[Amabelle]

She remembered the snowy mountaintops. How the sharp peaks of the mountains had scraped the sky, clawing their way through clouds. The pure white, powdery snow that had coated the landscape and quieted her steps as she walked. The sharp cold that fought against her thick pelt, ferocious and deadly. Or perhaps the frequent blizzards, cruel and unforgiving in their manners as they tore at stone goliaths fought to sweep her off her feet. Her former territory had been dangerous but hauntingly beautiful, scarcely inhabitable to any but she and her prey.

While much of the time, it had been cold, the summers were pleasant. Her pelt would thin out and the snow would melt (at least somewhat), giving way to soft grasses and little wildflowers. She could distantly remember the summer of her birth when she and her siblings had played under the watchful eye of her mother. When her older sister, a member of her mother's last litter who had stayed behind, had taught her about the world around them and spun fantastical tales that had entertained her younger self to no end.

Then, there was the summer when she had borne her sons. It had been warmer than most, a summer mostly marked by her teaching her sons the way her sister and mother had taught her. How to hunt the funny-looking mountain goats, the best places to make dens, how to stand so still that you blended in with the world around you. Such memories were ones that she held in high esteem, quite fond of them. She loved her sons, her boys holding an irreplaceable piece of her heart. She missed them endlessly, but she was proud of the boys she had raised and released to the world.

While in Stoneclaw and settling in the new territory, she often looked back on her old life. The time before she had left her boring routine behind and sought out something more to sate her desires. The seaside cliffs were so different from snow-topped mountains and craggy valleys. She could see mountains in the distance but they were smaller than those she was familiar with. Although, surprisingly, she knew many of the prey animals that roamed the lands that Stoneclaw had claimed. She recognized the yaks and the tahrs, familiar with hunting both. However, the ocean and the seals and everything else was so unfamiliar, so new!

At the moment, she sat near the tide pools, studying them with awestruck glee. She felt like a cub again! Watching the little fish swim around and poking at all the foreign things she could find, Amabelle was shameless in her exploration of all things that she didn't know about. She was a curious creature at heart, bound to long for knowledge about the odd little things that life had to offer. She dipped her paw in one of the pools, bouncing back and laughing as she shook her paw free of the salty water. Sure, she wasn't unfamiliar with water, but salt water was something new to explore.

@waka

[Dogma]

@toby

#ff8742

When everywhere in the great beyond is your home you see a lot of things, oceans were one of them. Dogma had seen a great number of bodies of water, and well, they sorta all were the same. Didn't really do much besides smack whitecaps against rocks, push and pull.

However! Tide pools offered more, you could really see what lived in them, little ecosystems and whatever the heck else. The small gal was walking surefooted from pool to pool, swatting at loud gull that cried at her with heavy handed paws.

Large tufted ears perked at the sound of laughter, peach colored nose twitch against the wind and salt soaked air. Blue and gold scanned the area until FINALLY! She found the source, a lumpy white spotted??? Cat?? Leopard? Dogma ducked down then, little bobtail flicking mischievously. Ready to dish out the first rules of being by the ol rock pools.

It was amazing that someone with such big paws could also become so adept in sneaking, whiskers gave a twitch and smile pulled at her lips as she neared poor Amabelle. 1...2...3.. She pounced, springing high into the air, large paws aiming to jab the other playfully in the back and maybe if she was unlucky and fully surprised her face would meet the water. "GET DUNKED!!" Dogma cried with a laugh.

However if Amabelle was able to dodge out of the brown lynx's way, alerted to her little sneak attack, Dogma would instead find herself in the little tide pool, splashing around before hopping out. "No hard feelings, yeah? You just made yourself look like a suuuuuuper easy target." The artisan said, shaking off her toes.

[Amabelle]

She leaned closer to the water, pale amber eyes wide in awe as she watched little flashes of silver dart through the water. Her nose was nearly touching the water as she studied all the organisms inhabiting the tide pool, tentatively leaning forward even more and putting one large paw into the water. She nearly jumped back again, surprised by the chill that quickly seeped through her thick fur and saturated her foot. Fish were so weird! And so small, too! Who knew that they shimmered like this, almost as if they were little bits of silver that darted through the cold water. Absent-mindedly, Amabelle wondered if she could possibly catch some and keep them, somehow, as pets. However, she reminded herself that such an act was cruel, despite her own possible amusement.

Looking away from the dazzling little baitfish, Amabelle looked at the other organisms inhabiting the tide pool. Not too many animals were moving around besides a crab or two, but what most intrigued the healer were the number of different plants. Most notable were the thin, mint green blades of seagrass that peeked out from the crevices between rocks and spilling from cracks. Perhaps she could see if it held any medicinal properties if she had the spare time. Not only that, but there was odd-looking... mold(?) on the rocks. And it was red. Hmm, maybe she could check out that too. One never knew! The simplest things could be the most potent medicines after all, so it was always worth checking it out. Besides, it seemed safe. Especially since the fish were chowing down on it.

Then Amabelle was underwater. To say she was surprised was an understatement, shrieking once she felt herself be shoved off balance and later submerged in the water. For a moment, she panicked. She thrashed, trying to find her footing, only to shove herself halfway onto the rocks she had once balanced on. She sputtered, coughing up salt water before letting her head fall against the stone with a frown, looking up at the culprit. Ah, the little lynx (well, just a bit smaller than Amabelle was). Amabelle had eyed the other female curiously from afar, dazzled by the other's mismatched eyes and simply how pretty they were. Not to mention her funky lil' hairdo. Such a curious-looking feline, intriguing the snow leopard to no end.

"Goodness!" she huffed, "That was an interesting experience." Her words were purely kind without a hint of mal-intention, ever polite and innocent. The snow leopard heaved herself out of the water, strong shoulders pulling her onto drier stones as the other feline hopped in. Amabelle looked at her soaked fur, frowning as the lynx babbled on. "No, no, it's fine, dear," she mumbled absently, mostly contemplating how to dry herself off. She wouldn't try to shake herself, well aware that her fur was too thick for that to work. Her pelt had never gotten this wet, at least several pounds heavier now that it was completely sodden. Sighing to herself and gently trying to assuage her frustration, the snow leopard looked toward Dogma. "I'm Amabelle, by the way!" she chirped, eyes bright as she looked toward her pridemate.

[Dogma]

@toby

#ff8742

It was a little surprising that the gal didn't rear back and swat at her for all the trouble she had caused, though Doggy was secretly happy that the other didn't seem to mind as much. Instead she seemed to say it was fine? Blue and gold eyes blinked for a moment as she let that hit her. Come again? Brows scrunching just slightly wondering if Miss Fluffy had hit her head on a rock when she took her salt water plunge, again, hopefully not.

"Ya know, usually people get pissed when they're pranked. NOT SAYING!! I don't mind your reaction, it's just a lil weird, is all. But I guess there's all sorts, right?" She gave a grin, even though it was probably to make herself feel better for shoving someone into a pool of water for no reason other than it'll be funny. She didn't wanna feel guilty about this, but surprisingly with how well the leopard was taking this, the lynx couldn't really help it. "I guess I just feel bad." She said fidgeting in her seated position.

Ears drooped a little as the other offer her name and the lynx frowned thoughtfully. "I'm Dogma, artisan extraordinaire!" She proclaimed, her frown morphing into a wide grin as she stood up and padded next to Amabelle. "Okay so, since I'm feeling so bad about what I did, how about you shove me into the tide pool too! It'll be a we're even thing." Brows raised as she motioned her head to move cream colored bangs from her eyes.

"Artisan Code of Ethics demands that retribution must be paid!!! Other words, fairs fair." The lynx patted Ama, her grin seemingly growing brighter. "How's that sound, Ama? It'd be quite the experience...."

[Amabelle]

Amabelle laughed in response to Dogma's disbelief in her passiveness, shaking her head gently once her giggles fell quiet. Then at the lynx's confession of guilt, she would smile kindly. "Dear, I've been through a lot worse from people than being shoved into a tide pool. If I'm honest, this might be one of the more tame things I've been subjected to," she chimed, determined to alleviate the fellow feline's guilt. She busied herself with wringing out her tail gently, grimacing with each wave of water that left her soaked fur. Sheesh, she might as well be a dang sponge! Huffing to herself, the snow leopard continued to knead out the water from her tail. From the corner of her eye, she watched Dogma, listening to the lynx babble and introduce herself. That didn't mean that Amabelle didn't take note of Dogma's small frown just before.

"Lovely to meet you, Dogma, even if the circumstances are a bit... unique," Amabelle responded with a playful smile, flicking her tail to get rid of some clinging water droplets. An artisan, huh? She hadn't met one of those before. If her knowledge served her correctly, that meant Dogma was capable of crafting a whole bunch of things. Idly, Amabelle wondered if the lynx would be able to make her some baskets for organizing her herbs... That would be nice, especially considering how messy the snow leopard could get if she wasn't deliberately trying to be organized and was rigid about it. Baskets would certainly help with that! Storing the thought away for a future date to ask the lynx about, she looked at Dogma curiously.

What an odd proposition! Why would Dogma want to be shoved into the pool when she had already jumped in? Perhaps to alleviate her guilt. But still, it was odd. Then again, Dogma was odd. But a good kind of odd, the kind that draws you in and leaves you grinning. Dogma was already speaking again, talking about the repayment of debts or whatever else. A "Code of Ethics." It brought a lopsided grin to the healer's lips, a bemused twinkle in her eyes. Retribution, is it? Amabelle thought, a brow raised. She wasn't one to seek retribution, not really. But the lynx seemed insistent on Amabelle doing to Dogma what Dogma did to her. She giggled when Dogma quoted her earlier words, shrugging to herself.

"I mean," the snow leopard began, shifting to her feet, "if you insist, dear." With a swat of one large paw, much more force behind it than Amabelle meant, the little healer aimed to shove Dogma right into the pool just as the lynx had done to her.