Cerulean Cape O sea that beats when wild hearts beat no more

He had been watching a seagull closely, ready to pounce, until he heard a guttural shriek from Steady and some muffled complaints from Niita. He spun on his heels and walked toward the pair. Niita's head was bleeding--albeit in possession of a dead seagull, good for her--and Steady was standing beside her, his eyes wide as if he had seen the fires of hell materialize before him.

"Lord, I leave you two alone for five minutes. . ." Phocion chided them jokingly, laughter in his voice. He gave Niita's head a quick lick, wiping the blood from the wound, before attending to a rattled Steady. "Hey, man, you're all right? What happened?"

For curiosity's sake, he followed the black beta's trail back to the beach, where he found an eight-legged creature he had only seen once before, wriggling in the seafoam. He laughed aloud, giving the creature a ginger prod with his paw before racing back to the others, feet kicking up white sand in his wake.

"Did the legs get you? A friend of mine down south says it's called an. . ." His voice trailed off, trying to remember the name. "Octo. . .octo. . .pus? Yeah, octopus. Yeah, they look pretty sinister." He looked over at Niita, shaking his head in mock disappointment. "You're supposed to protect your packmates from these sort of attacks, Niita," he said gravely, voice breaking in a giggle at the end of his sentence.