Coconut Grove I looked in the mirror, I'm different

I feel like, with this one, it has to be aw. Can easily archive as a ro though if no one picks it up <3

Setting - the lovers, the hierophant
Situation - The Chariot
Outcome - IV of pentagrams, strength

Fennec didn't intend to come back to the wilds, at least not anytime soon. But she found herself there anyway, on a familiar sandy beach, with the sounds of seagulls croaking around her and the ghost of familiar company in her thoughts. She was sitting on the sand and turning something over between her paws, playing with it and running her claws over the familiar texture. It was a section of a coconut shell.

She'd been to the beach a few times but she had never been swimming. The trip to the island didn't count for much, and as she listened to the waves, she wondered what it was like. How did the water feel when it made that sound? How different was it, or could it even be, from the rivers back home? Wherever that was.

She was going to find out. Fennec strode resolutely into the waves without much hesitation, just a wince at how surprisingly cold it was. At first it felt like the water played with her ankles, but the further out she went, the more insistent that rolling power was.

She lost her footing once and went under, but it wasn't really all that frightening. It was exhilarating. She came up sputtering, then laughing, as she charged through the water and tried to chase the feeling of the waves and keep her footing in the pull. She wasn't sure why, but something about knowing one wrong move could see her trapped and drowning... it gave her a level of confidence she hadn't felt in a long time.

She could have been, and should have been, dead a thousand times over by now. But she wasn't.

Fennec let the tide push her onto the sand and followed the momentum, driving headlong into a flock of seagulls and sending them scattering around her with a whoop. Their cries, and wingbeats, filled her ears and for a moment she couldn't even hear the water anymore. This moment was the only one that existed and, despite being completely alone, she felt better than she had in months. She felt free.

he ambled along the shore, bits of last seaborn meal tangled in his beard. it was growing longer, he noted with pride. the elongated bangs were less convenient, but for sure charming in their own way.

when he first heard the laugh, his tail rose, and he looked out over the waves. merfolk? so often he'd used that comparison, he'd almost begun to believe it as truth.

a pale head bobbed in the sea. the komondor stood lax and careless as he watched it vanish and re-emerge with each rise of the tide. a drowning woman would not laugh, he assured himself. if she disappeared underwater for a bit too long, sure, he'd swim to help, but not before.

for now, the man merely enjoyed the view.

when she came from the water and roused a flock of seagulls into rising in a whirlwind around her, their feathers falling onto her creamy fur like a bride's petals, the bard grinned wide. he'd come to lay down not far from there, and felt the lyrics coming as the last wingbeats faded.

"...layk ae river flows,
surely, t' th' sea,
daerling, so it goes,
some things are meant t' be..." 

The singing didn't bother her at first. She wasn't a huge fan and whoever it was sounded a little... friendly... for her liking right now, but at least he was a ways off. Then he got to the darlin.

Fennec snorted and stopped, then turned in his general direction. Her good mood wasn't gone but she was openly skeptical of him immediately.

Pretty little song, but I'm no 'darlin'. I'm not sure what you are trying to get at, but I'd sing to someone else if I were you.

when she turned to speak - his song stopping to leave room for whatever the siren's voice might be - trough the veil of his loosely coiled bangs the bard saw the silver patina obscuring the details of her gaze. sightless? it concerned him. 

she did speak, and for all the sourness in her words the sugar of her voice made it a delight.

he remained laying, and now rolled onto his back - despite a second later remembering she wouldn't be able to see him. still, he stretched his limbs skywards as he rolled his head and said:

"aem ai nat allowed t' celebrate th' beauchy of th' nachural w'rld? sam sights simply inspire song." he made sure the grin was heard in his voice.

sorry this one is slow! I don't mind wrapping this a little quicker if you want <3 shes hard to write sometimes since her mindset is so in flux!

His accent was nearly indecipherable, even for Fennec. She was used to picking up meaning from sounds alone but she'd also never heard anything like it. By the time she'd picked up on the fact that he was speaking in a language she knew, the first part was gone. The second sentence she caught.

I'll have to take your word for that. She snorted, then took a step closer. I can't understand half of what you're saying. She almost went on, but something stopped her before she outright insulted the stranger. First, this was a strange place and if he jumped her, she was at a disadvantage in the sand. Second, and maybe more important - she wasn't really up for being outright mean today. Lucky him.