don't cry.

[Mantra Dhvani]

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It was difficult paddling in such frigid water, but the current was stable enough to manage. She could already feel her paws freezing slowly, steadily on their way to most likely falling off on their own or amputation. Limbs rhythmically beat against the tide, propelling her body further towards the destination she'd staked out this morning - Thunder Island. Mantra had already visited Lightning Bay and wanted somewhere new to investigate; somewhere unlike she'd ever been, a place with thousands of secrets waiting to be uncovered (okay, maybe that was getting a bit carried away). Finally, the tawny wolf pulled herself up onto the surf, the plush sand soothing her callused pads. A giant ship with a beaten, torn sail and thousands of holes blemished into its beautiful wooden side loomed overhead, violently turned so that it appeared on a 90 degree angle; how it'd gotten there, who'd sailed in it, and how old it was Mantra Dhvani hadn't a clue. That, however, was an adventure for another day.

Heaving from the strenuous activity she'd just participated in, the lone wolf pulled herself farther up onto the beach and surveyed with heavily lidded eyes this paradise. The sky was an endless blue and, despite the chilly weather, a wonderful day for exploring a deserted beach; well, seemingly deserted, Mantra really had no idea about whether or not she was truly alone here and the thought slightly scared her. "Well at least I have something to look forward to," Mantra mused, turning back the way she'd come, "the trip home."

[Empusa Lykoi]

[html]Empusa had come here the night before, to this island. It really was a frightening place at night...she'd been really afraid when darkness had fallen. She had wondered if anyone else was around on the island at night, wolves that might sneak up behind her and attack her while she was asleep. She'd woken up a few times during the night because of her worrying, thinking she'd heard something or another.


It didn't seem like someone of her size would have been able to make it all the way out to Thunder Island, but she hadn't had to swim. She had waited for the tide to go out in the morning and then walked along the path that crossed between Lightning Bay and the island. It'd been easy. But then she had been trapped there, when the tide had come back in.


Empusa sighed as she looked out over the coast. She'd already missed the tide going out today, she'd slept through it, so now she would have to wait another entire day.


She started off down the beach, not noticing the wolf that sat down next to the shore until she was almost upon her. "Oh! I--I'm sorry for intruding. You 'ave come out to ze island as vell?"[/html]

[Mantra Dhvani]

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"Yes, in a fit of boredom and curiosity." Mantra smiled faintly up at the strange female with an even stranger accent, turquoise eyes roaming quizzically across the unfamiliar features that marked Empusa Lykoi's pretty face. It was blatantly obvious that this wolf did not hail from a Bleeding Souls territory or even someplace in the vicinity, like Mantra had; no, the way in which she spoke indicated that a far off country, perhaps even as distant as that place 'Europe' she'd read about in books, was Empusa's homeland. Mantra noted that her counterpart's coat was entirely dry, rather unlike her own sopping wet one. Either she'd arrived well before Mantra had even noted the Island's existence or... there was some other unlikely explanation.

Although not usually the silent type, the blue-eyed girl decided to leave the conversation up to her new friend for the time being.

[Empusa Lykoi]

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secretly falling apart



She wondered if there was anyone else out here besides the two of them. There were scents in places, but they were old...wolves and coyotes didn't come here very often. Empusa wasn't sure what the protocol was for something like this--they would share the island, surely. Maybe there was some game out here, a deer that had wandered out while the tide had been really low. "I am Empusa Lykoi-from ze Inferni coyote clan. I am sorry, but I must ask--you swam out here?"

She really was concerned now. There was a path that one could use to get out to the island...but you had to have been told about it first to know where it was, and what time to cross. It would be bad if someone tried to cross while the tide was still coming in, after all. They'd get trapped halfway across!

"There is a path to ze island...but for most of ze day, it is hidden beneath ze water. Very hard to find sometimes."The youngster wondered if her adopted mother would be missing her...but decided that, after hearing the explanation, Faolin probably wouldn't be too angry. "I came out here ze day before yesterday. It is nice for relaxation. But I have not met a wolf out here, ever. I have come here many times"