Wheeling Gull Isle meanwhile, i ask you to be my clementine

for @Spiritwalker -- joint counseling sesh! set pretty soon after they arrive at Undersea

the reception at undersea, as compared to the hostile one they'd received at grimnismal, had been sublime. why wouldn't it have been? everyone had been over the moon to see each other, and, as members of the same vast extended family, there was a feeling of connection on the island that was infectious and intoxicating. aditya felt himself smiling more often than not; he was happy to be here, by the sea, with many friends.

the burly wolf sat near the edge of the beach, wind rippling his pelt as he looked over the channel toward the mainland. the weather was growing warmer, and with it, adi's spirits rose. everything that had shattered in the last clutches of winter had been repaired. he and dawn were fine, now, and his health was back to tip-top shape. he was content.

but there was a feeling of worry, prickling ominously at the edge of his thoughts. or not, worry, but rather, anticipation. grayday and catori would soon have their litter, and the pack would swell once more. the need for constant food and care would grow. aditya had never been part of a band with small children; he didn't know the slightest thing about what sort of effort went into raising pups. he wondered whether he'd make an adequate brother-in-law to the newborns.

and then there was the maplewood. lurking ever-presently at the edge of the plains, its shade and comfort a respite from the stresses of life as one of morningside's top dogs. he knew it was a de facto part of their territory, but part of him claimed the woods as his own, and wished to stay there, rather than out in the open with the rest of his family. his heart had been won by the towering trees, and to eschew it for a territory he preferred much less gave him a pang.

his smile faded a little as he sighed, watching the waves. things had been much simpler out here, by the sea, with no one to worry about but himself.

 

Catori had split off giving Sorrel a chance to explore - and to be swept up by the Cortens. She'd watched for a moment in quiet contemplation as Aditya watched the sea. She was wondering what his thoughts were as she made her way towards him only to see his face fall. A frown crossed her maw for a moment before she settled next to him with her toes buried in the sands. "Is it as hard for you as it is for me?" Catori gave a cryptic question, turning her gaze towards the sea. She watched the waves and felt them mirrored in her stomach; someone was active as if they heard the tides and it called to them too. "This is truly where we belong." 

The sea called them and it always would. She was most at home with the brine on her coat and her hair wild and unkempt. She belonged with Coelacanth and Amoxtli where the shore bled into the ocean and the heavens watched their proud dance day in and day out. She belonged where the Raven had blessed the bears and where she was most connected with the visions of grace she matched most. Her heart dictated otherwise and her family was not a coastal one. Grayday and Morningside was far from the sands and Catori was accustomed to that. 

She hadn't yet grown used to the pull of wanting both - of needing both - where she was in constant flux like the.waters themselves. "I love our family - but this is home. You understand that feeling, don't you?" 

the fiery-maned woman appeared by his side suddenly; he hadn't heard her coming, so lost in his thoughts, and gave a small start before relaxing his features into a smile. she spoke, and he nodded, looking wistfully out to sea. those waves that so echoed the pounding of his heart, boundless and intense.

"it was the only home i ever knew, for so long," adi rumbled, his eyes sliding to catori's. "even when i went into the mountains, or the forests, i wasn't away from the sea for more than a few weeks. and i could always see it, in the distance."

his muzzle lifted and turned, gesturing at the isle behind them. "i washed up on these shores, moons ago. even now, i'm not sure why i didn't stay," he mused, looking up at the small mountains with not a little regret. and shame. . .for admitting even the slightest ounce of it to a morningsider. "i guess i'm always looking for something more. something new."

but hadn't that been what dawn wanted? had he had the right to be so angry with her, for questioning the future, for doubt, when those same doubts and questions lingered in his own mind? perhaps his irritation with his mate was merely the mirror of sour feelings he held for himself, and he'd unfairly projected them onto her.

 



Catori watched the world shift as the waves lapped at the shore. It was like them being washed clean, anew, everything settling as it should. Catori had missed the island and she hadn't run into her family nor Aditya when she'd traveled across it - maybe that was for a reason. They had to meet now this way. "When I'd come here, I checked the isles first. I didn't wait long enough. I might have found you - and them - so much quicker." Catori confessed.She gave a soft hum, toes dug into the sand, and turned to face him. "I feel like ...we understand each other, in this regard. Our hearts are like the sea; always moving, we needed the motion. Stagnation suffocates us." Catori was assuming and she was sort of projecting her own feelings, putting them into words when it might not even have been how Aditya felt. 

"These trips, when I came here with you and Sorrel or went to the Caldera with Aviana, the scouting is soothing. Even fat and pregnant, I'd rather be out an exploring." She said with a soft chuckle. "But....it's not...it isn't bad, I think, to have this feeling. We can want more than one thing." Catori knew she did. She wanted Morningside and Undersea with her Cortens and with Seelie and Oxtli and even Stockholm. She'd grown quite fond of the scruffy guardian. "Do you feel shame over this? Or just...torn?" She asked, and hoped that it wasn't overstepping the boundaries. 

aditya looked at catori as she spoke, and continued to stare even after she'd shut her mouth, his golden eyes filled with wonder. at last, someone understood. he knew that dawn was the same way--a wanderer at heart--but she was young, and hadn't experienced all that much wandering yet. catori had, she knew. . .knew that though the paws may stop, the heart never would.

"over this? over wanting to wander?" aditya asked, then shook his head. "no, just torn. i have shame. . .but not for that." he glanced toward the sea with a ragged sigh, remaining quiet for a few seconds. his mind at once blank and filled to the brim with things unsaid.

he turned his gaze back to catori, sweeping it over her belly with a mingled sense of delight and awe. "now you are bound to grayday. to the inland," he murmured, looking back up at her face. "is this your first litter?" he asked. she was still a relatively young wolf, but not quite young enough that it was impossible she'd given birth before. then again. . .

"i'm sorry, if. . .well, if it's not. if you've lost children before." he spoke sincerely, blinking a little anxiously at her as he waited for her response.