All she heard was water- no, not just water. Waves. Slowly her senses were coming back to her, the sound of waves crashing against the shore beginning to register in her brain. She felt the warm sun on her fur and for a moment she thought she had just been sleeping on the shore back home like she used to all the time. Then she tried to breathe in and realized how wrong she was. Her breath turned into a gargling cough and her whole body shook as she coughed up the salt water that was burning in her lungs. Her eyes blinked open as she forced herself to roll from her side to her stomach, gasping when she finally got a clean breath of air into her lungs. Where was she? Her gaze was still blurry and she blinked her eyes several times to clear them, looking around at the coast she had ended up on. Flashes of memories started rushing back to her. The storm, the wind, the water... Panic set in and she scrambled to her paws, stumbling several times in the attempt. She turned around to look out over the ocean, seeing the island she used to live on in the far, far distance. It was barely a green speck on the horizon. She couldn't believe it. She sat down heavily on the sand, her white-marked ears falling back against her skull. She didn't understand how she had ended up here and she even more so couldn't understand how she had survived it.

Waves crashed upon the shore as they reverberated in the male's ears. A small sigh escaped the brute. It was possible that he had gotten side-tracked trying to find Maria, but it was good to get the lay of the lands that he had come across as well. His crimson eyes scanned the proximity of the shore: from the sand that was upon the ground, and the crashing waves that hit the stone rocks some distance away. The feeling of the warm grains against his paw pads soothed the male, but, he knew that it would be best to find the way toward his temporary home and not stay in one place very long. Maria was a young she-wolf, but he did not want to see her get hurt for she was more used to healing than fighting, that much was certain for the brute.

However, upon examination to the land before him, a figure happened to be upon the shore. His cranium tilted slightly to the side in question: who was this wolf, and it was obvious that they were alone so why would that be the case?

The ebony male did not wish to pry into business that was not his own, but, something told him to talk to this wolf and see if they needed any assistance. He was new to these lands, so help with directions was obviously slim to none.

"Excuse me, are you alright?" Shadow asked, his crimson orbs focusing on the strangers own as they held a bit of wonder and question, but, he tried to show kindness as best he could.

Pualani jumped a bit as a voice suddenly broke her focus on the horizon, her bright blue gaze darting over to the black, red-marked male that had addressed her. "I... I think so," she responded uncertainly, glancing down at herself to ensure that she was in fact still in one piece. She looked up at the male again, taking a deep breath as she tried to steady herself again. She immediately regretted that decision since her lungs still felt sore and burned with each breath. She knew some wolves from her island had come to the mainland before and she had family members from here as well, but she had never been out here before. "I'm just kind of sore and tired, but okay I think," she added, carefully getting to her paws so she could turn to look at him. "I'm not sure how long I was out... I'm from that island out there and there was a storm and I got washed away..." She settled back on her haunches again, quickly realizing that standing was making her dizzy.

Shadow would nod his cranium in reply to her when she explained that she was alright, just a tad sore. That was good to hear, due to the fact that he was not much of a healer and probably never would be. His eyes closed when the salty ocean spray hit his face, but he paid no bother to it as he turned his attention to the island that was quite a distance away. So the dame happened to be swept away by the ocean and landed on this island. Well, it is rather a unique way of being stuck at another place you probably wish you weren't. Shadow nodded, "Make sure that you lie down and relax. Moving too much will put too much strain on your body, or make you much dizzier than you already are," he explained, trying to lighten the mood as best he could.

"My name is Shadow, may I be so bold as to ask who you are?" When Shadow asked this, a larger wave happened to crash forward, causing him to tumble over due to the force. He did not know that waves could reach where he was, but, oh well, "Forget that ever happened," he spoke, a bit embarrassed at the action that happened to ensue.

She nodded in agreement at his recommendation that she stay still, giving him a smile. In the middle of his introduction, her eyes widened with surprise when suddenly a wave came up and knocked him over. She hopped up like she could have possibly helped him or saved him if the waves tried to take him away like they had her, not that she could have really helped much in her current state. Luckily nothing came of the incident other than an embarrassed glance on his part and a dizzy spell on hers. She chuckled softly and gave him a grin while she tried to take in a few deeper breaths to chase away the dizzy feeling swimming around her head. "Maybe we should move away from the shore a bit," she commented before turning to walk several feet further inland, putting plenty of distance between them at the waves before she eased back down onto her haunches. How would she get back home? She could barely walk more than ten feet without wanting to fall over. There was no way she could make that swim back like this... Suddenly she remembered that she had never returned his introduction and she looked to him with an apologetic look. "Sorry, how rude of me. I'm Pualani." She sighed and looked around at the land that stretched out from the shore. "I don't know what to do now."

Shadow would nod, hearing her introduction as he had followed her inland. His eyes focused in on her light blue gaze as he looked around, thinking of what to do. "Normally in my old pack we would spar but you definitely are not up for that in the current state you're in," he explained before closing his eyes and thinking once more. "Another would be we told stories to pass the time as well, but I am not sure if you would be bored by it or not," he snickered. The thought of him telling a story was rather different, but he would do so if it helped the dame forget about her diziness.

"If you are hungry I can go fishing for you. Sometimes it is best to have some nourishment to help your body feel better as what my friend kept telling me," he chuckled to himself when he thought of Maria arguing with him to eat something when he was weak, and he thought of it as irony in this case.

Pualani chuckled softly again and gave her head a shake when he mentioned that they would spar to pass the time where he was from. She had never heard of sparring for fun. She knew her family that were warriors sparred fairly often for practice, but she didn't think they did it for fun. She was much more interested in his offer for stories and food. She could definitely agree with his friend that nourishment did the body good. I would love something to eat if you really don't mind. And I'd love to hear some stories. I've never left the island so I'm sure you have some stories that would be really interesting to me!" She couldn't imagine how much different life on the mainland was like. She had heard some stories about it before from her family that had made the journey, but it was very basic stuff like that the weather was so much different further inland and that there was different kinds of prey and plants here. She had no idea how wolves here lived. Who knew, maybe it was very similar! She let him go fish if he really was going to, taking the chance to look around her at the strange shoreline.

The brute would nod. He had heard many stories from his mother when he was a pup and remembered almost every single one. His crimson orbs would shift to the water, trudging through the sand as the soft, tiny rocks tickled the brute's paws. He was never one to really laugh, but, he would smile on occassion though the only one to ever make him smile so far was Maria.

As he stepped into the liquid, the warm water surrounded his legs as he looked around for a fish or two. Upon seeing one, he would quickly snap down with rather quick reflexes and bringing the fish inland as it flopped around. Shadows canines peirced the prey as it soon lay limp, placing the animal in front of her.

"As for the story, do you have any preferences like love stories or fighting or mystery?" There were many his mother had told him, and many that had different things in them so he wanted to ask the dame her preferences before picking one as he lied down and focused on her and the crashing of the waves before them.

Pualani let her pale blue gaze follow the man as he went back toward the water. He didn't seem like he was easily impressed, but that was okay. She didn't mind. There were plenty of wolves back home that were much more serious than she was. She knew she had always been much more relaxed and easygoing than most. She smiled when he efficiently caught a fish, her tail brushing the sand behind her. "Well done!" she cheered as he turned back toward her with it in his mouth. She dipped her head gratefully to him when he sat it down in front of her, letting herself settle down onto her stomach so she could hold the fist still with her forepaws while she carefully tore into it. She looked up at him as he listed off options for what genre of story he should tell her. Her brows lifted with surprise and she grinned happily. "Really? I didn't know you knew all kinds! Hmmm... Oh, a mystery sounds interesting." She continued to glance up at him while she ate, waiting to see what story he might have for her.

The ebony brute thought about one of the stories that his mother had told him, and a small chuckle rose up in him. He knew the perfect tale that he would tell her, but though it was a myth, it was also a mystery to some who believed this story.

"Well, there was a wolf that was believed to be born to complete royalty, a wolf whose pelt was a firey red and had shown no mercy to some. This angered his father to no end, ordering his guards to take him away and live in a world of solitude. Many years have passed, and the king had soon died and the crimson wolf had gone to take his place on the throne." He would rest his voice for a couple more seconds before continuing, "The other wolves that resided in the kingdom were outraged, and though they were afraid for their life they stayed where they were and continued out with the new royal wolf's orders."

"Now, you would think that this would be the end, but it is not. A white wolf who was admired by all happened to come upon the kingdom. The crimson male hated to have him at the kingdom since everyone admired his kindness and the happiness that he brought to them. The crimson wolf had challenged him to a duel for the kingdom, and though the white wolf was rather hesitant, he had accepted the fight." Shadow kept his eyes closed, thinking of the story a bit more, "Now, what do you think happens next?" He asked Paulani with a calm voice.

Pualani was absolutely riveted while she listened to Shadow's story. The only time she looked away from him was to make sure she wasn't about to chomp into a fish bone. Her diet back home relied heavily on fish so she was very familiar with eating them. Still, it never hurt to double check. Their little bones were so easy to choke on. Her imagination was on overdrive as he described the red wolf that had come to take his late father's throne. There was so much more she wanted to know! Why did the wolves stay? If they didn't like him why didn't they revolt or leave? Was this red wolf extra big and scary? Then the white wolf came into play and her eyes widened with interest. She took the last couple of bites of her fish as he finished introducing the white wolf into the story, imagining the white wolf and this evil red wolf facing off against each other like the large warriors from back home would during their spars. Her mind was reeling with all kinds of possibilities when he asked what she thought might happen next. "Did the white wolf win?" she asked hopefully, her light blue gaze fixed on Shadow while she awaited the answer anxiously.

Shadow chuckled playfully, "Were you told this story already?" He teased before continuing on, "The battle was rather ferocious. The white wolf had managed to defeat the red wolf in the battle, and peace was restored to the land. However, the red wolf did not take his losing so lightly. He came back again and again, much stronger each time he battled the white wolf. Though, some say you can still hear the howls of the red and white wolf as they face off against each other in the afterlife. For the white wolf did win his fights, even in death today they are still fighting one another; the white wolf still trying to bring peace and happiness to the wolves who have passed it seems."

Shadow would see that she had finished his catch, and a small smile came across his maw. It was shocking that she had taken interest in his story, for whenever he told the pups these stories back in his old pack before he left, they either were uninterested or fell asleep. He closed his eyes and chuckled inwardly at the thought before looking to Paulani. "I am sure you also have some questions about the story since I probably left some things out."