The lull of ocean sounds soon faded from her ears. What once had kept her peacefully unconscious was now allowing her to awaken. Overhead the screech of birds made her startle. Bright but watery blue eyes blinked slowly as they focused. Bleary and wrought with confusion, the girl lifts her head and glances around. Sand was beneath her. It was sand, right? She turns and puts her nose on the ground. No, it wasn't sand. Dirt? Maybe but it felt hard, almost rocky. More confusion filters across her expression as she lifts her head a bit farther and glances around again. Tall trees, so very tall from what she can see on the ground. When she glanced up, she could see high walls that nearly reached the cloudy sky. Overcast with hardly little sun, it was dark. She couldn't tell what time of day it was. What really sparked her interest was the white stuff on the top of the high cliffs. What was that? Her brow furrows as she tries to stand. Nope, can't do that yet. A huff releases from her nostrils. Her tail twitches as she wiggles her toes. At least she can still move those. Not far off, a chipmunk runs from a tree to a boulder where it emits a loud call. Loud for the chipmunk at least. That was a chipmunk, right? She thinks it's a chipmunk but she's not sure. Where was she? Her lips open as she flicks her ears forward. No sound comes out. Huh? Again, her mouth opens and nothing but a breath is released. That's strange. Wait. Who was she even? She looks back over her shoulder to her all too skinny form that looked familiar but nothing came to mind. Even with her unkempt fur full of seawater and grime, she knew she should know her own name or something. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't come up with anything. Her expression quickly twists into frustration, sadness, and bewilderment. Laying her head back down onto the unfamiliar ground, she cries. What was she supposed to do now?

It was a long journey down into the Sound. Treacherous, even with his Kea companion who was born to fly mountaintops there to guide his path. Beside him was Osiris, and the snow leopard made the journey look almost easy. Bounding from rock to rock on the steep decline. The winged wolf flared his feathers every couple of steps, giving him an extra bonus in balance. When he finally made it down to the ground, he paused to take in the sights. The vast cluster of mountains stretched out before him, but he could see the curve of the sea within their embrace. The water was dark - which told him it was far deeper than a beach. He had always enjoyed swimming, but he wasn’t sure he should brave that depth. He couldn’t see if there was anything looking back at him. He started forward, a little out of breath from his climb, and was about to start searching for interesting things to collect when Kea let out a warning sound. The alpine parrot directed his attention towards a form, curled up tightly and nearly immobile. He almost didn’t recognise them for a wolf at first. As he approached, he could hear the muffled sound of crying. He picked up his face, wings shifting in the breeze as he raced towards the crying wolf. He hesitated when he reached her, not wanting to scare her. “Miss, Miss, are you okay?” He called out, keeping his voice soft. "Mortis"

She feels the stranger’s approach before anything else. A faint vibration beneath the ground as it slowly grows stronger as he draws nearer. At first, she doesn’t move. Until that chilly ocean breeze washes over and brings his masculine scent with him, she isn’t sure what it coming toward her. If she were to move and not play dead, it could mean real death. Yet, if she didn’t move and allowed herself to be mauled… Well, she was dead either way. So she brings a paw over her eyes to wipe away the tears as the rustle of the stranger finally stops. His soft tones is pleasant to her waterlogged ears as she lifts her head to look at him. Oh, fuck! Her brain screams at her to run. There could be possibly no way this monstrous fanged beast asked if she was alright! Alarm bells continued to screech as she scrambled up onto shaky paws and stumbled backward. Her head shook back and forth as tremors racked her body. No, no, no, please! Her blue eyes widened in pure terror as she freezes. Unable to move, ankle deep in frigid water, she stares at him. Stares at his companions, the wings. THE WINGS! He had WINGS?! If it was possible for her eyes to leap from their sockets, they would. How did a wolf have wings? Still unable to make herself move, speak, or much anything but stare at the poor guy, she felt herself wanting to cry again. Was he really a kind creature here to save her? Or was it a ploy to draw her into a cave? She couldn’t even remember how she got here and this was the first thing to approach? She opens her lips, but again, nothing comes out. Her throat feels dry, raw, and scratched to high heave. Swallowing hard, she gives her head another shake. No, she most definitely was not alright.

He waited cautiously for her to respond. She moved - telling him that whatever had happened to her, it wasn’t so critical as to leave her immobilised. He watched as her paw rubbed against her eyes, and then her head lifted. He knew the moment her eyes found him. His ears tilted back, and he crouched down a little. Trying to look non threatening as the poor traumatised girl reacted badly to his presence. He didn’t react as she got to her paws and scrambled backwards, though his eyes flicked over. Assessing damage, and looking for distress (other than her current, and obvious fear) She had moved into the water. Her paws touched a patch of infrequent lighter colours. He tensed a little. If she took another step back, she would find herself over open water. He didn’t know if she could swim, but she already looked waterlogged. Though he really didn’t want to dive into that bottomless ocean after her. She opened her mouth to speak - and nothing came out. She seemed as surprised about that as he did. He didn’t dare try to approach her, tenuous as her current position was. Instead, he lowered himself a little more. His voice was pitched soft, as if trying to calm a bucking horse. “Easy, easy. I don’t mean you any harm, little one” He said. “I know some healing, though I’m no expert” He apologised. “If you’d let me, I can take a look at your throat, and I can have Osiris fetch you some water - something without salt” He gestured slowly with a wing, stretching it out so the point of it indicated his leopard companion. “So why don’t you come out of the water, and see if we can figure out what happened to you?” He suggested, since she didn’t seem capable of telling him right now. "Speech"

Her hackles instinctually rose as he lowered his body. Feeling rather permanently frozen in place, she could feel her heart hammer into her chest. She watched his every move. Well, he was careful not to move fast or a lot at all. She noticed how careful he was being. How gentle he was toward her. Even as she so rudely stared at him in fear. Her body was beginning to shiver from both fear and the coldness of the shallow yet treacherous depths she stood in. His voice spoke out to her. Once flattened ears now lifted to listen. Slightly crouched herself, she focused on breathing and not fainting. He was offering to help her. That seemed so odd. To be so kind to a stranger. But when her nose scented the air, she didn’t really scent anyone else - at least not in close proximity of this bay or valley they were in. Her eyes flickered to the feline. More confusion riddled her. Why was this cat hanging with a wolf? That was almost more odd than him having wings. Right, the wings. He had even opened one to point at the cat. Did they work? She had so many questions. Wait, what was he saying to her? Water? That did actually sound nice. A long, cold drink. Her head slowly nods in acceptance of his offering. Looking down at her paws with those watery eyes she takes a few steps forward as she looks back up at him. He really was tall. Lowering herself slightly as she retucks her tail and approaches him slowly, she nearly lays back down on the ground as she comes within a few feet of him. Both ears fold back slightly as she tilts her chin to look up at him. Opening her mouth, she tries to talk once more but still, nothing is coming. Lifting a paw, she touches her ankle to her throat. What was wrong with her? As she looks at him and replaces her paw on the ground, her expression says it all. Help.

He held himself still, though the crouched position was far from comfortable. Waiting until he could see her start to relax. It wasn’t until the nod that he dared to move again, turning to Osiris and giving a small nod of his head. The cat turned and bounded away, through the winged wolf's eyes were on the stranger, and not his companion.

He watched as she stepped forward, slowly bringing herself away from that treacherous edge. Out of the depths of the cool that leached away her warmth. He didn’t miss how she tucked her tail, her posture submissive and still afraid. In the face of that fear, she showed true bravery to approach him. To stop in front of him, and tilt her head his way.

He dared a small smile as he looked at the spotted girl. “I know, we’ll figure it out” he soothed as she touched her throat. Her plea was obvious to him. He took a seat. Still taking care to move slowly, lest he startle her back into the ocean. “Open up, and let me take a look” He instructed, leaning over her so he could look down her throat. “It looks a little red, and there's sand and probably salt. Ah, here's Osiris” He said as his companion returned to his side. The cat had filled a small handful of shells with water, and balanced them on thin flat rock she had been able to handle in her mouth. She set the load down beside him, and he picked up the first shell. Extending his retractable claws so he could grasp it around the shell like a cage and manavour it. “Swish this around your mouth and spit it out” He instructed her, as he moved to tip it down her throat. Checking he had permission before proceeding.

"Speech"

Emotion runs through every vein in her body as she stares at the stranger. Nothing exists to her except the large man who now sat before her. She noticed how slow and careful he was. Even as she would startle ever so slightly with his every move, she was beginning to understand that he wasn’t going to harm her. She almost darted when the cat took off but fought every instinct that told her to run. Run far away and never look back. From what she could tell, logically, this strange winged wolf would most likely be her best chance at surviving. When he instructed that she open up, she did so. Though it was slow and cautious with the white of her eyes showing, she still did it. Every inch of her refrozen into place as she allowed him to take a look. He told her it looked red and irritated from sand and salt. Would that be from the water she was in? Was that why she couldn’t talk? She felt so helpless and hopeless. Another wave of emotions swelled inside her as a shiver run down her spine. Before her brain or body could react or really process what was happening, the man was extending a paw holding a shell. Her eyes widen as she is well thoughtless at the sight of what she was seeing. Who the hell was this wolf?! Now wasn’t the time for questions as he was instructing her to rinse and spit the water. A quick nod of her head gave him permission to pour the shell full of water into her mouth. Once it splashed across her tongue, she did as she was told and attempted to politely spit out off to the side. When she looked back at him, her head tilted to the side and she blinks a few times. What now her face seemed to ask.

She was so afraid. Her body seemed to almost quiver, and the whites of her eyes were a shine against the dark of her body. There was little more he could do about it, short of abandoning her here. But she seemed hurt and lost, and he couldn’t bring himself to do so. He doubted she would manage the journey out of the sound alone as she was. She would be trapped down here, and would likely suffer a slow death. So no, he would not leave her.

Under his gentle administration, she swished the water and spat it to the side. In truth, the salt water would likely help against any infection if she had hurt her throat - or at least, he believed it would - but fresh water would still help to clear her throat. He picked up another shell. “You can swallow this one. Don’t drink too much at once, I’m not sure when you ate or drank last.” He warned her, before tilting that one down her throat too.

He leaned back a little then, and watched her carefully. “My name is Mortis, by the way” He said, wondering if he had solved the one-sided aspect of this conversation yet. “Can you tell me what happened to you?”


"Speech"

She still wasn't one hundred percent certain of this dream-like wolf standing before her. Not that she could exactly remember where she was from anyway. All she knew is that she had never seen wings or such large fangs on a wolf before. Right? It felt right in her brain to be afraid of such a thing. Because only large predators like bears had big teeth and she couldn't recall ever seeing a bird that large before. Everything really felt fuzzy so she couldn't say for certain. Maybe where she was from everyone was like him and she was the oddball. No, that didn't feel right either. Why couldn't she remember anything? It was hard not to be frustrated at the lack of function in her head. Before she could do anything about it, he was telling her she could sip from another seashell worth of water. Her eyes looked, hesitant, but as he mentioned it, her throat flares up with a dryness comparable to a desert. Slowly though she sips. At least she could be a good listener since he was going through all this effort to ensure she lived to see another day. She hoped silently that food would come soon as her stomach felt emptier than well empty. As she finished and he leaned back to introduce himself, she is still cautious but offered him the tiniest flicker of a smile. An almost missed curl of her lips as she too shuffles herself into a sitting position. Every joint and bone in her body felt achy and in pain, but hey, at least she was alive. Once more her mouth opens to attempt speech. Again, nothing comes out. A rasp of something similar to a cough could be heard but that was it. Nothing understandable. Nothing even closer to puppy garble really. Her brows knit together as she raises a paw back up to her throat. What in the world was going on!? It was then she felt the small necklace nestled into her matted fur. She tilts her chin down and tugs on the chain. What was this? There is a pendant on it made of gemstone and a letter engraved on it. To her, it just appears to be a rock, but maybe he would know! Pulling it out farther from her chest until it dug into the skin on the back of her neck, she held it up to Mortis. If he could read, he would see a plain letter 'D' engraved on the gem. The one and the only clue to who she was.

He could see that she was really trying to speak, but nothing seemed to come out. Cleaning her throat didn't work, and he just didn't know enough about medicine to experiment with anything else. He'd probably hurt her more than help. As he considered what to do, he realised she was moving. She was holding something out to him. A necklace with a single letter. He raised a paw to touch it. Mostly to check there wasn't any other clues around the letter. Something she was trying to tell him. He looked at her, perplexed. "D? Is that to do with your name? Where you came from? Someone you're looking for?" Was it a token from a lover? No… She was too young for that. A parent?


"Look, you clearly understand what I'm saying." Or at least, she was responding to his words like 'drink this' as if she did. "Hang on a sec" he moved about them, scooping up rocks until he had a small stash of them. Maybe he could help her communicate. He wasn't sure what to do with her. He didn't think Ko would appreciate the extra mouth to feed if she couldn't contribute, but his dad was always picking up strays. Besides, he trusted Halos healing above anyone else's. 


"This rock is you, okay? And this rock is my dads pack, this rock is staying here… this rock indicates someone you want to look for. Move the rock that's you to what you want to do. Okay?"

Now that she thought about it, it was odd that she could understand him. Wait, right? She wasn’t from here, she thought at least. When she glanced around her, nothing sparked in her brain. Maybe she was and her brain was malfunctioning that much… Nothing really made sense, but she was glad that Mortis was willing to help her out and not let her die on this beach. She held still when he reached out to touch her necklace. Allowing him to inspect it, her shoulder shrug in response. Honestly, she hadn’t any idea what it meant or why she was wearing it. When he suddenly moved to grab a few rocks, her head tilts lightly to the side. Watching as he placed the rocks in front of her, her brow furrows. So she had to move the rock to the option she wanted. But she didn’t know if she was looking for anyone… Was his dad’s pack good? Could she trust them? Well, she trusted him so far, right? Gosh. After a few moments of hesitation, she scoots the “her” rock toward the “his dad” rock. Uncertain if that’s the correct answer, there’s really no other option. She had no idea if she was looking for someone so in the mean time, the best option was safety, right? Right? Dang, she didn’t know but all she hoped was that his dad’s pack was a good one! Looking up from the rocks to Mortis, she waited to see what he would do next.

She shrugged, and… he wasn't sure what to make of that. Was he asking the wrong question, giving her too little to work with to tell him the truth of the necklace? He let it be for the moment, watching as she contemplated his stones. He felt nervous, through he wasn't entirely sure why. Maybe he was worried she didn't really understand him at all. If there was a language barrier between them, it was going to be really hard to figure out. 


He felt some relief as she moved the 'her' stone. It was definite proof of understanding. He hadn't made any gestures to indicate that stone in particular needed to be moved. Only his words. The stone was pushed towards his dad's pack, and he nodded his head in understanding.  "Alright, my dad is called Sirius, and the pack is called the Armada. There's a healer there called Halo, maybe she can help" he supplied. But first…


He pointed at two rocks again. "This rock means 'you haven't given me the right prompt to answer what my necklace means. This rock means… ' I don't know.'" He leaned back and eyed her with great interest.

The girl would listen intently. So this dad of his was named Sirius, okay and he led this pack. From what her brain could recall she was also from a pack, but she couldn’t remember who necessarily led the pack or if she were related to them. No matter how hard she thought or how much her brow furrowed, memories would not rise to the surface. It was almost excruciating not being able to communicate anything to Mortis. She honestly felt bad for him. Then he pointed at two rocks and gave her the prompts. Well, this would be easy to answer. There was little hesitation before she placed her paw upon the ‘I don’t know’ rock. She had no idea what the necklace meant. It could mean anything even though logically it would be the first letter of her name, but she believed she wasn’t one to assume… Looking back up to Mortis, her head tilts again to wait for his next move.

She tapped the rock, and he had his answer. She didn't know… she was a mute with amnesia, and he was taking her to his dad. Was this a bad idea? "Did you hit your head? I'd feel better once Halo has looked you over.." he said, more thinking out loud than anything else. "Do you mind if I call you Dee? Until we figure this all out?" He asked, expression thoughtful and mind elsewhere. He had a puzzle to work through. "Alright… so, you don't know who you are, I'm assuming you don't know where you are or how you got here, either?" He paused so she could answer with a shrug or something if she wanted to, then kept on. "So, if I take you to my dad, he's going to want to know how you can contribute to the pack. If you can't answer that… he'll probably offer you healing, then put you in the slave rank." A harsh truth, but things didn't have to be rough for his castaway. And maybe he was over thinking it all. If she did not where her strengths lay, he would need to figure out her answer.


"If that's the case, we suggest you be assigned to Halo. If you're her slave, you'll be protected in the pack. From there, Halo could work with you on your memory, and I could train with you to help you find something you're good at. Once you have something, you petition to move into that rank. That's how the pack works. If you don't want to take that path, tap the 'you' rock any time before we go, and I won't take you there." He promised her. At least this way she would have all the facts. If she tap the rock, he had no idea how to help her.

She continued to look at him as he spoke aloud. Okay so at least he had plan because she surely didn’t. From here on out, once she finally learned how to speak, she would have to thank him for the rest of her dang life! Her head would tilt again because she really didn’t know. When she had awoken, she was on this sandy beach with nothing else around her. Unknown to her, the raft she had been on had crashed in the shallows and then went back out to sea with the tide. Anything that could have possibly been with her was now gone. Another shrug moved her shoulders to confirm his suspicions. While she wasn’t sure what a slave was or what she could do to contribute to this pack, this Halo girl he spoke of sounded nice and comforting. At least she would make sure she didn’t get hurt, right? Still, the girl listened and nodded in accordance to his words. Okay so be a “slave” (whatever that was) to this Halo and then once they found something she was good at, she could move up to that? That sounded like a good plan. Not like she had anything else to do… One more confirming nod to Mortis and she finally smiled. It was a tender smile with timidity and uncertainty, but it was a smile. She would go with him to wherever this pack was of his dad’s and try her best to contribute. If she didn’t want to, she would let him know. Got it. Yes. Her tail even wagged a few times to solidify that she was ready for this plan!

She smiled and waged her tail at him, clearly all for the plan. He just needed to make sure he had the plan down before they arrived at the Armada. "Alright, let's do one more by the stones, then we can get out of here." He said. He moved around a couple more of them, which also gave him a second to assemble his thoughts. "Alright, this stone is 'I do know what skill I can contribute' this stone is 'I want to be assigned to Halo' this stone is 'I want to take my chances without an assignment.." he frowned at that stone for a moment before explaining. 


"You could be assigned to me dad, which could be beneficial to you. The only one I think you'd really want to watch out for is Azure." He said, then went back to the stones. "This stone is 'why can't I be assigned to you, Mort?' This stone is.. 'sheesh Mort, you're really attached to these stones, can't we go already?" His lip twitched as he touched the last stone. He leaned back again, giving her room to touch one or more stones as she pleased. He was… trying his best to help her communicate.

Thinking they were ready to go, she had begun to lift up out of her sitting position. Then Mort decided to do one more communication exercise with the stones. Placing her bum back in the sand and tilting her head as she watched and listened, she had to smile again. Wishing she could laugh and knowing that it wouldn’t be possible, she waited patiently until he was done explaining all of the stones.

She contemplated the stones for a few moments before doling out her answers. First, she places a paw upon the Halo stone because out of those options, that one sounded the safest. Because honestly, she had no idea what she would be good at and not having an assignment at all sounded dangerous or boring. Neither of those options sounded good for her.

Her head would tilt back as she looked up at him about his Azure comment. Why would she worry about this one if his dad’s pack was a good one? Concern knitted across her brows as her ears flicked back. Hoping and also not hoping that Mort would answer the question, she figured it would be best to move on. They would surely have plenty of time to explain who this Azure was on the way.

So she smiled and placed her paw first on ‘Why can’t I be assigned to you Mort?’ And then finally the ‘can we please get going?’ Stone. Finally looking back up at him, she wagged her tail and scooted the stone closer to him for emphasis on let’s go please!

He was right, she didn't know what she could contribute to the pack. That was okay, they'd work it out. He was glad she wanted to be assigned to Halo. If he was honest, she was his favourite person in the pack. And the best one to help a wolf like her. "Alright, I'll explain the Mort stone on the way" he agreed as she tapped that one, then the 'let's go' one. He got to his paws and gave the stones a parting look. They'd worked pretty well, maybe they could establish something similar within the pack? Or maybe Halo would help her find her voice.


"The reason I didn't suggest me, is that I'm not actually in the pack right now. My dad sent me to my brother's pack to help him set up. But I plan on heading back to the Armada soon, so I'd be able to help you find your place then." He explained as they headed back to the incline he'd climbed down. "This is going to be a rough climb, you ready?" He cautioned her. As he spoke, Osiris came up beside the smaller wolf and leaned lightly into her. "Osiris is an expert at climbing, he'll help you" Mort promised.