Who would have guessed that it would be water that would soothe the firey girl's soul.  When she had first glimpsed the vast sea plain, she had been in awe, and would have lingered longer if her family had not dragged her away.  When she learned that her new home was connected to the great ocean, she rushed to the shore as soon as she got the chance.  And there she had stayed.  She learned the cycle of the tides according to the position of the moon.  She was learning how to predict it by the stars.  She had explored the tide pools and sampled the riches, and dangers, within.  Too cold for poisonous lion fish and the wrong ocean for venomous sea urchins, the most Terra had to worry about was the stinging jellyfish.  That had been a painful lesson, and one she was not interested in repeating.

The onshore breeze ruffled through her bangs, exposing one amber eye before they resettled to veil her face.  She had been here almost the whole season now.  She had built her den among one of the coastal caves, creating a low wall to block the wind using a combination of driftwood, stone and sand mortar.  She collected specimens and had them sorted in her "tanks", natural pools that formed at the back of her cave.  She'd been cataloging them, and had learned which were good to eat and which weren't.  Nothing poisonous for her pools, but some things were tastier than others.  Mostly she was learning how the ecosystem worked, and the intricate dance of life fascinated her.

What she was really doing was hiding.  No one had thought to look for her, and Terra hadn't wanted to be found.  She had wanted to disappear into the wind and the waves, to dry up in the sun and be buried by the sand.  Terra wanted to become the elements, to take them into herself and have them absorb her.  She wanted to forget what had happened to her, but that wasn't going to happen.  So she hid from it for as long as she could.  But in doing so, she was hiding from her family.  The guilt was creeping into her dreams, chasing away her peace.  She would have to confront it, would have to leave her cave and her beach and her pools.  She would have to resurface and seek out her family soon.  But not today... no, today she would spend in the breeze that was flowing over the dunes.  She would gather her courage and she would go when the tide came in.

At noon the sea retreated, it's roar muffled by the whispering wind and the hiss of the dune grass.  She spent the day out in the tidal zone, collecting a few things and examining still more.  The day came and went, almost too soon in the young flame's mind.   At dusk the water chased her inland, forcing her back to shore and hiding it's secrets once more. It was time. Terracotta climbed the tallest peak in her range, and stood for a moment watching the burning orb begin to sink below the horizon.  Then she went to ask a favor of one of the coastal ravens that roosted in the rocky ledges nearby. They obligingly wound the salt grass around a portion of her advantageous mop into some semblance of ponytail.  Now her bangs merely framed her eyes instead of curtaining them.

She traveled overland to a place she knew she would know until the end of her days.  It was outside the border of the pack where she now resided, but she didn't care.  Almost full dusk now, she intended to spend the night at her father's tree.  Looking up into the boughs, the leaves were dusty black, too dark to distinguish any color in the dying light.  Were they still red?  She did not know.  With a sigh, she sank down on her hindquarters, looking up at the stars through the canopy.

"Hey, Daddy...  Sorry I've been gone so long..."

OOC: Liquid-timing this thread to take place after Nardir evacuates their territory but before Alana leads them to Inaria. This thread is where Puffin discloses his plans to leave Nardir and start a dog pack, and then leave with anyone who wants to join him. Nardir only please!