Not all those who wander are lost; Halcyon

[Aodhan]

Aodhán

Ischia’s days flow neatly and flawless from winter into spring, and from spring into summer. There’s hardly time to notice the change in season, and the spotted male finds himself easily lulled by its day-to-day charm.

It is nothing particular or different that drives him to the shores of the larger island today; nothing strange and nothing that caught his attention. He lazily drifts around as a large sea turtle, flopping his amphibian paws to stay on course. Only when he has taken the time to shuffle his way through the sands, he changes his form; a fossa rolls over, the species native to the island territory; his green eyes never change, now scanning the island for others. Even if there’s no-one around, he will still enjoy a trip through the jungle - maybe towards the waterfall, he decides.

However, when the fossa nears the jungle, he picks up the scent of another predator; curiously, he waits on the sandy beach, expecting them to show themselves any minute now.

A cat, maybe? He wonders briefly - those are rare on the island.

from the ashes a fire shall be woken

@[Halcyon]

[Halcyon]

we wear the mask
that grins and lies

With the turn of summer comes Halcyon's renewed comfort with Ischia. The boy finds that the awkwardness he'd felt at calling the island home after his family's return from Loess  has finally subsided. The island kingdom feels like his again, and the tiger has wasted no time exploring the spots he'd loved during his first year ─ and then exploring a little further.

Upon rising from his sandy bed this morning, Halcyon had yearned for the ocean. He took quick stock of Cormorant and Aquaria (he is always worried for them now, a product of watching Alcinder and Oceane both ripped from their home) before stretching his feline legs with an easy jog through the jungle oasis, until finally his tri-colored body rushed forth from the verdant foliage and into the crystal waters of Ischia's northeastern cove.

He sighs, lips pulled back from predator's teeth, as the cool waters overtake him. His large, and still growing, paws alight on the soft mud beneath him as he paddles in circles, the water rushing over his sleek back and offering him a comfort he had sorely missed while on the mainland. For all the things that Loess had to offer him, the southern shore to the Beqannan ocean just hadn't sufficed.

Movement on the shore catches Halcyon's attention, forcing his feline eyes to narrow. A sea turtle. He only watches the oceanic creature briefly before rising from the turquoise waters and returning to the jungle ─ his stomach has begun to grumble, and there is naught for him to eat in the seawater ─ the added weight of his waterlogged coat slowing his movements.

The boy ceases walking as he arrives beneath an umbrella of tree boughs and allows his nose to guide him. Confusion flashes over his face at the scent of a nearby fossa, having never come across one this close to shore, and amends his direction to find the creature.

Emerging again from the jungle, the tiger abruptly halts as he locks eyes with the smaller cat-like mammal. Despite his conversations with Titanya about his own ability, as a predator, to kill things, Halcyon has yet to pursue anything larger than a shrew. His stomach grumbles, but still he remains in place, eyes locked ─ there is a chance, he realizes, that this could be something other than a fossa, though his Mama had never told him about any fossa-shifters on Ischia.

"Hello there," he greets tentatively. He does not possess Zoolingualism the way Al and Oceane do ─ if the fossa greets back, he knows he has made a correct assumption and, perhaps, avoided a very messy situation.


@[Aodhan]
""

n | j

[Aodhan]

Aodhán

He was meeting more Ischians every time he visited the mainland - sometimes he spoke to them, which startled the inhabitants occasionally; sometimes he was content with just watching, or with exploring the layout of the land, without being interrupted.

Only rarely did someone see through his different forms without having talked to them first - this was relatively new. The fossa then, blinks to look up to the much larger predator, but he doesn’t take long to follow up with a knowing grin. ”Good morning.” he follows up with a lazy yawn - changing shapes can be tiring, especially internally; his digestive system and breathing system have already changed twice today.

His large tail rushes through the bushes he is in, tilting his head at the stranger. ”I’m Aodhán. Can’t say I’ve seen a tiger in Ischia before… Those are more a thing of the mainland, I believed.” But perhaps the tiger has been here longer than he thought. Though… he looks young enough, and Aodhán himself has only moved to Skye recently - it’s highly likely that he had been too focused on Eva and her closest family to notice him.

from the ashes a fire shall be woken

@[Halcyon] not entirely sure about the quality of this post but here are words anyhow