Coconut Grove I had this dream where I relished the fray

The waves lapped quietly against the shore, lacking their usual vigor under a crescent moon that hung lazily in the cloudless sky. There was little breeze, so it was a surprisingly quiet night on the beach and the young wolf could hear her own footsteps over the pulsing hush from the water as it withdrew from the sandy beaches. The oceanside had always made her believe that it was along the shore that the stormy waters drew their breath, inhaling and exhaling as they ebbed and flowed in an unstoppable, never-ending cycle. On this night, peaceful as it was, it was as though the ocean itself was sleeping, and its breaths were quiet and shallow, allowing a dreamy calm to fall over the grove. This close to the water's edge, walking only inches away from where the water reached, Aelon-Feyr very much tip-toed along the border of land and water, but keen as she was, she did not miss the scent of wolf urine not far from where she walked. 

It drew her away from the water's edge, knowing that a wolf pack could never completely maintain their borders all the way to the water's edge, as the tide would surely pull in and sweep fresh markings away whenever it pleased. But beyond the beach where the grass grew in stiff, sparse strands, their markings lay untouched by the salty sea, and she decided, then, to veer away from her former path along the ocean's lip. To tread there would mean that she might be trespassing- and she was not interested whatsoever in chancing such a thing. She was an intelligent creature, and knew better than to cross a pack's borders, even in the middle of the night, and even when she could have argued that the oceanside could never completely be claimed. Had the wind been stronger, the salty fumes might have covered the scent of wolf markings that came from just a bit further inland, and she might have convincingly been able to pardon herself for trespassing due to the fact that a beach would never sustain scent markings. 

Still, she wanted to continue on her path along the seaside, so she settled for taking a detour around the newly established borders, deciding that she would continue along the seaside once the borders led her back to the beach. She'd come across seaside packs before, and had employed this strategy whenever possible. She liked the idea of living near the ocean- she'd been born on a small island, after all, and had learned to fish for salmon like other coastal wolves. So the wolves who claimed this area couldn't be half bad, if they'd chosen to make their home here. She entertained the idea that it might be nice, should she meet one while meandering along their borders- so long as they were as friendly as the gentle breeze was that night.

The day had brought laziness to her and she lounged beneath a coconut tree, chewing on one that had cracked open. It was warm that day, humid enough to make her want to be done working after just one patrol. She was content to chew at the gross tasting white meat of the coconut while remaining in the shade...after all she was right by the borders, she could say she was guarding the pack right?

The sound of paws in the sand got her attention and she lifted her honey gold gaze, peering from the shade at a lanky female just outside their land. She bristled but made no move or sound, watching as the she wolf kept respectfully away from their markers and she smiled faintly, her fur lying flat again. "Ey! Thanks for bein' so respectful!" she shouted to the femalr, grinning. It was weird yes but she just felt like being unnecessarily friendly.

Bat had been spending so much time away from the grove, trying her damnedest to recruit, that she barely knew the wolves who now called it home. She resisted the temptation to set out again today, instead turning her sights inward. As she walked around their little seaside plantation, she sighed happily. This place really was pretty amazing.

It wasn't long before the yearling stumbled across two unfamiliar faces. Taking them both for pack mates she simply hadn't gotten a chance to meet properly yet, Bat approached with a woof of greeting, an amiable grin and a wave of her tail. Her silver eyes bounced between the two. They were both dark, tall and wispy, with honey eyes. Wonder if they're related? she thought.

"Hey there, I'm Bat!" she introduced. She tried to think of some description or title to offer, blanked completely and ended up blurting, "Tristan's sidepiece."

There was an alluring scent to the area, caused possibly by the fronds of the trees that swayed gently on the breeze in combination with the fresh sea air. She'd always enjoyed the scent of the shore, unless of course the tide brought in the carcass of some bloated sea creature. She'd stumbled upon such a thing more than once, and had learned quickly just how much the smell could carry, and how far it would. Here, though, the beaches were clean- not too much seaweed to add that sort of briney-plant smell, leaving the beaches unblemished and pristine. What she could smell, above everything else, was the borders which had been marked- and the scent of a female nearby. 

It didn't take long for Aelon-Feyr to be noticed, and though her sharp, clever gaze had been cast this way and that in search of any patrolling the borders, she didn't watch for any figures laying nearby. It seemed to her a slightly unusual thing to do, and she heard the woman's loud but friendly voice before she heard her. She pinpointed the female's location easily; even in the shade of the trees, her mottled pelt set her apart from the rest of the scenery, and Aelon smiled gently at the greeting. She was being thanked- so she bowed her head in response and paused, turning to face in toward the claimed packlands, though she didn't make herself too comfortable yet. The greeting was a show of appreciation, not necessarily an invitation...But she couldn't help but feel slightly welcomed by the female's sunny features. 

She opened her mouth to respond, but then noticed that the female had something between her forelegs- at first, she assumed it might be a recent kill, but when she took a second look, she noticed that it wasn't an animal- but the leftovers of a coconut which had been opened and pulled apart. She smiled and laughed softly, and reset her train of thought back to what it had originally been. "Thanks for noticing," She said, with an amiable flick of her tail. She looked down at the coconut shell again, and her curiosity was yet again piqued. "D'you actually eat those?" She asked. It was quite a feat to even pry a coconut open- they were encased in a tough green outer coating that had to be pried open and peeled back, and even then, on the inside, was the hard, brown, hairy shell to break through. She'd done it, though- or she'd found it, already split open by a fall, and had helped herself to its contents.

No sooner had she spoken her friendly question when another female approached- perhaps this was the one she'd scented earlier, as her markings were all over the area. She was a slim creature, dark grey in colour with some unusual but distinct bands around her forelegs, and a saddle of the same, lighter grey shade along her back. The most distinct trait she possessed was the size of her ears, which gave her an inquisitive look. Aelon dipped her head in greeting, feeling suddenly a bit more shy of this new greeter; she sensed she might hold more authority, given the fact that she'd offered a more formal greeting. "I'm Aelon-Feyr," She said. "Nice to meet you, Bat and Tristan," She said, gesturing to the female with the coconut, assuming that that was who Bat had referenced. She also assumed that the two might be together, given that Tristan had been introduced as Bat's 'sidepiece,' which wasn't a new concept to Aelon, so she accepted the idea without a second thought. 

Her gratitude was met with a bow and she lifted her chin, studying this oddly formal female with interest. She noticed the glance at the coconut and at the question she glanced down at it too "Nah they're kinda-" she started to say they were gross before the arrival of another female from within the borders grabbed her attention. She blinked and stared in a way that made it clear she was checking Bat out even as it was stated that this was Bat.....and Tristan's sidepiece. Her flirtatious gaze was drawn away abruptly as the woman, now known to Harlow as "Ellen" made the mistake of assuming she was Tristan. "Pleasure's mine Ellen but my name is Harlow. Here, try a coconut for yourself" she said her voice filled with humor as she laughed inbetween the words, using a foreleg to boot the half a coconut over the borders. Then she turned to Bat and dipped her head "Nice to see you, Tristan recruited me" she said in a friendly way 

this was crap im sorry

Her face flushed. Why the hell did you say that?! Bat scolded herself inwardly, feeling really dumb. She'd meant "sidekick," clearly. Was that what they called a Freudian slip? After a few seconds of embarrassment, Bat quickly became amused by the slip of her tongue. What was even more entertaining was the absolute train wreck of introductions that followed.

Aelon-Feyr's name was just about the most mystical Bat had ever heard, though it was definitely Aelon and not Ellen, which was how Harlow pronounced it. And it took Bat a minute to figure out who Aelon-Feyr meant when she said Tristan's name. It all clicked into place and she snorted, shaking her head in amusement.

"Awesome," she commented to Harlow before including Aelon-Feyr with a gaze. "Great to meet both of you. What're you guys getting into today? Coconuts, I guess," Bat answered her own question with a huff of laughter as her attention turned to the gored gourd* at Harlow's feet.

* I literally contemplated this very thing on my commute to work this morning ("are coconuts gourds?").

Hah! I had to google it- it's technically a "dry drupe." But you totally get points for the homophone. <3

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There was an amiable enough nature between the two females, but Aelon-Feyr quickly got the feeling that her prior conceptions had been wrong- and that the two didn't even really know each other all that well. They were both friendly enough, though, and Harlow- as she corrected Aelon- was generous enough to send half a coconut skittering across the sand toward her, but unfortunately, it ended up coming to a halt between herself and Bat, and was upside-down in the sand. She chuckled softly, and turned the coconut over, but it was so covered in sand that it wouldn't have been appealing even to creatures which normally ate coconuts. It turns out, then, that coconuts aren't much good at migrating when there are no African swallows present; they tend to get covered in sand. 

The mispronunciation of her name was so common a thing that she merely blinked when it was spoken. There wasn't much use in trying to correct someone, as often-times, they were unable to hear the slight, phonetic difference, let alone pronounce it. From what she could tell, Tristan- who had recruited Harlow- was the boss of the pack, and Bat here must have been his second-in-command. Then again, side-piece often hinted that she wasn't exactly his partner- but someone aside from a partner that was more often kept as a secret. Perhaps there was another leader alongside Tristan, making Bat the one who likely vied for that position, but fell slightly short. She felt interested in figuring out the pack's dynamic based on her assumptions alone. 

She felt, then, that perhaps Bat had assumed that she too had been recruited, so to be polite, she set the record straight. "I was just passing by..." She said. "Walking along the coastline when I caught your markings, and figured I ought to go around." She said, slipping one shoulder up in a gentle shrug. She gestured toward Harlow and her coconut. "You might want to watch how much of that you eat, though," She said. "I heard that too much can give you the runs."