Totoka River keep cool but care

these wilds are not the southern beaches.

but yunxu feels the same comfort. he aches for the sun and the sand not drowned in rain but they are as much a part of life by the sea as the tides. the clouds chase him up the coast, but it is still his coast under his paws; as long as he stands by the shore, he is still close to home – even if home is full of foreigners.

yunxu pauses by the shore’s edge. the rain sleeting down buries any scents even for his nose, makes it impossible to look out to sea and find anything there but mist and grey. it leaves him with the spreading river delta and a single wolf-shaped smudge of black and white.

the temptation comes immediately to walk around. yunxu corrals it with emotionless efficiency and steps closer, even as the smudge crumples to the ground and rests its head against the dirt.

“您好,” yunxu says, in the shrinking hope he’s made some sort of misjudgment and the man currently sprawled gracelessly on the earth, soaking up mud and grass and leaves – with grass in his mouth – does know the language after all.