Pebbles and wet sand crunched underfoot with every step that Bindu took. It was a nice day; the sun was at its peak, casting a comfortable warmth on the coast line, and there were only two clouds in the blue sky. One was a puffy white, and the other a wisp on the horizon. Shards of seashells and colored rocks dotted the water's edge, and from far above a seabird cawed out to its flock. The wolfdog was irritable today, despite the weather, as the little stone embedded within her right forepaw still hadn't come loose. Though she was inclined to keep trotting, the teen was sure to jiggle the paw at every chance she got. The pain was irksome. And however pleasant the day, Bindu had seen others like it and was not impressed. The nagging hurt in her paw called for more attention. So this was Bindu; a half-starved, shaggy, red-clad teen harassing the coastline.
Sometimes Bindu fancied that she could see her homeland. The big water shimmered on the horizon like the great sands, golden at dusk and at dawn. If she focused closely, bright figures rose out of the water like proud cacti, only to disappear when she dared to blink or glance away. At times, Bindu even mistook the ocean for her deserts. The teen would splash into the water in delight during these nostalgic moments, only to result in a mouthful of salt water and heavy disappointment. Never did she dream of ever missing the wastelands of home. Now it could be paradise. The conflicts could all have been resolved. Puppies would be out of the dens by now and chasing after lizards. Maybe her mother found a cure to the two-leg disease. Who remembered Bindu, the herd master's child?
The wolfdog shivered so violently that she was forced to retire her steady pace and slow down. The frequent tremors were strange to Bindu, because her pads were slippery with sweat and her skin was growing sickeningly warm. Her gait drew to an altogether close with one powerful stomach grumble. Dark eyes were immediately drawn to the ocean. The hunger was almost unbearable, so there was only one option; find food, ASAP. A low growl formed in the heart of Bindu's throat when she changed course towards the water. She both loved and feared the ocean- love for its life, and fear for its dark depths. In the desert, there were no oceans but small ponds and the occasional stream. Death by water was rare, and a reflection of common sense. As the teen approached, her black orbs filled with instinct. Food- her body needed fuel, but this was a dangerous source of it.
Before she was aware of it, Bindu was wading into the waves, up to her knees before she was forced to stop. The constant push and pull of the ocean was too powerful for a weak wolf to splash any farther. Between the cycles of current was a second or two of calm. In these moments, the wolfdog could just barely discern little arrows of darkness flitting between her legs and around rocks. She liked the tiny fish. They seemed so blithely peaceful. The bits of their speech that Bindu could pick up were usually about safety and each other and the current. For these reasons, the dog-girl refrained from snapping at the minnows. She had begun to think of them as her friends.
The water increased Bindu's quaking, so she accepted her empty stomach and climbed out of the sea. For a few minutes she meandered down the coastline absently. That pebble was really irritating. Step, flick, step, jiggle, step, shake. Cycles upon cycles passed of this little habit, lost to an empty audience and a robotic wolfdog. Many hours of these actions had been repeated; walking, searching for food, trotting, walking, searching for food. Bindu was completely unaware of her mounting insanity. Her mind wandered from one subject to the next, reverting to an almost primitive state. It was difficult to concentrate on anything.
At first, the smell was dismissed as a hallucination, but Bindu's curiosity grew as the scent intensified. Her pace increased to a brisk trot. In the distance ... was that ... meat? Yes, the more she focused, the more her shadowed eyes could determine the streak of red against the white sand. When that conclusion had been reached, the pace instantly upgraded to a sickly gallop. A dead seal carcass had washed up on the coast. It was being picked apart by scavenger birds as Bindu watched, so she tried to go faster. The acceleration was short-lived, but the traveler was upon the cadaver in seconds. The red-webbed whites of her eyes revealed the pitiful excitement beneath them. Jaws dripping with saliva, the teen wasted no time and went about scaring off the birds. When they had been deterred by her sickly look and smell, she descended on her prey with sad vigor.
She ripped at the rancid meat with everything she had left, cracking the bones apart and licking at the slime within. There was barely enough meat for a puppy, but to Bindu it was a grand feast. The meat was soon gone and the bones were all split, but the glory of the meal still lingered. Pride settled in the wanderer's jaws and she snatched up a bone, prancing around with it for everyone in her mind to see. This was HER bone, and she had earned it. A small voice spoke up, all too familiar. "You're disgusting." The child snarled and whirled around. Her bloody eyes searched for the hallucination. It stood at her side in the form of a red wolf male. He grinned, a nasty smile. "You are getting closer, Bindu. Closer to your death," the male commented airily. He vanished as Bindu dropped her bone and snapped at his shimmery form, reappearing somewhere to the rear. "My kin will skin you and drink your blood-" The wolfdog heard no more, as the hallucination was gone. She panted and trembled.
This was not turning out to be a good day.
With a heavy heart, the insane wolfess picked up her bone and continued to follow the line of the ocean.
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