It's the dead of morning. Mir's mind is racing too much to sleep. Staring out at the sea, she catches sight of the sky burning above the sea. Reflected in the waters are the burning tails of the brilliant comets. She is not one to think much of the cosmos, with much of it beyond her touch, but for a moment she's caught up with the sight. Showers. Brilliant, bright meteor showers.

She wonders where they might land, if they land at all. And she wonders if there's anyone awake to see this with her. The world is so magical sometimes that she wonders occasionally if her aunts aren't just crazy. But then she remembers the magic is explainable. She just doesn't understand it. Attributing things one doesn't understand to magic is to accept that the world is not to be explained, and she would never do that.

But hell if she's going to admit she doesn't find this awesome. Perhaps it's a sign that she should be here.

Hjördis was... in her element, probably. She found equal comfort in the sea as she did on land. However, this was different from the tranquil currents she knew. VERY different.

Last the woman knew she was fishing with her father—a bi-nightly tradition, to feed the village—but a small tip in the boat sent her flying off the edge and landing with a KER-SPLASH! into the water. Wasn't the first time, and Hjördis could only assume that it wouldn't be the last. Hjördis felt a current sweep her away from the small fishing boat, and the saline water muffled her father's desperate calls. Why was he so worried...?

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Hjördis could vaguely remember some warning she heeded that night. Something about the wind, the waves, something a riptide. She could only count on her luck that the day she'd fall victim to her own graceless mannerisms was the day that the ocean could swallow her up with unfathomable voracity. She was powerless in the ocean's relentless grasp.

An odd snapping sound hit her ears through the water, and she inexplicably felt the strength in her robust legs ebb away. What on earth just happened? Her usual elegant strokes across the surface of the ocean were reduced to frenzied paddles. She couldn't move her arms over her head, nor her legs outwards to propel forward properly. Something was very wrong.

At long last, she reached the shore. Hjördis's side heaves from overexertion, and, her paws were burning!

...paws?

She pinned her ears back against her nape. No, no that's not right. Humans can't move their ears back. So then, why were they swiveling like radars to and fro, and why was there a tail wagging at her hocks so nervously?

Vad fan?! (What the fuck?!) She cried, stumbling back, trying her damned hardest to run away from her own foreign limbs. Her whole body was hairy; there was an insatiable itch in her back that she couldn't reach with her hands...

The new wolf grumbled angrily and whipped her head back, nibbling away along the sodden tresses that lined her spine. It was all wrong. So wrong—Hjördis had heard stories of the wolf-men, like Sigmundr and Sinfjötli... but she wasn't an outlaw?! None of it made sense! It was all far too much for the limited intelligence that Hjördis harbored.

She trudged over the shore with a disgruntled huff, shedding saltwater from her nostrils. Her earrings still jingled—seemed those were still there, yet no other part of her old self.

Seems there's a sopping animal to interrupt her meteorological wonder. Mir glances down from the streaks of fire to stare at the wet beast pulling itself from the sea. A woman. Small, sturdy like. She exhales slowly, keeping a wide berth to try to keep the creature from getting too much sea water on her.

"Из всех вещей. (Of all the things.)" Her voice is low, barely audible over the roar of the waves. Then she speaks up in a more common tongue. "Trying to kill yourself in the sea? Or is the sea angry at you?" The swell had been sudden, unexpected. It's otherwise been a clear winter night, and even now the ocean is calm. She glances out among it warily, wondering if another creature might be spit ashore.

"It does not seem like a wise way to go."

Hjördis whipped her head up in surprise. Wh-huh? Who said that?! She looked around. Was it the...

I'm sorry. Did you just talk? She looked dumbfounded, staring at the taller woman in shock, b-but... you're a wolf! Hjördis looked around, then at her own stocky flank. ...I'm a wolf. What the hell— she whined. A disconcerting, unfamiliar sound that left her throat with a vibration she'd never felt before. I've been cursed! The girl caterwauled.

By what?! The sea—was it angry at her? But... what for? She treated the waters with nothing but respect, she'd been taught to since she was so young. The... sea isn't mad at me. And she most certainly wasn't trying to kill herself. I was with... my pappa... where's my pappa?! She looked up, eyes wide. Oh, he must be worried sick!! Short limbs carried her wading back into the sea, her dual-toned eyes straining to find some... opening to go back where she came from.

Mir stares at her blankly, watching the girl freak out. There's not much to say that's comforting; Mir can imitate bedside manner, of course, but she's not really sure how to welcome someone into Mythris. They've always told her that the lake in Elysium is a portal, but all the water around the island? Hm. That's a questionable thing indeed. Of course, she's never shifted reality. She's lived here her entire life.

"There's a logical explanation for everything," she says after a moment. She just doesn't have an explanation for this. Mythris in general is strange. "Why would you have been cursed? Do you even have proof you've been cursed?" She peers at the strange wolf woman, walking right back into the sea. "I wouldn't recommend swimming out there. Who knows what's in the water?"

Hjördis's gaze was transfixed on the waters. 'Do you even have proof you've been cursed?' Why, I- look at me!! I'm a beast! She waded back into the beach with an irate huff, raising her legs one at a time and battering them to shed the ocean water that drenched her limbs. If this isn't a curse, why... I couldn't say what is. Back on the sandy coastline, Hjördis slumped her haunches down onto the sand with a small thump.

Brows furrowed, she tried her damn best to conjure up any logical explanation, considering this stranger said there's one for everything. But, alas. Thinking wasn't Hjördis's strong suit. I... did I do something bad? Have I been punished? Was it the time she stole money from Pappa to buy Kladdkaka from the neighborhood bakery? Oh gods, she knew she shouldn't have done that! And now, there was no way to atone for her sins—she didn't even know where the hell she was.

Perhaps, the stranger knew. She perked up, ears swiveling forward. Where are we? A part of her feared the answer would be something synonymous with 'the afterlife'.

Mir's nose wrinkles. "You look normal." Was she one of those people like Jasmine told her about? The... really weird ones that walk on two legs? That wear skin? Those sound like the real monsters. The real scary ones, that kinda aren't really people at all. What sort of beast wears another creature's skin? That's the sort of thing she'd be concerned about. "That hardly looks like the symptom of a curse." Not that Mir really believes in curses; she wouldn't give her cousins any power over her, not in any way.

"I don't know if you've done something bad," she continues. "People show up here from other places." She's been told that, but she's never seen it. Well, now she's seen it with her own two eyes. Right from the calm ocean, with the meteors exploding overhead. "Mythris. You're specifically on my shoreline." She doesn't own the Brim-- at least, not yet. But she could make it seem like she does own the place, and perhaps people might start believing it. It'd mean she could keep the place safe from anyone that might take over.

'You look normal. Yeah, right. With 4 paws and a tail, covered in dark-brown fur. 'Normal'. She gave her body one last shake, her earrings jingling slightly as her ears battered from side to side. Hjördis side-eyed the other with an incredulous glare.

Mythris. Mythris. On her shore. Where the hell was that? Hjördis whined again—she could hardly control it at this point, her throat made the sounds on its own. Well, I wanna go back, she swiveled her ears back against her nape, I don't like it here, I— She looked around again, movements growing frantic. I don't know where I am, and my family—they must be worried sick...

Rising onto her paws, the girl began to pace along the shore. There's gotta be a way out! She wanted to wade into the water again, her paw raised over the water that lapped against the sand; but before her body entered, she remembered the stranger's words.

'I wouldn't recommend swimming out there.' Her head tilted slightly, colorful eyes shifting to look up at her. Surely the... so-called owner of this shore knew better than herself about this place? Hjördis lapped her tongue awkwardly over her lips, suddenly wary of what may reside beneath the undulating waves. Another riptide? Another portal? Maybe next time, she'll be a cat instead. No, dear god no. Hjördis loved cats, but she would much rather be a formidable wolf than a little kitty. At the notion, she backpedaled back away from the water.