He couldn’t sleep. Tucked inside the shelter provided by a den he had adopted when the last resident had abandoned it he tossed and turned. His slender form flopped from one side to the other, a myriad of deep, unfitful sighs escaping his muzzle to be heard by whatever poor soul might pass outside his home. Finally he gave up, crossing his paws over the silver white bridge of his nose and groaning. Accepting he wouldn’t get a decent sleep tonight he stood, his head lowered only so it didn’t scrape the top of the den before he moved with a liquid kind of grace out into the chilly night. Blearily he looked around, azure eye streaked with red and violet taking in the moon-washed landscape around him. There wasn’t another soul in sight, which perhaps was a good thing for he wouldn’t wish this restlessness upon his worst enemy. His muzzle opened wide in a gaping yawn that had his tongue curling to the roof of his mouth before he gave a good shake and meandered toward the beach.

There is a certain peacefulness that accompanies the night, when everything is still and quiet save for the lapping of the waves upon the shore which was like a lullaby to those who called the sea-pack home. As he wandered he allowed his gaze to sweep across the familiar landscape, drinking in the sway of the tall dune grass and the way the moons light washed the sand white in its glow. Truly, it was beautiful, and yet he couldn’t fully appreciate it, not without her. She had come into his life like a falling star streaking across the black night sky, illuminating his world before fading out over the horizon. They had spent one spectacular day together and then parted as strangers do, but she was no stranger to him. She was the other half of his soul and without her he felt incomplete, which subsequently led to this restlessness that drove him from his sleep.

Part of him knew he should just go find her, thrust himself into her life and hope she reciprocated he feeling, but the idea that she might reject him kept him from running to Taviora tonight. He was a man of consistency, he liked his routine of waking, bathing in the sun, and generally doing nothing…but to have her he knew he would have to make more of himself and that terrified him. His white toes scraped sand as he made his way out onto the beach and wandered down the shoreline a bit, his deaf left ear pointed toward the ocean so should someone approach from the pack lands he would be able to hear it. He was only in danger if a monster from the deeps tried to take him, which he was more comfortable with in these changing times.

Slowly he meanders down the beach, his head turned toward the moon and the brilliant stars that dotted the night sky as if he might find his answers there. The wind was cold tonight as it breezed in off the water, ruffling his permanently disheveled coat. The wiry hairs refused to be tamed as they twisted this way and that and stuck up haphazardly giving him a generally unkempt that suited him just fine, at least here he could blame it on the salt and humidity. He sighed, pausing for a moment to just listen to the night sounds of the ocean and hope that they might quiet his soul.