riding the tide

^^It had been a dark and cloudy sort of October morning thus far. The clouds covered the sky and in the distance, there’d been a soft rumbling; like a dull headache that was rolling in, and threatening to ruin the day.

The winds, too, picked up; going roughly 20-30 miles an hour at this point, until suddenly, it stopped. The clouds parted to give birth; the coming through to shine down, like a spotlight, as something very large, and very heavy was spat out.



Splash!

His body hit the water, and he sank…

Sinking until he wasn’t anymore. He was being carried by something — no, someone. Someone who lacked fur of the wolf, and instead had soft, slippery skin and who spoke in a series of happy chirps, and had the compassion of a mother.



She would bring him to the nearest body of land which was not the shore of the beach, but what looked to be a collection of jagged rocks. Carefully, he climbed up, and turned to look back at his fishie friend, turning to lower his head to give her a nuzzle (and a kiss) of thanks, before her tail slapped at the water, and she turned to depart, leaving Vester within the Sepulcher, all alone.

Or was he?

It felt like he was being watched.

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Vendrussel wasn't sure what she just watched.

She thought she saw something fall from the sky, and curiosity got the better of her. Sometimes birds fell for a swooping to catch prey, or otherwise some lucky soul got a star ; but it didn't look like either, but a black substance that wasn't narrowed enough for a bird falling down. She approached the beach to where the side the other landed, and instead came across what seemed to be quite a small canid, riding.. Riding on a dolphin of sorts. The clicking was matchable, and she knew sometimes they were friendly — but riding one was new altogether.

A deadpan expression, the wolf being dropped off and a kisses departed as she stood in the trees, and finally came out with a, "who are you?"

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^^There was a voice of a female, questioning him before he had even turned around to brace himself for the new world ahead of him. Slowly turning to face her, Vesper was caught with an interesting slight that Vesper was not entirely prepared for.

She took his breath away.

A taller woman of delicious dumortierite & diamond, almost as if she had been chipped from the stones themselves. And her eyes sparkled with hints of bright blue, that Vesper knew to be from Lapis lazuli. He pondered for a moment if he were to cut her open, would he find the golds there?

The deadpan expression she was giving him, however, was unreadable, and the last time he’d seen that type of expression was right before he had entered the skies, and found a dolphin carrying him here.

He thought for a moment about her question, and the only name that came to mind was: “Vesper.”

Was this his name, he pondered, or the name of his killers? He found that he could not remember. But he remembered the heat; the roaring of the flames, and the burning of flesh, and the sensation of falling.

He frowned, unable to make sense of it all.

“Where am I?”

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From afar he looked to be a sturdy man, but when closer she noticed he was shorter then initially thought. Leaner, skinnier, not the bulk initially assumed but his colors shone through as something that reminded her of smoldering flames of a charred tree. He was black, touches of reds and white that belonged to the mountains than any sea that she knew, but Vendrussel looked over his shoulder, gazing to where the dolphin disappeared from. She lashed her tail, settling a gaze upon him once more with a curiosity of who he was, and claimed to be. Vesper.

"I am Vendrussel, Alpha of Dragonford. You are on ford land."

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^^Vesper rolled his shoulders with the lick of his lips, and nodded his head as though her answer had answered all the questions he had. It had not. Instead of actually answering him, she gave him things he didn’t ask for; things he didn’t want.

Her name. Her title. Her claim over this land. He glanced behind him, wondering if he should just jump back into the sea, and swim somewhere else, to find someone else who would actually answer questions.

He glanced back at her with an empty expression.

And what can you please tell me about the packs of this land, The Ford Land?” Vesper said, with a shrug of his shoulders. Weird name.

He wasn’t one to judge what folks chose to call things.

Of course, he also knew that Ford Land couldn’t possibly be the name of the place, but it was the name she’d given him. So he took it and ran with it.

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"You are on the Leviathan Sepulcher," her head swivvled, gesturing to around. Where peaks of spires emerged from the depths of the water, like a spine of a lizard continually toiling but forevermore in a frozen state of stone, "claimed by Dragonford Isle." The very place he stood where behind a grand forest remained tall and firm in the middle of the sepulcher. Hidden away from the continual breakers of the water, it was hard to spot from the Behemoth shore. She imagined though the raining mountains in the neighboring land could spot easier, "there are more beyond.."

"Where did you come from?" Soaked within the salt of the ocean and nothing more, even if she tried Vendrussel would not be able to detect packs. However the awful suspicion came from where the dolphins entered, and she still was a bit conflicted how to view that.

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^^“You are on the lands of Leviathan Sepulcher, claimed by Dragonford Isle,” the alpha had said, gesturing around them as Vesper took a moment to take in the view. A brow of confusion arched, pondering the difference between Dragonford and Dragonford Isle.

The more he thought about it, the more confused he became, and decided it best not to think of it. He had been trying to determine if this pack, if these lands, were a safe place to be. The rocks of which land this land did not seem threatening, unlike the monsters of the mountains that he’d originally come from.

And he could not ask the questions he wanted to, without arousing suspicion, though something in her question had him wondering if it was already too late for that.

Normally, he’d say something like “oh i’m from blah blah to the east,” but he didn’t even know where he was to be able to say something like that. The Leviathan Sepulcher, lead by Vendrussel of Dragonford (Isle) was not known to him.

And he wondered why that might have been. He had known all of the packs when he had been king.

He looked around, his brows furrowing some more.

“I wish I could answer that, but in truth, I do not know where I am… in relation to where I was.” Or how he even managed to get here, aside from his ride from the dolphin.

“But I hail from Medrargus.” He paused, softly, turning his head to look at her again.

“Are you as familiar with Medrargus as I am with the Dragonford Isle?”

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"I am afraid I am unfamiliar with that group." By word of mouth and travel around, Vendrussel knew a few packs here and there. She could name them but maybe not their location or even leaders. Such knowledge was voided and she did not seek them out, especially since many were not close. Though for those who were once in Highvalley she did try ; but was met with nothing but air. An absence, and when returned they were freshly gone.. There was another within Cloudrest as well, and had the chance to meet the boy but yet the leader. There was slight regret she did not personally go to meet, but neither did their own.

"Although.." she imagined it was the case as she looked at him, smiling lightly with pity, "many appear here, away from their original place. It's not unfamiliar to not know where one is."

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^^Medrargus and it’s influence was not known here, which could mean a grand number of things. Either, this was a different reality in which Medrargus had never risen to power, or he had been transported into the past, where before Medrargus had been formed.

Granted, also, he could have been in the future, but he had hoped that a current alpha would have known the name, unless it was so far into the future, that Medrargus had been nothing, not even a distant memory.

Vesper opted to believe he’d been sent in the past, but he knew nothing of Dragonford, even as a child. How far back could he have gone, then? He glanced around, very deep in thought and shook his head.

No, if he’d been sent back, then he would have been familiar with the lands, at least! He huffed, taking in Vendrussel’s words with a nod of his head. Yes, a different place… that had to be it.

“A different place, indeed.” Probably for the best, he didn’t want to end up skydiving again. His dolphin companion would not be pleased if Vesper found himself in need of her help, again, no.

“Well, Alpha Vendrussel, what can you tell me about the Isle, and the Dragons that roam it?”

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