The sun was just starting to set as Dabadye set out along the beach. The tide had been high earlier in the day and he wanted to see if he could find any plants washed up on the shores to help create some of the medicines he created. Most of the seaweed that stranded itself on the sands was incredible for healing wounds when mashed up and his supply was a bit low. He hummed to himself as he walked along the shore, pausing now and then to inspect a clump of plants to see if it was what he was looking for.

As he dug around in a particularly thick knot of seaweed a shiver ran up his spine. He lifted his head and glanced around, feeling as though he was being watched.

"Hello?" he called out, but the only response was the rush of water on sand. Still feeling like eyes were on him, Dabadye turned in a slow circle, scanning the tree line to his left before looking up and down either end of the beach, then out to the water. When he turned back to face the direction he'd been traveling in he thought he saw someone standing far, far down the beach on a rocky outcropping that started the sheer, dangerous face of the cliffs. He squinted slightly, only able to make out a dark shape of what seemed to be a lion. It was so far it was hard to tell if it was male or female and the blue lion wasn't sure what to do. Call out to them? What if it was a stranger? What if it was one of those dark lions that had come not long ago and caused all the trouble that had sent their king tumbling from that very cliff?

"Oh dear," he murmured quietly. Dabadye was not a fighter by any means and he suddenly felt very alone on the open beach, pinned in place by the stare of the stranger. Though he couldn't see their eyes, he knew their gaze was upon him. He took a few steps back and felt something bump against his hind leg, carried in by a gentle wave that washed over all four paws. Looking down, Dabadye felt his blood run cold.

Left behind as the wave rushed back to the sea was a small black square with little tendrils extending from each corner. A mermaid's purse. A bad omen. One that made Dabadye very nearly bolt for the trees to get away from it and from the stranger who still hadn't moved.

"Oh no- oh, oh dear," he whimpered quietly to himself, reaching out with a paw to try to scuff the thing back into the water. The next wave only pushed it further up the beach. Dabadye glanced up at the stranger again before leaning in to pick up the mermaid's purse gingerly between his teeth, careful not to puncture the pod and kill the tiny animal within. He had to bring it out into the cove. Maybe this would send the stranger away and clear the uneasy feeling in his heart. Wading into the sea, Dabadye held his footing against the waves that rolled in and broke against his chest until he could no longer feel the sand beneath his paws. Then he started to paddle, keeping his head above the water until he made it through where the waves formed, reaching the relative stillness of the cove.

Every now and then he'd glance to his left to see if the stranger was still there. They were. He gave another little whimper of unease as he made it to the center of the cove and paused in his paddling, treading water to stay in place for a moment. He let go of the little creature between his teeth and watched it sink out of sight.

"T-there you go," he said aloud, to the mermaid's purse or the stranger, he wasn't sure. "Safe and...and sound. Now uh...I'll just...go." He turned back towards the shore and paddled hard, the waves helping him forward as he got closer to land. Once he pulled himself out of the sea, soggy and still nervous, he gave himself a shake to rid his mane and fur of the sea water. Keeping his eyes closed, Dabadye hoped that when he opened them again everything would be put to rights. Everything would be fine. The stranger would be gone, the mermaid's purse would stay in the sea, and he could continue looking for seaweed.

...or maybe just head back to the den. Pilixatzin would surely be there by now and he could tell her his story. That might make him feel a bit better.

Once he convinced himself to open his eyes, Dabadye lifted his head and glanced warily down to the cliffs at the other end of the cove. The stranger was gone. He let out a sigh of relief, his whole body sagging for a moment as the tension left his limbs.

"Phew...okay...yeah, I think that's enough searching for today," he told himself, turning tail to walk back along the beach the way he'd come. There would still be daylight for a little while yet but with the sun nearly sinking behind the horizon he wanted to get home before the darkness crept in. Thoughts of those dark lions filled his mind and each shadow certainly held four or five of them, waiting to pounce. But he did notice - even though his imagination was running away with him - that that unsettling feeling from earlier was no longer prickling along his spine. Whatever it was, it had gone.

"That'll be a story to tell, at least," he said to cheer himself up a bit. "Or...maybe one to inform the guards about." They didn't need strangers entering their land again, not after what had happened. Maybe the lion wasn't a stranger at all and he just hadn't been able to recognize them at the distance he'd been at. Something told him that wasn't the case, though, and as he trotted along the worn paths from the sea to the dens, Dabadye decided to tell one of the guards just so they'd be on alert.

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