It had been a while since the Winged heir had made his way down to Auster. There had been a time when he had spent a fair few days wandering the Starlit Plains. Those days had been when his Grandmother Resin was alive, and had filled those lands with life. Now, he felt oddly subdued, but not entirely sad as he cut through Ashen territory and made his way to the Bifrost.

Swimming until he was shallow enough to stand, he raced up the beach and shook salty water from his coat. His wings were heavy sodden things, and he stretched them out. The dark tones attracted the sun, and he angled them into the head as he flopped down on the sand. Leaving them as long as he could on either side of him. He was due a break after all the effort of swimming to get here, and a chance to dry.

"Speech"

Proteus

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son of the sea

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This place was incredible!

He thought Lazuli Falls had been neat, with its sugar-coated back cave, but even more so was this! It was a land bridge of some sort made with a length of sand that seemed to stretch out for miles and miles, though he could see the distant shadows of another land beyond. From the way the island had vanished behind him, he figured this had to be some pathway to another continent completely. Not to mention, as he trotted along, sand squishing up between his toes, he could feel the weather shifting. The temperatures here were strange and he somehow knew that they would continue to change as he moved northward, if he moved northward.

Speaking of northward, he saw movement.

A black shape, larger than any he'd ever seen before, was spread out across the sand with something massive and similarly black spreading out from its back. A bear? No, he could see wolven features atop the beast's face though it was far from any he'd ever met before. His tail wagged furiously as he bounded through the sand, letting out a whoop of greeting. Whoa! he was amazed and the idea that this wolf might be one to decide to harm him in some way was nowhere on the young man's excitable mind. You have wings?!

Dialogue looks like this.

The sound of crunching paws on sand alerted the Winged Heir, and his ears perked up, listening. Moments later, the sound grew, and he could hear the sand squishing beneath the walkers feet as they picked up their paws and let out an exclamation of joy. Already laughing, Mortis lifted his head, and then prompted himself onto his belly, his paws beneath him.

“Hi.” Mortis said, amusement enriching the word. He was well accustomed to the strange responses he could get when people saw his winged appendages. “I…’ he looked to one side, and then the other, startled. “I guess I do. Huh.” he gave his wings a shake, a teasing grin on his maw.

"Speech"