There hadn't been rain for longer than she could remember and it was starting to get a bit tiresome trying to find healthy prey. It was easier now just to scavenge and wait for something to die of thirst or starvation than it was to waste her energy with hunting. Even the lushness in the East had become so dry, and the North seemed like a death trap. Ricky chose to head south, hoping to escape the dryness of the other lands while visiting the coast. Was sea life suffering like the inland? Obsidian Beach had always been her favorite, it's reflective sand a majestic presence to welcome the power of the waves as they came rolling in. It was dark and yet held unmatched beauty by any other beach she'd seen, so naturally it was the first that she'd chosen to revisit. Her gait was smooth, pride in her step despite the healing wound on her right, upper forearm. She didn't doubt that it would scar, but she was looking forward to it! It was the first real fight that she'd ever experienced and the bite wound was worn like a badge of honor. Halfway through the healing process, it didn't hurt her like it had the first couple days- no, her stride was free and nearly whimsical. A smile plagued the fiend's inky lips as she looked over to the flat horizon the ocean offered, the sun was just setting and the black sands were shimmering reflective sunset hues from the sky. It was damn near perfect to witness, and in her solitude it was all for her. Her mismatched gaze would glance along the shore, making sure she was alone before she ventured out into the shallows of the water. Her heavy feet nearly danced with each high-step, coming down with enough force to playfully splash water from the waves she chased. A mischievous grin came across her features as she rushed after the receding shoreline, only to feel the mist of another wave roll in just before it washed a wave of salt-water up against her strong chest. As tall as she was, the waves still managed to reach up to her neck when she was rolling in and the rush of cold left her in a pause as she slowly adjusted to the frigid temperatures. They weren't unbearable, and with the density of her coat it wasn't hard to enjoy the water around her despite it. In fact, it was quite refreshing after spending so long in dry conditions. She dipped her head under the water and swam in the shallows for nearly an hour before the tide started to roll in, the waves growing higher and higher. By the time the moon stood above her and the sun had long past, she pulled herself out of the ocean and sprawled out on the black sand several feet away. She couldn't let herself fall asleep here, not out in the open like this.. but she just wanted to admire the place a little longer.

Commands of a ruling royal became nothing but a distant eerie whisper, words merely plaguing fatigued beast to keep him going. A mission entrusted to someone such as himself, a royal guard, there was no room for fail despite being ordered to retrieve deserters. Little discern presented itself with such an absurd idea that risked both his life and overall pride to fulfill a task, which may never be completed. Finally, after seemingly ages of traveling within nothing but the current and pure leg strength. Herz hit the peak of his stamina, succumbing to darkness's dangerous grip and loosing conscious not far from the shore itself.

Tumbling onto solid ground had been painfully obvious despite being lost to darkness itself. Limbs tossed every which way until finally, he became grounded like an anchor upon soft sands. Rolling waves crashed upon limp frame and cascaded over him to drench fur once again, process only repeating itself as if he had became a rock on the shores he landed on. Muscles ached and cried even in a forced slumbering state, causing severe flinching due to pain. The beautiful receding sun would be missed today, but the next night display wouldn't be missed.

Golden eyes fluttered opened to find himself upon unknown lands and suddenly he questioned how he even survived. Wet thick pelt clung against large body as water still splashed against him, strained muscles visibly rippling due to clinging fur as he attempted to gain traction on strange sands. Peculiar canine features presented itself upon the saddled beast, large ears becoming a blessing and long tail standing still along the ground due to sloped posture. Faint fluttering memories danced along fuzzy thoughts, but soon it had hit Herz all at once. There really was no time to be standing around and regaining composure despite needing to rest, he had been trained to endure even things like this. He needed to talk to natives and evaluate the land as well as find the deserters. Herz would need a false identity to mask any trail tied towards himself.

From now on Herz would be known as Cortez.

Sudden intake of air forced angular maw to part, but what forced out had been seawater and it caused even more burning pain within the prideful guard. A rumbling growl formed once possible despite underlining pain accompanying such an action, though it wouldn't be visibly presented due to his own pride being on the line. Brows furrowed in displeasure towards foul situation at hand and then he was off. Canine features of royal guard offered a unique trot, strong long strides that offered a flowing bounce that didn't completely throw the beast off. Joints stayed completely limp to absorb impact on unknown terrain, while ears barely turned to attempt and listen for any movement over crashing waves. Large head raised itself high in a proud manner, offering self confidence in an extreme manner due being raised as such. A valuable excuse could be searching for lone souls to offer conversation. Just as the thought crossed his mind and a slight turn of the skull was offered, a lone dark ashen wolf was found on cue.

Perhaps it was the fact that the male was suddenly deciding to observe scenery around himself, but it turned out to be beautiful. Attention usually keeping itself upon strangers had strayed away towards the sky. Moonlight shined bright within the dark sky, rays of light seemed to leave a trail which allowed his maw to follow and eyes end up on the obsidian shore. It shined and sparkled as the stars above, just as if the fallen ones had washed to the shore just as he had. Though that was just absurd. A loud snort expelled itself through nostrils to express distaste of even such a childish thought and clear his cloudy mind.

"Sorry to interrupt you." Words escaped the shepherd in a deep gruff voice, authoritative even without trying, despite dry mouth due to saltwater. Paws kept sinking into sand as he approached even further at a slower pace, and finally stopping at a safe distance if the unknown soul decided to attack. "If you wish to rest, then I do understand, though if you have the time to speak. I have a few questions." Without a single change of tone, visage would merely stay a blank slate to change depending on how things went with this ashen female.

Sunshine beamed only out of her orange eye in darkness like this, though the heterochromic wonder shifted her gaze into the darkness to catch a moving silhouette coming up the beach. She was used to being alone, but she didn't budge at all.. the dark female simply rested where she lay in the sand and remained quiet, almost hoping that the, what seemed to be, large male would miss her and carry on his way right down the shore past her. Then, it started speaking. There was almost an audible groan of annoyance before she squinted her eyes, trying to catch some of the light around his face as it reflected up from the sparkling sands that made up the ground beneath him. She couldn't really tell, but something about this wolf wasn't quite.. the same. Her interest was slowly rising, taking note of his unique stature and angular shadow of his maw. Was he deformed? Poor thing. She grinned, chuckling at the thought before she finally pushed her forepaws against the sands and brought herself up to sit. "How can you be sorry if you continue to interrupt me? That doesn't make sense." She scoffed, her voice deep and rumbling through her vocals. She was female, sure, but hardly anything about her seemed feminine- not even her voice. Brutish woman would cant her head, looking more closely at his fur.. he seemed soaked, though she was too. Dust of obsidian had embedded itself in the bottom side of her coat and shimmered like stars beneath the twilight. As she watched how the sand caught the light on his pelt, she only thought of how it must look on her own. Aaahh, she had to be so stunning right now. She perked her ears, grinning wide with confidence as she lifted her skull. Silken words spilled forth, coming out slow and sweet though there was an obvious lacing of poison in their message. "If I had time, why would I answer questions from someone who hasn't even told me his name, hmm?" She almost sing-songed in mocking tone before she lifted her rump from off of the sands, turning as if she had intentions of leaving him behind there on the shore. She looked him over one last time, and found that she couldn't deny that she was curious. Her eyes shifted to the waves for a moment as she fought inwardly with herself. After awhile she let out a sigh and returned her attention to him, flicking one of her ears again in annoyance. "What's up?"

Rolling waves continued their assault against glistening dark shores, even as the ashen female rose to speak over nature itself. Large ears stood tall above unscathed crown, presenting her with his fullest attention despite attempts of verbally lacerating his confidence. Perhaps an interesting reaction had been wanted and yearned for, yet silence surrounded the stoic shepherd and visage didn't threaten to change. Instead golden gaze seemingly stayed captivated by sand which adorned already dark pelt, it was seemingly ominous all together. Though in reality it was just a new experience which had him overly observing what the sands was made from.

Weight shifted around carefully which brought paws sinking deeper into the unknown terrain. Then everything clicked together like a puzzle that finally got solved, he had truly been so informal. Facial muscles twitched towards sudden movement of shadowed figure that danced in front of his eyes, her frame merely turning and acting uninterested in an unique way before taking departure. Mighty ears finally slightly faltered to show slight confusion, resting in a more comfortable position and brows furrowing in thought. What an interesting land he arrived in. Thoughts all but ruptured when the suspected native paused and shared a glance back, forcing the guard regain complete composure once again. Skull decided to rise itself high towards inky sky above, once blank or subtle expression now slightly molding and pulling into a light smirk.

Limbs began to work once more from their statue state, pushing Cortez forward a few silent steps in attempt to say that he would follow her from this spot if she wished to speak elsewhere or during a walk. Movement caused water droplets to hit dark sands below, leaving a small trail due to being soaked still. "My name is Cortez. I just arrived to these lands from another kingdom, where I serve under someone else." Unlike words before, this time vocals came out holding more honor which allowed the gruff voice to sound even louder and proud. A true guard of that area which he may never see again, but, he would still remember it in full glory. "What is this land called that I am currently on? Also are you a native?" Finally, he had to stop himself from bombarding her with questions and wait for a reply.

She watched him while she waited for an answer, but the smirk made her narrow her mismatched eyes just a little bit. So he'd caught on to her inability to walk away from her curiosity? Well, at least he wasn't dim.. and a smirk of her own defiantly stood on her lips as well. She lifted her nose, turning her skull slightly in an attempt to hide it while also looking very dismissive about the male beside her. Her ears twitched as she listened to his words, even with her skull facing away as though she didn't care, she was paying close attention. She nearly scoffed when he said he was from an outside kingdom, that explained a few things.. why he was so different. When he asked about the land her narrowed gaze softened a bit as disbelief set in. She looked at him with one 'brow dot raised as he asked if she was a native, then inspected his soaked and dripping pelt. She gasped slightly as she looked out toward the water, her head turning back to him as she nearly shrieked, "You swam here? Holy shit, you gotta have the stamina of a mustang." She winked, chuckling some before turning away and nearly hitting him right in the muzzle with her tail. "Too bad I don't speak to outsiders, heh." As she walked away from him, she kept her pace slow yet confident as she hid a grin. She was enjoying this, toying with him.. would he let her dismiss him like that or would he fight for the knowledge he wanted from her?