The sound of a new voice caused him to jolt hard, his front paws sending an arch of sand skyward.
...Random lady.
The knot in his chest loosened somewhat.
"Oh thank God."
The words escaped him before he could even think. The relief at seeing another of his own kind was rather small, but another wolf meant he wasn't completely alone in... whatever this was. And other wolves meant help. Or something like that... He didn't stop to wonder whether approaching a stranger was wise or not. Yelp wasn't exactly wired to view other wolves as potential threats or beings to be wary of. Wolves were wolves. And every wolf he had ever interacted with was nice and helpful. So he figured even some random stranger would make no difference.
Yelp hurried toward her with quick, uneven strides, only slowing once he got close enough to really look. "...Whoa." His ears flicked forward. Her face was split, pale on one side, dark on the other, tiny pale flecks scattered across the black like stars. He'd never seen markings like that before. For one distracted second, the panic in his brain stalled.
Hey, that's kinda cool!
However, the thought was shoved away almost as quickly as it'd come, his green eyes now darting past her shoulder to scan the shoreline once more as if there was some kind of answer to be found there.
"So, like," he blurted, almost talking over himself, "I am so confused." He gestured one of his large forepaws wildly behind him toward the ocean. "I was in a forest, right? Grass. Nice little pond. Trees, it wasn’t hot as shit. I bend down for a drink—" As he prattled on, he mimed the action of bending down to take a sip of water, his brows pinched tightly as he worked through his jumbled mess of a story. "—and then suddenly..." He sat up and fanned a paw at the air. Everywhere, so to speak. "And now I got sand all up in my mouth. Why does the water taste like that? And where am--" Seeming to catch himself, Yelp cut his chatter off with a slight vocal hitch as his gaze traveled back to the stranger.
He didn’t get the chance to apologize for his word vomit before another voice, a gentle accented one, carried over the sound of rolling waves. Yelp’s ears flicked up and he turned to find another random lady standing just far enough away to be fully seen and heard, concern clear in her amber eyes.
The question, “Are you both alright?”, was simple and seemed honest, but the sincerity made Yelp pause for a moment and straighten up a little, drawing in a steady breath. Of course he was alright, right?
Maybe I need to get a grip...
His tail gave a weak wag as he tried to answer her gaze with something that looked assured.
“Yeah,” he said, a genuine attempt at bravery surfacing as he looked at one wolf to the other. “I’m good. Just uh, I think there are some things to figure out here?”
...Random lady.
The knot in his chest loosened somewhat.
"Oh thank God."
The words escaped him before he could even think. The relief at seeing another of his own kind was rather small, but another wolf meant he wasn't completely alone in... whatever this was. And other wolves meant help. Or something like that... He didn't stop to wonder whether approaching a stranger was wise or not. Yelp wasn't exactly wired to view other wolves as potential threats or beings to be wary of. Wolves were wolves. And every wolf he had ever interacted with was nice and helpful. So he figured even some random stranger would make no difference.
Yelp hurried toward her with quick, uneven strides, only slowing once he got close enough to really look. "...Whoa." His ears flicked forward. Her face was split, pale on one side, dark on the other, tiny pale flecks scattered across the black like stars. He'd never seen markings like that before. For one distracted second, the panic in his brain stalled.
Hey, that's kinda cool!
However, the thought was shoved away almost as quickly as it'd come, his green eyes now darting past her shoulder to scan the shoreline once more as if there was some kind of answer to be found there.
"So, like," he blurted, almost talking over himself, "I am so confused." He gestured one of his large forepaws wildly behind him toward the ocean. "I was in a forest, right? Grass. Nice little pond. Trees, it wasn’t hot as shit. I bend down for a drink—" As he prattled on, he mimed the action of bending down to take a sip of water, his brows pinched tightly as he worked through his jumbled mess of a story. "—and then suddenly..." He sat up and fanned a paw at the air. Everywhere, so to speak. "And now I got sand all up in my mouth. Why does the water taste like that? And where am--" Seeming to catch himself, Yelp cut his chatter off with a slight vocal hitch as his gaze traveled back to the stranger.
He didn’t get the chance to apologize for his word vomit before another voice, a gentle accented one, carried over the sound of rolling waves. Yelp’s ears flicked up and he turned to find another random lady standing just far enough away to be fully seen and heard, concern clear in her amber eyes.
The question, “Are you both alright?”, was simple and seemed honest, but the sincerity made Yelp pause for a moment and straighten up a little, drawing in a steady breath. Of course he was alright, right?
Maybe I need to get a grip...
His tail gave a weak wag as he tried to answer her gaze with something that looked assured.
“Yeah,” he said, a genuine attempt at bravery surfacing as he looked at one wolf to the other. “I’m good. Just uh, I think there are some things to figure out here?”