With pip sitting on Outlaw’s hat he made his way to the coast behind the castle.  The wind was blowing so that if his hat didn’t have a string to keep it in place it would have flown off from the first gust.  The wind brought with it the scents of the ocean.  Outlaw took a deep inhale then slowly exhaled enjoying it.  What was out that way?  He had sailed to Boreas from the ocean towards the east which left this ocean to the west of this land a total mystery.  “What do you think Pip?  What’s out there?” “Fish.” The bird matter-of-factly answered before spreading out his wings, flapping them twice before leaping off the hat into the air and out across the waves. “Well, that’s a short conversation,” mused softly before calling out, “That wasn’t quite what I meant Pip!” Outlaw watched curiously unsure of how long the bird would be gone this time.  Outlaw loved the ocean but Pip loved it even more which kind of made sense being a seagull.  “Bring back some stories if you find anything!”  Would pup be back in an hour or a week?  As long as he brought back something fun to share! “Think once get the place set up then I’ll get some logs and start working on a new raft.  I bet some of the pups would love to work on it too.”  Yup, Pip was way past hearing him so now Outlaw was just carrying on a conversation with himself. Outlaw Speech:"Life is but a game " Pip Speech

Indigo walked along beside his badger companion as they headed toward the ocean. Out of everyone he had Short Round was the one who’d seen him through everything. They were best friends, enjoying gardening together, looking for plants, testing out soil. Indy was lonely, but at least he always had her warmth beside him. They hadn’t really picked a permanent place to call their own. Testing out a few rooms in the castle where nothing had felt really right. They’d stayed out under the stars at the plains and that felt closer but it was cold and lonely without a shelter. Not that his thick fur let him feel much of the cold weather.

He told himself he was patrolling but really Indigo was just wandering, lost in thought when he heard the dog’s voice a little ways away. Seemingly talking to himself. Indy looked over curiously, but didn’t much feel like entertaining company and kind of skirted by on his way through. He knew he should get to know his pack mates, but he wasn’t sure he’d be presentable company anyway.

Outlaw couldn’t see Pip anymore and after another moment looked off from the sky and farther off the ocean to down at the shoreline where the water met sand with frothy waves.  Ooo! What was that? Walking over he looked down at a seashell far larger and glossier than he’d ever seen and it even had spots!  Nudging it with a paw he made sure nothing came out.  Empty! Gently he picked it up and turned intending to walk back towards his pouch.  Outlaw wasn’t sure what he’d do with it yet.  It could be a decoration or maybe he could make something with it, or he could even give it to one of the pups. Before he reached his satchel he noticed movement farther away.  His tail rose up high and excited.  Quickly the shell was put in the satchel, which was then thrust around his neck as the dog ran to catch up his cowboy hat falling back to rest on the back of his neck.  “Hi!” Getting up close he could tell he had the scent of their own pack on him.  He hadn’t met this wolf before! Large and purple, no way he’d forget. “Hi there,” said once at a comfortable talking distance.  Never had the thought entered his mind Indigo might not want company with another packmate.  His tail was flagging back and forth quickly, the smile large and cheer, even a seemingly twinkle in the eyes.  “I’m Outlaw.  I thought I’d met most of the pack by now.  Not sure how I missed you, I mean really.” The guy would stick out in a crowd! Outlaw looked down at the little badger merrily then back at Indigo, “Like the ocean also I guess?” Why else would he be out this way?  Ok, well there was patrolling or finding objects or probably other things.  Hmm, maybe seaweed could be useful like herbs? Maybe.  Ok, so there were other reasons to be by the ocean other than liking it but, what was there not to like? Speech:"Life is but a game " Think

Indigo sighed softly as he moved through the cold and under the trees near the castle. It was certainly tempting to make his way to the ocean but this was far from his favorite spot for that. He didn’t move fast enough to be undetected, but he hadn’t expected the dog to rush over to him either. Bright blue eyes shifted as the hat clad dog called out to him. Indy wasn’t rude, even if he would prefer to be on his own he wouldn’t shoo him away. A small smile, enough to be polite, played on his features as Short Round subtly put herself between the boy and the eager shepherd.

”Hello,” he returned the greeting as the purple tinted badger shuffled forward to touch noses with the young dog. ”I’m Indy, this is Short Round.” He introduced himself and the badger in return. ”We kind of keep to ourselves since the move,” Indy explained, but the yearling had seen the dog around, especially while he was pulling the cart down here.

”Yeah, this isn’t my favorite place to look at the ocean though.” That was over to the east where he could look out over the archipelago and see the Empire from the wildberry grove. So he could imagine Aslatiel on the other side, looking out over the ocean for him. ”I’ve just been patrolling today.”

Outlaw looked down to the little badger, offering it a smile as big as he’d offered Indigo, “hello,” Outlaw was perfectly happy to touch nose to nose with the badger.  Was it a sign of friendship for a badger? For good measure, Outlaw gave the badger a little lick on the muzzle before focusing again on Indigo.   “Keeping to yourself huh?” Outlaw seemed to consider the notion for a bit then moved on the rest of it, “Where’s your favorite spot?  What makes it better? I love to go sailing, well, I’ve only really sailed once but it was for several days.”  Outlaw suddenly sat his rump down, tilted his head lower so his back paw could kick his hat back straight on his head. “Have you ever been to the forgotten Isle? That’s where I grew up, loads of neat stuff there.  Kind of like but not like this place.  Though the ocean was even neater.  Have you seen the huge fish? Fish bigger than my raft was?” Of course Indigo would have known how big a raft was so Outlaw didn’t bother to explain that detail. Speech:"Life is but a game " Think

Short Round was a simple soul, she was much better at hiding whatever emotions badgers had deep down. She was good at reading Indigo and was whatever he needed her to be. She grunted amusedly as the dog licked her nose, but she didn’t move from her place between dog and wolf.

Outlaw was quite the talker, much more than Indigo had ever been or likely would ever be. He was a little much for the massive yearling, but he couldn’t bring himself to be rude. He nodded along quietly and answered when he was able to get a word in edgewise. ”Well, if you go to the beach by the wildberry grove you can look eastward.” He started, feeling a little foolish as he explained. Outlaw likely had no idea Indigo had been born in the Armada. ”If it’s a really clear day you can almost see the plains of the Armada.” Where Aslatiel was.

”I guess I saw some big fish before, mostly from far away.” And Indy didn’t know it but they had been whales. Outlaw looked like he was making himself comfortable but Indy felt his paws getting restless. He was ready to get on with his patrol. ”So, um. Do you need any help?” He decided to ask, perhaps getting the interaction in a real direction. He wasn’t great at small talk.

The badger sure was nice, more so than the last badger he saw, heck it was nicer than his cousin’s friend and you wouldn’t expect a badger to be less grumpy than a dog, right?  His eyes drifted from the badger and up to the dog, “The armada? What makes that special?” Outlaw could be curious about just about anything that was new to him. “Oh, I was just watching the ocean, dreaming a bit ya know?  Pip is going to see if he can find something fun to bring back, or that’s what I think he’s doing.  You can never tell with seagulls, they talk a lot but only sometimes mean what they say.”  Outlaw wasn’t the best at keeping up with a thread of a conversation, as his mind wandered so did his mouth.   Did Outlaw need help?  Not really, but it seemed to him this wolf might need a friend.  Some dogs and wolves were funny things, never asking for what they really wanted and denying a need for company.  Uncle Berny had been like that, poor guy but then Outlaw had told some pups and sure enough, all the pups were all over Uncle Bernie.  Though his uncle hadn’t spoken to him for a month, that was probably just because he had all those pups to talk to. “Well, I guess some company would be nice really?  I love the ocean but ya know, it's never as good alone as it is with company.  Would you like some company?  I could help you with uh, patrolling?  I haven’t really patrolled before.  I make things and I’m working on learning to heal.  See, I’ve never really done much fighting.  I don’t want to hurt anyone.  I’d be happy to just make friends with anyone I meet.  I can still help you look around though if that’s all it takes!” Speech:"Life is but a game " Think