Sea Lion Shores Awakening of the Soul

She felt it deep within her heart as she followed the sea. The tides spoke to her soul, she had been wandering for what seemed like an eternity. The lone wolf,  stood in the wet sand. Her two front paws were splashed with the salty sea water, as her back paws started to sink into the moist sand. She had never been to far from the waters edge, her whole life had revolved around the sea, the moon and her sisters. This new place was different, she could smell the difference in the air. She was definately not home, also the sea was the same. That was one thing she had learned after leaving home, the sea always remained the same. It was the only thing she had left to remind her of her mothers, and the life she had once had. 

Cathenna comforted herself with the thoughts of the sea as she looked out into the open expanse of the water before her. The green of the sea in the far distance mesmerized Cathenna as she lost herself in the moving waters. While she was born with white paws, they were currently differing shades of mud brown, no white showing through. In fact her long travels had turned her entire complexion varying shades of muddy brown. Looking over herself, Cathenna decided that it was time to clean herself off. Walking out calmly into the fridgid water of the sea. She allowed the salty water to wash away her travels.

Just started this thread @Meteora

The dark shewolf strode along the frigid shores, her feet lazily dragging in the edge of the waters. She moved jauntily, easily; her languid muscles pulled heavy on her bones, signaling a sense of divine [yet uncomfortable] relaxation. It was a day like any other and the simplicity of it was a bit stifling to the wily woman. Far too many of her days had been all-consuming nothingness, fading into one another. Indie would wake and she would hunt, then she would groom herself impeccably, teeth raking finely through her inky pelt and cleansing herself of any clinging impurity. Then she would sing for no one but herself, enjoying the company of her own voice and she would dance with no one but herself, enjoying the sensations of the earth beneath her feet. It was all good fun, but it would always end with Indie becoming bored and traipsing onward, continuing her adventure up the coast and alongside the broken, shattering coast.

Indie was drawn to fire just as much as the sea and felt strong allegiances to both; but fire offered the mystery and intrigue that the femme fatale craved. Flames did not offer forgiveness, nor did it ever yield. Flames were strong, so nobody crossed them. It was an element that stoked the woman’s imagination, but she had only truly seen the lick of flames once in her life, [from afar]. In her travels Indie was able to closely examine the true destructive force of fire, thought she missed the inferno itself. It claimed an entire forest and Indie explored the detritus as she traversed the cliff, finding nothing but charred timber, ash and a dust that stung her sensitive nose. Indie continued on, pace quickened and edging a little closer to the ocean’s shore than she had before.

Humming to herself, she came upon a bathing woman. Interested in entertaining a conversation with the water nymph, Indie trotted forward and rounded the stranger. “Hello,” she purled simply, looking at the shewolf amongst the jeweled waters.

Cathenna had been enjoying the rush of the water through her fur once more. While she had been following the sea for so long she hadn't actually gone for a swim recently. Even though she loved the water. She could feel the salt on her tongue, and the dirt just started to fall away. Lost in her own musing she didn't notice a woman approach along the shore. That was until she heard the voice of a stranger. 

Opening eyes, Cathenna hadn't even noticed were closed, she peered at the dame. Blinking once, twice, three times to get the salt out of her eyes. She finally replied in kind. "Hello." She spoke with a gruff yet feminine voice. Although she remained in the water, not yet ready to relinquish the comforting sensation of the sea's embrace.

It took a moment for the bathing shewolf to noticed her and Indie was left standing amongst the waves, feeling the gummy sensation of the iced water as it chilled her toes. Indie remained still until her voice finally elicited her attention and the cocoa-dusted head swung her way, blinking against the sting of the saltwater. She responded and a momentary, hushed silence overtook the two women as Indie rooted in her mind for something, anything the say. The silence, however, was comfortable and Indie smiled down, letting honey pour forth from her lips.

“Indie,” the tempest introduced with a sweep of her head, bowing deeply until her nares and chin brushed the ocean water. It was in her nature to be somewhat theatrical in her actions, though to others this was often seen as a sincere form of fortitude or zealousness or something of the like. Indie lifted her head back, chin dripping and grinning ivories effulgent against her black pelt.  “What’s your story?” with only three words Indie backpedaled to the dry sands of the beach and laid her entire body against the soft landscape, silently willing the sodden women to remain in her lovely bath.

Cathenna almost turned back to her oblivion of the murky green liquid when the fae continued. Indie. Cathenna thought over the name and gave a nod of thanks, apprectiating that she would offer her name first. Seeing as it was only fair for her to return the courtesy of a name. "Cathenna" She too bowed her head, although not as deep, more in kindness. She couldn't help returning her smile, canines and all showing, the pearly whites as other might call them. Which was rather fitting for a girl of the sea, Cathenna had always thought. 

"My story?" She thought for a moment, sitting in the cold water. A shiver ran up her spine, when one sat still for to long in a winter sea one tended to freeze ones tail off. With this in mind Cathenna resumed her bath, although was still distracted by the female ashore. "Ποια είναι η ιστορία μου?" She spoke to her self in her common tongue. The language she thought and dreamt in. "Well... I'm new here." She wasn't exactly sure where here was, but she knew she had never been here before. Cathenna thought some more. "I am from a land known as the Themiscrya Coast." Her mothers had always told her not to give to much away about their culture. But this was a woman! Sure she wasn't one of her sisters, but she at least wasn't a male. Cathenna almost scoffed at the thought.

So this woman would not easily divulge her story. She kept her words guarded and truth hidden [furthermore obscured by foreign language], much like Indie was prone to do. Indie did not speak languages but the common tongue It was likely for the best Indie considered briefly with a shrug of the shoulders. Cathenna did, however, shared from which place she hailed: Themiscrya Coast. The dark vagabond had yet to hear of such a dwelling, nonetheless visit it — but there were many places in the world she hadn’t visited. Or perhaps she had seen it, but did not know it… most of the lands graced by her travels came into her life unnamed and left as such. They were only simple milieus whose beauty set the stage for her eventual wheelings and dealings.

“I, too, am not from here.” Indie said plainly, hoping to match the lackadaisical nature of the girl who remained in the ocean. “I’ve been following the coast; found it about a week ago.” Unceremoniously, Indie lowered her head to preen and groom the downy fur that blanketed her front limbs, thrust out in front of her as she reclined in the sand. After a fleeting moment her head shot up again, a question bursting from her lips.

“Say, did you see the forest back that there?” Indie gestured on her shoulder with the toss of her head, quite curious to see if the fae women knew the story behind the ruins. “It was destroyed, burned to smithereens.” Her voice fell low, heavy with a strange melange of melancholy and inquisitively.

Yet another who was not from around here, what were the chances of two lone wolves finding each other? Now that she thought about Cathenna found that it probably wasn't than uncommon. She didn't over any information for why she followed the coast, nor the fact that she had been following it since she had left her pack. Instead she decided that she was clean enough, and made her journey from the water. Although she was startled back a few steps by the suddeness of the woman's question.

Now standing with her paws in the water Cathenna once again was resorted to blinking at the fae. "The forest?" She questioned, "There was a fire?" She hadn't seen anything of the sort, at least not for a long while. She had seen a forest fire once in her life, which was another reason she loved the water. "I'm afraid I didn't see anything. Did you?"

“It had been ravaged,” Indie continued in a distracted lilt. Her mind found itself back in the petrified woods, snuffling around the muted warmth of the ashes [still somewhat heated from the inferno] frisking the land for any sign of life. There had been none [to her chagrin] and wistfulness consumed her. Death was only an appropriate consequence for those who rightfully deserved it — she was not a cruel or macabre wolf, of course. But this was the wild, and the laws of the wild mandated ruin could befall any individual, no matter how clever, regal or sheltered. Even the poor wolves of this forest, whom she knew had inhabited this place by the distant scents on the untouched fringes of forest. But they were gone and Indie quickly moved on. Indie’s verdant, shining gaze fell back up Cathenna, who pedaled her feet within the melodic waves. “It was such a bleak sight. I’m not sure anything could have made it out alive. Quite sad, no?” 

The femme was not entirely sure where she wanted this conversation to take her, and that was fine by her. Entirely too blasé to change anything at that moment and willing to let conversation bubble organically, Indie bedded down further into her sandy dwelling, finding comfort in the pliable curves of the material. Yes, she loved fire, but the briny ocean was divine. Flames bore intrigue and danger quite strongly [which attracted Indie so], but the heavier load to bear was utter mortality of everything in its wake.  Death was not so certain where the sea was concerned. Water was pliable, useful; fire only destroyed. 

“Are these wolves of Themiscrya Coast ocean-faring folk? You seem to me like a seawolf.”

"Indeed." Cathenna thought morbidly, fire was a ravanger, a killer. There was no way to stop the blaze once it had set its course. Shaking herself of the water that had logged her coat, she continued her journey out of the water. Her paws once again their vibrant white, the grey and tan along her sides were well..... grey and tanned once again. Giving one more shake, perhaps underestimating the close proximity of the other female. A few lucky drops might head her way. 

The fae continued along, exhuberant in her pursuit of conversation. Cathenna brightened mildly thinking about her home. "Of yes. We have very close relations with the sea. I guess we are seawovles." Cathenna shrugged slightly, she had never really thought about it. "For a long time I believed that all wolves lived the way that we did. Although I have found that not to be true, the more canids I encounter prove that to me." Cathenna now fully emerged from the water, sat beside the reclined woman.

Indie blinked her eyes as the other woman pelted her with saltine droplets, then chuckled. It was the most gentle, unintentional affirmation of her statement. Then the grecian verbally confirmed what Indie already knew to be true, stating that not all wolves believed as she was raised to. 

“I hate to disappoint… but it seems that I have done just that! I was neither raised by the ocean, nor the tides. nor any god, really.” A sweet smile. “My liturgy is lawlessness.” The last words were inflected with a twist of the tongue, signaling that her statement was a gross [well, somewhat] exaggeration. It was a small test that Indie liked to give strangers: she would offer an odd waylay and gauge their reaction to the challenge. When a wolf faced the unexpected, Indie found quite it easy to read their true colors. That, and whenever food or sex was involved. It was often intriguing to glimpse the variety of complexes which they groomed and tended to… and she so desired to index Cathenna in this manner. 

“But… I could be convinced otherwise.” Indie inched closer to the woman who sat beside, grappling the sand and pulling herself along by her long forearms.  “Tell me more of your lore?”

"Your duty is lawlessness?" Cathenna was curious, she had never encountered a woman such as the one that was before her. "You are very different from the Sisters I once had." She smiled softly, glad for the change in character this femme possessed. "I would not seek to change you, nor would my culture." Thinking of what to tell the curious Indie, Cathenna thought for a moment breaking her gaze from the woman and focusing on the sea. As if searching the tide for the information to share, and what to keep close to heart.

"My lore, well...." Her ocean eyes met that of midnight black female. "We, my Sisters and I, are all daughters of the Mother Sea and the Mother Moon. Our Mitéra can speak with the sea, and she shows us the Sea's Will. The Sea is a large part of our lives, we are born from the sea and when we die we return to the sea. The tides push and pull the sand, showing us the ups and downs in our lives. If you have the eye for it." Which Cathenna doubted she would ever poses, but still she tried. "I'm afraid I haven't such a talent, my mothers used to tell me that I was hard like the sea glass, and it I wanted to be a Matriarch I would need to be soft like the sand." She laughed slightly, shaking her head with a small shrug.

“Speak to the sea? You sisters and I are different indeed. Though, that is one skill I would love to possess…” she cooed  Cathenna was clearly very proud of where she came from, Indie respected that . The culture was exotic, of course, and as the foreigner spoke Indie found herself captivated by the colorful words. Indie loved new, shiny things and this particular zeitgeist had captured her attention with the passion of it all. “I supposed the water gods are more merciful than fire gods?” the hoyden inquired, referencing the fire to the sound. Fire was the more passionate element, but passion was dangerous. Indie herself held no faith, no religion, nor was she averse to danger [rather, she was quite drawn to it]… but she could see the appeal written in the glimmering blue of Cathenna’s eyes.

Indie turned her head up at Cathenna and tilted her head at the pale woman. “Though sea glass is tough, sea glass has its uses and purpose. Otherwise, it simply would not exist.” Indie firmly subscribed to the idea that everything in life could be used in some way. It was the way of life of a conwoman. Well, ex-conwoman… but old habits die hard. Indie shook her head nonchalantly, delightfully continuing to probe for information.

“Well, do you want to be Matriarch? Or did you want to be?”

"Such an assumption may be an over statement." Cathenna conceded, as the ebony woman voice her question, "Fire is an uncontrollable element, destroying everything it touches in a wraith filled blaze that has no thought of what it is consuming, in a physical sense I could see the idea that Fire Godesses and less merciful than that of the Water Dieties that my sister's and I rever." Cathenna had never really spoken about her ideas on the subject of her favoured dieties, but found that she much enjoyed the way of this conversation. "However there are many vengeful water celesitals. Such as the Gorgon Sisters, who were known for turning mere mortals to stone. Or the Harpies, who have caused many a storm with their vicious sea winds." Looking away from the sea green her eyes had wandered to during her small history session, Cathenna stopped talking, they had merely started speaking and found she couldn't stop. Although she was suddenly struck with the sudden feeling of embarrasment, realising that she had probably bored her companion. A companion she found she enjoyed speaking with. 

She couldn't deny the comment on the sea glass, of course they were beautiful, and Cathenna could not deny that she believed herself to be just a alluring as the glass she had only just recently compared herself to. "I-well..." Cathenna had to ponder the thought for a moment, "Being a Matriarch is the dream of all young Sprites, one that I gave up on long ago." Cathenna was pleased by her own revelation of her aspirations. "I only wish that I could find the bonds of Sisterhood that I had always taken for granted, the friendship and sense of family I long to realize and fear I may never find again. I wish to be a Νηρηίδες once more."

Indie’s potent gaze glinted at the seawolf’s words, cutting from Cathenna to the ocean’s waters every time there was a vivid mention of a sea monster or deity. Laugh she did not, though character and mockery were customarily her response to these… faithful sorts of wolves. Denomination had always seemed such a silly concept to this broad. Why would she ever limit her potential in such a way? She were queen of her own destine; not some omnipresence force, seemingly controlling them by puppet strings. But the way Cathenna spoke quieted those thoughts and were replaced by intrigue. A queen needed her court, and this ocean god offered guidance in its reading. Perhaps the sea knew more about the ways of the world than she.

Let’s test it! Indie wished to see this religion in practice, as it seemed so different than anything she knew before [not that she knew very much about these spiritual matters]. Cathenna claimed not to have such godlike powers, but could these skills not be developed? “Well, let’s practice for when you assume your place among your sisters and eventually assume the Matriarchy. It’s inevitable; strong-willed woman such as yourself should do nothing but claim what is yours.” Her suggestion was clearly a jocular exaggeration, but Indie couldn’t help but try to plant a small seed in Cathenna’s brain — the mummer was always happy to ride the coattails of another’s success and would always nurture an opportunity to do just that.


Though the pair just sat down, Indie picked her feathered frame from the sand, her coat covered in a smattering of beige granules. She strode lazily to the water’s edge, but felt a shiver rattle down her spin as the cold water nipped and caressed her toes. Looking close at the water’s methodical, tingling movements, Indie tried to find a pattern but found none.

“So, practice — What do the sands have in store for us?”

what are timelines even. this is a cameo; they'd likely see her but she's likely a bit too far away to make out words if they call to her.

Hunger was ever-present, for their group was small and chaotic— it would not be until they had a land to call their own that they would be able to hunt properly and lay waste to hardier prey. For now, the shallows provided sustenance to the Nereides in the way of small, glittering fish. It was this that Meteora hunted, and though she saw the small silhouettes of other wolves further along the shores, she ignored them for her meal.