Wheeling Gull Isle Two Storms

He starts out as the sun rises, chasing trails of light across the beach paths. Down by the shore the winds are calm and the skies silent. He maneuvers around the bones of conifers, washed up from the sea and graved along the foreshore. This stretches of the granite coast is pocked with rocky pools, capturing an abundance of intertidal sealife. Judah scuttles around them, pawing at anemones, trying (and failing) to mouth a school of miniature shoal. In the next pool he finds a family of scallops and fishes them out with his teeth, starting a neat pile at his side. He’d need to gather more this morning- he had a second mouth to feed.

Judah shakes the oceanwater from his cheeks and glances up towards the greenhills, where the girl- @Racharra- was still sleeping.

GASP

she should've suspected something when she woke in the middle of the night fighting a clogged nose. racharra stirs as Ra demands that she gets up, his sun insistent on shining into the den. but she couldn't; a cough violently shakes her to escape. she hacks, and with a drag of her paw buries the flem. the act alone was like moving a boulder, and Ra couldn't have any sympathy in at least moving the light away from where she slept.

except he does! when racharra flops over to her other side, she perks when she meets silver and copper eyes again, bright even as his figure cuts a shadow.
..good morning. she croaks through dry throat.

He gathered as many scallops as could possibly fit in his jaws and trudged for the den. The girl was awake now, her golden eyes peering up at him and a low greeting on her voice. She sounded awful- he supposed all mainlanders were delicate to the thick salt air.

The boy deposited the shellfish unceremoniously at the mouth of the den, the shells clanking together as they thudded on the shale. Lapping at the excess slaver on his lips, Judah took several intrinsic steps backward and lowered his hips into a seat. He pretended to be particularly interested in a passing gull to his left while keeping the denmouth framed in the corner of his eye.

she lurches up onto her feet, though her head hung low as she watched the scallops unceremoniously fall from his mouth and onto dirt.
golden eyes flick between him and the scallops — a plate wouldve been nice!!

rarely does she get to eat seafood, rarely does she like seafood, but her stomach had an entirely different stance in this — slobber and dirt covered scallops were the tastiest things in the world right now!

racharra joins him finally, sitting across from judah. thank you.. and the girl gets to work on opening the scallops. her brow furrows as she finds the best nook to crack open the scallops — usually, they'd been opened for her — but guilt kept her as tightly shut as the scallops are to ask for help.
..aren't you going to eat? she clears her throat, fighting against the flem that clung to her throat still. to hack and cough like a madwoman in front of judah is the last thing she needed!
we can share? and she can watch how he opens his!

It is enough to rouse her and the boy is privately pleased to see her enthusiasm. His eyes are curious upon her as she sits up, looking more alert. She fumbles with the shells, mulling them oddly underfoot. It hadn’t occurred to him that a mainlander would have no idea what to do with a scallop. Amusement pulls his lip into a furtive, half-smile.

“Like this,” Judah gestures, taking a shell in hand and positioning it firmly in place with his claws. He slides his molars into the pleated grooves, forcing the husk apart. Inside the glistening heart is well-preserved and the boy noses the opened shell towards Racharra.

“For you,” he extends, despite her invitation. Nerves were making him shaky. He didn’t think he could eat.

pressure built in her skull, watching him so quickly and confidently open the scallop — it was nothing really, yet when she caught a glimpse of even a weak smile. and that was enough for something to stir bashfulness within the girl.

with the passing of her tongue, the heart slides into place and it doesn't take long for racharra to be reminded of her hunger. politeness was thrown to the wayside, at least until she'd finished eating.

thank you.... again. she chortles, swiping her tongue over her lips as when she's about to repeat the gesture, she hesitates.
never did she like the way her teeth looked. especially lately. especially now when under judah's gaze; she didn't want him to see her ogre tusks, she didn't want to scare him!
insecurity stood between her food, and her stomach has to remind her again of its hunger. she inches forward before repeating what he'd taught her. rather easily too, but that isn't much of a surprise for herself.
her eyes search him, worried for what they may find.

Judah stood a little distant, like a shepherd keeping vigil over one of his flock, ears ticking to nearby caws and the steady thrum of windswept leaves overhead. But there was no danger this morning. They were alone on the island.

Racharra was quick to pick up the tactic he’d shown, dividing the scallop shells into two halves with ease. He’d seen her strength under moonlight but he couldn’t help to notice how the sun was running it’s beams along the muscles in her shoulders.

The bounty was quickly ebbing. He was debating whether or not to go out for more when her voice rose again, clearer this time.

His shoulders raise into something of a shrug and he dips his nose just once- a universal inference of don’t mention it.

For all his reservation, the boy was relieved to see her in good spirits. He wanted to tell her the tide would be out until noon, that she’d better get going if she wanted to make it back to mainland before the waters rose once more. But the words didn’t come. For the first time he considered how empty the isle was. How very isolated he felt. How he was reluctant for her to leave- a stranger, who he didn’t know a thing about.

Judah reached his arm back, the unsightly one with the nub, and tucked it behind the other. “How’d you end up out here anyway?” He flicked his ears forward, in full accord of her now.

he stood watch over her, like a mazoi would. the leg could've been from a hard fought battle. unless the sea itself decided his leg would belong to it. she too could've been taken by it too, had it not been for judah. 

but he was not a mazoi to her nebet. today, he and her were equals, racharra decided so when she did not declare herself.
i ran away from home. she speaks casually between scallops, licking her lips as she prepares the next. the heat got too much. another splits open.

i'll be back. just wanted to get away from it all for moment. crack. she splits this one a little too open, and the scallop's heart sits entirely exposed. racharra looks up to judah.  i was angry. i think i still am. perhaps the sea sensed that. she lingers stiffly, before continuing her routine.

sorry. what about you? i assume this is your home, but.. aren't you quite young to be living alone?