Stavanger Bay hyperparadise

Ask and ye shall receive B)

Loathe as he was to admit it, it took Aesop a few days to gather up the courage to actually go and check the shore out. It wasn't that he was afraid of the water, per say, but rather what might be in it. He couldn't help but cook up terrible fantasies in which the second he stepped foot on the beach, a great leviathan surged from the waters and did- whatever leviathans do. Eat him? Drown him?

Eugh.

But he came here with a goal, and he would damn well see it through. So a few days after his acceptance into the Bay, Aesop plucked up his courage and strode purposefully to the beach. Near the edge of the forest, where the trees gave way to open sand, the trunks and branches were salt-bleached and the air was sharp and salty. Right, salt water. Of course.

Oh god.

Aesop broke the treeline, coming to a stretch of sand that ends with at the rolling waves. There, in the foam, were two figures. Pack mates, he presumed, though he'd had little contact with any of them since arriving. Tail up and posture friendly, he trotted along the sand (holy SHIT sand was hard to walk on.) They must not have noticed them, and also must not have been getting along, because over the wind he heard the younger (must be a pup, he was so small) shouting.

"Hey now," he said, "what seems to be the problem here, gentlemen?" Would he have to break up some petty spat? He sure hoped not, he was here to appreciate the (oh god it was so big) ocean, to smell the salt and maybe, just maybe, dip a paw in the water and hope for the best. Even now, he kept just beyond the reach of the waves. Aesop wasn't afraid, just... cautious. Yeah, that's right.