Oystercatcher Tide Pools absolute misery

Morning. 24°F. Partly cloudy.

Jizaar was absolutely miserable and it was because he was freezing. He had never been so cold in his entire life. He didn’t even know it could get this cold. (Just wait until he discovers snow for the first time, oh boy). Walking along the hard-packed sand, far from the frigid waters of the ocean or the tide pools, he longed to be back home down the coast. He thought of the warmth and humidity of the jungle he’d grown up in, and the breezy coastal towns he’d traveled to since leaving home. How was he to know that the farther one traveled the coast, the colder it got?

He glanced at one of the tide pools, knowing from experience that there were goodies waiting inside to be fished out, but he didn’t want to get his paws wet. He shook his head. Not wanting to get his paws wet was something he never thought would happen. He’d practically grown up in water, either in rivers or the ocean. His mother had often called him part-fish. Regretfully, he couldn’t even fathom jumping into the ocean now. If it was this cold in the air, he didn’t want to know how much colder the water must be.

forward-dated ~5 days due to the distance. @huā &/or @Ying are free to hop in any time, if you wish. ♥

the chill of these lands was something that would take adjusting to, but cold or not, mei remained ever-persistent in her duties. keeping her sisters fed was always at the forefront of her mind, especially with winter upon them. even without a pack, she aimed to fill hidden caches all along the coast. tide pools teemed with life, and unlike the eastern pools, these were not smothered by seals. it was the perfect place to stock up on food.

there was another wolf here, a warm-colored man with oddly large ears. he seemed to have the same idea but hesitated for some reason. trotting up to him, she said, 无需担心。潮汐应再保持几个小时的低位。

Jizaar turned at the approach of a wolf, one with a dark head and chest that starkly contrasted the rest of her body. He grinned a coyote grin at her, tail wagging to show he was friendly, and was about to speak when she beat him to it. The words that flowed from her mouth were strange and lilting, syllable tones moving up and down in a strange manner. Not that he was one to talk, what with his own strange way of speaking. He shook his head, indicating he didn’t know what she was saying.

“Jizaar does not understand,” he told her, hoping that she could speak two languages and would not be confused by his own speech. If not, he was afraid they would be stuck making strange noises at each other for all of eternity—or until one of them grew bored. Of course, they could always fall back on body language if need be.

there seemed to have arisen a stalemate of sorts. the non-fish prey was... well, it wasn't abundant. the trio relied on mei's fishing skills for sustenance. when spring came, ying was determined to pick up the slack, but for the time being, there wasn't much for her to do. 

she'd followed after her sister, wandering from a short distance. there came a collection of pools and with it, another foreign boy. ying's heart fluttered with excitement as she ran to catch up. 

her arrival came at the end of his reply. turning to mei, she said, they talk like this. — a pause — 不像我们那样. the boy was beautiful, painted in an array of reds and browns. it was a colorful contrast to their own grayscale coats. i am ying. who are you? she asked, eyes wide as she waited.

glad u forward dated it :"D I wanted to hop in but didnt know if it was realistic:P

 

Huā had followed at a distance. Not careful to hide herself, but not rushing to catch up to Mei or Ying. Truly, at the time she had left the two behind, it had been her heart's wish- but she hadn't waited long, before she had regret it. Heart strings tugging her, praying for her sister's safety. She had just found them again and she was a girl of introversion- but she just wanted to make sure they were okay. 

She was close enough to hear them speak, and the warm boy appeared in her vision. She watched him like a hawk- men weren't terrible but, they were just alright. Anyway, she didn't completely trust them to treat the girls the way they ought to be treated. So, in an effort to ensure things went okay, she padded up next to Mei, giving a soft chuff to the women. "Their language, they call it common language. Hard on ears..." She joined right into the chat, slighty annoyed that once again she couldn't speak her own language, due to this presence of this stranger.

asjdifokg, ninja'd! y'all are so fast, lmao.

he said he didn't understand, and mei chided herself. right, this was far from home... for better & for worse. ying, of course, dashed in to steal the spotlight just as she was about to speak. huffing, she said, 我可以为自己说话，我只是...忘记我们有时候离家很远。 huā was close behind, wary as always. she herself was aloof with strangers, but the presence of her sisters gave her strength. mei giggled at huā's jab at the common tongue, also finding it quite strange sounding.

my name is mei, her name is huā. i say not to have fear, the tide will be low for few hours. she spoke with a sheepish smile and a thick accent. her english was rusty & intermediate, but she was familiar enough with it to hold a conversation.

Posting Order: Jizaar, Ying, Hua, Mei.

A new female approached, this one pure white—or were they grey in color? She came near the first female and seemed to know her. ’They talk like this,’ she said, and then spoke in the first female’s strange tongue.

Jizaar said nothing, wondering what would happen now that there were two women here.

’I am Ying. Who are you?’ The grey-scale woman stared at him with wide eyes.

Jizaar looked back and forth between the two women, and then he opened his mouth to speak—

A new woman appeared, this one dark in appearance, and spoke again the foreign tongue.

Jizaar’s mouth snapped shut, and he made an obvious effort to peer around and behind the three females. “Are there any more of you hiding in the sand or the water?” he teased, glancing at Ying, who was the only one who had spoken his language so far. “Should Jizaar wait longer before he speaks? Hmm?”

The first female, the black-and-white one, spoke up in his language, then, explaining what she had first said to him.

“Ah,” was his reply. In all honesty, he was a little bit overwhelmed at the sudden appearance of three wolves at once. He thought for a moment about how he wished to proceed, and decided to leap at this opportunity to meet new friends and learn something from it. “Your language, what do you call it?” he asked, keeping his voice light, friendly, and inquisitive.

ying rolled her eyes. doesn't seem like it, she murmured. mei had her reasons for being so... mei, but none of them really made sense to yuèguāng.

hua approached and she smiled, then sitting on her haunches. i think it's pretty. she'd always put a lot of effort into trying to learn and understand the common tongue. it was different, but not necesaarily in a bad way. and when jizaar spoke, ying replied, no more hiding. i like you to speak.

Huā felt a tad annoyed at Mei introducing her to the man without asking- what if he was dangerous? She let out a smallest huff at her words, but soon it seemed she was proven wrong. The man was friendly from what she could tell- and his words hinted at an accent of his own. Now she felt a little less wary but, still- Huā did not let her guard down just yet.

Ying piped up, commenting that the foreign language was pretty- pretty? Her nose wrinkled as if to show her disagreement. The triplets' language was soft, smooth... the tongue flowed as it was meant to. But this "common tongue"? Filled with strange sounds and long words. And Ying made such an effort to learn! (Well, it would benefit her to know it- but Huā's stubbornness would keep her from acknowledging this fact.) 

And then, the man asks what they call their language. "Back home, is just one language. So we call it nothing, because everyone speak. But as I travel, I hear new wolf call it mandarin. I do not know, where this name come from." She finishes, hoping he did not have too many questions. There was little taught to them of history of their language. As for where it came from, she did not know. She had only picked up the language in the same way any pup would.

ying seemed unconvinced by her assertion, but mei soon proved her wrong... somewhat. huā was incredibly on-edge, and she understood why to an extent, given their past. but the stranger was outnumbered, so he'd be stupid to try anything. 没关系, 花。他一个人, mei soothed.

though she also didn't find the common tongue nearly as beautiful as their own, she saw no harm in ying fancying it. she nodded in agreement with huā's explanation. we not from here, but we come to hunt. you too? she asked the man with the strange name.

Hopefully I responded to everyone sufficiently. I'm not used to big group threads (which for me is mroe than 2 people lol)!

The three ladies that Jizaar had been so fortunate to meet seemed to settle down. And no more appeared suddenly beside them, as Ying had promised. Jizaar took a breath, composing himself and keeping his body language calm and his grin easy. He rested his bright blue eyes on each female in turn as they spoke, waiting for a lull in conversation—either at him, or at each other in their own strange language.

It turned out, as the dark one explained, they did not call their own language anything. Jizaar nodded his head. “Jizaar supposes that makes sense,” he said. “He does not call his own language anything, either.” The word Mandarin was of interest to him, though, his ears perking as it was spoken. He decided to file that small bit of information away for later, though for what purpose, he wasn’t sure. In what context besides this one would the name of a language even come up?

He was asked by the black-and-white female why he was here, and couldn’t help but chuckle at that. “Where is here?” he asked, teasingly. “By the ocean? In the north?” In this freezing cold, miserable land that was nothing like his home? He grimaced. “Jizaar is here to wander,” he finally answered. “To see new places, to learn new things.” He tilted his head to the ladies. “To meet new people, yes?” He looked around at the area, the ocean, the tide pools, the sand, farther up the coast. “To hunt, too, perhaps. Though… in such cold, he wonders what there is left to hunt. Surely the fish cannot survive in such frigid weather.” He couldn’t help but shiver at the thought.

okay, maybe they could be a little overwhelming. ying had noticed jizaar's expression when it first appeared but didn't think much of it until realizing how much room he didn't have to talk. then again, it was three mouths against one...

mei brought up a potential hunt, exciting her (very bored) sister. jizaar, she said, then looking directly at him, you can hunt with us. it was supposed to be an invitation, but the seriousness of her expression implied that it was more of a command. a weirdly worded one, but still.

we fish! mei is very good. the fish pulled from the sea, while not ying's favorite, was the one thing keeping them alive. her eyes drifted over to the pools beside them. we can get shells, too. you like shells?

lol dont worry fira!!

Mei found just the right words to soothe Huā, and the fire that dwelled in her departed. She was right. The man seemed alright, and, well- if he did try anything, there were three of them. They'd be fine. Finally the man earns her warmth at his comment about the freezing weather here- Huā giggled as if to agree with his joke. So cold here. I also miss south... She added longily. 

As Ying invited Jizaar to their hunt, Huā's ears perked up again in interest. Suddenly her eyes focused as she re-engaged herself fully in the conversation. "呀, I'm good fisher too, Ying!" She corrected, though moreso joking with her sister than anything. The promise of shells had her tail wagging slowly side to side as she gazed at Jizaar eagerly for his answer.

it is a bit overwhelming, especially with these gals. sorry about that, haha.

jizaar asked her to specify in what she perceived as genuine curiosity, blaming her inadequacy in the common tongue. but he explained he came to the wilds to wander & gain new experiences. she could see the appeal in such a life, but the scars left on her soul kept her rooted in the comfort of familiarity; the sea, her gods, her sisters. anything outside of this comfort zone was met with resistance, even hostility.

the man went on to voice his doubts that fish could survive the freezing bite of winter, prompting mei to perk up. they do. we fish just the other day, she answered, though she did wonder how. a southern origin & distaste for the cold was something they all shared, & that put her more at ease with him. commonality was good. ying invited him to hunt, which she did not oppose, but her assertion flustered her. i'm... okay at fishing, she humbly corrected with a sheepish swish of her tail.

they'd dawdled enough. whether jizaar wanted to join them or not was his choice, but mei was eager to complete the task she came here to do. let us go before the tide rises, she urged, shouldering past them to step into the pools. a shiver wove up her spine when her paws became submerged in the chilly water, but she would soon adjust. the bottom-feeders made for easy pickings at low tide, as one would literally stumble upon them in the absence of water. one-by-one, she performed a killing bite to any she found before tossing them ashore, some to be eaten while the rest would be stored in caches.

Suddenly all the ladies wanted to fish. And they wanted Jizaar to tag along. “Oh, uhh,” he began slowly. He glanced at the waves, which, despite low tide, looked choppy and also freezing. He knew the water would be cold—too cold for him, most likely. More and more, he was missing his home in the south. As much as he was enjoying the company of these women, the thought of fishing with them was making him increasingly uncomfortable. “Jizaar will have to pass, unfortunately,” he finally said. “The water is far too cold for him.” The longer he stayed here in this northern land, the more he wished to return home. He longed for the warmer waters and jungles and streets of Mexico, where he had been born.

He bowed his head with a smile. “It was nice to meet all of you, ladies. Jizaar is afraid he has something important to do.” Like go home. With that, he unceremoniously turned and began heading back in the direction he had come from. South. Back to Mexico. Home.

[Exit Jizaar.]

jizaar's exit saddened ying, but she was quick to recover. there were still three of them which made for a satisfactory hunting party. she said goodbye to their friend — bye orange boy! — and turned back to her sisters. i'm hungry! the huntress whined, dancing anxiously where she stood, we should start looking.

assuming they would both agree, ying didn't wait for a response. instead, she began sniffing around the pools, oggling at the shells hidden inside.

Out of nowhere, the man denies their request to fish and leaves. Of course! Nothing great could be expected of men, even the ones she started to find enjoyable would vanish or change their minds or become a bother. Jizaar was no surprise. Still, "Bye!" she calls lazily after him. At least he wasn't bad. Just not great. 

Nevertheless, Huā was eager to fish now. So when Ying suggested they start looking, Huā didn't hesitate. Her sister had already began sniffing around the pools, and so Huā joined her, nose and eyes working towards a meal.