Gilded Bay Waiting for the tune of some old dying man

Jagoda stood perfectly still on a shallow ledge raised ever so slightly above the swirling water. Starfish and anemone alike clung to the walls and floor of the pool, but he saw no fish. Sighing with disappointment, he sat back on his muscular haunches and closed his yellow eyes. For a moment he simply listened to the lashing rain, and he let his nostrils fill with the briney scent of the sea and its creatures.

He detected her before she made sound. The most peculiar odor penetrated the salty atmosphere, one that, to his utter astonishment, reminded him of his mother. The shock wore off by the time he turned his head to look at her with piercing sun rays for eyes, their yellow hue cutting through the dreary grey storm that raged along the coast. There was a distant softness in his eyes, along with an odd glare of hunger that had nothing to do with his stomach. She was a beautiful young woman -- too young to be a mother, but that rendered her even more attractive.

"Hey," came his growling murmur of a voice. Jagoda did not intend to be rude. It was just his way