Totoka River I left your house this morning, at a quarter after nine

@Huā

Along the shore as the tide slowly swept inland, claiming a bit of the dry, white sand at a time, the shorebirds skittered in little flocks, scampering this way and that way as though frightened of getting their ankles touched by the gentle waves. Beneath the tall arches of whalebones Thresher slept, knowing that it would take hours yet before the tide went out, revealing the landbridge she depended on in order to get back to her birthplace. She had journeyed on her own, with the blessing of her family, trailing her way back to where she'd been born as though called there in a trance, like a salmon swimming upriver to spawn. The journey had exhausted her, so she slept the night calmly and quietly, nestled amongst the bones of the whale she'd seen perish on the shore when she'd been a child. It was a place nostalgic and sad- but she honoured the whale, or so she felt, by giving it her company and her dreams while she slept. 

When day broke, it wasn't until the sunlight finally reached the island's tallest trees that the waves began to pull back and reveal more and more of the sandbar that led to the island. It looked different- as sandbars typically changed over time, and seemed to meander a bit more. Regardless, she recognized the island instantly, and began to cross the landbridge, her tufted ears pricked and her wet nose glistening as she inhaled the familiar scent of the shoreline. But when she caught the scent of wolves, and of border markings which drifted toward her from the island, she stopped. 

This was her birthplace- but it was someone else's home. 

She was wary, then, and discouraged. She would have no way of knowing if she would be permitted to return to the labyrinth, underground, where she had been born and raised. There was a chance, of course, that even the wolves who claimed the island had no idea that that particular landmark existed...Or how to navigate the underground system of tunnels, without being dragged out to sea when the tide came in to full the pools. She balked, then, and whined softly- but thought she spotted a form travelling along the shore. So she tilted her head back and released a soft, howl that shimmered on the air like a thread of light, hoping she might, in the very least, be permitted to see her birthplace once more.