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She usually kept her wanderings centered between swamp and sea. But since the devastating effects of the great flood, Meets-the-Sea had been venturing further and further away from her usual routes, exploring the landscapes newly-recarved by the huge amounts of water. This time, however, she feared she had wandered too far. Meets had never been as far North as the borderlands before and she was finding it a rather inhospitable place. For a doe so used to the rush of waves and the crash of cold salt water on her skin, the stagnant water of the mudflats was almost unbearable. She was used to going hungry, as the vegetation near the ocean was nearly as sparse and tasteless as the small shrubs and brush she found here, but the heat and the wind -- which smelled, so strangely to Meets, of sand and dryness rather than salt and wet -- were nearly too much to bear. The little doe had hoped, perhaps, to get through the inhospitable borderlands and see for herself the great plains that the kiokote had come from before so many were displaced by the flood -- but she was no longer sure she had the heart to continue in a land so different from that of her beloved sea.

Thus, weary and overheated, Meets-the-Sea stopped near a large strand of brush and, rather distastefully, took a few sips of the stagnant water from the cleanest puddle she could find before lying down in the sparse shade of the brush to contemplate whether or not to continue her journey.

Although in the past Meets-the-Sea would have been startled and slightly afraid of the buck now hovering over her, exhaustion coupled with experience cause her to be braver than usual. The little doe raises her head to the stranger, slowly, the her fatigue showing on her face. She blinks at him, once, twice, before speaking.

"I am exploring," she replies, her weary eyes looking the buck up and down and taking in his own rather rough appearance, the interesting markings that show through the mud and dust on his coat, the almost startling blue-within-blue of his eyes. He looks as if he has been out here a long while -- but apparently he is more suited to the environment than she, and can continue where she cannot. "I fear I have overestimated my strength." The statement is not a plea for help, nor is it said in the voice of a doe scared and despairing of her fate, but is merely an imparting of fact. Indeed, Meets sounds almost bemused with herself, her tone belying a playful attitude towards life that would otherwise be hidden under her weariness. "I did not think the lack of water would pull on me so."

The harsh expression in the buck's strange blue eyes gives Meets pause for a moment, an itch of fear twinging its way back into her consciousness. She pushes it down, refusing to let her anxiety prey on her when there are so many other things to worry about in this strange place.

"There is shade here?" she replies to the buck's unexpected gesture, struggling slowly to her feet. "I thought the sparse dapples of it from the brush were the best I could hope for." She takes a few steps after the buck, her legs wobbly with exhaustion. It takes a few moments for the water-deprived muscles to recall how to walk.

The little doe follows after the strange buck willingly, her exhausting keeping her usual wariness at bay. She needs water, which this buck has, and shade, which he has also.

The cave is dark and cool and Meets can feel her heat-strained muscles relaxing at the drop in temperature as she follows the buck and his mongoose deeper into the ground. She smiles at the little creature fondly. If this kimeti has enough food and water to sustain not only his life but the life of a pet in these climes, surely he will have enough to spare at least a little for her.

"My name is Meets-the-Sea," the doe responded as they walked into the cooling earth. "But most simply call me Meets. May I ask yours?"

Meets doesn't notice where Slide gets the water from, but suddenly it is there in front of her, and she is not one to complain. "Thank you," she breathes with extreme gratitude, before dipping her nose to the water and drinking, careful not to spill any in careless haste.

Halfway through the water, Meets stops her careful drinking and looks up at Slide. "Do you or your mongoose need any? I don't know how much you have, and I don't want to take more than you can spare."

Meets looks up automatically as if she could see the pool that Slide speaks of through the roof of the cave. "A catchpool? You are very innovative." There is no flattery in her voice, only genuine admiration. She looks back down and meets the buck's glowing blue eyes. "Thank you again, Slide," she says, dipping her head back down to the piece of driftwood and taking a few more sips of water. She drinks slowly, knowing that if she consumes too much water too quickly after being dehydrated she will make herself ill.

"I don't actually live in the swamp, or at least not most of the time," Meets continues, flicking her tail back and forth slowly as she feels the coolness of the water flowing back into her muscles. "I am a wanderer for the most part, but I prefer to spend the greatest amount of my time at the ocean, far to the south. I came here after seeing the devastation of the great flood and meeting some of the Kiokote from the great plains...I had wanted to see them, but I fear I have gone the wrong direction entirely. So many of the familiar landmarks seem to have been washed away with the floodwaters." She looks down at the precious water in the driftwood bowl, thinking. "It's almost impossible to imagine such an amount of water now." The doe's dark eyes flicked back up to catch Slide's blue ones. "Did the flood come here at all?"

Meets nods at the buck's mention of traveling Kiokote. "They must have been -- there were many Kiokote who came to the swamp for shelter, but I am afraid it did not serve as much." The little doe frowned softly, remembering. "I was at the sea when the flood hit the swamp, but by the time the waters reached the coast the damage was already done." Meets shuddered, remembering the bodies of dead kio and kimeti washed up on the shore by the floodwaters. It had been a harrowing sight, and had prompted her urge to travel farther than her ususal routes, to see more of the world that had brought such disaster.

She shook her head, freeing herself of the memories, and smiled back up at Slide. "I would enjoy that," Meets replied, happy with the prospect of the buck's company. She bent her head down to gently touch noses with the mongoose, laughing lightly. "And Pillar is more than welcome! He is a sweet little creature."

Meets-the-Sea stifled a yawn, suddenly realizing her exhaustion now that her thirst was quenched. "You mentioned rest..." she said to Slide, a little embarrassed at how much she was imposing upon the buck. "...is there somewhere I could nap in the heat of the day, perhaps?" she blushed, a faint pink trace of shyness in the white circle of her cheek. "If it's not too much trouble, that is..."