Starboard Messenger

"If we're lucky we may run into your mam and siblings. Been at least a year since you last saw them right?" He asked, even though he knew she couldn't reply, just speaking his thoughts aloud himself. The days had merged together and he could no longer keep track of time, just the seasons giving him a rough indication of the time of year so it didn't surprise him that he couldn't remember how long they'd been at sea.

There was something Blue hadn't considered. Her mother had become a very vague memory, again she supposed it worked differently with Aidan. He mother hadn't been a huge part of her life and when she looked back all she could see was Aidan and the sea. She licked his hand instead of thinking about them, instead she decided to think about snow and what it might be like, frozen water wasn't water at all and yet it was, it would be fun to lie in it without sinking. She rarely thought against Aidan, but while he wished for no snow, she wished for a white blanket.

Pulling into the docks a while later, dragging the anchor to the steps and pushing it over into the water with some difficulty. Although years of living at sea had toned him with the amount of physical labour, he still couldn't lift the huge lump of metal. Picking up his pillow, he walked back to his room, dumping it onto his bed and pulled on some form of warm clothing, almost excited to go back onto dry land.

Blue repeatedly jumped up at the sides of the boat, peering down at the ground before jumping back to find another spot to look from. After a moments impatience, she raced into Aidan's room and darted around him, knocking his legs as her tail swooped madly. Running back out she let out brief howls to hurry him along, half tempted to go down without him, though that would never happen.
She couldn't explain her excitement, or contain it.

Aidan rolled his eyes, tugging on his shoes and grabbing a cloak. Finally moving out of his room he picked up the plank of wood he kept handy for time when he actually wanted to get onto land, something that rarely happened. Pushing it over the edge, he gestured for Blue to go before him, frowning slightly at the thin layer of snow coating the floor, knowing it was bound to get thicker the further away from the sea they got.

Blue skidded down the plank, she would have skipped if two of her four legs were not weighing her down. Upon reaching the bottom she looked back and whined at Aidan, he just wasn't moving fast enough, if he didn't hurry he might miss the land altogether. With a swishing tail of joy she leaped for the land and bolted, running in wide strides so that she could beat the sensation of still ground. She had made it only a few yards away from the boat however when she felt her pads going numb. She stopped. It wasn't like any blanket she'd ever seen, and it was cold. Brilliantly cold.

Sneaking up behind Blue he dropped a pile of snow he'd collected onto her head. Laughing, he dashed ahead watching the confused face of the wolf as the snow started to melt. Stumbling slightly as the snow grew thicker, trying to claim his feet with each step he took towards the town, he sidled down an alleyway, trying to escape any vengeance she might have planned.

It took only a few seconds for Blue to formulate a plan. She left aidan to run, picking up a large mouthful of snow before dissapearing back to the boat. After a few trips of mischievousness, she caught Aidan's scent and chased after him, amazed at how well she could run against the frozen surface. She caught up to him in no time and began stalking him quietly behind the everyday litter of the streets, the only clue was her excitable tail that didn't know how to be as sneaky as the rest of her.

Aidan scooted around the corner having already seen Blue. As crafty as she thought she was being she yet had to master control over her wriggling tail. Scooping a pile of snow up, he waited for her to follow him around the corner before throwing it all on top of her, laughing.
"Think I win." He smirked.

The excited tail froze, as did the rest of her. She shook of the snow and felt some of it seep in between her fur. She growled playfully, backing away in preparation to pounce.
'But you always win!' She thought, catapulting herself at his torso, not willing to let him win. She was atop him in seconds, nuzzling into his face with her cold nose, scooping snow onto his neck as she shovelled it onto him.

Aidan fell backwards with a thud, struggling against her as the cold made it's way through the back of his shirt.
"A-Ah! Blue, cold!" He laughed, trying to move from underneath her, the cold nose dampening the skin of his cheek making it all the more colder. Pushing her off, he jumped on her back, chewing on her ear lightly, pushing her into the snow*

Blue wriggled and squirmed to her heart's content beneath Aidan, the cold beneath her and the warm above, she whined playfully while she tried to salvage her ear and the dominant position which would stop the snow from seeping into her winter fur.
She rubbed her face ibnto the ground, trying to toss the slush backward and into Aidan's face.
'You be cold!' She thought.

Letting her go, he petted her head softly.
"Lets go somewhere warm, don't want you to get sick do we?" He smirked, toying with her fur and walking towards the nearest shop. Stepping into the wave of warmth he sighed in relief, rubbing his arms down, trying to coax colour back into them. "I hate snow..."

Shaking her fur of the new wetness that the snow had caused, Blue padded in after Aidan and felt her coat fluff up.
'Great, now I look fat' She pinned her ears and sat by the door to wait for her fur to dry out. Outside she heard a dog bark and found herself in silent conversation with it.

Picking up some random things, he paid and walked over to Blue.
"Hey tubby." He smirked, poking the fuzz which was once fur, teasingly. "Few more things to pick up and then we can head back, unless you want to sleep on land tonight?"

Blue mentally smirked. If they slept on land Aidan wouldn't find the gift she'd left him, and that just wouldn't do. Besides, she felt awkward sleeping in logings she was unfamiliar with, and the beds were never quite comfy enough. She wagged her tail and briefly forgave him for the tubby compliment, looking back in the direction of the boat, their own private quarters.

Following her eyes, he shrugged.
"Sea it is then." Balancing the goods in his arms, he walked off towards the boat, dumping what he had onto the deck, figuring he would put it away later. Hopping back down to land he ran his hand through Blue's fur. "Where next?"

Blue pressed her body against Aidan's leg, her tail swishing happily. So much land, so many smells she had yet to explore and the one that was bugging her the most was the smell of the dog she had conversed with but hadn't yet seen, she could smell him though, strongly now. Wherever they went she was sure she'd be able to talk with him again. She grinned up at Aidan then began padding along through the snow, exploration on her mind.

Aidan patted her head lightly.
"Go on, you can explore if you want. I'll meet you back at the boat at sundown. I'm going to be in and out of shops all day so you may as well go play Blue." He smiled. "Besides you look distracted. Go and get whatever's bugging you."

Blue inclined her head, if there was an urge to stay by Aidan's side now it had been fleeting and within two flicks of her furry tail she was away. The snow reflected the sunlight and with the fresh sea air continuously rolling in Blue was right at home. She was quick on her feet and after passing several gaps in the buildings that made up the town she found the alley where the dog waited. A scruffy creature with tattered ears and matted fur, much smaller than Blue, he blended in with the murky walls as unkept and dirty as he was. With friendly canine gestures and acknowledgement they greeted each other, finally able to breathe in eachother's scent and match it to each other's appearance, never to be forgotten.
"You got away then?" His gruff but ancient voice enquired, one shred of an ear flopping over as he seated himself upon the melted snow at the mouth of the alley.
"Got away? No, we're to meet up later" Blue joined him where he sat and watched the people walking up and down, oblivious to them.
"You are certainly interesting..." He muttered though his eyes had followed some human rather than Blue who was rolling on the cool slush.
"Interesting how?"
"You're so stuck to that human but I haven't heard you speak to him..."
"He understands me, if with some...difficulty..." There came a chuckle that crackled with age and splintered with amusement as he shook his mane of matted fur out of his cloudy eyes.
"So you don't know...how very odd, especially for a wolf"
"Don't know what?" Blue sat up just as the shaggy mess of a dog padded away. "Don't know what?" She repeated, hesitating for a moment in case the creature simply returned, when he didn't she pounced out of the alley and followed the footsteps left in the snow.
Blue stared at the prints in front of her one moment they were similar to hers, the next, Aidan's. No sign of the dog she frowned sniffing her way across the street until she came nose to nose with some old beggar who sat cross legged against a house.
"It comes in handy...but it's a knack most are forgetting...we choose one or the other, some find use in only one form...so we forget the other" The old man smiled and reached out a wrinkled hand to stroke the auburn muzzle. So the old man smelled and sounded like the dog she knew, but she couldn't see him anywhere.
The man smiled at her confusion.
"You could speak to him you know, that human of yours, if you're his only company"
Blue stared into the cloudiness of the old mutt's eyes, her head lolling to one side on his lap.
"Why tell me this?" The old man frowned and stroked her face.
"to be alone is so cruel, for us especially...you have a strong little human by your side, probably could go for the rest of your life and never speak a word to him....but that maddens a person, maddens us" Blue tried to understand but failed, the old man stood and shuffled along the street much slower in this strange human form, his wisdom passed on. Even once he had slipped from her view Blue continued to speak to him in the silent canine speech but Blue's mind wandered. She asked herself over and over again if she could speak to Aidan, what she would say if it were possible and in her hindsight she realised just how slow the conversation had been, it seemed to have gotten darker, how long had her mind been away? Slowly she padded back to the street she had met the old man the retraced her snowy footsteps.

Aidan was already on the boat, putting the produce that he'd bought down below the decks.
"Bought you lunch!" He shouted over, tossing her a steak with a smile. He knew that she hadn't been eating as well as she could, so given the opportunity that he could give her something she liked, he took it without question. Taking down the last lot, he yawned, stretching out above his head he walked to the bedroom, pulling his shirt off and slipping under the covers. Shouting as the cold wetness touched his skin, he tumbled off the bed with a thud.
"BLUE! GET YOUR ASS OVER HERE NOW!"

Blue's swished her tail back and forth excitedly as she and her steak ran a good hiding spot away from the angry Aidan, Blue could not deny her grin as she tore into her meat, triumphant, glad that the floor made a fairly comfortable bed now that she'd decided to leave it to Aidan. By the time she had finished her steak, she was back to hiding, waiting for Aidan to find her or fall asleep.

Growling to himself, Aidan wrapped the relatively dry blanket around himself, climbing under the deck, quickly finding what he was looking for. Sighing in relief that he never threw out his old crew's hammocks, he strung one up, climbing into it.
"Stupid wolf..." He muttered, snuggling down.

Waiting the few hours that built up Blue's patience, the wriggling wolf silently snuck into the cabin. She paused, grinning to herself when she saw Aidan suspended in the air in the hammock, creeping beneath it she found a comfy patch of floor and lay there. By morning she would have a surprise for Aidan, and she intended to make it a good one.

Tossing around in the hammock, he awoke early the next morning, rubbing at his neck, having bent it at an uncomfortable angle during the night.
"Dammit Blue." He huffed, sliding out of the hammock, lading on the wooden deck with a light thud, he turned around, expecting to see the usual pile of fluff somewhere around him.
"N...N...Naked!" He finally shrieked, racing out of the room, covering his eyes.