Stavanger Bay And the poets are just kids who didn't make it

it would be delightful if Miss @Aria could join us :)

 James walked along the shore, for many hours. He was tired from all the action going on in Saltwinter, and he needed some space to breathe. There was an empty feeling in his stomach, but it didn't really feel like hunger. Who was he to judge, after all, the Miles wolf was no expert on feelings. 

 So, like any normal wolf, instead of dealing with his feelings, he went to look for food. He came across a pesky little crab, and deemed it his lunch. After a lot of scrambling around and yelling, he finally caught it. 

 He laid with his prize, beginning to feast. Maybe he could use this as bait so he can catch someone to talk to, but thats just sad. Nonetheless, he waited for some company.

Casmir had hidden himself well. She knew she could have followed his trail or tracked him down right away, but by the time she realized she needed to find him it was too late. She hoped he was okay, both physically and mentally. She hadn't fully given up looking for him, but she had stopped leaving the borders to pursue him. He was gone. She couldn't bring him back.

She patrolled the borders , mostly replacing the markers and keeping a watchful stare on the outside world. Eventually she grew bored, a bit tired, and decided to head to the coast. When she arrived she noticed a familiar gray pelt, and her tail wagged. "Well, well,"  she called, approaching casually with her tail and hips swaying behind her. "Look what the ocean coughed up," she teased playfully, finally stopping not too far from the male. She stared at the crab he had caught, not really interested in eating it. She'd been eating less lately and wasn't really hungry- not fully her fault. 

"Mind if I sit?" she asked, smiling kindly at him.

A grin grew on his face. "Why, Miss Aria, it would be delightful if you did," he said, nudging the food towards her. The she-wolf had already relaxed when he saw her, a friend. Wow, James had used that word a lot since moving to Teekon Wilds. That is good. 

 "Here, eat, I ain't hungry," he stated. As his tail lightly thumped against the ground, he glanced behind him, as if Caiaphas was about to charge into him at any moment. "Let's hope no wind decides to crash the party," he murmured, mostly to himself.

Neither was she, but it seemed the man didn't care. Aria had taken a seat just in front of the gray male, her pale eyes watching him. She then obliged anyway, although she wasn't quite sure how to eat a crab- she'd mostly supplied herself with normal canine foods like, I dunno, red meat. The pale princess gave him a gentle smile, picking the thing up with her teeth and moving it to her feet. She made no efforts to actually eat the shelly creature, but she felt he understood that she would eat it.

"Wind, waves, sand- you can't stop nature from invading," she warned him, her lips twitching into a slight smile, then leaned her head in closer to him. Her dark nose grazed his shoulder as she inhaled his scent, ears flicking. When she moved back, her tail waved behind her and she gave the man a smirk. "You joined Saltwinter," she commented, her posture straightening slightly. "How is that?" she then asked, head falling to the side.

 "I can try," he said with a determined face, which quickly dissolved back to a grin. The crab looked quite comfortable near Aria, but a bit squashed. 

 "Saltwinter is weird," he said absentmindedly. Then his eyes widened and he looked around, he could've swore he heard Caiaphas charging and screaming towards him. "It is good and stuff, though," he added quickly. He licked his lips before loudly saying, "And the alpha, Caiaphas, is good, too."

 "What brought you here to this glorious land, miss Aria?" he asked, finally relaxed. His ears were towards the she-wolf, but also carefully listening for his alpha.

so sorry I'm late

The girl watched him with narrowed gaze as his actions changed. She wanted to ask him about it, especially as his voice raised, but held her tongue until he finished. He seemed happy enough. "So you like it?" she asked, hoping her advice hadn't steered him in the wrong direction. "I met Caiaphas once, she seemed nice enough. She and my alpha are close," she told the man, her tail wagging behind her as she began to think about Lasher. "Lasher," she added, "Is his name,"

The girl then smiled, her eyes falling to the ocean as the waves crashed onto the shore. "I come here to think," she told him simply, but her gaze never left the ocean.

 "Thinking can be dangerous, miss Aria," he warned her. Once a wolf is alone with their thoughts, they can easily turn to actions. "But, I must say, I came here to think, too," he said after a split second of hesitation. The breeze blew softly, thankfully not holding the scent of Caiaphas. 

"What is it that you're thinking about, miss Aria?" he asked the white wolf. Unlike her, his eyes were heavenwards, instead looking at the grey clouds that matched his fur.

The girl didn't make a comment on his response, she wasn't sure what to say to that. The girl then shrugged, unsure of how much to tell this male. She supposed she could consider him a friend- acquaintance if anything- but how much did she need to share? Aria's gaze remained on the ocean. "Casmir left," she said simply, her posture lowering slightly. Her diamond white gaze fell slightly, focused on the tide more than the ocean itself. "I suppose I just keep wondering why," she added. Truthfully, she did know. He needed a break from everything that had happened here at Donnelaith, but she couldn't fully come to terms with it.

The grey wolf listened as Aria explained her worries, not asking who Casmir was. Maybe a friend, or maybe more than that. Either way, Casmir's disappearance seemed to affect this she wolf. He remembered his last encounter with her, as she needed a break from her home. So James assumed that she knew why he left. 


 Letting the silence hang for a moment, he began. "It seems you want to speak with him," he pointed out. James would've waited for her response, but then he thought again of this situation. "Would you like it if I went to find him?" he offered Aria.

 Now he had followed the snowy wolf's gaze onto the tide, watching as the water crashed against the sand relentlessly.

The sound of ocean waves crashing echoed in her ears, but they still flicked upwards when the male mentioned finding Casmir. Her head fell to her paws, and she gave a gentle shrug. "He does not want to be found," she told him, "I've tried," she added, quieter than her previous statement. The pale princess then stood, moving closer to James. She sat before him, her eyes finding his. She appreciated his gesture, but there was no point in holding on. Casmir had too much going on, she couldn't stop him from finding himself. She held his gaze still.

"Donnelaith has room," she then informed him.

James blinked. He had lost the thought of joining her pack, as he found Saltwinter his home now. Bitting his lip, he thought of a response. "It seems I had found comfort in the mysterious pack, miss Aria. But, nonetheless, thank you for the offer," he said, carefully choosing his words. 

 He awaited if she were to respond or let the silence stay. For once, his ears were still, his body relaxed.

James declined her offer, though he let her down easily. She shifted her feet but nodded. Donnelaith just felt so lonely sometimes... No matter, she couldn't force him to do anything. She smiled to him. "I'm glad you feel at home there," she told him, her tail waving behind her. She then let the silence engulf her, as he did, and she stared into the ocean and listened to it's crashing waves. What would become of her home? She wondered if Eilidh would stay as well.

The silence hung once again, but the grey wolf felt it wasn't as happy. That was okay. Resting his head on his paws, he kept his sight unfocused, Aria's heart beat strangely almost synchronised with his. He did not suffocate himself with worries, but instead was determined to stay in the now.

 The earth seemed to slow down, letting the moment breathe into his bones. The view of the waves kissing the land was dizzying. Like as if he was in someone else's dream, blurry and confusing. But James wouldn't trade this moment for the world

last by me? (haha sorry i felt poetic when writing this)