ooc: Navigation - Ibis Islands

Shaking the sea water from her coat Karabela climbed up onto the shore of the largest of the Ibis Islands.  Her mother had always been a skilled swimmer but it was only lately that Raba had started challenging herself in the water.  Resting with her belly on the sand she eyed the flocks of tropical birds that were staring back at her non-plussed.  Clearly they weren't used to predators on the island.  Though they were reasonably luck, at least for the time being, as Karabela wasn't terribly hungry and was more interested in scouting out the island than dining upon its inhabitants.  Getting to her feet she started moving inland, pausing to rub her right side against a palm tree.  Ahhhh…. now this was a vacation.  Sun, sand, food and mysterious mountains with mysterious caves just begging for an adventure to uncover their secrets.

"Speech"

Small and strong, Selene makes her way over the ground on cracked paws.  Summer was in full force, but she was ready for it to not be so damned hot.  The hot days, she'd learned, were the hardest.  The hardest and the absolute worst.  That's what happens when the entirety of your coat was black.  Er.  Most of the entirety of your coat.  The heat is uncomfortable, the cold is uncomfortable, that's pretty standard.   There's something beautiful about her on these days.  A small creature pushing herself over the stones, bobbing and weaving between the large stones in the shallow water.  She's laughing.  She's exploring this place, working her way through a strange land.  Right, a stranger in a new land.  Selene likes to explore, likes to wander, likes to find all the stuff that maybe no one has seen before.  Hell, maybe no one will see after.  Graceful as ever, someone else catches her eye not a long way off.   A girl leaning against a palm tree, garnering a bark from Selene's throat.  Tail wagging madly, she lopes and tosses her head, all elastic movements and long limbs as she greets the woman.  A long way off, but she doesn't mind.  "Hey!  Hey, good morning!"  Right.  Today, Selene is all sunshine and rainbows.  Today she's something pure... pure chaos.  selene the scorn of the moon

by jake help from russ

Seagulls moved around her, giving her a wide berth but their curious gaze and tilting heads meant sooner or later they would come forward and her waiting jaws would be ready. Karabela had no interest in being picked at by a bunch of birds. Raba stood suddenly and shook the sand from her coat. The birds skittered backwards at the sudden movement of the large, dark behemoth. That's right birds… or should I say dinner. At least make this a challenge for me. She crouched, eyeing the featured critters before her when her ears twitched as she caught the sounds of laughter. Oh? Perhaps she wasn't the only explorer out on the Ibis Islands today.

Karabela turned as a small, dark yearling enthusiastically shouted a hello and started racing for her. Raba cocked her head for a moment. The femme didn't look familiar. Maybe she was just the sunshine sort. Grinning, the Chieftan turned to the girl. "Hello there! Good morning yourself!" Karbela couldn't help bug giggle as she glanced at the smaller wolf that barely seemed to come up to her chest. "Who might you be? You wouldn't happen to live here by chance, would you? I'm thinking of checking out that large island over there." One more swim and those mountains were as good as hers for the taking.

"Speech"

Young and small and full of light. All the things that Selene ever wants to be. All the things that she ever has been. With her eyes like the night sky grinning as brilliantly as the rest of her face, her tail wags wildly. Everything is a spark. She is a spark of light in the brightness of the day. Hell. She'd made a little spark to live inside, and that's what's kept her alive so far. As Selene closes the gap between herself and the other woman, she realizes just how big the creature is. It doesn't occur once to the scorn of the moon that she is short. That's absolutely not a possibility. As ever, she grins.

Something about her very energy radiates chaos. Oh how lovely it feels. "Selene, who're you?" The words come across a little less eloquently, a little less politely, but her tail is wagging her entire body-- what's that phrase, the tail wagging the dog? That's what it seemed like with Selene in these moments. "I don't really live anywhere, but I'll explore with you if you want." Moonlight eyes on the taller woman in earnest, reaching out carefully to tag the older woman about the shoulder (almost the shoulder, there was no way Selene could reach) with her nose. It was a greeting of sorts with her people, an innocent gesture. Young, non threatening, and maybe a bit touchy. Selene gets like that sometimes.

~Selene

Selene. A pretty name for a lovely, and very active, young lady. Karabela's tail wagged languidly back and forth as she grinned at the little wolf whose tail was moving so fast Raba was was worried it was going to tip her right over. "Nice to meet you Selene! My name is Karabela, you can call me Raba for short if you like." Selene wasn't from around the area but that was just fine for Karabela. While it would be nice to have a tour guide there was something so succulent about exploring a land without any idea of what lay around the next corner and no idea where she was going…. well almost no idea.

She backed up a bit surprised by the gesture as the girl touched her shoulder with her nose and her head tilted as she gazed down at the girl but she brushed it aside. The other was probably just excited.

"Sure, come on! I'm thinking it'd be fun to explore the mountains on that island there though we'll have to swim to get to it." It didn't look to far, probably about a quart of a mile…. yea, she could make that. Karabela's powerful legs bunched underneath her before she sprang forward and in a few quick bounds leapt into the sea water. She shook her head for a moment then turned to see if Selene would follow.

"Speech"

Something about having company leaves her brilliantly, amazingly, desperately excited. It's such a good feeling. An amazing feeling. She's alight with it, alive with it, dancing on those quick paws around her new friend. Head tossing wildly, eyes bright. "Real nice to meet you then, Raba." Her tail, in fact, would knock her over if she wasn't moving so much. It actually was, now, important that she continued to dance. Stay young, go dancing, after all. There was a recoil, though, and Selene has to remind herself that it's probably not acceptable to touch strangers. Right. Weird. Strangers are weird.


"Let's go then!" The girl races after her new friend into the water, small and strong. The grace is astonishing until she hits the water, flailing for a moment before getting her bearings with a brilliant bark. Happy. Ever so happy. Silky fur doesn't weigh her down much in the water, making her the most powerful sort of machine. She's lovely. Today, Selene is lovely.


"So what's your thing, what do you do?" The question is poorly phrased, but the starlit is painted with open curiosity. She wants to know about the new friend, she wants to know what happens in this place. Selene is still so new, and she's still so lost. Hell, at this rate she'll always be lost. It happens when you don't stay in one place for long, right?

~Selene

Crisp and cool the chill of the water was refreshing and the shock of leaping in had cleared her head almost instantaneously. Selene had followed her quickly into the water, struggling for a moment before righting herself. Karabela was glad. After rescuing a nearly unconscious man from a flood earlier that spring she wasn't eager to play rescuer again. It had been a difficult experience first having to save herself from being swept away and then having to steel herself enough to leap back into the raging torrent for a complete stranger. If karma was real Karabela hoped that it was now smiling upon her.

Powerful limbs and muscular frame propeled Karabela through the water until she reached the shore and she quickly scrambled onto the beach and shook out her coat. Ahhhh…. wonderful. She turned to Selene as the girl asked her what she did. For a moment Raba didn't quite understand the question. Hmmm… what was her thing. "I'm a warrior. I fight, I explore. Those would be my things. As for what I do well… I'm the Chieftan, the alpha, of a pack called Ivory Ridge. What of yourself? What is your thing? What do you do?"

"Speech"

Soft and strong all at once, that's what Selene wants to be. That's what Raba looks like, and she's drawn in by it. Then again, the starlit is drawn in by a lot of things. She only takes a moment to find her sea legs, cutting through the water like a knife through butter. Pretty and covered in stars, everything about Selene is fantastic today. So full of light and full of life. A short swim was all they really needed, and she pulls herself to the shore beside the woman. What a lovely, fantastic, beautiful, wonderful feeling this was!


So she shakes. She shakes out her coat with a giggle, eyes shimmering softly as she does. As Raba speaks, Selene can't help herself. She bounces around the woman, head high, seeming to dance from foot to foot. Around and around in a circle, listening softly to Raba as she speaks. Wow... she's really tall. The first thought that resonates in Selene's mind where she stands beside the woman.


"I explore too! Always have, always been on the move." There's something glimmering about her. Something shining, transient. A ghost. Never really here or there, but she loves to be... around. "And meet people when I do. It's a good deal, I suppose." Selene needs to look up when she speaks to the woman, head craned back. What a neat person to be friends with. Selene at least thought they could be friends, right?

~Selene

Karabela gave her coat another good shake to remove any excess water before she started strolling towards the mountains her tail wagging lazily behind her. Golden eyes examined the mountain pass as she began climbing upwards. The mountains were impressive in their own right but they didn't look nearly as forboding and rough as the range of the Eastern mountains and of course they couldn't compare but then she was biased. Her butt wiggled just a bit before she leapt up onto a nearby ledge scaring away some chipmunks.

She grinned at Selene, grateful to have met another explorer. "Have you explored much of these lands or are you just getting started? If you need I can make a few suggestions." She was always happy to help out a fellow explorer. "Personally, I love the mountains, the mountains and the plains."

"Speech"

All things bright and beautiful, the two girls move together. It's fun. It's always going to be fun. There's a rolling sort of romp in her gait, and Selene's head is high. It's so easy to romp when it comes to days like this. Warm sun in her dark fur, drying out the silky finery quite quickly. Everything is quick. Selene is quick! She likes being this fast, this full of life. Days like these are amazing. Days like this are so good, and they leave her feeling so, so, so good. Hell. With Selene there's so, so, so much of everything all at once. She's everything all at once. Maybe that's why she's so much chaos all the time, but the starlit is nearly dancing as she too moves toward the mountains.


"Just getting started! I just got here." Hopping and skipping, there's something boundless about Selene's energy. "I love suggestions, suggestions are my favorite," Okay, listen up: everything is her favorite, especially on days like this. Raba is her favorite. The sea is her favorite. The plains are her favorite. It's all her favorite. "I grew up in the desert, it's so different and so lovely!" Lovely. Everything is lovely. Selene moves ahead of Raba for a moment, running a few paces forward before doubling back. Everything in cycle, everything in balance.

~Selene

Karabela moved with sure-footed elegance. With each step her confidence grew as did her excitement. She couldn't wait to see the view from the top of this mountain especially with it being surrounded by water! The view would be stunning she was sure of it but they still had a long way to go and Karabela was new to the mountain and could only make educated guesses as to the best routes to take. She also was uncertain of Selene. Would the other woman be alright with such a lofty quest? She supposed they could take it easy for now and simply explore, get a feel for the mountain, before she returned later to reach the very top.

Raba paused as she grinned at Selene. She had a few suggestions though unfortunately they were all about as far away from where they were now as one could get. "Ok, suggestions, let me see… well I have some good one's but you'll have to travel really far. Though if you like to travel and explore by the time you're done you'll see most of Boreas. If you like deserts you should travel far to the west, like straight west form here, all the way towards the western coast there's a place called the Whisperer's Gorge. It's full of twisting, winding paths, strange caves and stranger sights to see. There's even a room that seems to glow! Just north of that is the Deadman's Scrap. It's a weird, kind of dirty land full of all sorts of stuff that you won't find anywhere else. Trash, treasures, hooman things. Then far to the north there's a place called the Marble Wash. It's an ancient river bed as white as bone and some times when you're there in the evening you can see gold running through it."

"Speech"

Selene is nothing if not starving for adventure. She's got the endurance to go on and on and on-- forever, if she needed to. If she didn't need to go on forever, she could at least do it for a while. She was ready to go as close to touching gthe sun as the other woman was ready for. Raba was friendly, she was kind. Selene was happy with her choice in companion for the day. With her fragile confidence (some days fragile, at least, and today was one of those) she couldn't have handled someone standoffish or... well... mean.


Raba speaks easily as they pad together up the side of the mountain. It's nice to have someone else that will talk, that will tell her the stories and secrets of this land. Marble wash, Whisperer's Gorge, Deadman's Scrap. The last one sounded the most interesting-- treasure! "I like to travel, it's always been my life." Selene worries for a moment she' said too much. People, they didn't like people like her. Gypsies. Unclean, dirty, moving along as the wind and the prey did. There were rarely days when they'd be set up longer than two or three sunsets. She misses it, sure, but... it's a long ways from her now. Such a long ways. But that's okay.


Selene is able to recover from her falter, divert attention back away from her past. At least internally. That's what matters. "Maybe we could go treasure hunting one day, if you aren't busy!" Being who she was, Raba... would have to be busy. But that's okay, Selene likes company, she likes to dream. It's easiest that way. She's light on her feet, a fae creature, as she keeps up with the larger woman. The starlit, today, is happy. Forever enduring. Selene would continue on.

~Selene

Up and up, so much up.  Sometimes Karabela wondered why she did this to herself.  There was a weird mix of pain and pleasure in pushing her body this hard, in scaling a mountain, in exploring the nooks and crannies of a mother nature that could turn on her at any moment.  Yet, as they journeyed on her heart felt light.  Pausing on a ledge she peered out across the ocean, marveling at the blue of the water and the rippling waves of the sea.  She just felt so small amongst everything but for some reason the thought was more comforting than terrifying.  She wondered what the view was like for her mother if the warrior was indeed up where the sky spirits dwelled.

Karabela would turn to Selene and nod. "I agree, traveling is a bit part of my life though lately I've been learning to settle in one place.  Even so I still find myself straying.  I don't know what it is in me that compels me to wander."  She also wasn't sure how smart it was for an alpha to wander like she did.  She had to make her trips short to make sure she could patrol her borders but lately with the pack growing in size and the formidable nature of their dwelling she wasn't to worried. "Sure!  I'd love to go treasure hunting with you Selene.  Maybe in the spring time?"  She would have her paws full just trying to get her pack through the winter and doubted she'd have any time to really explore other lands.

The Chieftan leapt up onto another ledge, climbing higher, before leaping onto another when suddenly a rock shifted under her hind legs and sent her skidding down the slope.  Karabela swore, limbs flailing before she managed to catch herself. "Oops…" she chuckled. "The rocks are a bit loose up there.  Watch your step!" She shifted a bit on her paws, winching at the gash on the inside of her left foreleg.  Oi… she was certainly keeping her healers busy.

"Speech"