Large paws splayed awkwardly in the grass, toes gripping the ground to hold her down with every little fibre of being that was strong enough to cling to it. Sand whipped up around her, striking her vulnerable skin through her fine fur and forcing her eyes shut against it. Her ears remained plastered back, for the thought of having half the beach enter her head was not comforting, against the windstorm. Her long legs struggled to hold her down as the wind picked up even more.

Out there, the sea was battering the shore with a ferocity born of the storm. Lightning broke the sky overhead, and thunder banged clumsily along after it, a never-ending chase that Talitha found both frightening and exhilarating. She wanted nothing more than to get home and curl up with her father, but Gabriel likely wasn't even there. Ezekiel was nowhere to be found, most of the time, and her mother was probably having as much trouble with the strong winds as she was.

Well, not necessarily. The young hybrid slowly turned back, whimpering lightly as the sand showered over her, and began to struggle back in the direction she had come.

Iskata had returned to the beach to see if she could find Faolin's mother. Meeting up with her daughter would be nice to, but she figured that her friend was busy with her clan. The elder coyote had a little explaining to do, but even more the silver and gold wolf wanted to know if the lady even was going to do a thing about her issues. She felt sorry for the elder for the things that Haku had done to her but she doubted that the coyotes methods of easing the pain were really any better than what she'd went through. She moved along the edge of the clan's lands as she shook her head sadly.

The wind whipped across her pelt as the sands beat against her ribs. Stretching out her long legs she kept her head bowed and her eyes half closed. She had been following the scent of the elderly one until she'd lost it in the rising storm... now she was in a bit of trouble. A wolf in the middle of the clan lands wasn't really something to laugh about, especially for the wolf. She doubted that any of the clan members would believe her if she mentioned that she was Faolin's friend, she doubted that the clan would even want to believe that their leader was friends with wolves. Pausing for a moment she felt the grit digging into her fur as she tried to get a hold on the beachfront.

Too soon she realized that she would have to keep moving to outrun the storm or atleast find cover. All she could hope was that she made it out of the lands before Gabriel found her or one of the members who had a vendetta against her kind. Running into Faolin or her mother she figured she'd be fine, except for a tongue lashing or two. She trudged on through the sands as the wailing out at sea seemed to rise. Lifting her head she kept her ears folded back as she tried to look for cover, not too far away she caught the sight of something that confused her, not cover or Gabriel but the small frame of a child.

She stopped for a second before the winds began to bear down on her, finally giving in she headed towards the child. Quickening her pace she yelled out, "What are you doing?" She had no clue what in the world a small pup was doing out in the open, especially in these conditions... As she approached she realized the small one wasn't as young as she believed, though still a child. Nearly running upon the girl she looked around, trying to find a safe place to waitout the storm.

Her head lifted obediently at the voice, and immediately Talitha was put on the defensive; her father taught her well how to deal with trespassers. Sweet natured as she was, this wasn't a laughing matter for the youngster. Her eyes narrowed somewhat on the wolf, suspicion and yet conflict written plainly across her face. For but a moment she stood there, feet fighting the wind for purchase, and then she opened her mouth to speak.

Who... Blegck. A massive amount of sand shuffled into her mouth and made her screw her face up in distaste. She whipped around, turning her backside to where the wind was coming from and yelled into the wind, hoping the wolf would catch the question enough to answer it, because Talitha didn't want to. Who you an' why you here?

When the girl had went into a defensive mode Iskata could have chuckled at the sight, if it wasn't for the sand that was being ground into her pelt and the winds that were whipping across her frame. Shaking herself once as she eyed the child before her the female stayed on her feet, moving back and forth trying to fight the wind that was constantly trying to drive her to the ground. She didn't know why they were really standing there in the middle of the lands trying to even do this.

Bowing her head down as the girl spoke she strained her ears forward to grab the words, instantly feeling the grit burying itself in her ears. Trying to keep herself from pinning her ears back again she finally caught the words as the smaller female tried to turn her face from the wind. Raising her face to the sands as she squinted her eyes shut she called back, almost swollowing her own words. "I'm... I'm Iskata!" she yelled, gasping for breath and inhaling a bit of sand before spatting the grit out and calling out once more. "I'm looking for someone!" Pinning her ears back to slow the shift of sand into her ears she panted. "What are you doing out in this!" she shook her head and spat sand once more as she asked, concerned for the smaller female though knowing that she atleast was in her own lands.

Lookin' for sheller, she responded immediately, having been handed a name. Talitha would've turned and continued battling her way through the threatening gale to somewhere worth hiding, but she didn't even see any place it could even be found. Home was somewhere, but she had no clue how to find it, and she didn't have her mother with her to guide her. Even her father was nowhere to be seen; it was just Talitha standing in the middle of Inferni's lands with a strange wolf she had never met, knowing that Iskata wasn't allowed there because she had been taught well the law of the land but unable to say anything about it. Talitha was far too small to take on a wolf and win; she wasn't even able to fight off her fat brother.

Who you lookin' fer? Sand blew into her mouth but, unlike Iskata, she simply munched on it; it tasted like shit but there wasn't much she could do about it. It was lashing about her skin and through her fur, digging into her eyes and seeking refuge in her ears. If she tried to spit it out, more would enter; it stood to reason, then, that she swallow it and get rid of it altogether, though the prospect of eating her way through the sand that danced bitterly around them was not appealing in the least for the young tomboyish princess.

James Edit: fixed your bold

She smiled slightly at the fact that the youth wasn't going to attack and ask later, and when she'd been given a response she realized that them standing in the sandstorm wasn't the smartest idea, though she'd already know that but her concern for the smaller one was what kept her from finding shelter alone. Squinting her eyes shut again she spoke up, trying to shelter her face with her shoulder, out of the brutal wind's attack. "What's stopping us!" coughing as the sand finally hit her shook her head and tried to get a ragged breath again. "We're close to the border, there's caves there..." she said. She didn't know if the girl would even follow her, and she probably didn't like the idea that the wolf knew there were caves so close to their border, but Iskata had learned when Inferni was just reforming that there were caves all along the rocky beachfront.

Ducking her head under her arm for a moment as she rubbed the sand from her eyes she sighed and lifted her head back up, shaking her head as she fought to stand in the bitter winds. The words the girl yelled were almost lost but Iskata did catch them in the end. Leaning towards the youth to where she didn't have to yell so much she stated. "I was looking for Faolin or her mother!" She figured she didn't have to lie to the smaller girl, it wasn't like she could really do anything about Iskata looking for the two, she hadn't found them afterall. Sneezing as sand tried to invade her nose she shook her head and looked back ot the girl. "What bout those caves?" she suggested as she tilted her head towards the beachfront border.

Talitha was not keen on going anywhere strange with the wolf she didn't know. She was about to politely reject the idea of going to the border with a stranger, when the familiar name caused her to lift her ears. Fao is mommy! she squeaked with some recognition. Sandstorm forgotten, the young Gabriel look-alike turned smartly around and began to march into the blowing wind, eyes tightly shut.

She looked back in the general direction of Iskata when she had gotten a few feet ahead and yelled, C'mon, we'll go find her t'gether! Any friend of her mother's was a friend of hers, after all. Then she continued marching along, tail waving like a banner in the harsh wind.

Iskata stopped dead in her tracks when the younger wolf squeaked out a reply. She opened her maw in surprise then clamped it shut quickly as the sand greedily stole the chance to assult her. Spatting for a moment as she blinked dumbfoundedly for a second before chuckling. She should have know the young one was Faolin's, the child looked the splitting image of her father. "Faolin's your mother!?" she yelped before realizing the girl was moving away from her. "Hey wait up!" she called as her turned tail on the border and followed her off farther into Inferni, knowing that wasn't the best choice.

She followed the bobbing tail stream banner across the sands as she called out to the suddenly cheerful child. "I'm not sure this is a good idea!" she warned. She had no clue who in the world she was going to run into on these lands, but perhaps being with Faolin's daughter was better than being alone. "What's your name?" she questioned as she obediently followed the young hybrid.

She ignored the wolf, for the most part, as she bopped along the sand cheerfully, no longer worried about how it lashed at her and snuck through her fur to get stuck and become an irritating paper against her soft skin. She continued to ignore Iskata until her name came into the question but, having been raised by her father to be at least cautious of wolves, she was quite wary to give it. She stopped suddenly, hesitating against what her better judgment said and what her mind wanted to do to be friendly.

This was a friend of her mother, she couldn't be dangerous.

Talitha, she responded immediately after her struggle ended. Sure, nobody would have to know she'd given her name to a wolf. There was a possibility, of course, that Iskata was a spy and would bring information of the target back to her own pack, but she didn't want to make assumptions without finding Faolin. If she brought the wolf to her mother, there would be a 50/50 chance that she'd done good. Zeekee is my bruvver.

As they trampsed through the stinging sands she tried to keep her head down as they traveled along. She had no clue where in the world the child was taking her but somewhere deep inside she prayed that it wasn't right into the arms of her father, a soul who didn't like Faolin's wolf friend at all. She sighed as she shook her head, ignoring the sands that snuck into her fur and made her skin crawl. She hoped that she was doing the right thing following the young child but all she could do was hope, she was a stranger in these lands and unwanted by most of their kind.

She heard the name of the young girl as she spoke up over the winds, Iskata smiled, the name rolling off her tongue so easily as she tried it. "Talitha. You've got a beautiful name there!" Of course she'd never expect anything less from Faolin or even Gabriel, who's whole family was composed of beautiful names, atleast those she'd met. Smiling to herself she followed, "Zeke? What's he like?" she wished that she was allowed to mee the children, but she knew Gabriel would probably protest, she'd just got lucky today.