Just a day at the Beach (anyone!)

[sarhea]

The mid-day sun beamed down from the heavens, but it did little to warm the frigid winter day. The stiff breeze blowing off the sea made it seem all the worse. Not much in the way of life was moving about this cold day, even the gulls sat quietly on the white sand beach, their backs to the breeze, many with heads under wing.

Only one creature was moving about this day, the large white hybrid with the odd black markings and piercing blue eyes. She sat just inside the tree line, watching the motionless birds as they tried to keep warm. Shanda had been meandering around Scatterstone Beach now for a few weeks. After learning that this land belonged to no pack made her feel a sense of safety, and at the same time, the fear of the unknown beyond this place kept her here. She was tired of traveling, and just wanted a safe place to stay put. At least she knew that for the most part, if any other dogs or wolves crossed her path, they'd mostly likely be in the same position she was...a wanderer searching for their place in this cold world. That didn't mean all would be friendly, but it put her mind at ease in some small way.

A cold gust of wind off the sea made all the trees and bushes wave wildly. Shanda was grateful for her thick pelt, she felt no chill. The birds, on the other hand, were having a hard time keeping their balance. They were cold and slow...and would make for easy game. Shanda was beginning to feel hungry-the small crabs that scurried around the beach didn't fill one up for long.

Shanda crouched low to the ground. There was a line of driftwood just to the east of her that would make perfect cover to sneak around to the backside of where the gulls were gathered. She slowly made her way around-a silent stalker, until she was in position. At just the right moment, as a gusty blast of wind came off the sea, and Shanda leapt out from behind a large log from behind the birds.

They never had a chance. They were so cold and she took them by surprise that she pounced on 3 in one leap that were huddled together. As the rest squawked and took flight, Shanda put her 3 out of their misery.

Ahhh, it was a good day at the Beach. She looked around...yes, a good day.

[tourniquet]

The salt air carried the even saltier stench of fresh blood as it splattered the ground, picked up by an inquisitive nose and sparked blatant curiosity in the young animal that caught the smell.


Grey eyes wandered slightly as gulls flew overhead, grey ears lined with gold perked lightly at the frantic cawing of the birds. The pup licked his chop as one bird flew a bit too low for it's own good, standing on his hind legs the canine jumped and jaws snapped shut around the bird's middle snapping the ribs and wing killing it quickly.


Landing with a sharp thump on the soft sand he shook out his fur from the little jump and sent a bit of blood into the golden brown sand under his small paws. Blinking he continued to trot along with the dead gull in his jaws, he would eat it but he preferred to either eat in a secluded spot or with someone else.

Walking along, Anubis caught another's scent and tilted his head curiously and soon began to follow the trail, being young he had large amounts of curiosity that would vanish in time but now he kept on moving without much of a care in the world.

[sarhea]

Shanda was gatheriing her feast together, preparing to carry them off into the seclusion of the treeline when she clearly heard the sound of teeth snapping together. Shanda immediately dropped her chest to the ground. As the firghtened gulls departed the area, Shanda cautiously lifted her head just enough to peer over the twisted piece of wood she was crouched behind to see what those teeth were attached to.

She immediately spotted the large, gray wolf trotting down the beach, a gull hanging out of its mouth. That old fear that had been gone for a few weeks now slowly began to creep back in. She'd seen noone since meeting the wolf named Piper her first day at Scatterstone.

"This land doesn't belong to anyone," she told herself, trying to keep the fear at bay. Boy, was this wolf a big one-male at that, she noticed as he trotted closer to her position. shanda took her birds in her mouth and attempted to crawl backwards, back around to the backside of the driftwood, as the dark colored male was about to pass infront of her.

Sharp pain shot through her backside and the patiently earned meal flew from her mouth along with a sharp yelp of pain. It was out before she could stop it, and she was no longer concealed. Shanda threw a frantic glance behind her to realize she'd backed into a gnarled, broken limb on the old piece of driftwood. Her hindquarter throbbed in pain.

Damn her cursed clumsyness! she thought bitterly. Well, now she woudl get to see if her theory was correct. Her position revealed, her meal sprawled out before her and her leg in pain, Shanda nervously awaited whatever would happen next.

[tourniquet]

Anubis paused at the yelp and looked over in the direction of the sound, tilting his head a bit he gently set down his dead gull to retrieve later. Walking up curiously he began sniffing about as his tail flicked back and forth, the smell of salt made it hard to track down much of anything really and so this wasn't easy.


He kept sniffing til his grey eyes spotted the female, tilting his head a bit he trotted forward with a slow and wide gait as his ears perked in curiosity as he stopped a few feet from her. He was unsure wether or not to approach or not, desicions desicions...what to do?

Giving a sigh he walked back and retrieved his meal before trotting back to where he was a moment a go, plopping down a few feet from her he began to eat his meal silently and without much care.

[sarhea]

Shanda's entire body tensed as she watched the male drop his bird and begin searching about. In no time his eyes met hers, and he trotted up not but a few feet from her, a curious look about his face. He said not a word. Then just as quickly as he came, he turned and trotted back. Shanda was confused. This was not what she'd expected, not that she knew what to expect in the first place. She rose to a half sitting, half laying position, her ears turned back in confusion. The male went back to his bird, picking it up.

Shanda's jaw dropped as she watched him trot back to his position just a few feet from her, and then plop down and begin to devour his meal, without ever having said a word to her, nor showing much of any distinguishable emotion. All she could do was stare at him with a dumbfounded look, words escaping her. She was terribly confused, but fear quickly faded, for if he meant any harm, he surly would not have brought his meal to eat in front of her. She didn't know how to react. Did she eat her meal? Did she try to speak to him? no-never mess with an eating wolf, she thought. she did not want to offend him-he was larger than she was. He obviously wanted company while he ate, so Shanda hesitantly pawed one of her gulls closer to her and slowly began pulling a few of its feathers out, all the while, keeping a close eye on the male. as of yet, he'd shown no aggression, but she would be ready to run if he did....

still the confused thoughts ran through her mind....what did he want?

[tourniquet]

Anubis kept eating and occasonally turned his head to spit out some bones that had been caught up in his meat, though he was only two he knew how to hunt and work well on his own. licking his chops a moment he turned grey eyes upward for a short few seconds before going back to his meal.


The salt air shifted his grey and golden fur lightly but he paid it no notice and he had to admit that the air did give the meat a much differant taste then usual. He had never been to this area before and already was beginging to like it.

He noticed the female looked confused and he tilted his head slightly before shrugging his shoulders and going back to devouring his well earned meal quietly.

[sarhea]

Shanda could not eat. Not with some stranger sitting there a few feet from her, gorging himself and completely acting as if she wasn't there. She pulled a few more mouth full of feathers from the bird, and then stopped. Her confusion was turning to frustration. She sat up and eyed the male.

When he glanced up at her and shrugged his shoulders as if he didn't care that she was confused, and continued to pig out on his meal, her frustration was replaced by a rare hit of irritation.

Shanda laid her ears back and studied the male. He appeared to be fairly young, and had markings of green on his face and chest that she'd never seen before. The smell of the fresh blood and meat made her realize that she was beginning to get very hungry. She had plenty of food, but just one problem. Finally, her irritation got the better of her and she spoke firmly, with only a slight hint of her irritation.

"Who are you and why have you come to keep me from my meal?"

Shanda was surprised at her boldness. She only hoped now that the male would not become offended.

[tourniquet]

He paused, he was already done with his meal and looked over to her with dark grey eyes. Blinking lightly he slowly stood onto his paws and shook out his fur getting rid of the sand, ah this was annoying he had to admit but wether he liked it or not he would have to answer her

"My name is Anubis....And how i am keeping you from eating i don't know." He growled with slight irritation as he sat on his haunches slowly.

[sarhea]

Shanda was again without words. The look of irritation on the male's face caused the fear to rise back up. Oh why had she just not kept her mouth shut? He was finished with his meal and stood to shake the sand from his pelt, and the glace he gave her made her want to disappear.

"My name is Anubis....And how i am keeping you from eating i don't know."

Just as she feared. The tone of his growling voice told her that she'd offended him. Her usually cowardice resurfaced from hiding after being gone for weeks. She turned her gaze away from him, looking at everything but him, trying to find words.

"I...I...."she stammered....she inwardly cursed herself for her stupidity."I'm sorry I offended you.....I....I don't normally dine with strangers..." she sounded so stupid. She looked at the half plucked bird in front of her. Her hunger had mysteriously disappeared, but she attempted to pick at it anyway, hoping ease the tension....

[tourniquet]

Anubis paused as he smelt her fear and of course he felt a bit bad for making her fear him, dropping his gaze a bit he heaved a heavy sigh and then looked upward as he once again spoke in a softer and more kinder voice.

"Understandable......You have no reason to fear me though." he said as he continued to look upward to watch other gulls fly over head, too smart to fly low this time unlike their friends had.

[sarhea]

"Understandable......You have no reason to fear me though."

Shanda wanted to crawl under a rock and die....of coarse she reeked of fear....she'd have to learn how to not be afraid so much, and if she was, how to hide it. But the kinder tone of Anubis' voice eased her tense muscles. He appeared to be distracted by the gulls that flew overhead. She watched him eye them carefully, almost hungrily...

She had more than she intended to eat-she'd just gotten lucky to have pounced on the right group to have gotten all three birds at the same time.

"You may have one of my gulls, if you want. I have more than enough, " she said, nudging one of the untouched birds in his direction. She hoped it would be a good peace offering. He'd told her that he was not to be feared, but it never hurt to give a peace offering for good measure....

"by the way, my name's Shanda," she added, realizing that it was rude of her to not give her name since he'd given his...

[tourniquet]

Anubis blinked and looked toward her as she nudged one of the gulls toward her, it was true she did seem to have a lot more then anyone would actually hope to catch. A smile creased his lips as he heard her name making his grey and golden ears flick forward

" Nice to meet you....and thanks." he said with a smile as he grabbed the gull she offered and lay down with it quietly, he began to pull off the feathers without much difficulty.

[sarhea]

Shanda's spirits lifted as he smiled at her offering. Now that wasn't so bad. All I need to do is stop letting my fear get in the way all the time, she thought. She watched as he eagerly took the gull and began to feast. Her own stomach growled and she turned to her own half prepared meal. She felt at ease to eat now, after all, they were technically no longer strangers, and now she knew he was not a threat. She turned her attention to the bird, completing the task of removing it's feathers and began to fill her empty stomach on the somewhat salty meat. She looked up ever so often to see what the large male was doing. She was curious as to where he'd traveled from, but was wise to wait until he'd finished eating before speaking to him again.

Shanda was a loner at heart, but sometimes it was nice to have someone to talk to....this beach had been so unusually lonely. She actually welcomed the chance to speak to another creature.

[tourniquet]

It wasn't to long for him to finish the gull off, maybe around ten minutes or so. He had learned to be a fast eater when he was young since it made it easier to get away from places quickly, lifting his head he studied his surroundings somewhat curiously before wrapping his tail around his body.


The salt air was one new thing to him, he never really smelt salt that much and to him this was the first time he had been to a beach and so he would enjoy it wether he had to leave soon or not.

[sarhea]

Shanda was most of the way done when Anubis had finished his gull. She eyed him out of curiosity as she continued to eat. He seemed very curious about the area, as he was looking around at everything. She watched as he curled up, and wondered what he was thinking. She finished her gull, and for the moment, was full-she'd save the second bird for later. She wondered if now was a good time to ask questions. She was so curious to learn what was beyond this beach.

"Anubis, if you don't mind me asking, are you from around here? I have only been here but a few weeks, and was curious about the lands more inland of here," she said, her black ears perked forward. Conversation was not one of her strong points, but it felt good to be talking to anyone.