology class. It was strange and exciting; she had never seen anyone attempt such a thing- and so found some strange joy in gazing on as he took a piece, tasted it, and proceeded to spit it back up onto the ground.

The idea that he had not heeded her advice, and had suffered the consequences, filled her with a new sort of happiness- the happiness of saying I told you so. She tried to wipe the ecstasy from her eyes, but her joy was clear. I know I am right. Never eat jellyfish... but I so curious, how it taste like? I guess is not good... She chuckled with a halfway grin.

"yummy" he joked through now clenched teeth, the sarcasm dripping from his tongue as he turned to face her all too amused face. he was glad at least one of them was enjoying this. "taste like the water" he answered, snout motioning to the waves that crashed beside them.

"and it's chewy" he tacked on after a beat, the elastic consistency having surprised him more than anything else. he wondered if perhaps it tasted better alive, and that somehow death and air had corrupted it's flavor.

She cackles when he says 'yummy'- not to be a bitch or anything, it was just wholly amusing. 

I not surprised that it taste like ocean, She laughs. She had tasted saltwater before, and needless to say, it tasted like shit. On some level she pitied him a little, the taste he was feeling in his mouth right now must be dreadful. 

If I am you, I go fishing, clear the shit taste from mouth. This why you not supposed to eat jellyfish, She sighs. That and the whole possible stinging thing. Perhaps her common language was limited, but sometimes she felt as if she could certainly school some of these people on anything and everything surrounding the sea and its inhabitants.

her laughter comes as a relief, if only because he'd much rather have her think he's funny than stupid. not that he wasn't stupid, cause he totally was. "i think that's a good idea" he answered, tongue still hanging loosely from his mouth as a rather large wave crashed and swept the deceased jellyfish back out to sea.

good riddance.

"i'm gonna go find something to get this taste out of my mouth" he lets out after a beat, salmon pink tongue slipping back between his lips as he turns to face her. "wanna come with?" he asks, curious if she was up for a hunt. if not, he'd bid her farewell. however if she was, then perhaps the both of them might get lucky and secure a better meal than whatever it was he'd just put in his mouth.

He agrees with her idea, and she gives herself a mental pat on the back. She watched as the creature was stolen away again, roped in by the water and graded to its depths. Her eye tracks it for a millisecond before it disappears in the waves. 

And now he's inviting her to come with him as he follows through with her idea. She didn't have any sort of nasty taste in her mouth- but she wasn't going to turn down a quick meal. So she nods as her tail wags behind her, and she approaches him closer than before. If he began to lead, she would follow by his side. What you wanna eat?

he gave a few cheerful sways of his tail when she decided to join him, chin tipping to the air when asked what he was in the mood for. "you probably know the sea better than i do", he lets out before turning to begin down the shoreline. "what's some good grub around here?" he asks a moment later, curious as to what she might suggest.

he'd tried his luck with sea lions and crabs, both proving to be more work than what they were worth. perhaps she knew of the more delectable treats the ocean had to offer, for he'd only recently found the coast and so far had not been very fortunate in his attempts to fill his stomach with the aquatic prey.

She laughs it his comment; she was sure it was true. The fact that he didn't already know not to eat a beached jellyfish was proof enough of that. So when he asks about food recommendations, she was eager to lead, beckoning him with a 'come hither' sweep of her tail.

Assuming he followed, she turned her gaze back to him as they walked towards a cluster of tide pools. You eat clam before? Is really tasty, and you not need work much at all. Just free food. She tells him with a grin.

he follows where she leads, inky ears twitching with interest as she recommends clams. "never heard of them before, but free is always good enough for me", he responds with a smile while giving a few quick glances around to try and spot anything that looked like a clam in his imagination.

nothing.

"where are they?" he wonders aloud, curious if they were near or if the pair of them would have to travel some distance to find their meal. he didn't really mind either way, but the sooner he could rid his tongue of the foul flavor, the better off he'd be.

She laughs when he asks where they are. Right here! Huā beams, making a sudden turn towards the water. There some rocks sat, creating the edges to a couple of pools. She pays him a seawater glance, before springing into one of the pools and digging her paws through the shallow rocky floor. It did not take long to find a little something. 

She reaches her jaws in, pulling the thing out between her teeth- positioning it on its side between her fangs- CRACK! Huā drops the meat of the thing onto a smooth stone, spitting the shell out onto the sand instead. It look weird, but... try it! I promise it good.

his eyes widened when the siren revealed the clams were right next to them the whole time. intrigued, he continued to watch, to study, to memorize how she went about getting to the meat inside. he assumed it would take him a few tries before he could crack one open himself, but with time he was sure he too could learn such a technique.

a little skeptical but far too desperate for something to get the foul taste out of his mouth, astaroth walked up to the open clam and quickly gulped down the meat inside. truth be told it didn't rest on his tongue for very long before he swallowed it whole, but from what he could taste, it wasn't bad. "it's different, but not bad."

can we wrap this up? (o.o") sorry it took so long eeep!!

He accepted her offering, slurping the meat down his throat in what looked like a very quick motion... she wondered if it was even enough to wash the taste of jellyfish corpse away. Maybe not, but she really wasn't interested in sitting here and catching him something. Clams were delicious, at least she thought so, and if he didn't know how to eat them while savoring the taste then she doubted he'd get much out of them. 

Certainly different. She agreed with a little smile, tail wagging amiably behind her. Maybe he'd come to like it more in time- she got the vibe that he wasn't really into it, and maybe just being polite. A glance at the position of the sun in the sky. I think I should return home. Maybe sometime in future, I meet you again, we eat something more tasty together. Okay? It was a casual suggestion. She'd stick around to hear whatever else he had to say, but if it wasn't anything too intriguing, she'd wave her tail in goodbye and set off in the direction she'd come from.

his lips smack together after a few seconds pass by, the foul taste of the jellyfish turned faint yet still noticeably there. maybe he had to eat another one? he turned to look down where she had dug up the first, silently wondering if more lied beneath the surface of rocks. he was about to make his way toward the pools to try his first attempt at cracking one open for himself when her words halted any steps he might have taken.

"you got yourself a deal!", he let out with a firm nod of his head. he was certain she was a master of the sea, and so he was eager to learn from her in any way he could. and so as she turned to make her way back home, he turned to face the shallow pools, determined to get himself at least one more clam all on his own.