Coconut Grove sunset lover

She slips away again though she was never really that far from Meteora. Still, she’d gone back a little to search for the others and to continue to further the knowledge of her surroundings. They will find the spot that best suits them and their chapter and Florence will be able to rest her weary paws. For now, diligent as always, she weaves through the tropical trees all the way to the shore. The ocean beats against the sand and her tail waves behind her, watching as it comes and goes and never lies to her.

The mountain she’d been born on is far different than the sand and rock beaches, the waves soothing the anxieties in the mind. Her legs will forever be built for the icy inclines she’s used to but she’s certain she’ll become accustomed to the sea, just as the others have. Still often wayward, Florence keeps her feet moving in her search so that she may still feel full with purpose she’d searched for her entire life.

Curious of the coast and what came along with it, he’d put off heading back towards the grove. The fact that no one had started looking for him—to his knowledge, that is—had made him feel iffy about his eventual return, but he’d done his best to ignore it for the time being. His focus had been on the sea and what all he might find near to it, having never spent more than a few hours at a time there in the past. This time around, however, he’d been there for several days so far, and several more would likely follow. For the day, he’d decided to trek west from the plateau, pausing here and there to rest but the breaks were short and few in occurrences.

The moment he’d spotted a strange tree, Alexander had stopped. It’d been obvious that it was a tree, but resembled none others he’d seen in the past. He’d intended to walk past it, but had, once again, been stopped by a thing. Inching towards it, he’d smacked it with a paw, only to send it rolling through the sand. The overall feel had been rough, reminding him a bit of a rock, but not quite. Squinting, he’d looked around and, thankfully, spotted someone else; he hoped that they knew what the brown object was and what it did, because the only other coastal wolf he knew had disappeared. Without thinking, he’d yelled, “Hey!” in the stranger's direction, then just stood there staring in her direction.

The hey! grabs her attention and immediately everything changes. The ocean had been distracting for a few minutes and she hadn’t been prepared for stranger approaching. Quickly, Florence shifts and tenses her muscles once she faces him and her ears droop against her skull. Everything comes rushing in at once in defense and while she hasn’t been a warrior on the front lines, she knows how to take care of herself. The other is similar in size with a blank expression on his face despite his shout.

At first, she isn’t able to find her voice. Her jaws open but not a sound comes out and she snaps it shut again. He doesn’t advance, either, and waits and the longer he stares, the tenser she feels. Teeth grind together but eventually she’s able to blurt out something.

“What?”

Her brows knit together a beat later and her tail tightens a little higher, now even with her body, as her paws shift in the sand. The male isn't familiar to her, she now confirms, and doesn't smell like the others she's been traveling with. What on earth can he want from her?

The attempt at acquiring the stranger’s attention had been a success, but he’d been left to wonder for a while about whether or not he’d been understood. Out of both frustration and confusion, his brows had knitted together whilst watching her mouth open and close, reminding him of a fish. Her demeanor as a whole had unsettled him, to a certain extent, but the reminder that she was only a female kept him from acting out. Still, he’d not relaxed, every muscle within his body having instead tensed whilst his tail was brought up over his back. Eyeing her, he’d waited to see what she might do, having convinced himself that she couldn’t speak—which was an assumption that he’d then needed to throw out, given the what? that had been forced out.

Using his nose he’d pushed the coconut as far away from him as he could, sending it rolling in her direction. Although he’d figured out already that the nameless wolf was a woman, he had no desire to draw her any closer to him than what was necessary. So with the coconut having been sent her way, he’d asked, “Do you know what that is?”

He doesn’t say anything right away and for a moment she thinks he might not at all. Her ears press against the back of her skull as she follows his movements, rolling the coconut in her direction followed by the question. She stares at it for a long moment before she glances at him. It rolls a little out of the way but the point had gotten across but her brows tie together in confusion. Perhaps the boy has not spent much time at the beach but then again, these things aren’t necessarily common either. Her lips twist in consideration and she rolls one shoulder with indifference. “A coconut,” she says before her nose points upward to the trees where few of them still remain. Florence decides not to linger behind, the question answered, and she restarts her search for her companion.