Harry Potter and the Audacity of this B...

The Archer-Lyall’s shoulder had opened up a few times since her fight, and with all the poultices and quick dips in the ocean to date failing to heal it completely yet, she grew impatient. That coupled with her endless restless nights and unwillingness to venture too close to Ashen borders as it currently stood (she wasn’t sure she would trust any of them as far as she could kick them), sent her into the ocean for an extended swim. There were many islands off the coast of the Sea’s Plain, and she knew those to the west to belong to Ashen, so instead she headed east.

Strange structures rose out of the vegetation, glinting in the high noon sunlight. She squinted as she panted against the glare, and flopped unceremoniously into the sand. Cardio had never really been a problem for the woman, but swimming and hauling all her wet fur and bulk out of the water after such a lengthy swim, well that was another thing. Her nose told her no other wolves had passed by recently, and that was enough for her to trust that her midday sun-bath wouldn’t be interrupted. She allowed her eyes to drift shut finally, soaking up the warmth of the sun and sand, the weighted pressure of her waterlogged fur, she finally slipped off into a dreamless slumber.

—

Rawk.

Her face scrunched, eyes cracking. The sun had barely passed an hour.

Rawk!

She felt something begin to lace through the fur between her shoulder blades, in a grooming motion. It was lulling her back to sleep.

RAWK!

There was a buffeting of wings and a hard peck right between her ears. The girl growled, fur bristling as she hauled herself up and snapped towards...

She stopped mid snap. It was the ugliest fucking bird she had ever seen. Its naked black head tilted to the side, oversized beak keeping a good 10 inches between Sedna’s face and those creepy, beady black eyes as the bird tilted it’s head to regard her. She squinted and scowled in response. Taking in the dirty white feathers, longer ones sprouting out like a reverse greasy yellow crest down the birds neck. It flapped its large wings again, black trips standing out in the sunlight, lacy black feathers resting over its tail. It’s long legs looked awkward too. She didn’t imagine it would taste very good.

And now she was thinking of food, her stomach growled. The bird regarded her for a moment, and a smaller rumble was heard. She growled audibly. Did this thing have the god damn audacity to wake her up thinking she’d feed it? She scowled. Not a chance.

Wading out into the water, the Archer-Lyall allowed the crash of the waves to lull her to stillness. Fishing was never a quick way to earn a meal, but it seemed far more practical than hunting though the strange glinting caves for rats. The ibis had followed her, occasionally glancing at her, making a big show of pitifully picking at the sand, like it might earn her sympathy or something. Her eyes rolled back in her head.

Eventually the fish came, maybe some of the larger ones were even drawn by the scent of her wounds in the water? Maybe she was going to draw in a shark if she waited too long. She hadn’t even considered it when she set out earlier that morning. Her lips drew tight, anxiety beginning to eat away at her gut. Quick as a flash, her head was below the water, closing on a fat fish that she flung towards the beach, chasing after it quickly, growling a warning to the bird to stay away. It sidestepped and circled, like the scavenger it was as Sedna didn’t even wait for it to stop flopping before she began to take bites out of its flesh.

Rawk.

She bristled.

Rrrrawk...

Her eyes rolled as she swallowed another mouthful.

Rrrr...

"FINE!" She snapped, throwing what was left of the fish right at the face of the bird. It caught the scraps deftly, quickly picking at the meat and bones and fins all. She huffed a sigh and sat, looking back towards the Armada. It had been a long swim out, it looked twice as long now she had considered the possibility of sharks.

The bird had finished its fish and took a few cautious steps closer to the wolf, using its creepy long beak to fuss with the fur behind her ear. She raised a lip to expose a tooth but made no move to attack. "Righto Chips," She regarded the bird, not quite sure where the name had come to her from. "Reckon yer can watch out fer sharks for me?" Looking at the awkward creature she wasn’t even sure it could fly, but it seemed to croak the affirmative and flapped heavy wings, hopping a few times before taking to the air finally, and easily circling overhead.

"Huh," That wasn’t so nearly as hard as she had expected. She headed back to the water. It was a long swim home.