Cold -- radiating cold. It seized her bones and swelled up her lungs. She clawed onwards, swimming with hellbent purpose. Her claws, before long, no longer touched the sand -- and with determination she plodded heavily on sodden and miserable.
Her efforts were rewarded when once more her claws felt purchase and she dragged herself wearily towards the shore of the undiscovered island. Inquisitive, but with her stamina woefully spent, the wretch dragged herself ashore and lay there, sides heaving with the enormity of her efforts.
If it had been anyone else foolish enough to brave the wrath of the Mother, Atlas would have been chasing them down and diving in without a second thought. If Akantha had thought herself strong enough to swim in the cold depths, he would have been her ever present shadow; even Psamathe's lurch in to the sea would've brought Atlas to her side. But not so with Caiaphas. He witnessed her less-than-elegant plunge in to the water from the safety of the beach, having been quite literally laying low for a few hours.
He knew he would have to go after her. Even though the consort hardly trusted the strange girl, she was one of them now — and he would be punished accordingly for letting anything happen to her. He rose with a lurch, sighed airily, and was striding in to the foaming water just as Caiaphas' dead began to bob upon the surface. She reached the land before he did, naturally, and was heaving herself upon the shore at about the same time as Atlas' own arrival.
Nereides, yeah right. She could barely swim. The consort cast her a blank little glance, and then decided it was probably a better idea to actually make sure she was alive. He loomed over her carefully, inspecting with his eyes - and yes, she was still breathing. With a huff the boy turned away from his inspection and began looking at their surroundings; it wasn't until his eyes set upon the darkness of foreign trees that he began to notice a chill creep in to his soaking body.
A baleful scowl riddled her countenance and she delivered an ugly look -- he hadn't even praised her valiant efforts nor called into question the sanity behind it. She sharply exhaled and began to study her blackened claws with newfound interest -- as if the slick way they glistened in the ruddy sun was more interesting than him.
Finally, she spoke. "Can I help you?" Accusatory and cold -- yet somehow, she found herself reluctant to admit she was happy for the company.
There was something about the trees that Atlas didn't like. They weren't the same as the Emberwood, or the forest of ravens. These distant groves were dark and hardly welcoming. But he didn't have to look at them for long - Caiaphas noticed him, and in her surly way, brought his attention down towards her prone body.
At first the only response he had was a snort. The sound popped in to the air, wet and dripping like the rest of him, and then he turned his head to actually watch her; even now, he was jovial about it. A mirth seeped in to his gaze and lingered there.
I had to make sure you didn't drown. As a loyal consort -
He would've curtsied if it was appropriate, but the tone of his voice would have to do. Hardly serious. He abruptly shook his body in order to dry himself, and sprayed the air with an array of drops. - it is my duty to protect and serve.
Hah.
She rose to all fours and shook the clay and detritus from her drenched pelt; her sodden and unkempt appearance only seemed to further express her slovenly demeanor.
"There is something insulting about your creed -- thinking that women need protection." She then wheeled upon him, a feral glint in those savage eyes. "There is nothing more wicked than a lady." Her tone was curt, and she stepped away from him with her narrow nose pressed to the sand. She had come here for one thing - to discover -- and she was not about to let his (secretly welcome) presence sully her original intentions.
"Now come on, are you going to help me figure out what the frick this place is?" She called over her slender shoulders, an impish look returning to her dowdy muzzle.
Her banter is hardly necessary, and far from wanted, but it occurs anyway. Atlas judges the sound of her voice as something impossible to avoid and leaves it at that; although, the comment she makes is somewhat valid... If a little strange to him. The boy snorts softly, but otherwise does not indicate his feelings.
And then Caiaphas is standing, roaming towards the forest. The consort watches her with a bland expression upon his face, his ears pivoting to listen (however begrudgingly) to the bludgeoning manner with which she speaks. It would be easy enough to ignore her orders and simply leave her here, he muses. But that goes against his training - and his good nature.
Now come on, are you going to help me figure out what the frick this place is?
The voice curdles in the air. After a moment of leisure during which Atlas looks across the soggy coast, he turns towards her direction and begins to stride along.
The brief look of devilish amusement he catches from Caiaphas makes him want to roll his eyes, but he resists. Instead Atlas just slogs along behind her, keeping his ears in a twist, in case there is danger nearby.
Overhead the only sound besides Atlas' paws were the insulted shrieks of gulls -- Caiaphas paid them no mind, slowing to a stop as the promontory tapered off and the entire of the desolate isle lay below them in breathtaking bareness. Blandly, she turned to look behind her to see if the male appreciated the sights -- and sulkily, she dropped down the stony slab and into the depths of the channel.
It didn't seem as if there was anything of value here. He included Caiaphas in that, but didn't speak of it - only smirked to himself as she took off across the sand. There were trees, there were birds, but from his lazy perusal of the water's edge Atlas couldn't see any interesting trinkets to bring back with them. This trip was probably a futile one.
The piercing call of a gull made him lift his head, curious. But it was just the average seabird. A few of them coasted above the two wolves as if to inspect them, to watch for anything of interest or value, but they too were disappointed. Sorry, bird-brains, Atlas thought with a pause to his step, There's really nothing here worth looking at.
And he was about to mention this to Caiaphas, but when he turned to regard her, she had vanished. A trail of depressed sand led away from Atlas' position in down towards the channel, so he set about following it. The boy let out a disgruntled huff as he walked - thoroughly bored, but also chilled by the wind upon his damp coat. How long as this going to take?
She turned face, plunging down the receding descent with paws scrabbling from stone to stone - here and there small holes signifying caves appeared -- old flotsam, the wreckage of some great and long dead sea fish. Monotonous gulfweed, awash and brittle. Her descent was swift and practiced -- each step catlike in its athletic affinity.
She looked behind her again -- in the shadow of the inlet Atlas was not yet visible.
With a careless sneer she shoved off from the blackened slab, her needly nose pointed and shoulders wrung together as she darted between the small opening of what looked to be like some long abandoned and once underwater cave. The mouth of the entrance was scarcely larger than her own lithe frame -- should Atlas choose to follow her he could, though Caiaphas surmised the portal was much too small to fit his insufferable ego.
Across the span of the afternoon they discovered old bones from a wolf camp and the skull of a fox -- half sunk and swallowed by the riffling sand. The abandoned and half caved entrance of a wolf den. Bleached and splintered prey bones littered across the dark shoal.
When they had explored to Caiaphas' content they elected to swing back to the shore -- Caiaphas sullen, Atlas silent.
She dove into the water without a second pause despite the high tide that swarmed around them. She swam and her legs ached and pounded and she glanced back occasionally to see Atlas not far behind.
They were nearly half-way when a wave parted them from each other's company and with a look of horror Caiaphas watched as Atlas rose and fell and disappeared in the frothy swarm -- when she opened her mouth to call him the water cast over her and all that was heard was a gurgle -- she paused and started to swim towards where she had last seen him but he was gone and she knew her stamina was slowly exhausting. She tried to call again a few times and paddled hopelessly along the rising waves -- no answer returned and she continued even as the breaks carried her closer to shore. When her feet hit sand she pulled herself forward and galloped back and forth down the beach in a rabid pace, calling and calling and horrified her reluctant friend had been ripped from her.
The sight of seals tricked her a few times and hopeful she had dashed out into the water to meet them only to realize they were not Atlas at all. Each time met with an irate and cheerless snarl. This behavior continued until dusk and at last Caiaphas' energy was spent and she forlornly walked back towards the sound with her head held low and her spirits dejected -- she had to tell Aktaie and Psamathe and stand trial before them for endangering the lives of one of their most faithful consorts.