Speech: #99ccff

The ocean is full of secrets.

Sometimes, those secrets find themselves coming out in the most unexpected ways as they wash up on shore and on to the sandy beaches. It's those treasures that make anyone wandering along the shore line eager to continue their walk with the hopes of finding more.

It had been some days since the pride had arrived at what was now their home of Stoneclaw, and Ferdinand had spent most of it missing. When the King had stumbled upon a cave full of paw prints of ancestors long past, the lion found himself ready to explore and catalogue each and every last bit of the territory they now called home. It was definitely a task in the making as he spent his days learning each nook and cranny of their home lands, but he was doing it.

He had managed to find his way from the large cave to the Crevasse on the second day. It held high hopes of lost treasures and maybe even some long forgotten bodies of souls who fell in to bad luck when traversing the lands themselves. It was, however, decidedly best for him to take that exploration on a day when he could have a partner or two (though he was hesitant to ask anyone to go on this particular adventure with him with it being dangerous). By the next day, Ferdinand had traced back his footsteps to the endless prairie. It was, as the name suggested, endless, and as he looked out on to the horizon where the yak herds grazed and lived, he couldn't help but feel that there was much more than met the eye there. Again; this would be a topic for another day when he found the courage to ask a small group to go with him to perform what would basically be considered an archaeological dig. He wanted to know everything about them and their feeding grounds. He wanted to make sure that he had every last detail in place for when he would surely write his stories about their King Roderik and his legacy.

Today though, he found himself wandering the tide pools, his large body slumped over a rock and his front feet dangling in the water. His gaze was fixated on several crabs that were having a fight, and the only thoughts he could muster were along the lines of, 'I wonder if they have a family. I hope they don't hurt each other. I wonder what stories these little guys could tell me.'

He found himself taking a break as noon rolled on through; his body warming up on the rock as the sun beat down on it. There were many things Ferdinand was ready to do, but for now he hoped the tide pools would offer some insight to this ancient land while he caught a little breather for himself. And, if nothing else, it was a perfect day for a cat nap.

Enter, Dogma, a tiny little lynx, back at it again at the tide pools. Seems like she couldn't get enough of them, and as an artisan she found a certain draw to them when it came to making little trinkets. Cute little shell necklaces or bracelets, that sorta thing.

As it so happened to be, she had a couple stashed a couple in a little parcel made from leaves, keen eyes scanning the rocky ground, kicking her legs if they ever touched the water. A nice breeze sweeping against her cream colored curled fringe.

She paused as she gently dipped a large fluffy paw into one of the tide pools, pawing against a starfish glues to the side of a seaweed covered rock. When she did manage to pry it free with little trouble, she glanced up at the screaming gulls, eyes narrowing. Dumb birds. It was only then when she realized just what or WHOM they were directly screaming at.

A large lion sunning himself on the rocks, and Dogma tilted her head to the side, was he? Napping? She put her parcel down and forgot all about the starfish in that moment (you're safe for now buddy) padding quickly and quietly up to him. Whiskers twitched and with a little shake of her behind, she easily scaled the rocks he was perched upon, climbing on top of him.

Her weight might have been enough to wake him up, if her paws kneading into his mane weren't. Aw, she's just making biscuits. "Hey you sleeping? HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY! YOU SLEEPING?" She yowled at him with a bright little grin on her face.

The sun had really begun to warm his body as the lion drifted in and out from watching the crabs joust to feeling the weight of his eyelids as they closed. He shifted slightly as gulls screeched overhead and let out a large yawn with eyes closed. Today was definitely a day for a nap.

"Hey you sleeping? HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY! YOU SLEEPING?"

He hadn't had his head down a moment when the sounds and kneading toes of another woke him from his slumber. The lion started, her voice and touch scaring him half to death as he let out a loud, "AHH!" and jumped up and over on the rock...except as Ferdinand came down from the scare, there was no rock left to catch his fall.

If the world had stopped then, both parties would have seen the instant realization that his frightened self had over calculated his leap and as his body was pulled down by gravity, the males eyes would have gone wide as he watched the rock now sit parallel to his still falling body.

With a splash Ferdinand fell in to the pool that he had been so carefully watching only minutes before; body and mane soaked thoroughly. He looked up at his assailant with a huff; mane clinging to his head and face as he tried to blow the hair from his eyes.

"I'm not anymore," he sighed before jumping up once more. The crabs! Ferdinand leapt up out of the pool and on to a smaller rock, his head swinging back down to look at the now cloudy water. His ears flattened against his head as he searched the waters for any sign of life. With a quick start he looked back up to Dogma, a sort of unbridled fear in his eyes.

"I think, I think we might have killed them!"

He sprang with a shout, and honestly, it scared Dogma as well. He was up in the air and she was up in the air, however she landed gracefully.... enough back onto the rocks below. Legs sorta splayed out and claws gripping at the rocky surface below, teeth gritting together and fur absolutely puffed up. "Hey! What's the big idea!! You scared me half to death!!" She shot him an annoyed look.

Large ears perking at his voice and sigh, her brows furrowed and she gave him a short sigh of her own. "Oh, wait. Haha." She noticed were he had landed, right in the water, oof. "I might have scared ya too! Haaahaaaa! Sorry bout that bud!" As the realization suddenly hit her, she hopped off from her rocky perch to pad near the edge of the pool he was currently soaking in. "Ain't a bad time for a bath tho!" Even if the bath made you smell like crustaceans later.

Speaking of crustaceans! He panicked out of the water, searching the clouded pool for any sign of life and all the lynx gal could do was quirk a brow at him. He gawked back at her then, fear so apparent in his eyes, Dogma's ears pulled back and she made her own face at him. "Wait wait WAIT! Hold up! What do you mean 'we'?! Your big butt is the one who fell on them." She fired back, snaking around him so she could get a better look of the tide pool, but the water was still clouded up.

"I ain't no murder, PAL!" She spat defensively, mumbling something incoherent afterward that wasn't worth mentioning. Dogma would then plunge her paw into the waters, tapping around until. "OWOWOWOWOWOOOWOWO!!" She yelled aloud, pulling her paw quickly from the waters and with it, two very angry crabs. "Nope, they're still alive." She managed to say through a whimper, as they held fast to her large paws. "PLEASE GET'EM OFF!!!"

Speech: #99ccff

"Wait wait WAIT! Hold up! What do you mean 'we'?! Your big butt is the one who fell on them."

Ferdinand shot her a furrowed brow of confusion and panic. What did she mean it was all his fault?! Had she not scared him--

The lion gave a low whine as he watched her hop from his perch down beside him and look in to the cloudy water. His own attention returned to the muddled pond, ears low as he searched frantically. Eyes filled with even more panic as the dust particles refused to settle- what had he done? Oh, she was right, it was his fault wasn't it...

Ferdinand lifted his head from the water once more to look at Dogma with the saddest look on his face when--

OWOWOWOWOWOOOWOWO!!"

He jumped once more with a start as Dogma threw her front paw in to the water and then back out again with a yowl that was so loud he swore the dead ancestors of Stoneclaw could have heard them. He recoiled as she withdrew her foot with a crab stuck to her toes, only to spring forward and watch intently for a second before her piercing cry came through again.

"Nope, they're still alive. PLEASE GET'EM OFF!!!"

"Ahh--Ahh!! Right, right! Ahh--" Ferdinand whipped around as if to find a branch? (it was a smart idea but not smart enough) laying around the rocky outcrop they both found themselves on to no avail. Quickly the lion turned back and shoved his snout close to her paw in an attempt to nudge the crab off of her, but watched as it only clamped down harder. In a slight panic, the lion inched closer to the crab, nosing it a bit harder only to watch as the other claw that had failed to grab on to Dogma's paw reach out and snag his nostril. The boy leaned back hard with a loud roar as he jerked back, the crab in tow as it lost it's grip on Dogma's paw, dangling wildly like a loose cannon on the nostril of Ferdinand. He grunted and roared softly this time as he tried to paw it off of him, tears welling up in his eyes.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, c'mon cra---ow ow ow ow ow," he huffed loudly. With one violent shake of his head he felt a slight relief as the crab found itself flung in to the air. Yet as the creature landed with a 'thup' in to the water, the lion couldn't help but look at his nose which still held a broken off claw clamped in to place.

"Oh no..." he whispered as he looked on to what he had just done.

There were tears welling up in her eyes all the while she was shaking her paws and the lion boy was looking around in a panic. This is it, this is how I die, what a shame, crabs... Who knew it'd be a crab that would finally do me in, I'm sorry mom and dad. Life was okay I guess, but now I'm ready to embrace the long sleep. How meaningless my life has been up until now, whatever. It was as if her life was flashing before her eyes, and then there was relief, but only by a fraction as a crab let go and gripped another.

Eyes snapped open, tears spilling down her cheeks, wide eyed as she looked at the lion cry out in pain. Oh, buddy, ow. Her cheeks puffed up with laughter as he began swinging his head. It was a weird nose only because she was both laughing and crying at the same time? Going back and forth with both of them. One laugh, and then a sniffed cried ow, and then another laugh.

One good shake and he was free, and one good whip of her paw, Dogma felt the sweet release of an unwanted extra appendage. It flew through the air and she watched it as it hit the water with a soft little 'ploop'. She stared for a moment longer and then looked at her paw that ached in pain there was a grimace on her little face as she bit back a curse. "Oof that sure did hurt!" Giving her paw another shake, before turning to look at Ferd then, he looked slightly distraught?

"Is your nose okay? Did that thing pinch it clean off?" She said with a slightly chuckle, though her smile dimmed just a smidgen as she noticed the claw he was staring at. Her brow would raise as she moved closer, sticking her head close enough that her nose was almost toughing the lost limb. "Hmmm!! That's fine dude!" The artisan proclaimed finally, looking back to him to see if her words offered any reassurance. "Crabs, like, totally grow these things back. It's gonna be fine!" Her knowledge of tide pools had taught her that, after all she'd lived by the ocean for most of her life.

She quirked her brow at him again. "Yeesh, it's like you don't know nothing about ocean stuff." She'd push the claw closer to him then. "If you want, I can make you a necklace outta this claw? Sorta like a cool, 'I beat up the world's toughest crab'!! Oh yeah, Dogma by the way, Artisan Dogma!" She shoved a paw against her own chest, giving the plush fur a pat. "We make stuff, and well, I was out here collecting shells to make things with, so making an extra necklace wouldn't be any trouble."

"Is your nose okay? Did that thing pinch it clean off?"

The lion sat on the wet rock, ears lowered and his paw that still held the claw attached to it lifted up to his nose. He gently rubbed the aching spot, blue eyes snapping to look at Dogma as she spoke. The boy gave a soft nod before she spoke again; this time her head careening in close to his paw and subsequently his face as she eyed the crab claw still fixed tightly upon his pad.

"Crabs, like, totally grow these things back. It's gonna be fine! [...] "Yeesh, it's like you don't know nothing about ocean stuff. If you want, I can make you a necklace outta this claw? Sorta like a cool, 'I beat up the world's toughest crab'!! Oh yeah, Dogma by the way, Artisan Dogma! We make stuff, and well, I was out here collecting shells to make things with, so making an extra necklace wouldn't be any trouble."

The lion watched her, blinking quickly for a moment.

"I-I-I-I-I-Excuse me?!" he finally found himself stammering out as he watched her; taking in her indefinite energy and capability of talking forever, "I know that they grow their limbs back! I ought to know; I'm the Lore Keeper of Stoneclaw! I'm- I'm-I'm I'm one of the smartest cats in the pride!" Ferdinand stammered as he stared at her, clearly offended by her comment and notion that he wouldn't have known crab limbs grew back. The lion gave a huff as he lifted his paw and gently removed the claw, wincing as it ripped a bit of his pad when it unhinged. The lion gingerly set the claw down before raking his rough tongue against his foot to clean his wound. Gaze averted hers as he cleaned himself up; standing up once he was finished and setting weight on his front paw before shifting a few times as he settled back on to it.

He still appeared a bit ruffled as his gaze loomed over the claw before looking back up at her.

"My name is Ferdinand; Lore Keeper of Stoneclaw. It is, it is very nice to meet you Dogma," he began, voice a little strained as he came down from his mini panic attack. "I've been exploring these new areas of land so I can better serve the King and make sure that I am absolutely accurate when writing tomes of Stoneclaw's rise to power after it's Fall." He held his head high and smiled up at her, tail flicking side to side a little as he thought of his job and just how overbearing it was a task for him.

"I typically spend my time up near the mountains," he mused, nose pointing towards the range behind them, "but I think it's time to begin really exploring this land, don't you agree? There are so many secrets hidden here!"

The lynx rose a brow as he stammered at her, uh?? What exactly had she said that wasn't easy for him to understand? Giving him a rather amused, yet slightly puzzled look as she snorted laughter through her nose. "Oooh? One of the smartest, uh? That's cool, I guess." She gave a shrug turning to look back into the tide pool. "I'm just saying you made an awfully big deal for a claw that can grow back, since you know everything and what nooooot." Bi-colored eyes flickered up to him.

"Nice to meet you, dude.. I mean, uh, Ferdinand." Lore Keeper sounded pretty important, but also something she really didn't care about, buuuut she also didn't want to hurt this guy's feelings. Considering she did scare him pretty badly, for now she just nodded as he spoke. Especially when he began to go on about Stoneclaw's history and caves, and then there was talk of mountains and then there was talk about writing. "Wow! That's really lame and boring, Ferdinand! Nice!" She replied in an all too chipper voice, all things considered, that really sounded like a compliment in her head.

Hunkering down slightly to dip a large paw into the water and scoop out a sea shell. "The exploring part sounds cool. Knowing where your resources are is really important, but I could honestly care less about who was here before us, they're totally not anymore, so like what's the big deal?" The cream colored fringe fell into her eyes, obscuring her vision for a moment before she whipped her head to the side to move it, gaze would fall back onto the lion once more. "What's the point of learning from those in the past? They're all dead, I wouldn't call them experts at anything in that case."

Watching mildly as he attempted to clean his wound, Dogma tilted her head to the side curiously. "Ha! Did that lil sucker get you? Just stick it in salt water, it's pretty good for tiny lil scrapes like that." A little nugget of knowledge she'd offer him again, dipping her paw into the water to fling some at him, a playful little smirk curling up her lips.