Cerulean Cape and hast thou slain the jabberwock?

Dated 6/2. Tags for reference (although you're more than welcome!). Would love a YL toon!

She didn't fancy herself much of a hunter, though Sugar was fairly adept at catching small game to sustain herself. Her usual fare included rabbits, squirrels and other, smaller rodents, for the most part. But as their party of five traipsed along the coastline, there was a whole new array of prey to be found on the beaches. And keeping Raleska fed so she could feed her pups in turn was a task Sugar took quite seriously.

While @Stryx, @Raleska and the pups rested, Sugar broke from the group and went in search of something to bring back to the nursing mother. Her tiny paws carried her toward the tip of a cape overlooking an island in the distance. Her black eyes drank in the view a moment and she savored the salty breeze tousling her striped nape. But then Sugar dropped her focus to the nearby surf, looking specifically for those small, scuttling critters known as crabs.

Title from "Jabberwocky" by Lewis Carroll.

Huā knew it was due time to begin patrolling beyond the island now. Her children were still small, but they could meet and interact with the whole of Yuèlóng now, and she trusted the community to raise them alongside her. It would take a village- and especially for not one, but four! 

It felt admittedly fantastic to be back on her feet once more- the girl was a scout at heart, and being cramped up in the den was hard on her. Now she journeyed over the land bridge (thanks, low tide!) and found her way to the Cape. It was here that she caught sight of the little striped girl not so far off, nosing around at the shore for... something. The empress eyed her for a moment, but found little to be threatened by, and made her way towards her with a chuff of greeting. In some ways, Huā selfishly viewed the shore as an extension of Yuèlóng's land- but if this girl wasn't going to steal their sea lions or be an ass, then Huā wouldn't mind helping her with whatever her quest might be.

She saw no sign of a crab, though Sugar came across a sand dollar and nosed at it. Without warning, she suddenly thought of a certain broken turtle shell, then her mother, then both her deceased parents. Swallowing thickly, she let the white disc alone and backpedaled, falling hard onto her haunches on the wet sand. She had kept so busy this past week or so, she hadn't had much time to think, so several days' worth of backlogged emotions washed over her all at once as she thought about Elwood and Finley, Penn and Fennec, even Opalia...

While she sat there and tried to process it all, someone appeared on the nearby shoreline. Sugar turned toward the stranger, who was very slight of figure, just like her. Her markings were distinct and fetching, somehow calling to mind sand and sea. The yearling watched her approach, ears tilting forward at the quiet greeting.

"Hello," came her own salutations when the other she-wolf drew close enough. She didn't stand but Sugar rotated her body to face the woman more directly, briefly meeting her sea glass eyes before dropping her own gaze respectfully. "I'm Sugar," she introduced.

As the silvery girl fell suddenly to her haunches in the sand, Huā raised a paw in midair, hesitant in her approach. There was a look on the girl's face that Huā found intriguing- certainly not joy and rather the opposite. She couldn't read minds, but she could practically hear the gears of heavy thoughts turning up there. Was this kid okay? 

When she finally spoke up, introducing herself as Sugar, it was a relief. Dark eyes met her own, and Huā smiled kindly, as if to coax a similar look out of Sugar. Hi, Sugar. I am Huā. She introduced simply in return with a dip of her head. You not from pack? She questioned, finding only a couple of scents on her. One was of a familiar Rusalkan, that she knew- but the pack was far from here now, and she'd be surprised to see one of their members wander this far. Perhaps they'd just brushed by one another- or so she hoped. Huā had had her fill of interactions with those barbaric people.

Huā? Sugar repeated in her head, lips parting slightly. It sounded more like an onomatopoeia than a name. Huā spoke a few more words and there was something strange about her articulation. The yearling immediately thought of Towhee, though this woman's speech was clear as a bell, just exotically lilted. It intrigued her quite a lot, though she wondered if it would be rude to ask about it directly.

Perhaps she could learn more if she stuck to tried and true icebreakers. "No, not currently, though I was born in Firebirds and recently lived with Triquetra. Do you know of them?" She gave her acquaintance an opportunity to answer before adding, "I'm a nomad, these days. What about you?"

She spoke of Triquetra... and Firebirds? That caught her attention, and Huā entered mini-flashback mode in which she recalled her first meeting with a wolf after entering the Wilds. The Alpha of Firebieds, it was- and so when Sugar's question came, Huā eagerly blurted out I know Firebird! I meet Wr... Wraen, back in fall last year. She summarized, and tail began to wag. It was a smaller world sometimes than she realized. 

As for the nomad before her, Huā knew the lifestyle well. There was a time that she'd detested joining a pack- and it seemed she was right, as Rusalka had been terrible to them, at least in her eyes- but now living among a community was all she could imagine. Did this girl ever get lonely? I was born at place call 海龙泻湖, then I live with terrible pack call Rusalka- and now, She paused proudly, unable to help the slightly cheeky smile that slid onto her face, I am empress of Yuèlóng. We live on that island, Huā explained with a gesture of her muzzle toward the sea.

Her black eyes glittered when Huā mentioned familiarity with Wraen. "Wraen's great," Sugar remarked, the sentiment simple but vehement. She smiled fondly as she thought of her previous leader, though the look slipped from her face when the woman went on to mention Rusalka, calling it a terrible pack.

She blinked as she turned this information over in her mind. What had they done? Did Huā know Raleska? Was Raleska one of these purportedly terrible wolves? Sugar was skeptical, after spending plenty of time with her lately. But if she wasn't, did that mean they taking her back to a horrible place? She remained silent for a long beat, pondering all of this. She almost missed the mention of the isle just visible over Huā's pale shoulder.

Blinking back to a focus, Sugar said, "Is an Empress like a Soveign? Are you the leader?" she wondered, feeling even more honored to make Huā's acquaintance. "Would you tell me what Yuèlóng is like? What's it like living on an island?" she wondered in the next breath, filing away the tidbit about Rusalka in the back of her mind for now.

Wraen's great. Huā nodded simply, glad to find a connection between the two of them. She watched as the smile slipped from Sugar's face, and grew suspicious- but didn't care enough to interrogate her on the matter. Instead her tail wagged slightly at Sugar's question, reminding herself that some people did not know the word- even if she said empress instead of 皇帝. Yes She laughed slightly, I am leader. 

The next question she was even more eager to answer, and her smile grew into a grin. Living on island is p-paradise. Has white sand, blue ocean, beautiful view. Choice fish or sheep for meal, always the music of waves... just like heaven on earth. She summarized dreamily, as if she was slipping away into her idealized imagination world. Considering she had lived by the ocean her whole life, Huā only saw it fit to return curiously, What it like, living away from sea?

Paradise, Sugar repeated in her mind, smiling at the picture Huā painted. They didn't need a picture, of course; the yearling's head swiveled as she took in their surroundings again, appreciating the beauty of the seaside. Her black eyes cut back to the Empress when she mentioned fish and then, unexpectedly, sheep. Sugar's brows rose a little in amusement.

To answer Huā's question, she found her smile again. "Currently, I do live by the sea," she marveled aloud. "And when I lived with Firebirds and Triquetra, I didn't really know about the sea. Now that I've spent time here, I do think it'll be hard to move away from it." She paused, suddenly recollecting something and added, "Were you living here when the wave hit last year?" She knew it had almost killed Tegan and Bat, who swore never to set foot by the sea again.

woah. two weeks passes fast??? my bad!!

At Sugar's comment about currently living by the sea, Huā snorted playfully with a smirk that read: okay, wise guy. It was true, though- and she was glad the sweet girl was getting the experience; any good hearted wolf deserved some days in their life at beachside, peacefully sunbathing and lounging around. Before retirement was even better. 

As for not being able to leave the sea... Huā nodded passionately. Always plagued by that draw- she could never truly be away, even with a scout's wandering legs she had a siren's lovelorn heart made for the blue. She would've offered Sugar a home right then and there, but a new question met her, and Huā's brow furrowed in thought. When I come here... well, I not see wave, but... ocean is very angry all the time. And always storm, lots of broken tree and damage land. Is it related? She questioned, though she figured there was some connection- if there was a big storm by the sea, there was bound to be some crashing waves.

No worries at all, friendmine!

Huā hadn't witnessed the wave. Judging by the tales Tegan and Bat had told, she was very fortunate not to have been there for it. She might not be here now. She did make some wondering remarks about the turbulent seas, mentioning frequent storm damage. Sugar's head cocked curiously at this information. She didn't have any answers for the Empress, though she was curious too.

"I'm not really sure," she admitted. She knew so little about the ocean or anyplace that wasn't Firebirds or Triquetra. She was working on that but still hadn't been traveling long or far yet. "But does that mean that Yuèlóng is in constant danger of being washed away?" she voiced the thought even as it hit her, dark eyes widening in trepidation. Huā had called the island paradise but was that the caveat?

A distant howl stole her attention for a moment. Sugar momentarily thought it might be one of her party summoning her back so they could begin moving again. But the voice wasn't one she knew. Her brows lifted inquisitively, wondering if perhaps Huā recognized it.

So Sugar wasn't sure. Ah well. Huā still theorized that these things may be connected; nature had its ways of pulling things together in a great scheme. At the next question, the empress winced slightly. The island? Doubtful. But the people? She thought of Atausiq, who likely lay at the bottom of the ocean now, stolen from the world all too soon simply because she requested he live on the island with her. How foolish she had been; to teach him nothing about it. 

A sigh exhaled from her lips, I do not think there is a wave big enough to wash away whole island, but maybe. I less afraid of this, more afraid that my children will get too close to ocean and be stolen away. She shook her head at the thought, expression grim. At the howl, her ears perked. The voice wasn't familiar to her, but she turned her eyes upon Sugar, who was giving her a questioning look in return. Huā shrugged.

The island queen didn't seem to recognize the caller either, so Sugar summarily ignored the voice, which soon faded. It did remind her that she shouldn't linger here too long, much as she enjoyed acquainting with Huā. Her companions needed her and, besides, she'd come out here to find food for Raleska.

"I can't remember who told me but I've heard that babies are instinctively capable of swimming," Sugar shared with Huā, wondering if that gave her any peace of mind at all. "But teaching them water safety is still important, the buddy system and all that. I'm sure you're well aware of that, though. I bet swimming lessons are some of the earliest for children in Yuèlóng?"

This time, the voice that rose came from another direction entirely and she did recognize it. "Oh, that's for me. I'd better be on my way. Could you point me in the direction of the best place to find some small game?" Sugar said, tossing Huā a slightly apologetic smile. "It was lovely meeting you," she added with understated sincerity.

You're welcome to wrap and/or archive. Thanks for the thread! :)

Well, that sure calmed her nerves. She had never really formally learned, but she had gone deeper into the sea so gradually that she had always been prepared for the next step. It hadn't occurred to her that it was all natural, but she supposed in a way, she was born to swim. Still, Yes, She laughed in a lighter mood, All my children will be good swimmer. I make sure of it. She told her, easy smile still resting on her dark maw. 

Finally another howl came, beckoning Sugar, and Huā nodded as the girl said she ought to leave. That river, She said, gesturing her muzzle towards the Totoka, Easy food if you can fish. It was her opinion that all wolves should be able to fish, considering it was probably the easiest form of hunting, but you could never know with inland-born wolves. Happy to meet you too. Bye-bye, Sugar! She called in farewell as the girl left, and Huā began to make her own path back to the island.