the tortoise. (anastasia)

[r o s e m a r y ♥]

What was I supposed to do here again? the wolf asked himself as he plodded over seemingly infinite stretches of tan. The sand was hot beneath his paws, but it was a pleasant sort of warmth - comforting. It put a smile on his face, anyway. His eyes stood sparkling and bright against the sordid state of affairs that was his face - shabby tendrils of fur framed his cranium and the rest of his body was even worse for wear. He hadn't taken any time to groom himself (or made time for a nice swim) in a while, cleanliness one of the least pressing matters on his mercurial mind.

Judas enjoyed Diamond Beach to the fullest. Crystalline waters that rivaled the blue in his eyes, the sparkling reflection of the sun upon the finely grained sugar sand; it was magnificent. The smell and taste of salt in the air did wonders for the cleansing of his nose and palate, or at least that was what old wolves led him to believe.

It made him think about the nature of the sea - its vastness, its contents, its creation. The sun beat on the sea and created little pinpricks of light at the surface, like the stars in the night sky but somehow even more mysterious. Stars were shadowy, unreachable, cold; the sea...well, it was right there to explore if you were courageous. Not only did Judas love relaxing in the sand, but he also was a strong swimmer and fisher due to a puphood rich in traveling to both the Island in Ignavus territory and the wonder that was Diamond Beach.

Judas has even sworn to have spotted some sort of fish-wolf creature cutting through the water with shimmering fins farther than he dared venture. Perhaps this was part of the reason he journeyed to Diamond Beach this day; the spark of desire within him to see this whimsical beast again.

The beautiful shore was only a hop, skip, and a jump from Ignavus territory, and it was well worth crossing through the Solar Dunes.

The Solar Dunes weren't all that terrible. They burned the pads of Judas's paws, yes, but they were mighty in their own way. They were no comparison to the thrill of the sea, but they reached up toward the sun admirably and created an intricate architecture of sand. Of course, the sea was present at the Solar Dunes, as well; however, the brute hadn't much luck in spotting the fish-wolf in this area and preferred the aesthetics of a smooth beach anyway. Reptiles were fun to play with, sure, and he typically made a quick stop at the Solar Dunes before arriving at his final destination of Diamond Beach...but Diamond Beach was clearly the only thing on his mind.

Suddenly, something caught the corner of Judas' eye. He was about halfway through the Solar Dunes, the rate of his pawsteps matching the excitement that had built up in childish anticipation of visiting the beach for the first time in several seasons.

Said something was gargantuan, round, and decorated with fascinating rings of color on its back. Spiny little limbs peeked out from under it, clawed and appearing a mite bit dangerous. Judas met its darkly intelligent eyes set deeply in a broad head and barked with delight.

"A tortoise!"

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[§ilent]

Sublimely green eyes were locked on the stretch of golden sand around her. For miles they seemed to roll, towering dunes yawning up toward the sun that so turned the grains into bits of fiery inferno. The awestruck wolf flinched, lifting one paw gingerly off the ground and peering at the pad. The searing heat left it aching and swollen, the ground like fire, even in the autumn. One by one, she lifted each of them, giving them a moment of relief off the burning ground. Knowing standing in one spot wasn't going to help, the continued to walk, grateful that her white fur kept out most of the heat, although it did nothing for her poor paws.

Mentally, she growled at herself. Why was she out here, in rouge territories anyway? Oh yes, her current like in Imperium Magnum just, "wasn't enough", and so she decided to go out on a little quest. Something interesting to do. Normal things, really, hunt a bit. Explore a bit. In the solar dunes. Her head began to throb as she picked up speed to run, a blinding blitz of white fur taking off through the desert-like dunes of Diamond beach. Ahead of her, water flashed, glinting blindingly in the sunlight, and she pushed herself, water was nice, always nice. She plundered into it, only to wince and bite back a wail. The water was warm and thick with sea-salt. It left an uncomfortable feeling in her fur and stung her blistered pads. Huffing, she climbed out and shook herself. No relief there- maybe the wind that kept blowing sharp grains of sand into her eyes would also cool the water that clung to her and act as a cooling agent.

She didn't get far before she reach the decision to make the best of a bad situation. She would hunt, see what she could find, explore a bit, then go home and never go back to these godforsaken dunes. Instantly she began her search for prey. Thorny devils. No. Turtles. No. Various bugs. No. Just when she was ready to give up, ahead, a hawk landed, eating one of those spiny lizards from earlier. It wouldn't do much food wise, but it would be a snack and a good bit of sport. Lowering herself to the ground, despite knowing she stuck out like a sore thumb, with nowhere to hide at that matter, she began to close in on the hawk. It must have not noticed her, because she was soon within striking distance. A few more seconds and- "A tortoise!" The hawk spread it's large wings and took off into the sky, Anastasia lunging up, and only catching a mouthful of tail feathers. She spat them out, tossed her head back and let out a shriek of frustration. Nothing wanted to go her way! She spun around toward the sound, and caught site of a male wolf, pale white like herself, but much, much larger than she was. She started to stalk toward him, eyes blazing, but gave a sigh along the way, calming herself, beginning to walk toward him with more of a calm gait, although she still burned internally, it showed in her venomously green eyes.

With an almost sarcastic tinge to her voice, she spoke, "Why yes, a tortoise. Marvelous, isn't it? Because there's not hundreds of them lining this hellishly hot place." She wasn't intentionally being rude, or snippy. Deep down, she knew it wasn't really this brute's fault for getting excited- it was an exceptionally large tortoise to see around these parts, but thanks to him, her midday snack was gone- and she was terribly hot, and more so growing dehydrated. She couldn't wait to go back home to her pack- even if it was cold as hell, and made he wish for warmer temperatures. She looked down at the tortoise. It seemed completely unphased by the wolves, it couldn't care less- and when you had a shell that big and hard, who would fear a couple of wolves, whom were totally out of their element at that. Her nose slightly curled up in disgust. "I can't say I'm a fan of reptiles."