Ocean's Breath Plateau silu

raiyuk hunted the seashore alone now. his father was busy at the lodge. he thought of the girl from moonspear as he checked the tide pools for signs of fish to scavenge, or shells, and dredged the stranded grass as he went.
he ventured up to his shoulders in the water, time to time, and came out cold but exhilarated; intent on growing more confident within the water and more durable against the chill of it.
pulling free this time, he shakes from head to tailbone and works his tongue across his lips to warm his face.
raiyuk thinks of hunting and becoming a man, impatient for it.

Since his last trip to the hinterlands, Matteo hadn't had much time to explore the plateau until now, much less make any friends. It was therefore with a mix of great intrigue and anxiety that he paused his meandering and tentatively approached the figure of a boy about his age roving the tidepools.

Confusion clouded his face at first - what was he doing? Putting two and two together, he guessed the kid must be fishing, though his technique seemed far more interactive than Matteo had ever experienced.

"Hey," clearing his throat, "you - uh - looking for fish or something?" Awkward, though curious. As inexperienced as he was with the ocean, he sure as hell knew a bunch about catching fish if the boy needed any help.

another shake, flinging salt water in every direction.
he hears a voice and looks to see someone approaching along the beach, and raiyuk is at once curious and focused upon them; they aren't familiar, but that's no surprise for him. the boy is often working with his father or tending to his step-mother, and is often too busy to be social.
his tail waves contentedly.
sort of! he answers, huffing a laugh through chattering teeth.
i'm looking for shells and sea glass. he didn't want to mention that being throttled by the tide is also part of his plan to toughen up, so he omits that bit.

cameo! <3

chakliux came up from the lodge where he had and tullik had entertained one another for a time. his gait was a swaggering walk. "kalugiak," he called to his son. 
chakliux stopped before the speaking boys. his eyes were curious on the other young wolf, whom he did not know. but he had come for raiyuk, and so turned back to his son. "go to moonsong glacier. tell ariadne you are there to help her hunt for a day." he glanced at the second boy again. "you do not have to go alone."
it was good to see his son perhaps engaged in something other than hunting! having delivered his order, chakliux went away at a jaunty trot which carried him toward the sea.

Droplets arced through the chilly air and peppered Matteo's face, who shivered briskly and feathered his tail in response to the boy's greeting.

By the wide grin on his face, he seemed to have been enjoying flitting about the waves; the inky boy felt pretty bad for interrupting him now he seemed to be getting cold. But his excitement was infectious and almost made him want to give it a go himself.

He was about to clarify what exactly was meant by sea glass - was it a type of crab? - when a voice from behind revealed a a man. He was large and white, almost a bigger version of the sea boy except for the scars in contrast to pale fur.

Different, not weird, he reminded himself, glancing to the boy as the man addressed him in a language Matteo did not recognise, and left just as quickly as he had come. What was that all about?

his father appeared! for a moment raiyuk was stuck between the friendliness of meeting someone new and the urge to give respect to chakliux, and at once he wanted to seem older and more confident than he felt.
chakliux suggested that he go to the village moonsong to help hunt for the lady there, and he turned his full attention to this task immediately. it wasn't until chakliux mentioned bringing along a friend that raiyuk could shift his focus. as his father left, he gave the man an eager smile.
the dark boy beside him looked perplexed.
ah, that was my father, chakliux. as if that resolved any confusion.
he shook off a bit more, easing the tension in his body and hopefully making him look like a tousled vagabond, or something cool. he wants me to visit the new village, moonsong, to hunt for them.
that would mean putting aside his seaside adventure for a bit; oh well, it was good to be needed.
you can come if you'd like? m'name is raiyuk.

As the man known as Chakliux was revealed to be the boy's father, Matteo nodded slowly in understanding, eyes shining. The family resemblance was definitely there. To have someone that cool and mysterious as your dad well - Matteo waited for the jealousy to hit but, surprisingly, it never came.

Once he was sure Chakliux was out of sight, he leaned closer to the seaboy and spoke a hushed, "Your dad seems awesome." Next to Raiyuk, Matteo was definitely the nerd with braces.

He rattled off a request of sorts - presumably translating what had been said in conversation - about a trip to a village named "Moonsong..?" His heart leapt in his chest, was Raiyuk really inviting him along? After all, they had only just met - was he really the right person for this? Perhaps he should run it by Iseul first...

His mouth moved before his mind could catch up. "Uh, sure! I mean- if you don't mind me tagging along. I'm Matteo, by the way."

Mind if I start a hunting thread at the glacier? Can fade this out!

The other boy praised the look of Chakliux, and Raiyuk beamed with a swelling confidence. He knew his father was a great hunter and father, and that he was beloved by more than his family, as Moontide relied upon his prowess. It felt good to have someone else recognize this.
Matteo named himself, and agreed to go along to the hunt.
Good! I will show you the way. Raiyuk would be on his best behavior when they reached Ariadne and her village; until then, he felt empowered by the boy's attention and praise, and took on the attitude of a boy set to impress how cool he was. Given that he was the son of Chakliux there was an innate sense of belonging in this moment, and a swell to his ego.

all good! I'll archive here

Raiyuk seemed all too keen to begin the mission right away; Matteo found himself utterly swept along for the ride. It was nerve wracking of course, but he tried to keep himself open to the idea of talking to people other than Iseul, as hard as it was. 

The two would leave shortly after Raiyuk's offer to lead, chatting about Moonsong and villages and anything else the boys deemed interesting enough to pass the time. While the seaboy's ego swelled, Matteo's remained rather fragile, though he was determined to enjoy the trip with his budding new friend.