Dark colored and long-furred, Katja had been struggling in this damned heatwave. Unable to do much during the day but curl up in the shallow, stuffy den she'd scraped out for herself, and pant. In the early morning before it started truly heating up she would go between her den and the dying spring nearby to thoroughly soak the moss she'd padded the den with - the evaporation of the water did at least a little to keep her cool during the day, and the multiple trips to the water allowed her to drink her fill before hiding once more beneath the earth. Normally she would have preferred to sleep beneath the stars rather than be tied to a den, but in this instance she saw fit to change her ways. Between sundown and early morning, she had been spending her time down in the bay doing what hunting she could in the tidepools and shallower water where she could be cooler than chasing rabbits.
She was there now, moving swiftly and with no hesitation to stride out into the salty water before dipping below the surface in one smooth motion. Holding her breath, she paddled around beneath the surface, simultaneously exercising muscles she didn't want to atrophy during her forced rest and allowing the water to work it's way through her fur to cool her feverish body. She didn't fear the fins she'd seen at some distance in the water, heralding the sharks that called the bay home. Their behavior showed no aggression today, and besides she wasn't deep enough to tempt a shark with it risking beaching itself.
Finally, lungs burning for air, she had to surface and make her way back to shore. The water sluicing down her sides flattened her silky pelt to her, emphasizing her slim form and, momentarily, revealing the multitude of scars it would normally hide. Then she shook herself, throwing the water from her coat, and was once more herself, if a bit spikier from the dampness. Cool now, her first order of business would be to fill her empty stomach. The heat had effectively killed her appetite, but still she knew the importance of keeping herself healthy and ready. Without conscious thought she reached out with her heart to Nj?r?r, the god of the sea, and Ullr of the hunt, asking their assistance this night in her mission.
The Gods proved merciful, as the second tidepool she checked held a few stranded fish nearly as long as her foreleg. She slipped down into the water, startling them into darting around the pool. They were fast, but she was faster, snapping up two in quick succession.
But something had her on edge - a sound, intuition, the touch of Freya warning her? The still-damp fur over her shoulders bristled as the masked mercenary searched the beach for the source of her unease.
"Speech"
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