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The day had been interesting.

No, scratch that.

The day had been shitty.

She was fresh into this world, and yet, Caoimhe was already years behind., apparently. Past lives, guardians, destinies, HQ, Fa'e; none of it was making sense. On top of that, she was having weird dreams, dreams that make a person think, and that really was the opposite of what Caoimhe wanted to do.

Aranorn was the bad place. Gaia was supposed to be the good place. So why was everything just more confusing? After talking to Faye, Caoi was just feeling so mixed up, and she didn't know how to sort any of it out. It was as if everything she had ever learned about herself was wrong, and now, as a teen, she was expected to catch up on years of missed time. Impossible!

Not knowing what to do, the selkie Fa'e had followed her feet where ever they chose to take her, and as usual, she found herself staring out at a body of water. The ocean tides lapped gently against the shore as the 4'9" teen moved steadily forward, flopping onto her haunches at the water's edge. She wasn't ready to swim, not yet. Something about the way that the ocean called to her made the girl nervous, and with everything on her mind, Caoimhe wasn't sure that she would even be able to float.

So, collapsing in the sand, she sighed dramatically and threw a forearm over her eyes to shed them from the light.

And I thought learning how to read was hard...

Small voice? Soft footsteps? Naive friendliness? It was a child.

Great.

Caoimhe could never explain why children made her uncomfortable, but for whatever reason, they did. Something about their adorable little faces smiling up at her just brought waves of guilt washing over the Fa'e. Still, she found them the best people to talk to, the easiest to confide it, and the most fun to wrestle. So, swallowing deeply, the selkie Fa'e cracked open an eye to stare at Seung with only a very slight hesitation.

"Not really," she replied, throwing her gaze at the plushie that was brushing against her hair. Caoi had never had a stuffed animal, but it sure did look soft. "Are you?" she asked back. Blue-green eyes scanned the eye-like markings on Seung's face, traced the skin color to elongated ears, and made a point of lingering on the soft moth wings.

Atleast Caoimhe wasn't the only "interesting" looking one here.

Too bright? The kid had a point. Sitting up, Caoimhe pulled her legs under her so that she sat cross-legged before Seung. Being quite small herself, the selkie Fa'e could talk at eye level with the girl in this position. "I'm Caoimhe," she responded, letting her thick Celtic accent accentuate each syllable of kee-veh.

Sure, the girl before her might be a kid, but she wanted to play. That made Seung the first person to offer that to Caoimhe. Who was she to refuse? "What do you want to play?" the Celtic girl asked, feeling a little more at ease with the toddler. "We could play wrestle or tag or chase or pounce or pounce-wrestle or alpha of the mountain or--" Caoi cut herself off at this point, trying to contain her excitement at the idea of a game.

In light of all the adult business she had to deal with today, the immature teen was ready to act like a kid again. "Or do you have an idea? I can play anything." For once in the trip to the beach, Caoimhe grinned a little, eager to start the childish antics.

Hide and seek? Seriously?

Caoimhe scanned the beach for a moment, looking down the horizon and shoreline. "I don't think there are that many places to..." Her voice trailed off for a moment. ...hide, she finished internally. Well, hey, Caoimhe would totally win if they played. So why was she complaining again? "Okay! Who's going to be it?"

Sure, she might have wanted to wrestle or pounce, but even Caoimhe realized that Seung was maybe too small for that. Of course, when the selkie girl was Seung's age, she could've handled it, but that was because she was stronger than pretty much everyone. Or atleast a better fighter.

Or something like that.

She had to be it? Eh, it wasn't always her preference, but it was good to hone both hiding skills and hunting skills. This would be yet another chance to practice. "Okay!" Caoimhe said, slapping her hands over her eyes. "I'll count to... sum....ul." Should it matter to the selkie that she had no idea what number or quantity that was? Probably. Did it? Not at all!

"Start running now, Seung, because I am a master hunter," Caoimhe warned her opponent. She didn't intend to peek, though she probably would if it was an older foe. No, the Celtic girl was feeling confident in her "seeking" abilities as of yet.

So, wiggling down into the sand, she began the count, "One... Two... Threeeeee..."

"Uh, twenty... twenty-ooneeeee... SUMUL!" Sumul kind of sounded like twenty-two. Kind of.

Rising to her feet, Caoimhe dropped her eyes to the small stream of foot prints that lay ahead of her. She could follow their general direction, but there had been a lot of traffic on the beach that day. Not to mention a small child like Seung doesn't really leave the deepest tracks in the world. Still, the selkie Fa'e was not dismayed. Not at all!

Taking off down the beach, she danced between other beach-goers, leaping over one very fat man's swollen belly as he tanned. It was like an urban obstacle course. How fun! Figuring Seung couldn't of gotten too far, Caoimhe kept her search radius relatively close.

A few paces away, she spotted a large sand dune with grass, perfect for hiding. Aha! Keeping silent in the hunt, Caoi crept over to the dune, took a breath, and then leapt over it with a flourish. "Gotch-- huh?" The brunette girl had expected to see a giggling Seung here, but instead, there was just some cigarette butts and broken pieces of random plants and shells.

"Damn," she cursed under her breath, straightening up. After checking a few more spots, Caoimhe noticed a large gathering of driftwood a bit further down the beach. She raised an eyebrow and began inching toward the debris on the beach, keeping her ears and eyes open.

As if the giggles and whispers weren't enough, the little boy being shooed off by a strange floating pair of blue hands from behind the driftwood was enough to let Caoimhe know precisely where Seung was. Victory was hers! Leaping across the beach, she narrowed her eyes at the boy as he left. He couldn't be in their game. No way.

Pausing for a second, Caoi collected her breath before leaping over the driftwood and shouting, "Rawr!" in her best impression of Gristla, her guardian. She grinned widely, ready for Seung to announce defeat and eager to see if the blue toddler was surprised that she found her so quickly.

Only one round of hide-n-seek had passed, but already, Caoimhe was feeling her spirits lift. As long as she could keep her mind off of serious matters, everything would be okay.