Wheeling Gull Isle old salt kossabone

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Ixchel had spent herself in the crossing. Though the sea had elected not to take her, it had not been gentle, and almost every ounce of her strength had been taken by the cold ocean thrash. It was taking nearly the rest of her to remain standing, a quiver taking up residence in her limbs as she battled freely with fatigue. She stood stock-still and dripping, wary of the feeling that if she even attempted to shake the access water or her creeping prostration, she might collapse. If another wolf had not approached then, she might have let herself.
All she cared to notice in her peripheral at first was the brute’s commodious size. She knew immediately that she would be hard-pressed to defend herself from him; although, if she were being honest, a puppy would’ve dealt her a decent opponent in her current condition. And still—even as she understood the distance he maintained to be non-combative, and his initial tone to be somewhat in mild esteem—her weighted hackles bristled.
What factor of intimidation she might’ve had before was lost in the way her pelt mostly still clung to her lean sides, but it also made her look more severe; ravaged, almost, without the fluff of her thick coat.
She kept her eyes averted, and her lips pulled back—playing the wolf deference while expressing a desire to defend herself despite the way the ocean had beaten her ninety-nine percent into submission already. She regretted braving the surf now, as it had put her in sickening position. His next words, however, stole away the growl that she held trembling steadily at her lips.
Her head snapped towards him, seagreen eyes flashing as she took him in fully and searched to place him with the same familiarity he had allotted her. She squinted, instead of moving closer, but after a beat her eyes widened again in recognition. Or maybe more so, in relief. Earthstalker, she sighed, her allayment stolen by the noise of the crashing tides.
She took a step towards him, and stumbled, noticing for the first time that her foreleg had earned itself a small bleed above her ankle, and she fell to her haunches readily. If only because she wouldn’t let herself fall completely.

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