[ P ] i think it might be hell

Tähti Tuoni

Humming resounded through clenched teeth, melodic and soft, as the girl dauntlessly took the awkward, winding steps required to get to the black sands of the beach. She struggled to keep a cumbersome wicker basket locked within the clasp of her jaws while scrabbling over the weather-beaten rocks she couldn’t find her way around, trying her hardest not to overturn any of the little glass jars her mother had packed inside. They clinked together noisily with her clumsy movements, and Tähti was grateful to whatever gods there were above— gods, she thought, that must surely be mocking her, if they did exist— when her paws finally touched flat earth and she was able to set the damned things down. She glared at the basket with what could only be described as pure vitriol, wondering why she hadn’t had the idea to just hide it away somewhere in the forest instead of taking it all the way here. The sample-sized jars were stuffed with all manner of medicinal teas and other such potions and powders, and she had been urged to go into Eleanor Square to drum up business by passing them out and luring some new customers into her parents’ shop. At the very crack of dawn, no less. It had sounded just about as fun as getting her teeth and her claws pulled, and beyond that, it was such degrading work— dealing with those vultures.

Tähti had decided that it was the perfect opportunity for her to venture to Sussex, a place she had only heard of in spite of it being so close to Rionna. Her harebrained parents had forbade her from going alone, though she couldn’t really imagine why. From where she had stood up on the overhanging cliffs and taken a cautionary glance downward, the journey had looked a lot more dangerous than it actually had been. Besides, she wasn’t a kid anymore. The thought brought a toothy and self-satisfied smile to the girl’s face, a pearly flash of white amidst her dark fur that only grew wider as she remembered her father’s gentle warning from that morning.

”Don’t wander, pieni susi [little wolf].”

Tähti grinned proudly, surveying the shoreline as though she had brought the ocean down from the heavens herself. The basket now completely forgotten, she walked towards the water, admiring the dense, low-hanging fog that had settled on the beach and the ebb and flow of the waves as they curled and crested and rushed to meet her paws.

@Baptista

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Baptista is not what one might consider a morning person. The fact that he has even roused himself before midday is impressive, but he's found it difficult to sleep lately in light of his upcoming nuptials. It hangs over his head like a gray cloud, following him everywhere he goes—he is certain he can hear the ringing of a death knell in the background.

Okay, maybe he's being just a bit melodramatic.

But he is young and full of harebrained antics; he has no desire for the shackles his brother has burdened him with. He'd swept out of the house that morning with a huff, departing early enough that he didn't have to come face-to-face with Augustine. And Baptista cannot help it—his paws carry him automatically in the direction of the Drunken Seagull.

He doesn't even realize his direction until he is already halfway across town, and he decides with a soft snort to continue on the rest of the way. It's not like he has anything better to do with his time, after all. (A lie.) The rocky pathway down to the beach is a familiar one he has set paw upon many times before, and he skitters down the decline with the flippant ease of a local.

What he does not expect as he reaches the bottom of the trail is for the beach to be occupied. Only by one rather unassuming girl, but that in itself is strange enough—natives of Sussex would know better than to linger so close to the lion's den. Well, how fortunate for her then that she has a gentleman like Baptista to watch over her. He pauses in the dark sands along the cliff's edge, tilting his head as he assesses what he can see of the female—which isn't much to be fair, considering that he is staring at the back of her head.

He takes advantage of her focus on the waves to scope the scene, and his eyes narrow in on a basket left behind, no doubt carelessly tossed aside in favor of the novelty she's found. Baptista skulks quietly towards the basket with his brows arched curiously, tentatively sniffing the jars stuffed with varying arrays of liquids and herbs. Some of them smell downright offensive, causing him to wrinkle his nose unpleasantly.

Glancing seaside to determine that the young woman is still distracted, Baptista pulls one of the less pungent jars from the basket, filled with some kind of strange fluid he cannot identify. Just as furtively, he slinks up behind the she-wolf and slightly off to the side, prowling as close as he dares before he holds out the jar with an upturned paw and announces his presence with a question, "what's this one do?" Perhaps it's childish—no, it's definitely childish—but he's hoping he spooks her.

Just a little bit.

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@Tähti

Tähti Tuoni

As Tähti wandered into the shallows, a chill assailed the girl’s slight frame from her head to her tail while cold, briny seawater quickly soaked through the fur coating her paws and her ankles. As soon as she had let the waves wash over her paws she immediately began to take slow, deliberate steps backward onto the wet sand. Once she was just out of reach of the salty spray of the surf, she stopped to take a long, sweeping look up and down the beach. No wonder this beach is empty today, she grumbled inwardly. This water is absolutely freezing. After a moment of direful contemplation, she dipped her head down to the water as it rushed toward her once again and hesitated before beginning to stick her tongue out to taste it, almost begrudgingly.

“What’s this one do?”

”Ah, perkele!” [Goddamn it!]

All sense of curiosity regarding the sea was lost as the girl spun around, gasping in her native language as she was met with the sight of one of the largest wolves she had ever seen. He was perhaps even bigger than her father, and the immediate question of whether or not this stranger might outweigh her main protector— who had no idea where she even was, anyway— made ice creep into her veins. Her first instinct was to curl her lip and bare needle-sharp canines as her ears flattened against her skull in a warning, cautionary manner, but the sheer size of the stranger had caused her to shrink down to where the fur on her underbelly brushed against the ground below. She silently cursed her tail, which had involuntarily tucked itself between her back legs in cowardice. The man had caught her off guard, but her flaming eyes still narrowed as they focused on the jar he held outstretched with his paw.

”Hey! That’s— I’m supposed to…” Tähti tried to snap at the white wolf, but her voice came out haltingly, in more of a whine than anything else. Her words faltered and she trailed off, swallowing hard, but she was able to relax slightly as she let herself take a good look at the man. In spite of his towering height, there was nothing about him that appeared to be too threatening, at least not intentionally. "I'm supposed to...give them out, anyway, I guess." Tähti surprised herself with the realization that she found him to actually be sort of...well, good-looking. She then noticed a teasing glimmer in his mismatched eyes that suddenly emboldened her. Recollecting herself, she let herself stand taller and lifted her chin high so that she was looking straight down her snout at him.

“That one, you drink. Just a little. It's supposed to help you relax, like medicine." She spoke more assuredly now with her softly rolling tongue, though she took a step back in order to create some distance between the two of them, hissing as a hind paw sank back into the frothy ocean water. ”Who’s asking, anyway?” She demanded, trying not to appear as vulnerable as she felt, though she couldn’t help trying once again to peer through the fog to see if there was anyone else lurking on the beach. Seeing that they were alone, Tähti turned to face the male again, steeling herself. "I don’t recall ever seeing you in Rion— I mean, anywhere around here.”

@Baptista

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