Fathomless [Lucien/Open]

[Thorn]

It had taken her five sunrises to get from the desert to where she was now. It had been slow going as she tried to navigate the city of stone and metal, trying to stay away from the crowds as much as possible, moving about at night rather than in the day. This place of humans was full of horrors, of rabid packs of dogs hunting human pups and the old ones. They attacked each other with sticks and clubs and long, sharp pieces of metal and yelled in many different tongues (none of which she was even close to understanding).

It was no wonder their land was falling apart around them: the humans spent so much time fighting over territories, breedable females and food that they neglected everything else.

Disappointed and annoyed (they were so LOUD!!), the girl headed West as far as she could, following the descent of the sun. The sounds of water soon reached her ears and she followed it, moving from the hard stone pathways of the human game trails to loose, shifting earth without realizing it.

Now she stood before the greatest body of water she had ever seen, her fur wrapped loosely across one shoulder and tied off at her hip. In her hand was her spear, planted deep in the ground where it stuck straight out. Try as she might, she could see nothing on the horizon, just more endless water. It was the same when she looked up and down the coast. Nothing but water as far as she could see.

She had already tried to take some water from it, but found it undrinkable. The whole area smelled strongly of fish and salt; a cool breeze ruffled her filthy hair, dried the sweat on her skin. The gritty loose earth under her feet had engulfed her toes and shifted under her with every shift of her body weight.

She wondered what the human word for this vast no-good water that lay before her. She wondered how long it went for or if there were other lands, other humans some where on the other side. She wondered if the Humans had tried to master such a great and powerful thing and if they had succeeded. For whatever reason that she couldn't quite fathom...she thought not.

The girl would continue to stand there, trying to comprehend the blue green water...and what standing at the edge of the only world she knew meant.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien heard the sounds of the tide coming in, and smelled the salty air. It irritated his nose, and made it tickle slightly. He liked the ocean, and all of the things that went along with it; sandy beaches, ocean breezes..

What he didn't like was being there.

Everything he came across was an assault to his senses, and his Obsessive-Compulsions went crazy here. He would chase around the seagulls to shoo them away, if not for the fear of having his eyes pecked out.

And, walking around a bend in the soft path, the ocean was finally visible. The sun was low in the sky over the coastline, and apart from everything that was bothering him, the sight made him glad. It was something he would have never seen if he hadn't come to Long Beach.

And Lucien saw the girl. She was standing on the very edge of the sandy beach, and staring out at the water. He couldn't make out her face from the distance, but it looked like she was staring in wonder. Staff in hand, he decided to approach slowly; maybe she's lost.

When he got to a relatively close distance, he realized he was sneaking up on her, and decided to make himself known, as to not be speared.

"So, you like the ocean?" He tried to look as friendly as possible, and spoke only loud enough to be heard. Lucien had gone through some troubling experiences trying to make new friends, and he wanted to take the timid approach for now.

[Thorn]

The shifting sand alerted her to a presence near her and her body moved of it's own accord: The girl dropped into a crouch and moved her spear in front of her defensively.

"So, you like the ocean?"

Unable to understand his tongue, she bared her teeth at the sleek looking human male, sliding a foot backwards and away from him. She was unsure of this one, still. It hadn't happened HERE yet, but humans had tried to capture her or kill her before. Though this one looked weak and unassuming, the girl was not one to take any unnecessary chances. She would just wait for a sign to see if he were friend or foe.

[Lucien DeChain]

Lucien blinked. She.. hissed at him. That hadn't happened before. Maybe he was getting worse at this friend-making thing. At any rate, there was now a spear pointed towards him.

He took a step back with his right leg, lifting his hand to show he didn't mean any threat. "Whoah... Let's not be hasty."

Now that Lucien had a good look at her, she looked.. Dirty. Even more than that, wild. Her hair looked crazy and greasy, her eyes were large and bewildered, and she was wearing.. Just a fur? Lucien couldn't help but blush slightly. This girl is odd, he thought.

He tried to speak softly still, as to not intimidate this girl who was obviously not at the same standard of living as him. "My name is Lucien. What's your name?"

[Thorn]

And for a wonder, the human male backed away from her, lifting his forelegs up by his sides. She lowered her spear slightly and slowly dropped the feral snarl on her face. His posture...seemed submissive. Non threatening, at any rate. But she was aware that this might be a trap, a ploy to get her to drop her guard.

“My name is Lucien. What's your name?"

The girl just stared at him blankly, completely uncomprehending of what he just said. It sounded vaguely familiar, though. Human in the past had said something similar. For now, she would just look at him with not even a trace that she had understood what he just said on her face.

[Lucien DeChain]

This girl was increasingly pulling on Lucien's interest. She had dropped her guard the way a wild animal would of it wasn't sure it was being tricked. And she obviously had no idea what he had said.

She seems to act like an animal. So, should I act as if she was?

Acting carefully, he lowered himself down to one knee, not breaking his gaze with the girl. He slowly moved his hand to point a finger at himself. "Lucien." He stated.

[Thorn]

Her head tilted to the side as he dropped on his hind leg, coming down to her level. Still suspicious, the girl gradually dropped her spear until it wasn't pointed directly at his throat anymore. She watched him point to himself, repeat a word he had said in the statement before.

What did that mean? "Lu...cien," she said in her guttural, raspy voice, letting the word roll over her tongue as if testing it. The inflections of the man's voice would be mimicked perfectly, although it would lack his male depth. Was it a term? Was that what HE was? A 'Lucien'? Or, was that what THEY were, all of them?

Was she a 'Lucien'?

She still wasn't totally set on trusting him, but he seemed interested in her and...for some reason, willing to help. If he was going to provide any insight into the rest of her kind, it would be foolish of her to bypass this chance.

Lifting her back hand slowly off the spear, the girl gestured to herself in the same way the man had, looking at him curiously. "...Lucien?"

[Lucien DeChain]

I wish I could say this is the strangest thing that's ever happened to me.

Lucien felt increasingly silly talking to this girl in the manner he was. But, fact is, she wasn't getting it. As she pointed to herself and repeated "...Lucien?", he wanted to smile. But, not wanting to laugh at her, he simply shook his head while saying "No..."

He pointed again at himself. "Lucien." And then he realized he didn't have a name for this girl. Oh man, what do I call her so she's not confused? He looked her over again, looking for any defining features, while at the same time trying not to stare at her pretty much fully exposed body. His eyes rested on a small mark near her eye. It looked like a tattoo...

He pointed to the girl and said "Thorn." It was a good enough name for now.

[Thorn]

"No..."

Well, that, at least was a word she knew, complete with negative gestures. So she wasn't a 'Lucien'? But HE was. Frustrating, but at least she was getting somewhere.

Then he pointed at himself again, stating what he was. Then he pointed at her,

"Thorn."

She blinked in surprise, looking over her shoulder to see what he was pointing at. Seeing nothing, she turned back to the front and looked down at herself. Did the Lucien mean her? Or...?

Tentatively, she lifted the spear in her hands, indicating it. "Thorn?"

[Lucien DeChain]

"Thorn?"

"Yes," He nodded. Lucien, again, pointed at her, stating "Thorn." Now that he had said it a couple times, it seemed like a strange name, but somehow it seemed to fit the wild girl quite nicely. Well, now that the introductions are out of the way...

He couldn't decide what to do next, so he carefully nudged his one leg forward, holding out his hand, palm up. He had been taught earlier in life how to say hello to a canine that was unfamiliar with him, and thought that it would be best to employ it right now. If she wasn't as wild as she let on, the gesture would just seem like he was reaching for a handshake.

[Thorn]

The girl nodded as if to herself, looking down at her hunting tool. So, it was a Thorn. That was good. It was good to know what a thing was, that it had a singular term.

She flinched back and lifted the thorn as he leaned forward towards her holding out his forepaw to her. Slowly, she lowered the thorn, looking at him with slightly narrowed eyes for a long while.

Dropping the thorn, the girl seized his paw, pulling it towards her, smelling the weird crispness of his clean hand. If he hadn't pulled (or ran) away by this point, she would grasp his fore-leg, lifting it and examining, , then dropping it and studying her own fore-leg. Different. Not the same.

THESE TWO THINGS ARE NOT ALIKE.

An idea struck her and she pointed frantically at the water lapping at the shore not a few feet away.

[Lucien DeChain]

Good, she's getting the picture... Whoah!

Thorn had grabbed his hand and yanked it forward. Lucien followed it forward, falling onto his other knee, making a slight whomph sound as it hit the sand. She looked like she was... Studying it? Animals don't usually do that. Wait, what am I saying? She's not an animal.

As Thorn played with his arm, compared it to her own and such, Lucien waited patiently, his heart rate steadily increasing at the amount of dirt rubbing onto his skin AND HOW CLOSE HIS HAND WAS TO A PRETTY MUCH NAKED GIRL.

She dropped his arm, and he retracted it at a steady place. Resisting the urge not to douse his whole body in hand sanitizer and lather in it for a good two minutes and thirty seconds, Lucien watched the girl, silently contemplating how he would report this to the First.

[Thorn]

She scowled as he didn't respond to her completely obvious query (well...obvious to her, anyway, seeing as she knew nothing of the human tongue. Waving her hand in his face, the girl pointed back at the water.

Then pointed at him.

"Lucien."

She shook her spear at him. "Thorn."

Then she jabbed her finger repeatedly at the water AGAIN.

[Lucien DeChain]

Wait... What? Water. Yes, that's water.

"Lucien."

Yes, that's me.

"Thorn."

The spear..?

And then water.

Lucien, having no idea what she was trying to say, but having an idea that it had something to do with the water, put his hand into the water, washing off some of the dirt and sand that was currently on it. The water washed away all of it, leaving a clean, if salty, hand. He'd have to sanitize, wash, lotion, and re-sanitize that hand when he got home.

[Thorn]

If the girl had known what a face palm was, she would have done so as the Lucien washed him self in the surf. Growling, she seized him roughly by the top of his hair and shoved his face towards the endless water that they before them.

But she knew it wasn't all his fault. He was just having difficulty understanding her and since she didn't quite have a good grasp on how to communicate with humans yet.

"Nuh-naaame?" she said, forcing his head at the ocean again before letting it go. "Name?"