It was, without a doubt, one of the nicest times she had ever visited the beach. It was pleasantly warm, without being unbearably hot, and the breeze was only strong enough to rustle the palm trees and cool her fur, instead of blowing stinging sand onto her legs and whipping her mane into tangles as it sometimes did. The blue mare was sloshing through the shallow water at an easy walk, the water alternating between covering her hooves as a wave rolled in, then receding to leave her feet dry. The scent of the wind and sea salt both invigorated and relaxed her, allowing her to forget, just for a moment, her upcoming duel, the slow-to-heal guilt over the Foothills invasion, and every other nagging worry the Sergeant had to deal with.

She came to a stop, head bending down to examine a shell poking out of the water. Java, who sleeping on her withers, stirred briefly, then became quiet again. The clear, warm day was like a sleeping pill for the growing bat. While he had begun to spend more time awake during the day, he still was nocturnal for the most part. Aryel sniffed at the shell, a shard of pinkish-orange conch, then snorted as a softly-hissing wave washed over it, foam obscuring it from view. She lifted her head again, scanning the beach for others. She had heard very little of the band that roamed this beach, only that they were called the Pirates. The word was foreign to a mare who had grown up in a lush inland valley, and so she was ignorant of the negative connotations the word could carry. Besides, she had never actually seen any of them here, apart from Cormac and a pegasus with colorful wings. She privately wondered what had become of the friendly, somewhat flirtatious bay with the golden eyes. The last she had seen of him, he was dipping beneath the waves, thick tail flicking him through the water. Was he still on his quest? Had he regained the land? And what had become of his band?

With a shake of her mane, she bent her head down again to see what the previous wave had left in place of the conch. More shells, some shattered, others whole, were lying exposed in the sand, as well as a strand of seaweed. She pawed the wet sand with her right hoof, wondering what else she could find.

(Sooo, yeah. BAD POST IS BAD. This was originally for Cormac and Aryel to meet up again, but others are welcome to come join the beach party xD)

Walk walk walk walk.
"Talk talk talk talk."