Cerulean Cape creep eastward

Mireille still hunted the caribou with the Rivenwood girls, and Sobo grew lonesome in the confines of Sapphique.

Time apart from them had brought some clarity to Sobo, who first lumped the three Rivenwood girls together in his feelings of inadequacy, but now recognized that it was Druid, and only Druid, who was the problem among them. Witch and Heda were perfectly cordial and kind. He could even have made friends of them ... if not for Druid being the ringleader. More than once he considered venturing to the taiga, finding his sister, and telling her he could work together with two sisters if the third was sent away. Unfortunately, there was almost no chance of convincing Mireille that Druid was a discredit to her siblings, nor of coaxing the other two away from their white-banded leader. Attempting to befriend any of them was a lost cause.

So he decided, one blustery morning, that he would have an adventure of his own, and maybe make some friends of his own. There was a heavy somberness over Sapphique these days and da Njord was growing distant. Sobo would have loved to invite his da along, but thought Njord would not want to join him on this journey. So that morning, he simply ... left. Stole away from Sapphique and into the adjoining sequoia forest, down the rugged cliffs to the beach below, and southwest along the coast. It wasn't like he'd be gone that long, but he desperately needed an escape. So caught up was he in his resolve that he forgot to let anyone but Loko know where he was going, and lord knew Loko would make a prank of it by feigning ignorance and worry.

So it was that Sobo traveled several days down the coast, finding himself at a jagged peninsula where sea water collected in myriad tide pools. The wind was sharp here without the protection of Dragoncrest's trees. The salt spray nipped at his ears and froze to his whiskers. Sobo tried his best to ignore it, along with his growling tummy, while he searched among the tide pools for something promising to eat.