The morning had started out dull and overcast, but pretty soon a real storm had hit the coast, one of those freak summer ones that were incredibly violent but never lasted long. It had just about stopped now and Asali knew it would be the best time to go out and see what it had washed in that she could use for her healing craft. She was learning all kinds of strange and amazing things to do with the flotsam and jetsam that was washed up with high tides and these wild storms. Smiling with a quiet contentment she slipped from her sandy den and padded down to the beach. Sure enough, there was lots of things scattered about all over the sand. Some she recognized, but a lot she didn't. It never failed to surprise her just how many different things were out there in the blue waters. She was sure one day she would no longer be shocked by her finds but that day was far off and she was content with the feeling of excitement she experienced every time she came out here after a storm or a high tide.
For quite some time she wandered up and down the tide mark, picking out this and that, discarding some things and placing others carefully in the large palm leaf she was using as a holder for the smaller items. The leaf sat further up the beach so every time she found an item she wanted to keep for later, she had to turn around and head up the sands to the leaf, carefully placing the fragment of what-ever-it-was on the greenery and then resume her searching. It wasn’t a very economical way of doing things but she hadn’t yet found anything else to use. Coconut shells were too small and far too tough, egg shells were too fragile. Same with lizard shells and she had even tried a snake’s discarded skin but it had ripped too easily. So, she was stuck with the unwieldy leaf for the time being.
Several hours passed in this manner, with the small brown lioness trailing up and down the beach, carrying items in her maw back and forth from her leaf as she collected the items she thought might be useful to her. She did pause for a little rest as the sun grew even hotter, but by then she had worked her way down the far stretch of coastline and was now close to the many small rock pools. She knew the seaweed she wanted often grew on the rocks that were only exposed at very low tides, and it seemed today was her lucky day as the very rocks she wanted to access were just sticking up above the small wavelets that washed around her paws. Leaving her leaf and its contents higher up the beach, she very gingerly ventured out onto the slippery rocks and started to free the young seaweed plants from their moorings. Once she had gathered a mouthful f the salty and rather slimy greenery, she turned tail and headed back up to the sand and then further to where her leaf sat with its burden.
She repeated the trip several times until a good pile of the salty green leaves sat beside her palm leaf. Figuring she had enough for both fresh and dried use, she turned her attention to whatever else might be among the rocks. She spent some time going up and down the pools, carefully avoiding sticking her paw in the deeper ones, he had done that her first few weeks here and had learnt fairly fast that crabs lived within the shallow waters and they were usually fairly defensive of their homes, even if she had never intended to disturb them and was merely walking by. So these days she concentrated on tiptoeing round the edges and being very careful not to slip on the slippery rocks.
Suddenly something pale caught her attention from the edge of her vision and turning, she peered further along the beach. The thing moved again, a kind of one-sided fluttering only the white thing was wet and bedraggled so it was more of a shivery, twitchy movement. Curious and ever a healer, she turned and padded over the rocks to where the white ting was clearly struggling with something. As she drew closer she realised it was in fact a bird, a very wet and sandy bird that apparently couldn’t fly. After a moment she realised that the reason it was flapping about in one of the shallow pools was that it was tangled up in something pale and shimmery.
“Easy thee...” She murmured softly, sliding down onto her belly in order to get a better look. The bird stared up at her, clearly upset and with the shimmery thing tangled round its beak. She knew if she left it, the bird would be unlikely to free itself so with gentle murmurings, she carefully picked the bird up in her jaws and very gingerly, made her way off the rocks and back onto the sandy beach. Once safely away from the rocks and water she set the bird down and spent the next hour carefully and slowly working the small creature free of the netting. By the end of it her paws and gums were sore from the thin but sharp net cutting into them, but the bird was free and hobbling about before her, flapping its wings stiffly. Smiling she rested her head on her forelegs and watched it, pleased she had been able to help.
“You are free now.. if you want to stay until you heal fully, you can share my den with me.”
The little white bird finally pulled its wet wings in against its body and turned to Asali, amber eyes bright and friendly. “Thank you for your help, if the tide had come in I would have been in real trouble. I’d love to stay with you if you would allow it.” Limping over he clumsily clambered up onto the lioness’s back and settled between her shoulder blades. “I think I owe you my life.” Giggling Asali carefully stood and craned her head back to look at him, smiling softly. “Not at all, I a pleased I could help. Are you hungry?” With that she turned and, after collecting her leaf with its cargo of ocean-born items, she headed back to her little den, the bird settled on her back and soon turned out to be a very amenable little fellow with a quick wit and quiet humor.
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