Stavanger Bay Beyond the Water

 

ooc: Sorry for my absence. Blizzards where I live took out my internet for awhile. Backdating this to Howl’s first week is.

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With a new territory came new sites and the shore line of the water was one of them. Howl was no stranger to water having experienced ponds, rivers and the like. But the sea was new to him. The air in this area smelled different, Howl was unfamiliar with the strong scent of salt coming from the water. Carried over the waves by the cool breeze of winter. He imagined that the water would be quite cold so he had no desire to jump in.

He was on patrol, for himself and also for the well being of the pack. It would familiarize him with the area, as well as join his scent with the packs as he went along marking the bordered black rocks. The stone cliffs were a great way to keep out introducers, leaving the front of the territory as the main means of entrance. But it was also possible that a straggler might choose to walk in from down the shore line. Howl could see the rock path leading into the water, marking what part of the shore was there’s. He make note of this wanting to learn the borders of the territory before mapping out the internal.

He took a pause from his patrol to look off over the water. Watching the waves caused my the wind and only being able to see water in the distance. 

ashenvale. donnelaith. the names reverberated in velen's mind and brought him little peace. he had no timeframe for when he might claim the woodland for his own, but knowing that the event simply existed upon his horizon had sent the ceto into grim planning.
it would not be this year, but perhaps the next. the season had still not lifted, leaving the chestnut-eyed creature with a great feeling of restlessness — and titillation. but he turned his mind from that half-formed thought and set his gaze upon the newcomer standing near the water's edge.
"hello, friend," velen greeted, extending his muzzle to take in the scent of his brother on the other's wither's as he approached. a smile curved his lips. "what do you think of our great sea?"

He heard the footsteps of someone approaching him followed by a friendly voice greeting him. He turned to see a dark and light colored male appearing to be younger than him. This younger male smiled and proceeded to ask Howl what he thought about the vast water before him. "Hello there,"  he said with a smile before nodding his head towards him.  "This is my first time really taking a look at it. It's far more vast then I would have imagined it to be,"  he stated in honesty.

"My name is Howl by the way," he added wanting to give this newly meet pack member to call him something other than a friend if he so chose.  "And you... How long have you seen this sea as your own?"  Howl ask. Curious to see how long this male had lived within the territory.

"since the beginning," velen answered. "ford is my brother." and this was their claim, he breathed to himself, staring out across the great, proud expanse of water that marked his clan's birthright. "i'm velen," he continued. "have you ever been swimming in the ocean, howl?"
without waiting for an answer, velen padded down across the wave-licked sand into the icy shallows. their cold lash had ceased to bother him, by all rights — he was a wolf bred of the sea, born into it. "come on," he invited howl, a grin dancing on his features.

Sorry for the crap quick post :P

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This was one of Ford's siblings he had mentioned. Howl had originally wondered what his siblings might have thought about him taking over his father's past territory. Thinking they might share more views with their father than Ford. A view from what Ford told Howl lead to the previous pack's disbandment. It was still a possibility but at first glance, it didn't appear Velen held any distain for his sibling.

Upon introduction, Howl nodded his head to Velen before hearing his question. He hadn't, in fact, swam in the ocean before and hadn't planned on setting food into it today. But still being new and not having strong roots in the pack Howl felt obligated to oblige Velen and accompany him into the water.

Without waiting for an answer Velen was already on his way to the water. Howl followed internally hesitant behind him and braced the initial feeling of chills as his foot submerged itself below the surface. "I have been swimming before. But not in this type of water I'm afraid. Is there anything I should be aware of?" he asked almost jokingly, not knowing how important his question would be.

He continued into the water, as though he had entered a lake, but unlike a lake right before his body was submerged enough to actually swim a small amount of water grazed his lips. Causing him to walk back a few paces to where his feet could touch before surprisingly asking "Goodness. What is in this water!" he said before trying to spit it out.

not crap at all!

velen laughed. "it's cold, dude," was his only warning before he dove beneath the surface briefy and reemerged with a grin decorating his muzzle. "and that, my friend, is salt." the thick bitter taste of it was definitely acquired, but if howl stuck around, he would be used to the flavor of the brine in no time.
"don't go farther than i do. nasty undertow out there, will suck you down before you can say boo," velen revealed, before gesturing toward a sandbar in the distance. "let's head that way, see what we can see." glancing to howl, the young wolf began to swim with smooth strokes toward their destination.

Velen explains to Howl that the substance causing the water such a peculiar taste was salt. He said it so casually that it conveyed the message that this was typical and that Howl should expect this every time after when he chose to take a swim. Though it was surprising to find this taste in water it did seem familiar. Similar to if he had taken a bite from a fresh kill, but not nearly as harsh.

His companion went on further to dunking his head underwater. Howl would not participate so heavily but he took a few steps forward so he was deep enough to swim, trying his best to keep in muzzle above water to avoid the unacclimated taste of the water.

A warning of the waters hidden intentions also rubbed Howl the wrong way. What was it about the sea that enticed these wolves to it? Besides its beauty, what made it greater than a lake, or other controlled bodies of water?  "It seems rather tricky this sea. I struggle to see it's redeeming qualities. Besides its beauty of course." he said in a polite manner not meaning to be disrespectful. Perhaps there were hidden benefits as well as hidden parrels. 

Howl nodded to his pack mate and followed behind him in their attempt to reach the sandbar. The strokes he took seemed simpler then swimming in a lake. As though each stroke pushed him further along.

velen did not answer until the pair had reached the sandbar. there, he hauled himself up, muscles working beneath his soaked pelt, and sighed rapturously with a grin tossed to howl. moving some ways away, the boy churned seawater from his fur and settled upon the sand.
"you can never starve next to the sea," he ventured first. "it's crammed full of all sorts of things to eat, and if it's too rough to swim for them, you can find clams and oysters and sea urchins on the rocks in the shallows." rolling his shoulders, velen looked fondly at the dark expanse. "sometimes she washes things ashore for us, too. fish. squid. sometimes a whale. that is good eating," he chuckled, glancing to howl to see what the other made of all this.

Howl followed his companion to the sandbar and made a point to mimic is movements out of the water as to not stumble. When Velen moved away from Howl he took the opportunity to shake his fur free of water. He chose to stand above the rand rather than rest on it, knowing that it would surely stick to his fur, and possibly cause discomfort later on in the day.

Velen then went on to explain the food supply that would come onto their shores. It sounded like a far greater resource then a river, even if Howl didn't fully understand what a squid or a whale was.  "So it's a never depleting food source. That is a highly valued asset then. What of the colder seasons? Does it remain plentiful through the ice?" Howl asked not knowing the seas immunity to freezing. 

To Howl the sea was merely a strange lake, one that was bigger, more plentiful, and very salty. Never having been to the sea when would he have learned the other features of such waters.

a highly valued asset. maybe howl was a scientist of some sort. "we learn to punch holes in the ice, and wait beside them for fish or seals," he explained, looking toward his odd companion. "it's thick enough in the true cold to walk on, and we can hunt there too."
he licked water from his chest, thinking. "of course, it's not nearly as easy to catch things beneath the ice, so i imagine we will go inland next winter. look for deer and caribou and the like." that was the advantage of the earth, velen surmised, something they had not received on the isle.