Take cover!
Beach, beach beach beach beach! there was little room in the young girl's head for any other thoughts. The beach was open! Repairs where underway (bleck) the clean up had been fun to a point, it had been interesting to discover what was lying beneath the wreckage, but her attention span only lasted so long. When it was clear that she wasn't going to be able to sit still another moment her father gave her permission to run the beach so long as she was within the eyes of a family member.
She took off before he had finished the sentence, tearing across the beach and slipping against the grainy sand. Who ever would have thought running along a beach would be so... different? the way the sand shifted beneath her made it hard to keep up a neck-breaking pass and it wore out her legs faster then the grass did. She slowed when she was a good distance from the main caves, shaking out her coat as her paws trembled beneath her. It had been tiring, but oh so exhilarating! She looked about her and swallowed when she realized she had lost sight of her pack mates. She tossed her head back and forth to be certain of this before slinking behind a mismatched stack of rocks that lay against the sand closer to the prairie then the beach. Did anyone realize she as out of sight? She could really explore until they found out!
Solaris' paws carried him across the sands of the beach while he looked for something else to clean up. He was simply happy to have the beach returned to them. He briefly saw Glacier's daughter run off from the group and he smiled before turning his orange gaze back down to the sands. He loved watching how care free pups seemed to be, at least for the most part. How fun it must be to get such a kick out of just running across the beach. He hummed quietly to himself as he walked, picking up loose limbs as he went. He was moving away from the ground and heading up the beach, but he wanted to take the small pile of thin branches he was collecting between his jaws over to the prairie just to keep them from getting stuck in the sand again. He padded over to the edge of the beach where the land shifted from sand to grass and dropped off the branches before turning around to head back down the beach. Just as he was turning though he happened to glance to the side in time to see Seraphiel duck behind a stack of rocks. A brow raised curiously and he smiled a little as he watched her. What was she up to. He glanced toward the caves where most of their family still was and it didn't see like anyone else was looking this way. He looked back to the pup and padded toward her, a smile playing on his lips. "What are you up to?" he asked softly, ducking down like he was going to hide behind the rocks with her even though there was no way he could fit behind it completely. |
She didn't immediately spot her tag along. Thinking herself safe, and hidden, she started to paw at the earth beneath the rock. The shifting sand felt strange to dig into and she enjoyed the feeling of running her paws beneath it. As she dug against the rock, she would notice a little puddle of water against its base, where it had been captured beneath the dipped ground and remained when the tide had gone out.
That would be where she was looking when a voice spoke behind her. Lost in her own world, she had no awareness of his presence. Her head shot up, and her fur bristled in surprise, before she noticed it was Solaris that had spoken to her. She hand't spoken to him yet at anything other then pack meetings or in a crowd, she had never spent time with alone and didn't know if he was a stickler for the rules. When he crouched down, hiding part of his bulk behind the rock she liked him more – he was joining her, not ratting her out. She giggled and shook her head at him. “Escaping. And that wont do, that wont do at all. Come on” she said, waving a paw to indicate he should move forward. There was a bend in the earth just ahead of them, that would easily conceal the both of them from the main group. She looked left and right, and ran for it, expecting him to follow. When she was safely behind the bend, they had another stretch of beach out before them. If they went around the next bend, they would be leaving Donostrea territory and heading towards the Time's Cavern. But Ray had no interest in heading that way, she was content to explore this beach that been for so long, banned to her.
Solaris chuckled quietly to himself as she jumped from surprise and turned quickly to look at him. He grinned at her giggle, already enjoying this little game they seemed to be playing. She chastised him for his poor attempt at hiding and instead took off toward a new hiding spot. He of course didn't hesitate to follow. He kept low to the ground and quickly ducked behind the dip in the earth that she had motioned to. They were much more well hidden from the rest of the group here. As happy as he was to play around with his niece, he was also glad that he was able to keep an eye on her for Glacier while he focus on organizing the last of the clean up on the beach. At least she had someone making sure she stayed out of trouble. Well, dangerous trouble anyway. And could she really be in trouble if they were doing it together? He stayed crouched down on his stomach just to make sure his larger form wouldn't be seen over the ridge of the hill even though he was sure it would be fine. He just liked playing along with her games. It had been far, far too long since he had this sort of fun. "Well! This is a better hiding spot, isn't it? What are you escaping from, hm? A ghost? Pirates?" he asked, tossing out ridiculous answers that he figured only the mind of a pup would think up. He grinned playfully, his tail wagging gently behind him. |
Having not yet decided, Solaris's words where mighty interesting to her. She snapped her eyes to his golden ones,the bright curiosity in her blues unmistakable. "Pirates? What's a pirate?" She wanted to know. Everyone in her family had a habit to tell everything in stories, and her alert manner hinted that if he had one to tell she would be an eager listener. The destruction destruction of the beach momentarily lost their fascination to her. She knew what ghosts where, and the idea of hiding from ghosts sounded silly to her. But pirates? If they where more real then ghosts that was definitely what they where hiding from and hunting.
Solaris saw her interest snap back to him at the mention of something and her quick questioning of what a pirate was answered what it was that had her curious. He chuckled and settled comfortably on his stomach, settling in for a little story time. "What are pirates! Well, they are despicable wolves that steal whatever it is they want! As long as its valuable they want it. They're very clever and strong though, that's why they're dangerous!" He grinned as he spoke, enjoying weaving this little story for his niece. "What do you think we'd have that a pirate wolf would want? Can you think of anything extra shiny or anything extra special?" His tail continued to wag against the sand behind him while he watched her curiously. He was genuinely interested in seeing what her mind could come up with. He loved watching others and seeing how they interacted with others and how their minds worked anyway and he hadn't really had the chance to do that with someone so young before. |
She barely paused to see if Solaris was keeping up with her thoughts and thought the stones worthy if thieving. She started along the littered beach, skittering from one spot to another, searching under skatted branches and clumped seaweed. "Solaris, Solaris I think I found one!" She called through a mouthful, picking up something shiny she had seen in the upturned sand. She shook it in her mouth, it felt strangle hollow. She dropped it to the ground and pawned at it. It was funny shaped and lined, a strange pale color, and light. She had never seen a seashell before and didn't have a word to name it. "That's no stone" she said, dejected. She had wanted to fight off a pirate for it.
He was loving how immediately invested she was in this whole scenario. Her confidence was both impressive and hilarious, but he was glad that she had such thoughts about herself all the same, no matter how outlandish they were. He nodded in absolute agreement when she mentioned her uncle's rock collection, grinning a little just from the fact that Voltage had a rock collection. "You're absolutely right!" he agreed. "We better find them quick! I'm sure the pirates will find out the beach is open again soon too!" Before he had even gotten up she was already skittering about, searching under piles of washed up rubble. He chuckled softly and got to his paws so he could follow along behind her, doing his part and lifting up a branch that might be a bit too big for her or pulling up a particularly large pile of seaweed with his paw here and there. His ears perked when she called out to him and he went over to see what she had found, spotting the seashell that she was looking at dejectedly. He grinned and shook his head. "No, that's not a stone. But it is a seashell! And pirates love the sea so I bet they'd really like that shiny seashell. In fact..." He gasped and lifted his black dipped forepaw to point to the beach behind her. "I think I see a pirate hiding behind those rocks over there! He's just waiting for you to leave it so he can steal it!" |
Solaris was instantly in agreement with her, his words offering encouragement and suggesting speed. when he came over to inspect her non-rock, she percked up, looking up at her Uncle with bright trusting eyes. “A seashell?” she wondered, nudging the thing with a paw. It was actually quite pretty, even if it did feel brittle under her paw and liable to break.
He gasped, and her head shot up from the shell to the surrounding beach, wondering what had surprised him. A moment later, his words made sense to her, and she pulled herself up to her full height and pushed out her chest, trying to look intimidating. “Oh no he doesn't!” she said, stealth wasn't exactly something in her nature. Leaving behind her precious find she ran to the rocks Solaris had spoken of. Carelessly, she jumped onto the lowest rock, and then the next, and the next, until she was on top of the mound, and flung herself down onto the other side. A moment later there would be the sound of growling and the gnashing of teeth. Should Solaris round the corner to investigate, he would see her tearing a new one into a funny shaped piece of drift wood – the only intruder she had found on the other side.