How long? How long had it been since she'd lost her memories? Through conversation with others and her own attempts at trying to remember things, it was the only logical conclusion she could come up with. What else would explain it? Only thoughts that were far more scary than randomly losing her memories. Like... what if someone used magic on her brain to suck her memories away? What if her memories were so bad, so sad and traumatizing that her brain had blocked them for her own health and safety? Somehow, the more simple answer of they just vanished brought her more peace than any of the others she thought up while she wallowed in her misery.
She had left the shores of the sunken ship she'd risen from after spending a short amount of time there, enough to find that it was not plenty enough in food nor water for proper survival. She had traveled south to find rocks breaking apart the landscape instead of soft sandy beaches. These hunting grounds proved far more plentiful than the previous, and she spent her days patrolling the tide pools and snapping up any crustaceans or snails she stumbled across.
When other canids wandered her way, Reed was careful of them. She tried to stay to the shadows best she could, considering the sorts of foliage that decorated the rocky shores - or lack there of. Most of them treated her with little regard - passing by with but a glance or taking a simple interest in learning her name, asking about the swords, then moving along. She spent days and nights trying to figure out what it was she couldn't remember. She made zero headway with her attempts. When she got frustrated or tired of her failures, she took up swinging her cutlass around. She must of been some sort of fighter in her history, for the movements with her cutlass came naturally and without conscious effort. Instinctually, her legs spread wider to accommodate her shifted weight. When she swung, her legs, neck, and head all swung around with her, displaying elegance with a practiced step. While not holding her cutlass or dagger in her muzzle, Reed hardly had any grace in her steps, but while holding them, suddenly it all came together.
After her morning walk down the tidepools to fill her belly, she took up a stance atop a rock shoal with a background behind her of waves crashing against the rocky scape. There she swung herself around, her cutlass grasped firmly between her jaws. A paw flicked outwards to kick up a small immature coconut that had fallen early from the trees. Into the air the young fruit flew, and with a swirl, Reed's cutlass sliced the fruit clean in half. She planted her paws onto the rocky sand-covered surface again, then flicked a hind paw back to kick at a second fruit, sending it flying outwards away from. She spun and darted forward, diving after the fruit with her cutlass. Her blade was sheathed with a quick fluid movement, then her smaller dagger was pulled. A yank sent the dagger through the air after the fruit and a gust of wind stirred behind it, sending the cutlass in an arc to slice through the fruit like the first had been.
Attack: Trying to slice an immature coconut in half
Success: Her dagger is sent through the air with her air magic and successfully slices the fruit
Failure: Her dagger is sent through the air with her air magic and flies to sink its self into the rock surface nearby.
Night-hued wings flapped frantically as the small canine braced for landing. His paws gently brushed on the sandy shoreline. It had felt good to get back into the air and off the ground for a bit. The sand stuck between his paws was annoying at best, but the freshly healed canid knew better than to travel far right now. He had gained his strength back thanks to Enya, but he had sworn to himself he would rest for at least a day or two. His word was not something he would break, even words to himself. He would stand by them even as he itched to travel.
The sea danced, sparkling waves crashing onto the shore in perfect rhythm, It was beautiful for sure, but Eon had a mix of emotions as he watched it. He was thankful for it, It had delivered him directly to where he needed to be. However, after being in its water for days, he just could not get the salt out of his fur, not to mention the musty scent that now clung to him. His usually shimmering coat was dulled with salt and sand, and the canid found himself picking at his fur for hours just trying to get it out. As much as he was thankful for the sea, he was also eager to leave the coastal region behind entirely, bathe in some freshwater, and finally reestablish his usual silky fur coat.
Though Eon had initially washed ashore on Sandy Island, he had found it hard to remain in one place. He hadn’t gone far, but at least it was enough to satisfy his urge to travel and curiosity to see what else the realm had to offer. This area seemed to catch his interest, actually. It had many caverns and crevices to explore, enough to keep him busy for a little while. It seemed like a good spot to catch a meal too. Eon wasn’t big on shellfish, but now wasn’t the time to be picky.
The winged canid paced the shore, overturning rocks and digging through muddy sand to find something. It was far from ideal - any muck he had managed to remove prior was now being replaced. It would be worth it for a meal though - so he hopped. He just wasn’t the best at finding it. His paws sunk into the wet sand making it hard for him to travel. Luckily with a few flaps of his wings, he could easily get out of any mud he was trapped in. He was just happy the area seemed to be void of intelligent life. He didn’t want anyone to see him like this. As thankful as he was to Enya, he was still embarrassed to be seen in such a condition. Not because he was found half-dead, but because of how unappealing he had probably appeared freshly washed up from the sea.
‘Just one more day… then I’ll travel inland’ he’d repeat to himself. It was the only thing getting him through. He overturned a rock, finally finding a few crabs to snack on. Though seafood had never been his favorite just about anything tasted good right about now. He was so preoccupied with his catch he almost didn’t catch a glimpse of the figure on the rocks. However, movement from the corner of his eye eventually caught his attention. He would adjust his gaze to fixate on it. It was another wolf… crap... not someone else to see him like this.
He'd observe the figure for a moment. They were dancing on top of rocks? Strange… but who was he to judge when he danced in the clouds all the time? At least… he used to. It had been a bit since he had been able to do so. For a moment his mind wandered to simpler times where he could dance in the sky all day. 'Soon' he replied quietly to himself, eyes still glued on the strange wolf in the distance. He'd watch for another moment. However, he realized the wolf wasn’t exactly dancing. Instead, they were practicing with what appeared to be a sword or multiple of them. Eon was intrigued and curiosity carried him forward just in time to watch the wolf cut a coconut clean in two. He was impressed with this wolf’s swift movements. As much as Eon didn’t want anyone to see him in his current condition, he was too intrigued by this wolf not to gawk at them.
“Impressive” he’d bark, his colorful tails swinging behind him. “Where'd you learn to do that?”
Her tawny legs slid to a stop as she watched her dagger fly, her emerald eyes dying to see whether or not her attempt at magic would hit her mark. The metal on the dagger glinted as it caught the sun's glare, then with a schwank the dagger sliced clean through, landing with a plink dagger-down in the sands while the two pieces of fruit fell off to the sides and rolled. "Yes!" Reed squealed eagerly as she spun around in a circle once, twice, three times with excitement. If only someone could have seen! If only...
A voice suddenly came and Reed's spinning in circles - chasing the jewels that dangled from her short-nubbed tail - came to a sudden halt, her paws splayed outwards in all four directions to catch herself. As her momentum shifted to a halt, her long dreads flowed around her head, laying first outwards to her side before falling in a pretty fashion about her face. A quick toss of her head readjusted the few that dangled in front of her eyes, and a paw came up to shove a stubborn one back over her ear. "Oh I uh..." she started, smiling at the small fox-like canid. He was quite a bit smaller than she was, but his wings seemed to more than make up for it. Then there were his tails that flowed - not one but multiples of each. She took in the galaxy-like appearance of the canid before she found his gaze, her own lingering. His eyes seemed to glow and swirl, and she found herself wondering just what that same gaze might look like in the dusk of sunset, or under the glow of stars at night.
"Thanks" she said suddenly realizing that she had been staring at him instead of answering his question. "I uh... I'm not sure where I learned it from." Her chest heaved still from the dancing and the spinning, and though she smiled, it had faded some when the stranger had asked her such a question. "I don't really remember much of my history at all" Her head tilted slightly as she continued to smile, though there was a hint of sadness as she spoke the words out loud. A moment came and went, and then the sadness was gone and the warm eager smile returned to her muzzle. 'Thank ye for the compliment though! I don't think I've seen ya before. Where ya from stranger?"
Eon watched on as the wolf before him caught herself clearly not expecting his presence. Suddenly, he felt a bit awkward. It also didn’t help that the wolf took quite a bit of time just to stare him down. He was used to this, and would have typically assumed it was his sparkling coat, majestic wings, or colorful feathers that had caught their attention - but covered and sand and muck like he was - there was no way.... For the first time in a long while, he began to feel self-conscious. He did his best to keep a steady breath and a calm look on his face - though he did take a few steps backward as the silence wrapped around him. This was the kind of silence that he hated. The silence somehow managed to be louder than a scream of terror. He was about to book it - leave the situation and forgot he had even had this encounter when the wolf finally spoke. The sound of a voice piercing the thick silence was not as comforting as he would have liked - at least not at first. However, as words began to take shape the situation almost immediately became a bit lighter.
The wolf before him thanked him and then went on to explain that she didn’t actually know where she had learned it from and that she had lost her memories. A strange mix of emotions hit Eon - there was sorrow for this wolf, It must have been frightening not to remember their past - or who they were… but there was also a strange sense of jealousy. Eon knew it wasn’t right for him to feel that way, not when the wolf before him was clearly hurt by the matter, but he could not help but want to not remember his own past. It would make it so much easier for him to move forward now… But he did… and that was just something he would have to live with.
Figuratively, he shook the thoughts from his head as the wolf atop the rock continued, mentioning she did not believe they had met before, and asking where Eon was from. “No, I don’t believe we have met, my name's Eon” he’d reply with a quick smile, trying to ease the lingering heaviness of the situation. “As for where I come from… let's just say thats something I would rather forget myself.” The words came out without much thought - but perhaps thought should have been put into them before they were spoken. Eon only hoped his words wouldn’t be taken as insensitive.
In an attempt to steer the conversation in another direction, he'd quickly go on to talk about what little he knew about the realm. All he knew was what Enya had told him the day prior, mentioning the kingdom that claimed the entirety of the land. He wondered if the wolf knew about it, or was perhaps even a part of it... Of course, there was always the possibility she could be against it too. Until he knew more, and in to not shake the waters, Eon would do his best to mention it in a neutral stance.
"You know about the kingdom forming here at all?" he'd say, glancing up at the she-wolf curiously. He wondered what the residents here thought about it. While he was all for the idea of a unified kingdom, he wasn't so sure everyone would be on board, not right away anyway.
So, Eon was his name and his history was not something he wanted to talk about. Well, she supposed that made it a little easier on her, then. She wouldn't be expected or questioned about her own history, not that she could remember it anyways. That didn't mean others didn't try to make her. Thankfully, the topic was avoided all together and instead Eon mentioned something entirely different. A Kingdom. She had no idea that there was a whole entire kingdom around here. She envisioned pieces of docks stretching out over cresting waves that reached towards the sandy shores. She saw within her mind's eye an area that seemed to be made for socializing, with a long bar stretched out and various places to sit and drink and watch the sun set over the shores. A wolf golden with beautiful hair flashed before her and then another that stood proud and confident. Instinctually, she felt that she knew who they were, but she couldn't recall names or memories with them. She felt that she knew the docks, the establishment, but how or why was lost to her. She shook her head in frustration, trying to shake away the hurt as the memories floated just outside of her grasp. She knew that she knew these places her mind showed her, but where? Why? How?
A paw came up and rubbed at her head, shaking her dreads lose so they fell once more around her face as she lifted her muzzle and looked at Eon. "No, not at all. I've just been living on the beaches since I got here. I woke up in the depths of the ocean in that sunken ship out yonder. You've seen it? I thought I was gonna drown and meet Tyr when suddenly a bubble of air popped up around me and floated me to the surface. Only problem was," Reed leaned into Eon, lowering her tone as she glanced around to see if anyone else could hear her. The fact she was about to share was a shameful fact for her. "I don't know how to swim." She leaned back and looked left and right again, double checking her surroundings. "I made it to shore with Mar pushing me along and a stranger found me and helped me. Since then after I recovered I've been practicing my dancing skills while I wait for my crew to show up."
Speaking of her dagger, Reed realized suddenly that she had never recovered it from the sands. Not to mention there was fruit now split open into two pieces, enough for each of them to enjoy. She paced over to her dagger and grabbed it by it's hilt, then with an exaggerated flourish she sheathed the weapon. The coconut was not quite ripe, but that didn't stop Reed from offering Eon the other half. "Here, you want some of this?" She took half of the coconut, which was coated in a fine layer of sand, and licked at the inside, lapping up the sweet leftover juice inside before nibbling at the soft flesh. "What's this Kingdom like? Is it a good one, or a bad one?" She plopped down into the sands, her short tail clearing the sand behind her as it wagged, dragging dreads back and forth.
A moment of silence passed as Eon assumed the wolf before was pondering about something. He himself wondered what exactly it could be as he waited for a reply. Eon was curious, and he could be a bit pushy, but he wasn’t so much to ask, at least not now. Perhaps if circumstances had been different, he would have, but he was too drained - he could hardly think straight. He was hungry too.
Finally, his question was answered, and not with a simple yes or no - but the stranger's story of how she ended up here. She mentioned a sunken ship and Eon envisioned it in his head, but no, he had not seen it, he himself had just gotten here. What caught his attention, however, was when she mentioned the name Tyr. He was unfamiliar with the name, and the way it was mentioned made him think of some sort of deity. He was curious now - the wolf couldn’t remember her past but could remember the deity, it was certainly an interesting coincidence.
Eon himself never believed in any deities. Lately, however, he had been second-guessing that. He had let fate decide where it would take him - and he just happened to end up here, in the realm. Though, he admittedly hadn’t taken the time to really think over it all too much. Still, he couldn’t help the thought that there was some higher being who had called him to the sea in the first place. He just couldn’t come up with any other explanation for the feeling he felt the moment he stepped into the salty waters and let them carry him away - almost to his demise. Luckily, he had ended up here, and an old acquaintance had found him. There was just no other explanation for these events other than the fact that there was some higher being pulling the strings. If he was being honest with himself though - he wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about that yet.
He was quickly snapped out of his thoughts as the wolf leaned in towards him - as if she didn’t want anyone else to hear - not that there was anyone else around to hear anyway, but Eon supposed there could be someone hiding somewhere - you just never knew. It was then she admitted to him she didn’t know how to swim as if that was some sort of embarrassing concept. Eon chuckled slightly - not judgingly, but simply at the fact this wolf was embarrassed by it at all. Swimming wasn’t necessarily an essential skill for most wolves. Some, sure - wolves who lived by the sea such as Casfura he assumed considered it an important skill - but to most, it simply wouldn’t matter much at all.
“Don’t worry about it - I’m not the best swimmer myself either and trust me, I hate getting these feathers wet! Though I’m curious, who is Tyr, they some sort of god?” he’d reply to her after listening to the rest of her story. It was intriguing to Eon - he felt for her too - it must have been nearly terrifying to almost drown - he couldn’t even imagine… wait. That literally happened to him too. A little different, but the drowning part was there for sure.
“To be completely honest, I almost drowned too - I luckily washed ashore and an old acquaintance helped me out. I feel a lot better now, still a little drained from it all though.” He’d admit before replying to what else they had to say. When the coconut was offered to him, he happily accepted it. “Yes, thanks! I’m starving!” he’d say, quickly laying himself onto the sandy terrain and biting into the fruit. It was then he was asked about the kingdom, and he was unsure if he truly knew how to answer. He would do the best he could, though.
"They're a good kingdom, they aim to unify the lands under a common purpose - accepting anyone and everyone into their ranks and encouraging them to follow their dreams - whatever that might be." he'd say. "I'm new here myself, but that acquaintance I had mentioned earlier, she introduced me to the idea - she's their queen!" he'd reply before taking another bite out of the coconut. He did have one more question for the wolf - “I don’t believe I caught your name yet?”
The other wolf might not have viewed being unable to swim such a big deal, but somewhere deep inside her she knew she'd been made fun of a lot for it. Just like the visions she had, the feeling was there of knowing, and yet the whos, whys, and hows were left unanswered. At the mention of his feathers, she nodded along knowingly as if she had feathers of her own and empathized with him. She didn't, but she nodded along like she did. She heard the question of Tyr and purposely ignored it, unsure how she even knew the name to begin with. Again, it was the same situation. She knew things. She could see things in her mind's eye. She just didn't know the whys or hows or whens or wheres.
Then he went on to tell her that he too had nearly drowned in the sea. He had been saved by someone he knew. A pang of jealousy struck Reed. She wished she could find someone she recognized. Maybe someone would recognize her and they could tell her what had happened. Maybe someone like one of her crew members she was praying she could find, foolishly still believing they existed and lived despite the evidence thus far showing her the opposite.
The other canid took the offered coconut and chowed down, giving Reed the sense that she didn't need to restrain herself from wolfing down the fruit and forgoing her learned manners. He settled into the sands near her, and she grew more animated and unlady-like as she chewed on the coconut flesh inside, gnawing and alternating between using her front teeth and those along her jaw. She listened as he described this kingdom he had learned about. It sounded nice, she figured. Everyone getting along together, everyone following their own dreams. Her mind turned to her own dreams and desires. She had neither so to speak. At least not right now. Her chewing and gnawing slowed as she thought about what her dreams might be. She'd been called a pirate... maybe it was her dream to be one of those? But... would the kingdom let her follow such a dream? Chasing booty and pillaging and plundering sounded like an awful lot of fun, but she was sure the kingdom wouldn't quite like that sort of behavior. So, what would they do with those who's dreams didn't align with that of the kingdom? "Queen" Reed echoed with wonder and admiration. "A Kingdom with a real Queen, and you were saved by her!" There was awe in her eyes as they sparkled. "How do you know the Queen? You said you're new here and she's an old acquaintance of yours, but she's the Queen here?" It wasn't adding up in Reed's mind. "Heh. I suppose I should introduce myself instead of asking you more questions. The name's Reed Blackpaw." Her muzzle opened to say more, yet the rest of the words escaped her. So, she turned her focus back onto the young coconut and gnawed on it some more, the brittle exterior snapping beneath her powerful bite. She really felt like there was supposed to be more to her name!
The wolf seemed oddly shocked at the mention of said acquaintance being the queen. Were they that unfamiliar with the idea of leadership? He supposed, she probably wouldn’t remember anyway - so Eon nodded along. He paused as she questioned how he knew her. As much as he didn’t want to talk about his past - it would be rude not to answer, He took a breath in preparing what he was about to say. s.
“I come from another continent… actually, almost feels like it was a whole other world, strangely enough… but that wouldn’t make much sense.” he paused, it had been a bit since he really thought about that place - only briefly mentioning it with Enya, but both of them seemed just as eager as the next to forget all about it.
“It was called Kalonia, it was ruled by four packs, I was in Athadia, actually led them briefly, but there was also Volgra, Barioth, and a pack of pirates called Casfura. All four packs had a long history, with alliances and enemies being formed. There were periods of peace, and there were periods of war. I don’t know much about Enya's story - I know she was a part of Volgra at one point, but when I met her she had left. I had found her back then nearly starving to death and caught her some food. Funny how the roles were practically reversed when I met her again here on the shore. I was nearly dead myself - she has some sort of magic that was able to heal me.”
He spoke, realizing now he was starting to ramble a bit. It was a habit of his. He hoped that for all it was worth, it would at least answer Reed's questions about how he knew Enya, the queen, and who he actually was. If he was being completely honest with himself - he didn’t really know who he was. Not anymore, anyway.
“Anyway it's nice to meet you - Reed Blackpaw” he’d say in a friendly tone. He just hoped he wouldn’t be asked more questions about his past and that the conversation would move in a different direction from here. He tried to wrap his brain for more things to talk about - but his brain was strangely silent. Normally there was a bunch of thoughts buzzing around - but now, it was silent and he felt strangely numb.
The story that Eon started with immediately entranced her. She listened with extreme focus, forgetting the coconut she chewed on as they conversed. He had come from another continent! Was he some sort of wolf who could use magic to travel between continents or something? Had he been thrown into a portal? How had he managed to fly so far? And why had he been drowning? Why did he leave his old home? She had so many questions! And yet she didn't ask a single one, and instead listened as he rambled on about this other continent. He spoke of different packs and when he'd mentioned one in particular, Casfura, she saw a beach with huts lining the shores. He continued on, speaking about wars and peace and mentioning Enya by name. Another vision came to her mind - a wolf red with scales along her stomach - and disappeared. Wait... did... did she know these things? She had some sort of healing magic by the sounds of it, but Reed didn't listen to that part of the story. Instead she kept repeating those trigger words within her mind over and over again. Casfura. Enya. Vrolga. Athadia. Athadia in particular stood out as she repeated the words a second time.
How could she possibly know these things? If she'd never met Eon before, then how could they possibly share any sort of common history? Eon ceased in his rambling and Reed's attention focused fully back onto him once more. "No no, pleasure is all mine." she repeated politely. Even as she smiled through her pleasant response, she felt frustration swelling within her. None of this was making any sense! "Say, you haven't seen any other pirates around here have ya? I'm lookin' for my crew, and it's kinda been a while since I've risen from the depths and I'm beginnin' to think that maybe they didn't make it but... I gotta remain hopeful! So, I'm hopin' that maybe you've seen someone around?" She pushed the now-eaten coconut half away from her and stood, staring at Eon with a wagging nub and rump. "I wanna show em my dance moves."
