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Ever since Caiaphas had brought another child home - the little gray Kevlyn - Larus had been more reserved than usual. He kept to himself, even daring the outside while Caiaphas was distracted. It felt strange to be in the company of another child, especially when it wasn't his own family. A part of him didn't want to become close to Kevlyn, more or less refusing to participate in the half-baked game of pretend family that Caiaphas had concocted, however inadvertent.
Today, he had enough courage to leave the cavern entirely and to delve deeper in to the strange world around him. The smell of salt was heavy on the air; it settled between the trees and coaxed him further afield. Maybe part of Larus was hunting for the river - that familiar scent of Swiftcurrent that lingered even now in his memory - but the further he wandered, the stranger the scent got. Until he emerged from the tree line and was faced with something extraordinary.
The ocean rolled out before him as a great band of blue. This was the first time he had ever seen it, and in true childish fashion, he didn't know how to respond. It was in this moment of visual over-stimulation that Larus caught sight of a figure on the edge of the sand, and thus he scurried towards it, hoping the stranger could explain what the heck the big blue thing was. By the time the chubby boy had reached Aktaie, he was breathing too heavily to speak - but there was a light in his eyes, a glimmer of urgency, which flickered between the sea and her face.