Wheeling Gull Isle ultramarine
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#1
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for @Maegi

He had found himself enamored with the lagoon. There were so many little details about it, he could study it for hours. So he did just that. The sun had shifted from a morning position to bring forth the afternoon and he seemed to barely shift at all. Silver eyes intently followed the motions of the life here. Sea otters chattered in the distance while the occasional crab crossed his path. The latter he had made sure to try and keep away from their sharp pinchers.

It was interesting how creatures who seemed so different all seemed to make a home in the same place. He supposed it wasn't much different than how packs worked - with the different personalities and appearances all coming together.
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The beach was jarringly bright, so she kept to the trees. It was what she knew. Every once in a while, though, something would coax her out of the shadows. She supposed it was her proclivity to confront unfamiliar faces back home that sent her out to meet the newcomer now, but she did so this time with uncertainty, rather than with the self-assured strut she'd usually employed in Blackfeather.

"Hey." Her voice was low, a girlish sort of croak. She'd been talking to no one but the puppies, and those conversations had been little louder than murmurs--the Valley pup had only a handful of words, and the two from the dead mother were still too young to comprehend much.

She approached him slowly, keeping him in her sights before sitting down with a gentle sigh, a few tail-lengths away. Maegi cocked her head, thinking. "What're you staring at?" she asked, inquisitive, not demanding.
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He barely looked over his shoulder at the croak that called to him. Rokig acknowledged her presence with a gentle dip of his head and small thump of his tail. Time spent in the presence of the masked female had taught him that perhaps words weren't too important here compared to most places.

Although this gal seemed more chatty than the other's he had met.

"Just the creatures here. It's interesting to see how they all live together." His silver eyes glancing at her briefly again. She too had a unique appearance. He suddenly felt a bit...drab compared to the creatures he had met on the Isle so far. An insecurity bubbled up in his chest that he was forced to shove down for later.
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She nodded slowly, eyes moving to the lagoon. "Yeah, I've never seen anything like it before," Maegi remarked, one corner of her mouth lifting in a faint smile. "Where I come from, it's completely different. Different birds, fish, everything. Lots of trees, not all this water."

The words were flowing easily, and she didn't quite understand why. This guy was no different from others on the island, and yet she had encountered so much difficulty opening up thus far. Perhaps she was finally bursting out of the shell she had crafted for herself after the trauma she had faced.

"Are you from here?" she asked. Maegi didn't think so. He stared at the water like she did, like he wasn't used to it. And so, if not--where was he from?
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His ears swiveled softly as she spoke, keen on picking up her words. Sounded like they were both strangers to this island life. If anything it made him feel a bit better. Like less of a stranger.

Rokig leaned back from a pesky crab, likely ready to pinch his nose, and almost missed her question. "Huh? Oh." He tossed a look over at her "I'm from somewhere a lot different than here too. Not much water readily available, a bunch of creepy trees." His shoulders gave a soft shrug. "This place is a lot better. Even if the occasional pincher tries to grab my nose."

Hesitantly he stretched a paw out to push one of the crabs ever so slightly while otters caused a ruckus in the background.
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Satisfied that this guy (probably) wasn't going to do her harm, Maegi drew up beside him, sitting down and looking at the creature he had pushed away. Curious, she outstretched her right, clubbed paw toward the creature--and found herself stumbling backwards, letting loose a yelp of pain.

"Ow! Hey! Ow!" she cried out, trying to shake the thing--which had attached itself to her!--off her paw. After a few seconds, it flew off and hit the ground in a small puff of sand, scuttling away. Maegi whined softly, licking her paw and wincing at the sharp pain of the cut, the tiny trickle of blood that coated the tip of her tongue.

"I should have listened to the last thing you said," Maegi said ruefully, staring over at the man. "So is that what they're called? Pinchers?" Whatever they were, she made a mental note to stay far away from them. She saw another, edging closer, and shied away, eyes flashing warily.

"What's your name? I'm Maegi," she added hastily, looking back at the stranger.
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A sharp frown cut through his usually stoic features at the sound that erupted from his company. An obvious indication of pain. Before he could offer to help (or even snatch the little pincher just for revenge) she had chucked it off of her paw.

"Not sure if that's the official name but, it's what I'm calling them." He wasn't about to drive home the point that calling them anything else besides Pinchers didn't seem fitting. The club-pawed female had already learned that for herself.

His features seemed to soften back out at her hasty introduction. She was a lot more talkative than the creatures he had encountered so far — the jury was still out on if that was a good thing or not. "Rokig." He finally spoke with a smile that would almost seem unnatural on his features.
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"Well, that's what I'll call them, too," she muttered sourly, resisting the urge to suck on her paw like a child. "It's a good name for them." She peered in slight curiosity at Rokig, head tilted. "Creepy trees? That sounds a lot like my home. How'd you end up here?"

Now, the fish, she liked looking at. Unlike the pinchers, they weren't a foreign concept to her; there were fish in Otter Creek, after all. But these were different, bigger and some were more colorful, and the water tasted different, too. She didn't want to drink it--it tasted bitter, salty. Not like the cool refreshing streams back home.

She supposed there were pros and cons to everywhere, but in the mental checklist she kept, the mainland was considerably winning out. Not to say she wasn't grateful, for everyone taking her in and feeding her thus far--but it didn't erase the homesickness. Nothing could.
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Her question caught him off guard and then and there he decided that her talking more than the other's he had met was not a good thing. On one hand, it would be very easy to lie to someone he had only just met — someone who wouldn't be able to tell that the words were a lie, unlike someone who knew him. On the other hand, it created a whole situation of having to constantly live in that lie.

Rokig was pretty sure he had stopped breathing in those few long seconds of contemplation. "I, uh," He had sold himself out already by lacking the confidence liars had. Fool. "got sent away. They didn't like me." Which definitely wasn't a lie but also wasn't exactly the truth.

"I don't miss it though. Creepy trees were nice but a more lively scenery is nicer." His shoulders offered a quick shrug as he glanced about.
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She saw his face change and knew the question had been a mistake. He stammered out a reply, words that took her aback. They didn't like me. Maegi felt sudden empathy for the young man. The circumstances surrounding her conception and birth had been highly suspect. Potema had hated her from the get-go. She had earned the hatred of her brothers, and probably her father, too, by remaining behind. As for the rest, it was mostly cold indifference she had been given--so yes, in Rokig's story was a glimmer of hers, as well.

"I'm sorry," she said simply, frowning. At least he seemed to have shaken it off, remarking on the island scenery. "Yeah, it's pretty," Maegi observed, bicolored eyes dancing round the lagoon. "Lots of colors." She looked over at Rokig again. "What do you like to do? What are you good at?"
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He was glad they didn't dwell on it, scared that he would vomit up the whole truth to her and she'd rat him out. Rokig was pretty sure he could stress vomit from the thought of a repeat of the Abyss. So he tried not to focus on that and focus on the girl again.

His head gave soft nods to show he was listening and agreeing. His silver gaze meeting hers when she looked at him. She was unique and suddenly he felt bad again, lacking confidence he never had in the first place. The male should just host his own pity party. "I've been trying out some fishing. It isn't easy but I think I might be getting the hang of it." One side of his inky lips pulled up to form a half-smile - weak but genuine. "I like looking at the skies and the wildlife too obviously." Had he said too much? He probably sounded like a weirdo now. Staring at the skies in his free time would definitely come off as weird - or mega boring.

"What about you?"
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Her eyes softened as his lips gave way to the ghost of a smile. His features were rather drab, but the expression gave new life to his face, and Maegi thought he was kind of, well, cute. Not in the way a tiny pup was cute, and not brawny and handsome like Aries or Vaati--but there was something about the man that appealed to her. As well as his interests--

"I've never tried fishing," Maegi responded. She looked down at her bad paw, scowling. "I, uh, can't really hunt. My mentor was going to teach me how, but then--" But then what? The war. The collar. The kidnapping. She couldn't well say any of that to Rokig, and so she chose to trail off, lips relaxing into their normal neutral--now half-grinning--state.

"The sky is cool. Some wolves like to look at the stars, I've heard. And I always liked to look at the ravens, back home." Gods, she even missed the ravens, loud and raucous as they were. It would take some time to get used to waking up to the sound of ocean waves, rather than the squawking cries of the ebony birds--and she wasn't quite there yet.

"I pray," she said, "and speak to the gods." As matter-of-fact as if discussing baseball scores. "I like plants, too. Poisons, herbs. . .yeah."
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#13
phone post, lease excuse any typos (will tidy up when I get home)

Before he could stop or even truly consider it the words tumbled free from him. "I could teach you, if you want." He wasn't the best but if she didn't know how to hunt then he supposed there had to be something he could teach her. Fishing might be best but they could discuss the details later, if she even agreed.

Ravens. He was plenty familiar with the ebony winged creature. It almost seemed like they were from the same place but he knew it wasn't true. He would have remembered a wolf like her if she was from the Abyss.

"Gods? What kind?" He didn't know much of the mystical beings but it was obvious that Maegi had capture his attention. "And...and plants, how do you know if they're poisonous?" Rokig could only think of one way to tell and it seemed like a less than favorable idea.
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Maegi wagged her tail, excitement blooming over her features for the first time in a long time. She loved to learn new things; she lived for it, really. She usually had to pester wolves into teaching her, but now Rokig was offering. Of course she would take the opportunity.

"Yes, definitely," she said, smiling. "That would be cool. And I could catch my own food, for once," she added, genuine laughter--so rare, for her--bubbling from her lips. She pondered his questions, wondering how to respond, at least to the first. To give away too much about the daedra might alert him to her true home; she was leery about revealing her origins to anyone, even if they were kind.

"Uh, my family's gods," Maegi said vaguely, the impassive mask coming down over her face once more. "All the rituals and stuff." The poison question was easier to answer. "Depends on the poison. Some of it isn't that strong; I've tested it myself. But my father said that you need to test stronger stuff on, like, foxes. Or wolves you don't like."
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At her comment of food and following laughter, a smile spread across his features — one that seemed more natural as if her laughter had taught him how to smile. But the mood seemed to quickly simmer out into a more neutral atmosphere again.

"You don't have to obviously but, maybe you could teach me about them sometime." He shrugged softly showing he wouldn't be offended if she opted to keep that part of her life more cut off. Rokig could understand it pretty well mentioning he hadn't brought up the whole he might be cursed thing yet.

He tossed Maegi a quick glance as she spoke of the poisons. "I'd be willing to lend a paw if ever needed as long as you promise not to test on me." Rokig gave a small toothy grin with a few brief thumps of his tail against the rocky ground.
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The proselytizer and the pragmatist warred within her; the former screamed out the names of the gods, urging her to tell Rokig, the latter petrified of what that information, when spilled, could do. In the end, she went with neither, giving a small shrug and a nod at his question. Yes, maybe one day. When she knew she could trust him fully.

The poisons were an easier matter, and to this Maegi smiled. "I promise," she said warmly. She looked down at the crabs on the beach. "Maybe we could test on the pinchers." That would sure show them, for locking onto her as that one had.

She didn't like to be too long away from the pups, and she shot Rokig an apologetic glance. "I've gotta go," she said, a little reluctantly. "I'll see you again soon--for that fishing lesson?" She gave him one last grin before hobbling away, exiting the beach and back into the brush, a much more familiar setting.

All the while thinking of Rokig, with his own demons. The smile that lit up his face.
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small one from me to wrap this up~

He chuckled and nodded. Testing one on the pinchers would be appropriate for their snappish behavior. Especially after latching onto the paw of Maegi.

Soon enough though she was dismissing herself. He had no interest in tying her down for the island wasn't that big and he knew they would cross paths again. Soon. The Tuttava replied with a kind smile. Once she was out of view, Rokig went back to gazing upon the wildlife.