Wheeling Gull Isle peace offerings

maybe someone new! :D

the morning sun had begun it's climb over the horizon.

the water shimmered and danced before his sights. he sat cloaked in the colors of the rising sun. his position was within the lavender fields, soothed by them every time he drew near.

it was far too easy to sit and waste hours away here.

soon he would rise to check upon @Heda, but for now he remained dormant. watchful of the island.

She had thought that bringing @Bridget back to Brecheliant would fulfill her, but as she stared through the beating waves, Jasmine felt void as the ocean, filled with uncertainty, with treasures and with monsters and with a great sense of awe and of nothingness.

Valentine’s face still lingered in her eye, and she realized she had put hope into the dreams he carried. She had not really known him, only for a fleeting breath, but she had returned to the waters in search of him, or something like him.

And she had not found him. Not on the shoreline behind her, and she was quite sure she would not find him on the shoreline of the island she dragged herself onto now.

What was she doing here?

Jasmine had no answer but that she had felt compelled to swim this way.

And since nothing was stopping her otherwise, she had.

another woman.

she seemed much the same as heda though, in age. and that was around where the similarities ended. this strange was a drenched raven from the sea, small and lean.

he mumbled the last of his morning prayers, sucked in the floral air and descended down to the shoreline. he figured if she had chosen to swim he might have some time — and there was hardly any need to bombard her.

there he would greet her with a warm smile, whenever she found herself on their sandy shores.

Someone met her here. She saw him over the splashing of the waves. Tall and dark, and decidedly unhandsome, in only so much as that she could tell that he was not wolf, not really.

But he did not look dangerous and she dragged herself on through the rolling sea, until her paws met sand and she scrambled for ungainly purchase upon the shore.

She breathed in heavy breaths, and shook herself dry, and her clear gaze stayed upon him.

Uncertain. Discerning.

But unafraid.

bartholomew did not yet posses any sort of gift to peer into souls, when they were not bared to him by action.

but this young woman had cut waves and suffered the harshness of saltwater and he could not help but wonder what drove her to such a seemingly self suffering action. or did she simply have an affinity for the waters here?

blessed day, he greeted her finally. have you come for something?

She thought on his question.

There were many reasons she had come here, and all were either silly when she thought on them or too difficult to convey. So in the end she shook her head at the gold-tongued man - a different glint than Valentine’s - and offered him a simple, “no.”

She thought of many questions she might ask him in return, but instead she flicked a wandering eye around the island and hoped he might speak instead, and share a better picture of his heart’s true intents before she let hers be known.

no.

perhaps here he could gleam more of heda in the young woman who had come to their shores — he wondered if the holy fire girl had seen their visitor yet from wherever she may be.

very well, he offered, feeling entirely welcoming of strangers with their mysteries these days.

do you need a place to rest after your swim? a brow raised slightly, prepared to usher her somewhere more hospitable than the shores, should she agree.

He was kind, and this irritated her, because he gave her no reason to mistrust him. And in fact, what riled her more was the same quiet thought that had compelled her to come here now compelled her to stay.

What would it hurt her to rest a while? The swim hadn’t been arduous, but that didn’t mean it had been a walk in the park. The sun felt warm against her, the air refreshing and calm. Devoid of the beauty and chaos that often struck her.

And the man, oddly, in every spectrum of his voice, seemed devoid of this too.

She narrowed her eyes. “What’s the catch?” she asked. Nobody just gave refuge away for free.

he wondered if she had been burned by kindness before.

i only ask for you to respect the land — and the other woman here. he did not need the respect of any stragglers or visitors he opened his arms to, he only needed them to be respectful of others who called this home. for he could merely turn the other cheek, as he had been oft taught to do as a child. the others? well.

and heda was of the utmost importance. she had come here to heal and he was the shepherd for this.

is that agreeable?

kindness could not be granted to those who threatened the flock.

She decided he was a protector, maybe even a father, like Uncle Eljay had kind of been to her. Jasmine wondered if this other woman was his mate - in which case, she thought the idea almost made her feel safer, so she decided to believe this true.

“Sounds easy to me,” she said with a roll of her shoulders, “you actually live here, then?”

Genuinely curious. If he was a wolf of the ocean, maybe he knew Valentine.

feel free to use this map for reference <3

he gestured for her to follow, prepared to lead her inland more. somewhere near the base of the hill, where the forest began. or ended. he supposed it depended on how one looked at it. either way —

i do, yes. might as well admit it to himself and everyone else around him too. he returned, he had been uncertain at first but it all made sense now.

pieces fell into place bit by bit.

are you a native to the coast?

ooh I love that!! <3 thank you!

"Hell no," she said, with the trill of a laugh, "I grew up in a marsh."

Brecheliant had been pretty in its own way, she always thought. But the ocean had shone in brilliant colours, the crash of the waves, the cries of the gull. Her mind had exploded when she had first found her way to the sea, and she had found herself filled with inexplicable feelings she could only name as nostalgia, even though she had grown up far, far within the mainland.

"I once thought of living here, though," wistful - and she looked out across the expanse of the island, towards the lavender fields they brushed beside on their way, seemingly, towards the island's woodlands.

"hell no,"

the tops of his flopped ears shifted some. the only show of expression to such a bold, feverish statement. he tempered the worst of any ill thoughts. young souls, he thought, had much to learn.

and what stopped you?

it seemed the island had a charm upon many, he had only been the first to fill its emptiness once more.

She shrugged.

"My family needed me more."

She sometimes wondered what life would have been like if she had stayed with Valentine instead of wandering away. He hadn't really been anything significant in her life. In fact, his presence had been fleeting - a mere passer-through, and one she'd only known for less than a moment - but she remembered feeling a great many things in the days that followed their meeting, things she had never felt for anyone before. Thoughts that set her heart racing -

No. She had done the right thing, giving up that chase to keep looking for Bridget. Someone she actually loved.

"But they're safe now, and I'm old enough that I want to figure out my place in this world now, too."

he smiled softly for her words. a family woman, but now ready to discover her own place in the world. such was the tale of drifting into adulthood.

do you have something you like to do? the other woman here is a strong hunter.

pride was supposed to be a sin, but he saw no fault in lifting heda up in the eyes of this new guest.

A strong hunter - already Jasmine liked the sounds of the other woman on the island, and she hoped she’d come across her during her stay.

“She sounds cool, I like to hunt, too,” she said, “and my auntie taught me how to scout. No one’s ever told me I’m good at it, but I found a lost pack mate once, and tracked my whole way home, so I guess I can’t be bad at it, either, right?”

Not as bad as when she’d gotten lost as a pup, in any case - but that was a story she’d maybe let slide this once.

“What about you? What’re you good at doing?”

she was talkative, but kind. a whole slew of information. a hunter and a scout, he smiled for these things. they were valuable somewhere like the island — but he was getting ahead of himself, no? if she intended to stay, that would be a bridge crossed later.

i'm a religious man. i offer guidance, counseling...a place to rest. he smiled with mild humor for this, he resumed a rather neutral look after this though. i suppose with that goes some scouting.

A religious man.

Jasmine had heard of wolves like him, though only in passing and I’m far removed tales. And while she was versed in a great many things - no where near inexperienced with the world - she remained quite naive to this.

“What does that mean?” she asked him, after pausing a breath, “That you’re religious? Is that just someone who takes care of others?”

my religion and my tending to others go hand in hand, but they can be separate too. not everyone who cares for others is religious and vice versa.

he had met beasts who worshiped violent things, crude things. religion did not always wear the kind face he did.

i believe in God, but it is not a requirement for you to stay. i do ask for respect on this too — or at least understanding. a thin smile settled warmly on his features.

but she seemed to agree and he welcomed her deeper upon the isle.