A brief visit to her mothers and the meeting of half-siblings, which she knows will have to be expanded on some other time, is all she makes time for before she finds herself preparing to trek back to the ocean that is her home. And yet there is a hollowness, disappointment settling into a crevice that has cracked ever so slightly open within her chest, that haunts her mind.
She'd thought something, what she isn't even sure of herself, might happen or change and it hadn't. A frown resides persistent on her mouth as she hunts for a filling meal that will tide her over during the harsh journey outward towards the ocean waves. This is the fourth--or maybe even fifth--prey she has settled her eyes on. A fat slinking lynx that has enough meat for at least two, if not three, kin. Perhaps even more than that.
The doe hunches down, ready to break into a run, and--
In a lightning-quick flash, Sand Shark was after the lynx, hooves nearly silent as they fell upon the soft dirt. He had stalked the beast for what felt like an eternity- a lonely, hollow gap in the stretches of time until he found his second soul once more. He was not entirely sure where Land Shark had gone, but he forced the misery from his mind- did not let himself wander idly and morosely, begging the MotherFather to return him to his sister. There was life beyond when the two of them were together, and he was going to make the most of it.
And that included eating.
The kill was quick and easy, fangs sinking into the beast's neck followed by a stomp to break it and end its misery. Sand Shark's chest heaved with exertion as he stood over the lynx, trying to parse out how best to go about eating.
It occurred to him he wasn't alone.
"Oi! Sorry bout tha'," he called, demeanor instantly shifting to a more relaxed one. This was a lady,
after all! He stepped away from the lynx and gave a bow of his head, inviting her over.
"Care to partake in some fine meat this afternoon, ma'am?"
Alarm flooded into a half-formed wave of rage as another kin ambushed the meal she'd had her eyes on. The rage crashed into surprise as she took in the acha's appearance. It was like none she'd ever seen before. Extremely different from the buck that had tied her tongue in knots. The one who--she tensed her shoulders as she forcefully stormed into the area. That lynx was supposed to be hers. And she wasn't going to just find another prey to stalk after he'd screwed up her hunt. Not a chance.
Only where she expected fight, it appeared there was none to be had. Damn. The want to yell had been so appealing and easy a moment ago. Now it spiraled away and left, well nothing that she knew to do with in its place. Preparation and journeys, she understood. Emotions were harder to pin down and straighten into definitions.
"Why do you have to be nice?" the doe sighed, at length, not even answering his question. The strange tail intrigued her but it was submerged under layers of verklempt. (Great; now she was inventing words to describe the choked--or was it churning--oh fu--) "I'm not even hungry anymore."
Well. That made a right load of no sense at all. Sand Shark blinked, his brow furrowed in complete and utter bafflement as he stared at the stranger. She was... mad? That he was giving the lynx back? This was worse than dealing with Landy, really. Landy, at least, was his sister. At the end of the day, they couldn't hate each other. But some random stranger...
"I mean, um. If ya want rudeness, then, fine...? I'll keep the lynx?" Did it make sense? Absolutely not.
But Sand Shark was equal parts a lover and a fighter, and could drop between the two like that. Swishing his tail, he cocked his head to the side.
"Ya wanna tossle for it? Or... just. Not have it???"
"And that," she sniffed, derisive, "that only makes things more complicated! How do I know who you are if you go changing your spots to stripes and then to freckles!?"
Irritation raked against her spine and her fur began to stick up in tufts. Why couldn't kin just be who they were? What made them camouflage themselves into prey or predators, into fake beings and emotions? A growl of frustration erupted as she stalked forward.
"I'd trounce you. I'm a predator. You're just a fish!" she hurled, eyes narrowed, as she decided that whether she was hungry meant nothing. That lynx would be hers. And if she had to drive him into the ground, she would do so.
"Apparently, you don't really care to know who I am! I'm just tryin' to see what makes you happy, and that ain't workin too well for me!" There was an uneasy edge to his voice, and the spines along his back were tense, standing on end. If it was a fight she wanted, well. Sand Shark had tousled plenty time with Land Shark, and he had the teeth and the kick to back it up.
"And who's ta say I'm not a predator, huh? Considerin I brought down that lynx, I might wager I'm pretty good at huntin!"
Oh motherfather. He was egging her on. Sand Shark cursed himself, standing firmly now over the lynx.
This was what being nice to girls got him, in the end.
Breach froze, "What do you care what makes me happy?" she asked with a surprising amount of fear. Bucks did not care about her; especially stupid achas! And why would this one be any different?
But then the thought of him, all spindly limbs and flashing colors--giggles broke in guffaws.
"A lynx is small game compared to a boar," she snorted, indelicate, and sidled forward. "And a boar is nothing compared to me." The challenge was very evident in her voice. She grinned ferally.
