Ankyra Sound underneath the palm trees you can leave your worries

Not the best post, but it's somethin'! @Arlo

[table width=80%][tr][td]
The past few days had been nothing but non-stop traveling, punctuated by occasional wolf encounters and exhausting hunts. The hunts themselves were never successful due to her lack of experience, and any scrap of food she’d managed to get her fangs on had been rotting leftovers from someone else’s kill, resulting in an extremely thin Andronika. However, with every failed hunt, she was learning, so hopefully she’d catch something eventually… For now though, she was hungry, she was tired, and she looked like a mess. So, when she’d rediscovered that familiar saltwater scent and registered she was near that big body of water again, she turned her sore paws in it’s direction and began heading for the sound, determined to at least get in a bath, if nothing else.

She slowly dragged herself down the incline and eased her paws onto the sand, pausing so as to adjust to the new terrain. The princess had arrived on the coast a while ago and had already felt the world-shaking sensation of shifting grains between her toes, so the sand did not surprise her anymore, but it was still hard to navigate on when she found herself buried a few inches beneath the foreign substance with every step. The grating sand also didn’t feel so good against her travel worn feet, but at least the fading winter temperatures had kept it cool. Still adjusting, she awkwardly loped down towards the shore, each foot lifting higher than normal and kicking up a flurry of sand in its wake. Her awkward trudging returned to a normal lope once she’d stepped onto the wet, hard packed sand near the water, her paws making a delicate trail of prints that would no doubt be washed away by the next wave, and she then began to wade out into the water.

She hadn’t been on the coast long, at least not in comparison to how much time she’d spent in other places, but it was slowly starting to grow on her. Inhaling the salty scent of the sea, feeling the rising and falling tides swirling around her legs, hearing the sounds of the waves crashing onto the shore, and staring wistfully out at the endless expanse of blue before her… Not to mention this sound was neatly tucked between two cliffsides, giving her a tranquil sense of solitude. The entire setup was just incredible therapeutic, and it helped her forget her troubles. Truly, her curious mind still wanted to explore and see what all this land had to offer, but she wouldn’t mind setting up a home on the coast once her thirst for adventure was quenched… For now though, she simply bathed.

Holding her breath and squeezing her eyes shut tight, she plunged her body into the water entirely, soaking herself from head to toe and staying under for a few seconds before jerking back up again, tossing her head back and sending a spray of sea water behind her. Dirt and sand briefly clouded the dark, aquamarine waters around her as the filth fell away from her pelt, but with the constant push and pull of the tides, the murkiness dissipated quickly. She then proceeded to smooth down the damp fur on her body with her nose, getting more meticulous with the grooming.
[/td][/tr][/table]