Stavanger Bay calm before the storm

@Phillip

having discovered her cousin, she resolves to stay in the area that the commander currently calls 'home.'  it's different.  since she'd grown up in the woodlands, natshana is already finding life on the shore to be challenging.  herbs are far more difficult to come by.  thus far, she has managed to collect seaweed which has washed up onto the beach itself.  there are some dill and marrow here and there, but she finds this salty, undrinkable water isn't conducive to plants or wolves.  

she has strips of seaweed lain out on the sands, drying in the sun.  on them are truly pitiful collections of dill and marrow.  she isn't even sure the latter two herbs are usable.  instead, she's moved on for the time being.  her sights are set on a nearby palm tree and the hardened brown fruits they bear.  the young apothecary narrows her eyes and presses her front paws against the tree until she's standing on her hind limbs.  this jostles the tree only a fracture, certainly nowhere near enough to shake down the coconuts. natshana scoffs with disappointment.

Phillip found himself by the shore once again. It’s funny really; he’d meant to stay away from it. The chances were slim to none, but he feared he’d run into a stowaway and get berated just as he was before. The possibility made him shiver. He’s gotten his fair share of weird looks, mocking, and beatings already. He could do without them for a year at least.

But someway, somehow, he’s back on the shore again, and it’s too late to turn around. He hadn’t noticed at first, but he had drifted his way in a woman’s direction. She probably saw him by now, and it’d be weird if he left now, so he reluctantly kept moving forward.

Uh, h-hi. His gaze went from her, to the tree she balanced on, to the fruit above. He’d seen them before, back at camp. They were more useful as weapons than actual food. Was she planning to pummel someone with them?

Phillip swallowed nervously. Are you trying to knock those down?

an ear swivels at the sound of pawsteps in the sand.  it's a more muted sound, but it's something that she's trying to train herself to recognize.  she turns her head slightly, glancing out of the corner of one of her eyes to find a single black wolf approaching.  the first sounds out of the other wolf's mouth are hesitant and wavering.  she couldn't make much of his body language, but the stuttering suggested that he seemed nervous.  natshana considers maintaining her ruse of being unable to speak english and then decides against it.  maybe this stranger can be of use.

"yes," she answers simply at first, stepping down off the tree to look at the unfamiliar wolf. "it tastes terrible but has healing properties." natshana's voice has a subtle accent to it that may allude to english not being her first language if a wolf has an ear for such an observation. "do you know how to get them down?" a quirk of an eyebrow seems to invite the stranger to join her current pursuit.

Yes, she answered, but her reasoning wasn’t what he expected (much to his relief). They could be used for healing, and that sparked many questions in the young man’s mind. Who needed healing, and how would a coconut help? He assumed herbs would’ve been much less of a hassle to get, but then again they were far from a lot of herbs aren’t they?

Phillip nodded, but hesitated to elaborate. Getting them down from the tree was a painful process. 

Well, we ran into the trees. He was forced to be the battering ram. Just thinking about it made his head hurt. It took a few tries, but they’d fall off eventually.

as he explains his method, her eyes narrow.  is this some sort of joke?  surely not.  her eyes rake over his form as though trying to parse his intentions by sight alone.  all she can really ascertain is tension; and though she does not know this wolf from the very first of their species, there is something about his awkwardness that she doubts he is one for games.  she exhales, her pale stare climbing up the length of the spindling trunk.

"we will not be doing that," she makes that executive decision for them. "maybe we shake the tree, as i was before?" neither of them is the pinnacle of lupine strength, but perhaps they can make up for that in tandem.  natshana pushes herself up onto her hind legs once more while her forepaws rest somewhat awkwardly on the slender tree. "be careful not to let them hit your head. they hurt." as if he doesn't know.

He shouldn’t have been surprised, but he was. He’d only spent a few times with the coastal wolves, but he’d grown accustomed to their risky antics. They would’ve loved to slam their skulls into a tree, or more accurately, slam his skull into a tree.

Really? he asked before quickly following up with, O-ok. A part of him thought she’d changed her mind if he asked too many questions.

Phillip walked up to the tree, and hesitated when she issued a warning. He knew how bad that would hurt. 

He took a deep breath. R-right. Ok, let’s do it. Then he jumped up on the trunk. Phillip peered around the side of the tree and waited for some sort of que.

she has so many questions she wants to ask, but for the time being, she seems intent on their present chore.  for whatever reason, this perfect stranger listens well and without hesitation.  natshana has no authority over him whatsoever; yet, he simply does as she asks.  that will just be another page she dog-ears for later.  in the meantime--

"as hard as you can," she instructs just before she begins to use all of her upper body strength to rattle the tree.  the rogue does what she can to time her movements with phillip's so that she doesn't work against his.  all the while, she keeps an eye on the hard fruits above, as she is certainly not keen to receive a coconut to the crown of her head (or any other part of her body).

When she gave the word, he began to shaking the tree. He wasn’t all too great at it—surely there were many wolves who could do a better job—but there was progress with the combined effort.

He too kept his eyes on the coconuts. He could do without another headache. It’s a good thing he was alert, because he was able to jump out of  the falling fruit’s path just in time. Oh man, he wheezed. That was too close for comfort.

Once he came to his senses, Phillip walked up to the coconut. Hey, we did it. And no one got hurt! That’s a win in his book.

they certainly are a pair to be doing this.  it's a shame natshana doesn't have a hired paw for this exact sort of trivial pursuit.  subconsciously, she thinks she'll make a point to remedy that one day.  she can't imagine it would be that difficult.  there are all sorts of wolves in the world, after all; furthermore, perhaps what she needs isn't a wolf at all.  maybe a bear or big cat is all she requires to act as her muscle.

but, as usual, her mind wanders.  she's brought back to the present by the whistling of the coconut plummeting to the ground.  a pleased expression replaces her seemingly absentminded one seconds prior. "nicely done," she compliments her companion with a grateful nod. "what do you like to be called?" now is as good a time as any to ask.  however, ever the multitasker, she does begin to sniff and inspect their quarry if/when he chooses to answer her.

I’m Phillip. Like before, it felt odd giving out his name freely. It’s something he’d have to get used to again. Who knew how long that would take.

He forgot to ask for a name in the moment. Curiosity got ahead of him. You said this could be used for h-healing? Phillip gestured towards the coconut before he continued.

Back where I came from, they’d use those for- Beating. Torture. Being a general pest. uh, e-eating. I’ve never seen someone use it for treatment before.

as when they first met, one of her ears flicks in acknowledgment of his name.  it's thoroughly ordinary.  if she's honest, she hadn't expected it.  given the names of wolves from her homelands, she has grown to assume other wolves name their pups similarly.  clearly, that is not the case. "that is right," she answers him succinctly, nosing the fruit experimentally.  the smell isn't terrible; although, it isn't fully ripe just yet.

phillip doesn't ask for her name, and she doesn't give it.  it's no fur off her back, and she's happy to remain nameless in his eyes. "the meat and juice help kill worms and other parasites," she offers the information freely.  he had helped retrieve the fruit; he had more than earned the information as a trade.  once she is finished inspecting the coconut, she finally returns her gaze to phillip.

"where are you from?" a pause, and she delves further: "are they who have got you so scared? because i know it is not me." a sniff of amusement follows, but it's clear the words are all in good fun.

Meat? Like meat meat? In a fruit?! The stowaways were crazy enough to knock their heads against trees, but not crack a coconut open. Phillip had never seen the insides, and so his imagination ran wild. The imagery wasn’t pleasant. It made him lightheaded. Ah, I-I see.

His previous ‘home’ and mental state were questioned, and those were questions he didn’t want to delve deep into. A lot of things got me scared. Phillip fidgeted with his paws. But y-yes, they made a contribution.

I came from a beach far from here. I’m only back cause, well uh, they asked me to leave. Threatened him and chased him out was more accurate.

natshana is unaware of the mental gymnastics she's inspired.  her attention is divided equally between phillip and the fruit they've obtained. it's going to be a heavy round of experiments in order to figure out how to crack the hard shell of the coconut.  she wonders idly if there's a wolf in these lands that's more familiar with the practice.  

"i am sorry to hear that," she says the words earnestly.  whatever or whoever has caused this poor wolf to be so anxious has clearly left their mark. it is impossible not to feel empathy for him. "you do not need to be on your guard with me, phillip.  i am no beach wolf.  i come from woods far away from here." she pauses, deciding she will attempt to soothe his worries further, if she can. "you are the first wolf i have met here who has shown kindness to me. i will not forget that quickly."