[ORP] To The Ocean!

[Ruriska]

With the spring came slightly warmer weather and as promised Hunter was taking Dacj to the beach. He’d offered a rather grumbly invitation to anyone else who’d wanted to come, provided they didn’t annoy him too much, and had packed a nice picnic lunch to share.

As they pulled into the parking lot at high speed, Hunter brought Ruri’s the car to an abrupt halt with a screeching of tires. Pleased to see he’d correctly assumed that nobody else would be visiting the beach today, Hunter slipped out of the car and opened the boot to grab whatever they needed.

“Let’s go.” With a basket and rug on his shoulder he made his way agilely down the sandy embankment to set up a nice spot. The sun was bright; however the wind had a definite chill to it and Hunter frowned at the satly tang in the air, far more used to the clear scent of the forest. At least it was nice and refreshing.  

[AnimeEyeshime]

Dacj was thrilled; she'd been to the ocean before, but not really a proper beach, and she was determined to participate in as many beach activities as she'd remembered to bring things along for. Equipped with her trusty beribbon'd straw hat and carrying a mixture of sandcastle-building implements, a large tote with sunscreen and other necessaries, a towel slung around her shoulders, and a swim noodle or two held in her clubs, Dacj wiggled her way down to Hunter, her tentacles leaving snaky trails in the sand.

Mena'd brought her own car--or, rather, her infamous van--and slung a large beach umbrella over one shoulder as she picked her way over the sand. "Forget anything?" the cat woman teased her kraken-daughter.

Dacj stuck her tongue out in reply. "I wanted to maximize my experience--oh! I forgot the boogie board."

"I've got some in the van," Mena said with a chuckle. "Let's wait to get those out those out, though, you've already got enough equipment. Here, I'll take the noodles, dear." Reluctantly, Dacj relinquished the requested items and Mena went to set up her umbrella on the edge of Hunter's rug.  

[Ruriska]

Hunter hadn’t exactly been surprised when Dacj’s ‘mother’ had opted to come along. He assumed that Mena was chaperoning him to make sure he didn’t drown her daughter and turn her into calamari; he was fairly certain at least half of the Hyte population thought he was more than capable of such an act.

He had never met Mena before this day and as she put the umbrella up beside his neatly spread rug, he gave her a curt nod. “There are sandwiches and drinks in the basket if you get hungry.” He told her as he removed his shirt, tossing it onto the rug without much of a glance. Hunter gave a much warmer look towards Dacj, amused by all the implements she’d chosen to bring along; they were going to make one hell of a sandcastle later.

He turned and approached the sea, looking almost hesitant as the water came to meet his toes. Hm. Cold.  

[AnimeEyeshime]

"Thanks," Mena replied as she settled in--unlike Dacj, she did consider Mer Co's beaches perfectly serviceable and had experienced quite enough of them, so she'd brought along a book and planned to camp out under her umbrella all afternoon long. She'd come along not really to watch Hunter (though she had to admit she was pretty curious about the raccoon Hyte, especially given her daughter Noelani's past, Dyre, and the various other bits of in-the-past gossip), but to make sure Dacj didn't get into too much trouble. The kraken was very childlike in enthusiasm at times, and Dacj didn't always think things through before trying them.

Still, she was somehow amused at the fact that Hunter and Dacj had managed to hit off a friendship--if she'd been asked to anticipate it, she still wouldn't have seen it coming. Then again, she was far from infallible with predictions and she hadn't been hanging around Hytech proper nearly as much as she used to...

With a longing look at the ocean, Dacj decided it best to dump the rest of her beach accessories in a pile on the beach rug. Then, with a cheerful 'whoop', she rushed for the sea, splashing merrily into the water with one hand clutching her straw hat and holding it firmly on her head. It was a bit cool, but it felt lovely rushing over her tentacles as they squelched into the sand. "Aaah, real ocean," she said with a happy sigh, eyes closed in pleasure.  

[Ruriska]

Dacj’s passage sent up a little shower of water that splashed lightly against Hunter; the raccoon fluffing his tail out a bit. He took a few much slower steps in deeper until it was up to his knees, then stood with his arms crossed staring out to the never-ending horizon. “Yup, it’s real alright.” She seemed so happy.

Wet and cold, but hell, he was going to have fun too. He turned to Dacj with a playful, and somewhat wicked, grin. “I propose an epic battle. First one to have their head completely shoved underwater loses.” Probably not the best idea; especially since he was proposing a wrestling match with a teenager but the idea amused him.  

[AnimeEyeshime]

Dacj grinned at the challenge; she rather wondered if Hunter had thought it through. Sure, he was stronger than she was, but they were standing in the ocean--her natural element. She removed her hat and chucked it offhandedly back at the beach, trying to aim for the blanket but mostly failing. "Mom?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get it; just don't drown," the cat woman called, going to retrieve the hat and stash it on the blanket with everything else.

Dacj turned back to Hunter, one eyebrow quirked as her own grin mirrored the raccoon's. "It's only a loss if I'm completely underwater, right?" Not waiting for a reply, she waded out far enough that she could more properly swim before turning back towards Hunter. She sent her clubs sneaking across the distance between them, wrapping around the raccoon's ankles and tugged insistently--more of a display of what she had going for her than a real effort to get him under quite yet. "Raccoon vs creature of lore--let the epic battle begin!"  

[Ruriska]

Hunter had indeed not thought it through. Not at all. Yet he assumed he would be triumphant and made a mental note to take it easy on her. After all, he was bigger, a trained hunter and much older. That was his thought process until he felt her clubs wrap around his ankles and he realised, rather belatedly, that she one up on him if you counted the extra limbs and he was much more comfortable up a tree then in the ocean.

Whoops. Hunter gave a bark of amused laughter at his own folly. Of course, that didn’t mean he would throw in the towel without a battle. He shifted his weight to brace against when she truly decided to pull him over into the surf. He dug his feet down into the soft sand to hopefully keep him steady and grinned at his opponent, half bending over with his arms hanging down, prepared to grab a hold of her tentacles and give a tug in return.

“Let’s do it kiddo.”  

[AnimeEyeshime]

She chuckled at his realization of the predicament he might be facing, but now it was time for the real strategy--though she had more limbs, he could also use them to pull her under...perhaps not with the clubs, but if he managed to grab two or three of the shorter tentacles, she would be in real trouble. And though she had her clubs wound 'round his feet, she wasn't going to be able to pull him under with those alone, especially now that he was alerted to their potential. Still, warning him had been the courteous thing to do, she thought.

The only real way she could see to win was to unbalance him enough to push under--possibly if she could manage to get behind him...

Her current course of action decided, she withdrew her tentacles quite suddenly, letting Hunter feel the absence of them, before sending them back--only not to wrap, to tickle about the ankles. "I don't suppose you're ticklish," she said wistfully.  

[Ruriska]

Hunter flung out an arm as the sudden removal of her tentacles partly unbalanced him. He bent his knees slightly to stop from toppling backwards and gave a chuckle under his breath. This would certainly be interesting. As he shifted, the heavy raccoon sunk deeper into the sand. “Can’t say that I am. Such a shame.” He gave her a taunting grin as her ‘attack’ failed and then he stepped froward to pay it back; hoping that if he used his size against her, he could get a hold and simply throw her down into the water.

Or at least he tried to put his plan into action. Hunter swore as he struggled to pull his feet out of the sand and actually take a step forward. Digging himself down hadn’t been the best idea apparently. Manoeuvrability: nil.

Instead he quickly bent down and his hand shot down into the water, trying to grab on to a tickly tentacle before it could get away.