Horizon Ridge Out where the lightning splits the sea

This is open because I want to see what happens.....

Although she was mobile again now and didn't need his help as much, Pied hadn't seen much of Kisu lately and it made her frown even as the realization struck her. She came to a stop on the dunes—well beyond the reach of the lapping waves—and sat, staring contemplatively into the distance as she wondered what might be preoccupying her mate.

Without even being aware of it, Pied slid forward onto her belly and lounged in the cool sand, her chin falling to rest atop her crossed forelegs as the sun began to sink over the sea. She fell asleep without meaning to do so. The cool ocean wind ruffled the dappled fur of her nape and caused her to roll over onto her side to create a lower profile, all without waking. Beyond her prostrate silhouette, the last light drained out of the sky.

She awoke a while later to a distant grumble of thunder near the horizon. Rising and stretching her cold limbs, she peered wonderingly at the heavens; it seemed a bit early in the year for thunderstorms. Even as this thought ambled through her sleepy brain, Pied abruptly became aware of a strange scent in her nostrils—and it certainly wasn't ozone. Her nose wiggled and she stood upright, her muzzle lifting into the air, questing after this peculiar smell. She took a few steps forward, then felt the strangest thing: dampness on her back leg.

Curling in half to inspect her own hindquarters, Pied squinted in the darkness and made out little drops of blood on her pale fur, as well as a few on the sand. She blinked and swiveled to sniff at those on the dunes, even as the realization struck her like a thunderbolt: I've gone into heat! And even as she became aware, a sudden and powerful longing rose up within her, the drive to mate becoming abruptly unbearable, like a savage itch in need of a deep scratch.

With her mate nowhere nearby, Pied didn't know where or how to find him. The only solution was to tip back her head and howl for him, aware even as she did so that her call—in addition to her scent—would surely draw the attention of any males within a few miles' radius...