Wheeling Gull Isle the story is in the soil, keep your ear to the ground

 

Why do I always channel Rent when i’m writing Komodo?

The earthstalker’s memory of the path towards the cave stayed true, leading them in a direct route through the wintered foliage towards the center of the island — his mind worked best at these things, he believed. The experience of re-weaving across the island’s main highway was spectral, in a way. If Komodo shut his eyes — and at different times during their walk, he did indeed shut his eyes — he could hear the voices of the stormborne wolves, could smell their scents, feel their presence. There had been so much that he was proud of here; but now, there was nothing. Komodo couldn’t help but experience the hurt, but he would not let himself linger in it.

Serein and Sirimiri’s song faded into the sunset, though Komodo would admit he was only half-silencing to their scatting. He knew they were close. "Sea lions, y'say?" Komodo responded to Brontide passively, turning a corner and halting as the mouth of the cave yawned before them. The brute looked over his shoulder and gave them a crooked now ain't that somethin’? smile. Komodo stood back as the trio passed him and entered the cave, half-sneezing as Sirimiri tickled his nose with her salt-strung plume. He looked upon the wry female’s haunches as she sashayed into the cave’s shadows and exhaled heavily, feeling considerably lighter now that he he had put distance between him and the sea. Here, he did not have the ocean’s holy disappointments weighing upon him. “Our eyes will adjus’, thank god fer th’moon. ”  The earthstalker responded to Siri’s cursive concern, because the moon illuminated all things, and the nighttime would be here soon. 

Komodo’s gaze scanned the interior of the cave and he, unsurprisingly, found that nothing had changed. Every cranny was just as he had left it, albeit lacking the presence of the faces he truly wanted to see. Aria came to mind almost immediately, as she had always loved the sanctity of the isle’s caverns. He missed the sylph at time, but to be honest, Serein and Sirimiri’s affections were enough to keep him occupied for the time being. Still, he couldn’t help but muse upon the white shewolf as Komodo dropped his body to the cool stone floor, sprawled his legs out straight beside him and commenced his relaxation.