Terrible sea monster! (Open)

[Woof]

5th of Fall There was something small and white swimming in the ocean. Small legs paddling through the water. The skin between his paws aiding the lone Woof. He had been out swimming for some time now and he could feel the fatigue. He turned to the coast and began to swim. His paws paddling through the water. He could see the shore only 30 feet away. He was almost there. But something caught on to the poor puppy! Entangled and trapped his paws. He tried to struggle but the more he struggled the tighter the grip on him got. He let out a devastating howl and tried to bite at the unknown foe. But he only bit through sea weed. He tried to roll free. But the seaweed rolled with him. Trapping his torso in its slimy grip too. Woof howled again. The battle with the terrible sea-weed monster dragged on for several chimes. Woof's already drained limbs started to give out and every motion required all of his attention. Muscles ached and it was getting harder to stay above water. Several times he touched the ocean floor before finally kicking himself above water again. But every time it was harder. But he did manage to see the foe that had him caught. Slimy green sea weed tentacles reached out from the ocean floor. Trapped his poor limbs in a death struggle. He hated seaweed. Now he knew the feeling was mutual. That was finally then Woof thought of shifting to his human form where he could easily stand on the ocean floor. But he felt so tired. Too drained. He didn't have the energy for it. He let out a last desperate howl before he dipped below the water line again.

[Blythe]

Blythe walked bare foot along the beach. The beige grains of sand beneath her step sinking into the spaces between her toes, the gentle curve of her foot, its arch. As she moved, silently save for the hiss of sand she kicked up behind her, the Konti kept her eyes trained on the ground. Scanning from left to right, in search of a set of fresh shells. Something simple, which she may use for divination; fortune telling.

Yet, surprisingly, the tide had brought in little today. A few smooth stones, and cracked, empty muscle shells. Their contents something Blythe assumed the gulls had gotten to hours ago. For all that lingered within their shiny white edges were the occasional drop of clear, salt water.

The day had been a fairly silent one, save for the crashing of several waves into the shore, and the occasional call of a gull. It was a surprise to the Konti then, when she heard a low howl, coming from the direction of the sea. To her it sounded far more bestial than human. From a far younger entity than anything else. Could something have gotten caught out there? Blythe wondered, as she peeled her eyes away from the sand, and cast them out to the sea.

As Blythe's lavender-colored eyes scanned the waters, which sparkled a gentle yellow in the light of the sun, her ears seemed to twitch. She could still hear the howling, ringing within them, but could see nothing. She moved slowly, silently, towards the shore. Seemingly pulled to it by some sort of invisible string. Something inside of her, that told her she should go, that she should be there.

As her eyes scanned the water again, Blythe finally caught sight of a bit of white. It looked like an ear; water-logged fur. The woman dashed over to it, kicking up bits of water, that spilled back down into the sea as she waded over. Reaching the area she had last seen Woof in a matter of moments.

"Now where did you go?" Blythe whispered, as she pushed her hands through the water just in front of her, trying to catch whatever the blob of white fur had been.

OOCSorry this isn't too exciting.

[Woof]

Woof was scared to the core of his body. Panic swept through him as his limbs got heavier and more distant. It was like he had been disconnected from his body. His lungs burned. Screaming for oxygen to replenish his bodily strength. But no oxygen was available. There was only salt water. When Woof opened his mouth to desperately suck in air. His mouth filled with saltwater. His rapidly color-changing eyes could see the edge of the water just a couple of inches above him. But his limbs refused to move. Didn't answer his panicked commands. They just idly kicked at random. If they even moved at all. He tried to shift, but the familiar sensation of shifting never came. Almost all of his energy had been spent and his muscles ached and burned. Much like his throat and lungs burned from oxygen deprivation. Woof's back left leg kicked out. His foot hitting something very sharp on the ocean floor. The pain jolted through his body and a minor reddish color could be seen from his paw. It did however make Woof instinctively kick away with all his legs. His head and back coming over the waterline briefly before he lost his consciousness and just drifted as far as the seaweed would let him.

[Blythe]

Blythe blindly pushed her way through the water. The more time she spent trying to locate the source of the sound, and failing at it, the more and more convinced she became that she had imagined it. As she tread along the ocean floor, the water lapping up around her knees, and then her waist, the deeper and deeper she delved, the more she could feel it seeping into her skin. Dancing around her bones much as the fabric of her dress. The way it floated atop the water like the rest of her, while other portions clung to her skin. Relentless in their unwillingness to simply let go.

"Oh Avalis, am I imagining things again?" Blythe whispered, as she dragged her body through a section of slimy green seaweed, which circled her middle, winding itself around her slender frame as though it were a belt. "Or am I simply too late to find that white tuft of... whatever it was? Has it already gone away? Sunk into the sea?" Blythe continued, as she pulled some of the seaweed away with her hands.

As she moved along, the Konti finally felt something against her right foot. It felt heavy, and if she pushed her foot up against it gently, it seemed to sag around its length. Well that's strange, she thought, most underwater things tend not to do that. Perhaps...

In an instant, Blythe had let herself sink beneath the surface of the water. Her blonde hair splayed in every which direction as it darkened, and swirled in the underwater current. Her lavender colored eyes stung from the salt as she forced them to stay open. She could just make out something white, from the light of the sun that glimmered off the bottom of the sea. She could just make out two closed eyes, fur...

That definitely should not be down here, Blythe thought, as she reached for Woof, and brought him to her. She held the puppy against her breast, as she kicked up against the ground, rising above the water level once more. The puppy's black nose dripped with moisture, as she pushed his head farther up on her shoulder, away from the water. Best to get him back to shore, where he can get warm, she thought, as she lightly slapped his back, trying to get any water that he may have swallowed out.

[Woof]

Nasty saltwater would escape the small puppy when the kind Konti patted him on the back. But still, Woof did not open his normally ice blue eyes. Instead he just lay there in the arms of the lady. But surprisingly, Woof was breathing on his own. Woof's legs would kick a little in cramps as he tried to escape the insufferable drowning sensation that was all around him in his nightmarish. Woof was far from conscious, but he was not in any immediate danger. Blood was dropping from his left back paw. Dripping into the ocean. It would be almost ten chimes from Woof had been brought out of the water before his eyes would open and with his eyes opening, his mind was flooded with the dreadful last moments. The last desperate need he had felt before losing consciousness flooded his mind. SHIFT! SHIFT! SHIFT! "Woof!" That last sound escaped his lips before he began to rapidly change in a swirling dance of light. His small paws changing into hands and feet. Legs growing larger and longer, two of them turning into arms, the other two remained legs. Fur disappeared from most of his body except on his scalp. There the hair just gained color, so it was a little darker than just pure snow white. His skin was pale and there was swimming skin between fingers. He was around 3'7 tall and looked a little skinny for his height. He looked much like how a possible konti boy would look like, just missing the scales and gills. Woof would wriggle and turn too much for anyone to hold onto him. Especially as he suddenly changed form into something very different. Woof would fall from the grip and land on his feet like a trained martial artist. He would look around scared and confused. His Vantha eyes exploding in a multitude of different conflicting colors as he desperately tried to find out what was happening. He would soon see the Nice Konti lady. He recognized her immediately. He recognized her scent too. That was the nice lady who had played fetch with him. He would let out a light-toned "Woof!" before jumping forward and wrapping his arms around the Konti's hips and rest his head against her stomach as he hugged her as tightly as his small body allowed him to. His stomach growled loudly and Woof felt weak. Very weak. But he felt safe. Very safe.

[Blythe]

There was a bright light, as though Blythe were looking directly into the sun. She closed her eyes, as her arms began to feel heavier and heavier. Was she merely growing tired? Or was the puppy, indeed, somehow putting on more weight? Whatever the case may have been, Blythe could hold on no longer, and soon dropped her charge.

When the light had died away, and Blythe was able to open her eyes look down, she realized that the puppy was no longer a puppy, but a blonde boy. He seemed young, a mere fraction of her age. Blythe smiled weakly as he wrapped his arms around her. Another Kelvic, just like Keyta, she thought, as she half-heartedly returned the hug. "Hello there, and who might you be?" she asked, with a small giggle. "And what were you doing out in the water unattended, if you struggle to swim? You know Laviku's waters can be dangerous, if you let your guard down, don't you little one?"

Blythe let her smile widen, so as to allow Woof to think that she had not been scolding him. That he was alright with her. Once he had explained himself, she would try to convince him to put something on, something warm, and perhaps then, they could exchange pleasantries.

[Woof]

Woof had no doubt. This lady was the same as the one at the pavilion. The scent matched perfectly. Back then she had saved him from boredom. Today she had saved him from drowning. He was a lucky puppy. He could feel the warmth of her body through the fabric. He didn't want to let go of her. He looked up when she spoke. His chin against her stomach. His eyes having calmed down from their earlier rapid color changing. To a calm ice blue color. There was a goofy smile on his lips when she spoke. "Woof. Woof swim good. But nasty slimy disgusting seaweed caught Woof. Tried to fight seaweed, but seaweed just catch Woof more and more. But then lady saved Woof. Woof remember lady. Lady played with Woof during warm summer. Lady is nice to Woof." He would bury his face in her clothes again. Although his speech was almost fluent, it was easy to hear he was not used to talking and every time he said his own name, it sounded much like what a dog would bark. Woof felt strange being a human. It also felt strange to roll tongue around like that to create different sounds. He also felt cold without his fur covering his body. A shiver went through his small body. But he barely paid any attention to it, for the nice lady would save him from the cold, like she had saved him from the water. "Do lady have any food for Woof?" His stomach articulated his desire by growling once more.

[Blythe]

Blythe giggled. "Yes, seaweed does have a nasty tendency to bring you down," Blythe commented, as she pat the boy's back. "You may call me Blythe, Woof," she later instructed, as she pushed lightly against his shoulders, trying to dislodge him.

The Konti was somewhat surprised that the puppy remembered her. Let alone, was the one she had met not too long ago. She had thought there more ivaski on the island than that. "And we did have a lot of fun that day, even though you stole Kariha's practice sword," she whispered, past the light trembling of the boy's sopping wet form.

"Come, we should get you in something warm... and then, perhaps, we can find you something to eat. What do you like? Fruit? Bread? Fish?" Blythe asked, "or something else entirely? A delicacy I have yet to hear of, or learn to make?"

[Woof]

"Woof no like seaweed." He mumbled in response. He looked up when she told him her name. Blythe. It was as if the light of Syna blazed in his eyes. He felt so joyous. He knew the nice lady's name! He let go of the konti lady, he could tell she wanted him at an arms distance and he wanted to make her happy so he obliged. But then she mentioned something else that made the joy flicker away and be replaced with sadness and he looked down at the sandy beach. "Woof is sorry. Woof no mean to steal sword." Not that he knew what a sword was. He didn't even remember having stolen anything. But the Blythe would not lie to him. He could tell she was honest when she told him about the sword. He would have to figure out what a sword was and then return it if he still had it. But the sadness vanished in Woof when she spoke of food and the color of his eyes turned into a bright ice blue color as he looked up again. "Woof likes seal. Seal taste good. Do Blythe have any seal?" He asked hopefully "... But fish is also good. Woof likes meat from the big blue." He shivered a little. Cold and hungry, yet Woof felt alright as long as he was in the presence of the nice lady. She would protect him.

[Blythe]

"Seal? No, but it's possible that they sell it somewhere in the city. So perhaps we could get you some," Blythe replied. "Although fish is a lot more likely, considering it seems easier to come by. In the sense that they're smaller, and thus, easier to bring up from the sea to the city, I'd suppose."

After that, Blythe fell silent. "We should get you into something warm first, lest you freeze, and the ladies up in the city find the sight of your nude form... unpleasant to be around," she said after awhile, before turning around and beckoning for Woof to follow.

Slowly but steadily, Blythe made her way up the length of the beach. Pushing beige grains of sand into low-lying plateaus until a time when she had stopped moving. A time in which she had reached her bag, and bent to pluck it off the ground. She opened the top flap with her free hand, and then rummaged around inside until she found a simple brown cloak, which once belonged to her mother. She held it out to Woof. "Here, put this on. Unless you'd prefer to head into the city in your animal form... so you'll be warm."