The boat hit ground with a horrible screeching sound as several tonnes of wood slammed into the pebble beach, gouging a trench that the Meria stuck in firmly. As always Neela winced at the noise, silently despairing the bottom planks which would need replacing soon. There were better places to land here; a sandy beach 10 miles north and even an old human pier in relatively good condition double that distance south but Neela had been out on the sea for just shy of a day and a half solid, and she wanted to get home, back to Baird.
She dismounted the Meria with a jump, sack of fish held in one hand and several chains running back to the Meria in the other, wincing as the small pebbles dug into her feet with the impact. As damaging as this landing was to the boat it did have the advantage of many solid rocks that could hold the Meria from drifting away and it was simple job to loop some chains over them; the sandy beach would have required driving pegs into the nearest firm ground and that sometimes took near as long as the walk back would.
Neela spared the glistening, perfect snow one lingering look and then tied the sack onto her back and went down on all fours, shifting into Secui form and racing into snow taller than herself. Tankfully the snow was lightly packed and Neela’s Secui form could push through it easily, slowly frosting the collie with white as she pushed her way towards home. Neela’s tail wagged fiercely as she bounded forwards, spreading snow behind her like a small propeller. Neela caught sight of the den off in the distance and barked loudly, announcing her approach.
Neela broke through the snow backing the door at a jump, emerging from the bank like a furry, red comet. She slipped as she went, landing on her belly in front of Baird. ”Ummmm, I brought food.” Neela said embarrassedly, picking herself up of the floor. Deftly she worried the knot holding the sack on her shoulders loose with her teeth and shrugged the bag off before shaking herself vigorously, spreading droplets of water and snow around.
Neela looked up again and laughed; Baird’s bundle of blankets was now flecked with white all over from the flying snow. Tail wagging Neela began to shift, her back arching as bones lengthened and fur softened. Experience had made Neela a quick shifter and soon she was standing on two feet, pushing her newly grown mane off her face. Rather than bothering for her usual ponytail Neela just pushed all her hair so it was going down her back and then started to worm her way onto the blankets with Braid, tail wagging; just because she didn’t particularly need the extra heat didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy it, and the proximity to Braid made it all the sweeter.
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