Ah - so that word was Sha-ra-doii. Sharadoii. People of the place where earth dipped and rose again… Chakliux’s home, too. Some relief came to her as she took note of the seal hunter’s smile. These unknown people - the Sharadoii people - seemed to hold some safety among them, given how Chakliux spoke of them with all joy and no fear.

I am… alone. Worry not. As far as she was aware, she had been alone when she entered the ocean - though she did not remember much of that, either. Yet both seawolves held a certain nervousness - Lujing for the land, Chakliux for the beach.

Lujing mindlessly found herself pawing at a shell again, constraining her now-muted hunger. Turning her gaze to the sea, she marched to the water’s edge and dabbled her paws in foam, then observed the gentle winds caressing frothy heaps. Speaking with the man was a confusing dance, and it only became more tangled as he mentioned the Sharadoii having people like herself but not like him. What did she, a foreigner, have that was like the valley people, but not like Chakliux, when she, too, was oceanborn?

Perhaps the daze had struck her dumb, because she wandered about the foam in bewildered circles until -

Ah!

Insight struck her like a playful wave.

Women! Oh! They valley has women - Her slumbered arrival upon this land seemed to have turned her strange, for she laughed softly to herself at the realization. But again, were the men like those at home? Did she need to be with a band of women to remain safe?

She turned back to the three marks and sat upon the sand, blinking rapidly in confusion and hoping she would receive some explanation for what the lines meant. The valley, she understood, but what were the marks? Three cliffs? Three.. rivers? Lujing turned to ask Chakliux, but stopped.

Oh!

Oh…

Three days… three days of travel? Perhaps? Three coast-lengths…?

The first thought that entered her mind was too far. Never had she strayed so far from the presence of salt, let alone into that earth-dipping place. It was too far… but what other choice did she have?

Lujing turned to the man, swishing her tail upon the sand a little to ensure his attention was on her. You invite me to go..? She pointed at the dipping mark. Thank you, kind man. I can go. But.. stay long, I cannot. She set her eyes upon the sea, the only thing close to her heart in this land unknown. I belong to the sea. But - let fate decide how long I stay.

Seaglass gaze met flowery eyes. Is that okay, ah?