Totoka River reefed

No one could be blamed for thinking that the overdramatic little she-wolf was addled in some way. Hell, she probably was. She'd grown up with some of the strangest beliefs and rituals, and she'd be joking if she said her family life was very normal. That Catori hadn't simply abandoned her for acting the way she was was nothing short of a miracle, and spoke highly of the beautiful wolf's character.

"I owe you my life," Celephais insisted when Catori offered to show her the way. Another major exaggeration. The worst that could have happened had she stayed on the coast was that she would actually have thrown up real substance, and then she'd probably have just tried to eat it again. Still, the loner believed in her heart that the smell of the sea was capable of killing her, so she also believed that Catori had saved her. She followed along in relative silence, at least until she was asked a question.

"Wait," the loner said, taking a steadying breath and swallowing thickly when she tasted the remnants of salt on the air, "you mean... it doesn't bother you?" She left that cryptic for way longer than she should—long enough for them to reach the creek and for her to throw herself at it, guzzling down water as if she was in a desert rather than a forest—but finally, licking her chops, she scrutinized Catori and explained, "the air out there smells like shit. Like... so bad, it almost made me puke every time the wind blew!"