the will of water

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There were few superior powers that Amekaze willingly bent before, but nature was unquestionably one of them and to her, the waters of the world were one of her most revered. Although she had only ever known them as rain, ponds, creeks, rivers and lakes, it had always been more than enough to her. She had never known why, exactly, but understood it as an important part of who she was. Whereas her father had always drawn his strength from the deep stretches of forests and her mother had loved mountainsides like no other she had known, Amekaze was the winding waterways and the spring downpours.

Yet even so, she had never seen the ocean. Or thought much about it, for all she knew were brief mentions of it by her parents, and she squinted at him curiously when he spoke of the sea. So that was what she smelled, perhaps. Although unwilling to show the full length of her interests, she raised her ears and peered readily at him. I have not been, she said. This spot on which she stood now was as far west as she had trekked.

I did not know the sea is nearby, she added after another beat. It had never come up before. Nor did I know of any claims west of here. Yours is news to me. She tilted her head, hoping to draw him into sharing more. Amekaze did like hearing of new packs, especially when none so far had inspired any earnest interest in her. She had handled winter with relative grace so far but it was not without a share of difficult and lonely times.