"ιғ мy naмe мeanѕ тнe deepeѕт depтн, тнen ι'll вecoмe тнe нιgнeѕт нeιgнт." - aвyѕѕ
ᔕ♈ᗢᖇᎩ:If you have the time, I'd like to tell you about the first time I encountered the ocean. It's a bit of a long story, but it's something very important to me. I was very young, perhaps only a few months from hatching, but I remember it well. My parents and I were travelling from our home in the forest to the beach. It was something important to them, a tradition. Every year, they would go and collect seashells on the beach to decorate their den.
I didn't understand why they would want to do something so strange. My legs were tired from walking and my pads hurt from the rough terrain. But they still encouraged me on, telling me it wasn't far now. I stopped complaining, but I still wasn't happy. They wouldn't tell me anything about the beach when I asked either, they just replied with "You'll see."
It was then that the edge of the forest came into view. At first I thought that there was still dew on the trees, they were sparkling so brightly, but it wasn't until we got closer that I realized what it was. A massive, deep blue expanse of water lay just beyond the tree line. I'd nver seen such a thing, never even considered it. It was beautiful.
Despite my soreness, I dashed ahead of my parents, awkwardly struggling to hurry past them on my four legs. I burst past the trees, skidding on the ground that had suddenly turned to sand. I stood just before the surf of the water, staring out into the vast water that lay before me. It sparkled and shined in the sun, glowing a bright cyan in some places, and a deep azure in others. It shifted and writhed like a living thing, sending great waves up on the shore.
"What is it?" I asked my mother, glancing back at her for a moment, before the water recalled my gaze.
"It's the ocean, little one." She replied, nuzzling me softly.
The ocean, I thought to myself. I loved it. I wanted to sit and watch it, to listen to the sound of the waves hissing up onto the shore. My mother seemed to have different thoughts though, since the nuzzling suddenly turned into a gentle shove. It was so unexpected, I stumbled forward, splashing through the water. I was about to look back and give my mother a reproachful look when a wave cascaded over me, drenching me in the salty water.
I couldn't help it, I grinned. The power of the water and the beauty of it astounded me. I spent the rest of the day playing, splashing through it, letting more waves crash into me, and just watching it. I'd never had so much fun in my life. I never wanted to leave.
Likely, because of how much I enjoyed it, we stayed for a few days. We had only intended to come for the one, but my parents could tell that I was loathe to leave it. So we stayed. It was the next few days that really came to mean a lot to me, and they shaped the rest of my life. I met two Viscets who became very important to me. I don't see them often, but I consider both of them to be very good friends to me. I met them both during this time, and I'll never forget them.
I was exploring the shore, splashing through the waves as they came up onto the beach, when I saw the cliff. It extended into the ocean, where the larger waves were. The waves crashed into it, sending huge sprays into the air. I knew immediately that I had to go and stand on it, to watch the waves burst on the rocks, and to see the sun sparkle off the droplets as they fell down, down, down into the ocean below.
I scampered up onto the rock where it connected to the beach, carefully making my way further onto it. It was slippery with seawater, so I had to walk carefully. I picked my way to the edge of the cliff, planting my legs firmly on the rock in an attempt to keep myself rooted to the spot. And then I waited.
I braced myself when I saw a wave coming, watching as it flowed towards the ciff. It collided with the cliff, sending a massive jet of spray straight up in the air. The droplets cascaded down around me, soaking me in the cold water. I laughed, relishing in the feeling of the water falling all around me. At least, I laughed until my feet started slipping.
Despite my attempts to keep myself immobile, the water made the rock even more slippery. As it flowed down and off the cliff, it was knocking me off balance. I struggled to get my paws back underneath me, trying to back up to a dry spot at the same time, but I couldn't get a grasp on the slick rock. I gasped as my paws fully slipped out from underneath me, sending me falling towards the side of the cliff.
Teeth grasped my scruff, hauling me away from the edge of the cliff. I stayed perfectly still, shaking a little out of fear as I considered what would've happened if I had slipped over the edge. I was dropped roughly onto dry land, a growl sounding behind me. I glanced back at my savior, blinking up at the reddish Viscet. He looked extremely irritated, his mane fluffed up and his face set in a scowl.
"What were you thinking?" He snapped at me, "I barely made it up there in time to catch you! What if you'd fallen off? What were you even doing all the way up there? Don't you have parents or something to tell you
not to do things like that?"
I blinked at him, completely unsure as to if he even wanted me to answer all of the questions he was shouting at me. My ears and tail drooped as he glared down at me. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry, I just really, really wanted to see the ocean from up there." I mumbled quietly, unable to meet his gaze.
I could still feel him glaring at me for a few more moments before he sighed, "Why didn't you ask your parents to take you up there? You do have some, don't you?"
I nodded slowly, "I didn't think to..." I replied lamely.
"Why did you want to see it so bad anyway?" He asked after a moment, "Can't you see it from here?"
"I just thought it'd be prettier from up there."
He gazed at me silently, looking like he was thinking. Then he leaned forward and nudged me back onto my feet. "Alright, then come on." He said.
I blinked, frowning at him uncertainly as I followed him back onto th cliff. He walked to the end, glancing back at me. "Lay down right at the edge here." He said.
I did, albeit uncertainly. He laid down beside me as well, draping one paw over my back to keep me stable. Then we waited. This time, when a wave came, I didn't slip off. We stayed like that for a long time, watching the waves pummel into the rock.
I learned later that his name was Kveld. We parted that evening, but I visited him many times over the next few years. He lived in the forest, just past the cliff. He wasn't as big a fan of the ocean as I was, but he would always come and watch it with me when I came. In a way, he was almost like a brother to me, and I always cherished the time we spent together.
And then there was Matlal. I saw him even less frequently than I saw Kveld, but it was his words that meant the most to me. I met him on the last day that we would be staying at the beach. I was walking along the beach, just wandering around, when I spotted him sitting at the edge of the water.
He was just watching the waves in the distance, but it was the focus he put into it that intrigued me. It was as if, to him, at that moment, only the ocean and the waves mattered. He didn't see anything else. I'd never encountered someone with that level of focus, and I was afraid of breaking it, so I turned to start going back the way I had come.
My fears seemed to be unnecessary though, since he turned to look at me then. He blinked at me for a few moments before he cocked his head and said, "Hello."
"Hi..." I answered, a little shyly. He seemed a bit strange, with the intensity he put into everything he did. Even that simple word seemed as though it could have multiple meanings. I wasn't really sure how to take him at the time, but for some reason, I felt like I really needed to get to know him. So, I asked, "What are you doing?"
He considered my question for a moment before he said, "Come here."
I obeyed, walking over and sitting beside him. He motioned with his muzzle towards the ocean, "Look." I did, turning my gaze towards the ocean. Right where he was pointing, as if he'd found the one perfect spot, the sun hit the ocean at just the right point. The water was a gorgeous shade of aqua, but that didn't seem to be what the Viscet wanted me to look at. Instead, it was the creatures in the water. In just that one spot, you could see the little fish swimming through the water. And there, a turtle.
I understood now how he could sit and stare at this like he had been. He was strange, but he made sense to me. Maybe that was why I liked him so much. Like me, he didn't enjoy explaining things to others. He didn't mind sharing his world with others, but he would never explain his world, If you didn't understand it, it was no loss to him. In fact, it seemed like he didn't even expect anyone to understand him.
We spent the rest of the day together. Neither of us really talked for a while, instead, we watched the ocean. I hadn't expected anyone else to every feel the same reverence for the ocean that I did, but this Viscet seemed to. The difference was that he seemed to feel it for everything.
"Matlal." He said suddenly.
"I'm sorry?" I replied, startled.
"My name. It's Matlal."
I grinned at him, "Mine's Abyss."
He smiled softly back at me, "No wonder you like the ocean so much then."
And then he left. He simply stood and wandered away without another word. Even only meeting him for such a brief span of time, he meant a lot to me. He showed me that the world could be so much more than most expected, and no matter what anyone thought, I should just do what I want.
That's the end of this story, but there's many more, and even more to come.
ᗩᖇ♈:
X



♈ᖺᙓᙢᗴ ᔕᗢﬡᘐ: Trying - Lifehouse
ႳᘮᓰᖇḰᔕ: Abyss has a tendency to space out a lot. One moment, he'll be talking or doing something, and the next he'll just pause. Usually, this is do to a sudden thought that he has or a sudden realization. Often times, others find this aggravating or strange, but Abyss actually enjoys it. It gives him time to think, and he comes up with his best ideas when this happens.
When he's nervous or in sand, he will scrape his claws on the ground. It's entirely an unconscious movement, and he never seems to notice that he's doing it.

ᒪᓰḰᙓᔕ
•The ocean
•Swimming
•Seashells
•Sharing his ideas with others
•Dew
ᒪᗢⅤᗴᔕ
•The ocean at night
•Storms
•Fish
ᗪᓮᔕᒪᓰḰᙓᔕ
•Crabs
•Seaweed
•Being sad
ᕼᗩ♈ᙓᔕ
•When others cry
•Not being near the ocean
•Boats

Eye Gif & Leg Picture & Digital Fullbody © EmberDemon! <3