Sea Lion Shores As the saying goes, new year and new me.

After her time with Sentinel, Elixir felt that she needed some time away from the bay to breath. Her mind was still cluttered with thoughts after. It would do her some good to travel some and think it out by herself. The sand would eat her feet with every step she took the grains felt as though they were tiny ice cubes as cold as it was. The waves threatened to touch her after every time they came on shore. For a moment she stopped and stared out to the endless waters that were before her.

The salty smell was something that she had gotten used to and it now soothed her with every inhale and exhale she took. It was like her brain used it to create a euphoria inside her head. After cherishing the way that it felt now, she was back on her way not knowing where she would end up next on this walk.

Eventually the blackened canine had heard faint sounds of barking and carrying on. Sea lions perhaps but she wasn't sure so she slowed her pace and raised her ears as much as she could. One and two and then a few, yep they were sea lions and Elixir kept her distance but watched as they wormed their way onto the sand and laid on each other. Not letting down her guard but still exploring she walked around them as best as she could. A small sigh was let out before she came to a pool of water. The reflection that her bloodened gaze looked down upon wasn't her, was it? The smell had taken her over and the hormones had made her go crazy. She feels different now, and it isn't a good different. Would she even be a good mother if it was to happen?

A single tear fell from her eye as she thought about it.

Again, Moorhen had come to the sea lion shores, hoping this time to actually cure her sudden need for fresh, hot, red-blooded meat. She really wished she'd been able to talk to Hemlock about all this before the woman disappeared. She thought, perhaps, that it was her body preparing to carry pups, but what did she know? Maybe she was sick. Maybe she had a nutrient deficieny. She certainly wasn't bored of fish.

But when she emerged from the water, sopping wet and being loudly berated by the sea lions nearest to her, it was to find that another wolf had already had the same idea as her. The winter breeze swirling the air between them told Moorhen that this woman was a bit further in her cycle than she was. Perhaps she knew? Intent on gathering knowledge on the subject, she made a beeline for the dark woman, remembering to relax her posture (as much as she was capable in the presence of a stranger) and give a gentle wag of her tail.

She took a moment longer to stare at the mirror that nature gave her. Elixir closed her eyes for a moment and then sniffled softly. Eyes still closed she turned and when she brought herself to open them another wolf was being harassed by a sea lion as she came up from the sea. Elixir couldn't help herself but to laugh as the chocolate wolf walked toward her, sea lion still giving an ear full.

The wolfdog wondered who this could and why they are on the beach especially here with all the whining sea dogs. Though she was in a bit of a pickle with her emotions right now, she thought It wouldn't hurt to have a nice conversation with someone outside of Stormrift. Hello. she called out excitedly. Elixir watched as Moorhen's tail gave a few wags and a smiled curved on her features.

If Moorhen had known that her eyes were a disturbing burgundy very similiar to Elixir's, she might've remarked on it upon seeing the blazing jewels set upon the wolfdog's dark face. But she did not - she knew very little about what she looked like aside from that she was brown, and that she had pale bands on her ribs. She did not even know that she had pale markings under each eye, which was one of her more defining features, head-on.

So she said nothing about their eyes, and returned the simple, "Hello," in a somewhat surprised tone of voice. The other seemed happy to see her, but up close, Moorhen could only think about how odd her ears and eyes were, and how there was something subtly wrong about her body shape. Perhaps, if Coelacanth hadn't been a fixture in her life from such a young age, Moorhen would have recognized their slightly similarities. As it was, she decided that the effort it would take to ask was simply too great. "I im Moorhen," she offered, giving another encouraging wag of her tail to hopefully get a name out of the woman without having to ask.

Ya got my 300th post!

The wolfdog kept her bright facial feature as the chocolatety woman came closer and then stopped. She returned the greeting and then gave her name, one that Elixir thought was odd but easy to roll off the tongue. Moorhen she repeated saying it so that if she pronounced it wrong then it would be corrected. Hmm. Elixir pondered quietly.

Elixir, what are you doing out here with the dogs of the ocean? after the question had left her mouth she thought it seemed a bit rude. It could be asked to her as well. Err... better yet what brought you out here is what i meant she hurried to correct herself so that Moorhen didn't take too much offense to it. Her tail swayed a bit but not because she was happy it was because she was slightly nervous. A thud against her let her know that her adrenaline was rising.

The words came out too fast for Moorhen to really follow. Or maybe she was just distracted by her own thoughts, or the woman's scent, or any number of other things. "Dogs of - Eelee - um - " she stuttered, trying to make sense of all that. Thankfully, her next question was a bit easier to understand.

"I come to hunt sel-lion," she said with another wag of her tail, glad to have been able to explain that without trouble. She almost went on to ask about Eel's heat cycle, but she wasn't sure that was the right thing to do when they'd just met. Perhaps Moorhen needed to become friends with her, first? "Do you hungry?" she asked, her head cocking to the side. "We can hut together?"

Elixir knew sometimes her own words could come out too much for another, so she didn't say anything when it seemed that she couldn't muster out an answer. Her smile stayed and then she swayed her tail with a slight nod. The second sentence Elixir could understand, she wanted to hunt a sea dog. Oh you're hungry! she chirped and then looked at the barking water dogs at the edge of the shore. That made sense.

I could eat... the wolfdog smiled and then nudged Moorhen softly on her shoulder. Let's try. she turned to look at all of the meals sitting on the shore. It would be Moorhen's choice which one they hunted, Elixir would just help kill.

Since Moorhen was somewhat preoccupied with her questions, now, hunger had mostly fled her mind. Still, she did not refute Eel's words and turned at once to survey the shoreline, looking for a creature that would be easy enough to take down but still a nice enough gift that Moorhen could interrogate the stranger in exchange.

"It," she suggested, pointing out a pup of middling thickness at the edges of the group. It was with its mother, but Moorhen imagined they could sneak in and drag it away without the ungainly creature being able to land a hit. Without waiting for an answer, Moorhen sprinted toward the pair and grabbed the back flipper of the innocent child, yanking it back several feet before its harridan of a mother was suddenly surging toward her. "Grab!" she called to Eel, dancing back several steps to draw the mother away from her young.