Andranis
Somewhere in the distance, the great toothed beasts of the sea were singing. Mahatma knew this, as the sound hit his ears while taking a dive near the tide pools. The lion had spied something in the water and gone after it, doing his best to find it without bringing harm to himself and keeping his eyes closed to keep the salty water from harming them. When he surfaced, his price in his paws, he looked around, before spying, off in the distance, a tall black fin break the surface of the ocean. It was soon joined by other, much shorter fins, and a few more tall ones, as well as a couple down-right tiny fins. The teal feline smiled at the babies with the adults. So cute... The great sea beasts' pride was ever growing, wasn't it? He placed the shiny object in his mouth, then swam back to shore, coat and mane dripping as he climbed up onto the sand.


Thalion
Ah the whales.... The singers of the deep. It was downright tragic that one of the deep-sea poets had washed ashore, dried and long dead. He hadn't participated in the feast though his admiration of the animals had little to do with it. Elki was, to be frank, in a state of alternate reality at times. He never seemed fully engaged in the world around him. He had a distant look in his eye and an easy way about him. His gait was loose and almost lethargic, his tone was airy, and his smile was demeanor was that of a leaf in the wind. Days were spent laying on his back, warming the ebony fur of his belly and watching the white, fluffy clouds pass through the endless blue. The pride had come to know his... Isms and while he wasn't much help to the pride, he was hardly a trouble maker. To some it was infuriating, to others childishly endearing. To him? Whatever.

At present, the star-flicked male laid on his back in his favorite spot. One paw rested behind his wind-tossed mane while the other reached out, tracing shapes around the clouds with a claw.

That one looked like a turtle...


Andranis
As he walked up the beach, his shiny prize in his maw and by now much dryer save his thick mane, Mahatma noticed a dark figure on the sand. At a distance, it wasn't easy to pick out which member of the star-flicked family it was, but as he drew closer, he soon realized it was Elki. From the looks of it, it was looking at the clouds again. The Pomithi walked up to the lounging lion and looked at him a moment, then the sky. After some thought, he simply flopped down next to him, laying on his back and laying his diving prize on his chest, to look up at the sky. "I spy, with my little eye, a fluffy white shark!" He lifted one paw, pointing at it. He was one who didn't mind Elki's isms in the least. Spending his time around cubs when there WERE cubs, he was used to doing things with an easy and relaxed mind. He'd just felt like swimming today.


Thalion
Elki, not one to question his fellows or their actions met his new companion with a loose and easy smile. He didn't have to explain himself, nor did Mahatma. He accepted the addition as easily as if the other male had already been a part of his afternoon lounging.

"What a trip. A fluffy shark." He scratched the underside of his jaw and followed the other's paw up to the sky. "Gotta be kinda uncomfortable with all that fluff. Heavy. Real heavy."

He rolled his head up as another cloud drifted over. "He's got a broski. A two- headed broski."


Andranis
He looked at the two-headed thing funny. "What's that supposed to be, brotha?" He couldn't tell. Was it a lion? A snake? He squinted. "Looks like a turtle... With a lion tail... And two heads..." That was decidedly odd.

He shifted, looking in another direction, then pointed at some clouds. "That one looks like a lion with wings and horns!" He'd say it looked like a god, but there wasn't any specific god that could be pinned down to. "And look, he's got a little winged snake with him!"


Thalion
"Yeah, man. I see it now." He traced the two-headed beast with a claw and smiled a bit. "Maybe it's one of them weird magic things that everyone gets all worked up about. Sure seems like one."

Elki shifted his gaze, lazily searching for this winged thing with horns. When spotted, Elki broke into a thick series of chuckles. Yup. One of those magic beings. Some called them gods but that seemed... Horribly inaccurate. Gods shouldn't be able to die, wouldn't be so lowly as to actually allow mortals to strike them. No, gods to Elki were all powerful. The sea was one. It couldn't be tamed or bartered with. It provided life and sometimes it brought death. Everything was on the ocean's time. It was mysterious as it was powerful, personal yet impersonal. That was a god.

"Winged snakes. That's a trip."


Andranis
"No, that's a cloud." He paused. "And some imagination." His gaze returned to the cloud that looked like a winged lion with horns, but the wind had already changed the shape. It was nothing recognizable to him.

For a few minutes, he simply stared at the sky, his imagination running away with the clouds. While the actual clouds didn't form them, he saw beautiful sea scapes in the clouds, with fish darting in and out of forests of branching coral as fronds of sea grasses waved from their branches.

Eventually his mind returned to reality, though, as he remembered the thing on his chest. He looked at it, then reached over and nudged Elki. "Oy, brotha. Lookit this thing I found in the sea today!" He managed to hold it up, a round object with a barnacle on the side, and inside its brass-bronze interior, behind a clear stone of some sort with a branching crack, were two points, one black and one red, with some strange rune at the top and three ticks going around the center - One opposite the rune, and two to the left and right of the strange pointing things.


Thalion
Elki nearly forgot about his company. Like his companion, his mind had drifted up into the wild blue above. To him, the blue of the sky looked like the sea and the gold-touched white clouds looked like towering mountains, thin fields, and small humble islands. This must be how the birds saw the earth below them. Endless. He envied them quietly but he was sure it wasn't all fun and games. Birds were constantly screaming amongst themselves, being chased off by lions like himself, and they slept up on the rocky cliffs. Then there was egg sitting. How dull.

When the other spoke he rolled his head. The sleepy expression softened into a curious smile. What a treasure! It certainly wasn't made by the sea.

"What do you think it is?"


Andranis
"I'm not sure..." He turned it over in his paws, admiring what could be seen of the scuffed back. Something was etched into it, a picture, more runes, he wasn't sure. It was strange and exotic, that was certain. He gave it a few good shakes, then shrugged. "It's quite lovely lookin', that's certain. Gonna give it to Dimbwi." If it had a function besides decorative before, it was broken now, its usefulness ruined by its time in the salty water.


Thalion
"Share the love, right?" He smiled a bit more, "The big blue gave it to you, pass it along. Good all around."

He flicked his tail and glanced past his toes to the sea. Maybe he could go looking for hidden treasures one of these days. Why not? He didn't have a special someone to give it to but there was no reason he couldn't look. The hunt, after all, was more fulfilling than the gift itself.


Andranis
Mahatma smiled, stroking the trinket. "Aye... I'm sure she'll love it, too!" He rolled over and got up, holding it in one paw. "I should head off and give it to her now. See you later, brotha!" Taking the strange object into his mouth, he went trotting off, sand falling off his mane as he moved... Or some of it. The rest mostly clung to his still-damp hair. But living on a beach, he was used to it. The beach was, after all, life, and life had to go on, right? Right!