Echo felt awful. Like, jumped off a cliff into the roiling ocean and swept out to sea for maker knows how long awful. When she'd eventually made landfall she'd spent a good few minutes just hurling up sea water until there was nothing left for her to expel, but the salt felt lodged in the back of her nose, her throat, and it only served to make her nauseous. All she could do was drag herself ashore and lie there in the sand, closing her eyes and willing the sickness to pass. She must have passed out, because when she next opened her salt-crusted eyes she didn't feel quite as bad as before. Her mouth still felt dry and she was hungry and thirsty, but at least she wasn't dry-heaving any more. With a groan she forced herself into an upright position and looked around her. A beach of yellow sand stretched out before her, eventually leading into a verdant green lining of trees. Looking above, the sky was clear but the air around her was cold - with the winter months approaching Echo was lucky she hadn't landed herself in the middle of coastal deluge. At least there was some hope of her getting dry again. "Morte?" Her voice was small, hoarse and pitiful, and she coughed some more, trying to clear her throat that now felt like sand paper. "Morte!?" She tried again, this time a little louder as her blue eyes searched for her companion. She remembered him being with her in the sea, flying overhead, so where was he now? As it so happened, the bird in question was currently eyeing up another wolf not too far away from his sea-sodden companion. He cawed at the wolf, clacking his beak and hopping backwards and forwards to get their attention. "Help!" A parroted call, his little head twitched as he looked at the wolf with a beady black eye. "Help!" He knew Echo wouldn't like him bringing over a stranger, but it wasn't like he was big enough to drag her sorry arse anywhere himself. With a final cry the magpie took off from the ground, flying back to where he'd left his wolf and hoping the stranger he'd found would follow him... and also hoping they were friendly. "Speak."

There were a lot of things Levi did not like, but being shouted at by some bird was quickly climbing his list. His ears flicked to the sides, eyes narrowing into a squinty scowl. He usually didn't travel so far from the trees he called home but as fate would have it, here he was, looking annoyed as ever. As if the world itself was out to annoy him, just enough for him to grumble and squint. Just Levi things.

"What?" He asked none too kindly, glancing up at the bird as it made a right fuss. Clearly in distress. "What's got your feathers all twisted?" He could take a hint though, figured the bird was leading him somewhere that required help and- okay, that explained things somewhat.

A wolf was smeared across the sand, looking more like a drowned rat than anything candid. He tsked, as if greatly inconvenienced as he approached. He was not the right person for this, he was far better at hurting than helping. If nothing else they were conscious, awake but weak.

"Morte. That your loud mouth bird?" He asked, tail flicking to gesture to the sky.

Morte had for sure taken a gamble. The wolf he'd found looked grumpy and sounded grumpy, but he was on the smaller side... at least, smaller than his salty companion. Surely that counted for something? Either way, Echo was in a bad way and there really wasn't a lot he could do by himself. He could really only hope Echo was exhausted enough not to be her usual self because a bird he might be, but he was intelligent enough to know that the troubles Echo found herself in were usually of her own making. "Morte!" Echo's voice filled with relief as she caught sight of her friend making his way back to her. "I thought you'd drowned!" Her voice croaked and her body sagged, the fear that had shot through her system dissipating and leaving her more tired than she already was. She thought she'd washed up here all alone... But that didn't mean she wanted the company of a complete stranger. As Morte circled above them Echo's ears and eyes were drawn to the approaching wolf and her face fell. A frown formed and she muttered a curse under her breath before responding in a clipped tone. "Unfortunately." An insulted caw cried out above them, but Echo ignored it in favour of almost telling this stranger she didn't need his help, only to stumble on her words the longer she looked at him. Did she still have salt in her eyes? Even half strewn across the sand she could tell he was smaller than her (impressive) but it wasn't that detail that had her doing a double take. Her nose scrunched up and her eyes squinted at him. "Are those real? Are you real?" Honestly, she had never seen a bigger set of gnashers in her life, and while she'd met her fair share of wolves with beautiful red pelts, his markings were like nothing she'd seen either. She looked up at her magpie, then out to sea, and then at the sand in front of her paws. "Am I dead?" A question whispered mostly at herself - perhaps he was was some little imp come to whisk her away to the afterlife? By the looks of him though, it was clear she wasn't about to go to the Good afterlife. Unsurprisingly, she was not entirely shocked at that revelation. "Speak."

Levi made a face, feeling rather insulted by her insinuation. Admittedly, his sabres were a little too large for his slight frame, most of his features had a sort of vibe that he hadn't grown as tall as he was meant to. But they weren't entirely uncommon in his family either, not so bad they looked like he'd stuck them beneath his lips like some wannabe vampire. He'd never really been the sort to indulge in deep, philosophical debates on what it meant to be real, whether the stars in the sky really were something tangible, something he could touch if he got close enough. So yeah, as far as he was concerned he was alive and real, and growing all the more miffed with each word that passed her lips.

He shifted his weight, the sand crunching quietly beneath his paws. He barely and I mean BARELY resisted the urge to say something snippy like that can be arranged if you'd like, or do you want to go back to drowning? Instead he pressed his lips thin, his tail flicking in discontent. It wasn't overly personal, he didn't like most people. Though her questions were kinda dumb.

He didn't even dignify the whole are they real comment with a response.

"Not yet. You've washed up on Boreas."

The Imp, she noticed, looked rather unimpressed. Perhaps Imps were quite sensitive about their teeth? Or perhaps he was just the sort of person to be unimpressed most of the time? Echo could relate to that, and honestly that suited her just fine. She didn't think she had the energy if Morte had found someone overly nice, or worse, talkative. Her head hurt enough already. "Bor-uh-what-ass?" Her face was still scrunched up in confusion as she shifted in the sand to sit up again, her face scanning the sand, the rocks, the trees... eventually, the confusion melted away to cold realisation, her ears plastering back against her skull in distress. "Shiiit!" The hissed expletive was long and drawn out as it started to sink in how long she must have been adrift for. She wasn't even on the shores of her homeland any more! With a grit of her teeth she realised that she might actually need the stranger's help. If only to get as much information from him about the area as she possibly could. "Wait! Uh..." She licked her lips, suddenly unsure of herself, the taste of salt distracting. "Do you know of a place called Serion?" She'd never heard of Boreas... and she hadn't explored everywhere back home so there was a chance she hadn't drifted too far... but if he told her he'd also never heard of her homeland then it would be safe to say she was well and truly lost. "Speak."

Her attempt at pronouncing his homelands name would have been amusing, if he had a sense of humour. Instead, he merely shrugged, whether she liked it or not this was where she'd landed, what was he supposed to do about it? Toss her back in the sea and bid her good luck on her doggy-paddle back? Maybe, the thought was somewhat tempting. Her tune changed slightly, tossing a question his way he wasn't sure if he felt like gracing. But he supposed he'd gotten this far and it wasn't as if she required anything complex or demanding from him

"Never heard of it." He'd never left these shores, never had much of a desire or reason to really, but he knew there was a whole world out there. That Boreas and Auster were faint specs in the grand scheme of things, wolves from all walks of life ended up here though, for one reason or another. She wasn't the first wolf who'd washed up here half drowned and he didn't imagine she'd be the last.

He shifted again, moving closer, the teal of his eyes scrutinising her. She was taller than him, but that didn't make her special. She would come to learn that wolves larger than most called this place home, where what was considered ordinary here would be extraordinary elsewhere. It was all a matter of perspective, he supposed.

"If you have a tragic sob story keep it to yourself, you're here now and unless you want to start swimming back to wherever you came from, you're just going to have to deal with it."

Yup. And there it was. The nail in her coffin. "Never heard of it." Perhaps there was a small, small chance that she was still on the same continent and it was a massive coincidence neither of them had heard of the other... but she highly doubted it. She wasn't sure exactly how long she'd been drifting on the tides for, but long enough that her stomach had cramped with hunger and she felt almost mad with the deep thirst that settled in the back of her throat. As the reality settled in, Echo look behind her back out to sea, trying to untangle her emotions. Was she sad? She'd likely never be able to go home, but she wasn't sure if that bothered her or not. His step towards her had her turning back to the Imp and she frowned at him, fur bristling at his words. "Bold of you to assume you even deserve to hear my sob story. I'll have you know it's a good one. Real tear-jerker. You'll be sad you missed out on it." Her teeth snapped shut with a defining clack and with a groan she heaved herself up onto all four paws. She swayed a moment, eyes scrunched shut and she muttered a soft 'i think i'm gonna be sick again' under her breath, before seeming to steady herself. With a glower she looked down at the male. "Does this place have any water I can actually drink?" "Speak."

Levi was far from impressed. He stared blankly at her little outburst, thinking that for someone who had nearly drowned she did seem to be fine with wasting so much breath. Her next words had a little more substance to them, which Levi found somewhat more tolerable, though the deep and resounding sigh he let out didn't say as much. She was fortunate his companion often carried supplies on him, namely a flask of water. He wasn't one to share, but it wasn't as if he was in dire need of a drink right now.

Letting out a sharp bark, that was enough to bring his black hound to heel. Levi took the flask from the shiba inu before dismissing him with a curt flick of his tail. Nothing the dog wasn't used to by this point.

"Here." And then Levi proceeded to throw it at Echo, none too kindly and with a bit too much force to be considered socially acceptable.

Silent as a statue, the Imp did not react or retaliate to her snipes and instead simply stared at her, his expression unamused. It was quite impressive really. While she was the one looking down at him, the way he glared at her made her feel like she was the one being looked down upon. Luckily he seemed to take pity on her, and she smacked her parched lips together impatiently as he seemed to call for someone. At the approach of a little black canine Echo's head tilted to the side curiously, watching in fascination. This new land was clearly very different to her own - it was probably a small miracle they even spoke the same language. Wolves with strange protrusions and colourations, canines that could be wolves but didn't look quite right, and now he was chucking her something (rather forcefully, which she thought was unnecessary) right at her paws. Surprised, because she thought he would have just led her to some fresh water, she bent down to take a sniff at the flask. It was a lot more sophisticated than what she was used to, but after a moment of inspection and a bit of fiddling, she managed to get in. Tipping her head back she drank heartily, her gulping loud in the stillness between them. She barely gave herself time to breathe and when she was done she let out a loud, satisfied 'aahhh'. "Thanks," she chucked the flask back to him, not quite as hard as he had chucked it to her. "I guess you aren't an Imp come to drag me down to the after life, after all." With some effort she forced herself to waddle up the beach further away from the waves, glad that the sun had managed to dry most of her sodden coat while she'd been passed out, and took another long look around her before turning to the male. "Do you live 'round here?" She asked with a tilt of her head and a frown. Her nose was still full of salt and sand, and she couldn't quite make out his smell and whether he was part of a pack. Echo got the impression he wouldn't want to be sticking around for much longer, so she wanted to get as much information out of him as she possibly could. "Speak."

Imp. Levi really didn't like that. His ears flicked in retaliation, once again opting not to acknowledge her talk of the afterlife. It was only when she started to move about in earnest, did her movement attract his gaze, his brows furrowing slightly as she asked yet another question. Nosy, wasn't she? He couldn't even say it was part of her charm, as she was far from charming, mostly just ing. Asking, prodding and prying.

"To the north." He told her, tail flicking to gesture to said direction. It was obvious enough on his form, how his coat was thicker to withstand the winter cold. Maybe her eyes had gotten too much salt water in them, vision as blurred and unfocused as her sense of direction. "My Grandfather has a thing for strays like you." The Armada was a home to man from all walks of life and for the most part, he avoided them all. "I can take you to go speak with him, if I must. He'll gladly listen to your tragic backstory and answer any questions you might have."

She was surprised but thankful he deigned to answer her question. Every glare and flick of his ear made her think he would shortly be at the end of his patience, but perhaps he just looked grumpy on the outside and actually very much enjoyed helping the lost and discarded? She doubted it, but it could be true. Her gaze was drawn to the north and even from here she could see the peak of a large mountain. She then looked up to the sun, shielding her eyes with a paw as she gauged its position, and then tilted her head to briefly glance back out to sea. With a little help from her Impish friend she deduced that she must be on the eastern most side of this Boreas. How big was this place, she wondered? How far up and down, how far across? It was frustrating to know nothing, but perhaps exciting as well? Maybe this place would be better? "Hmm?" Attention steered back towards him and it took a moment for her brain to catch up with his words. "Oh! No. You might be ecstatic to know that I have no intention of going anywhere near your home." For pretty much her whole life she'd managed to get by just fine by herself and she was not interested in trying to fit in with a bunch of strangers, and authority figures didn't sit well with her anyway. He had been kind enough to offer though, she supposed. "Thanks though." Her tone was a little begrudging, and although she wasn't interested in being his friend she was also not interested in making enemies. "speak"