New territory. Not new as in new to her, but new as in new-new. There were scents, but not as many as anywhere else she'd been. The water she had waded through to get here had been a blissful experience. Now, she stood on a dry patch, able to hear the whispered white noise of the surrounding water, the scent it had strong in her nose. How far has she wandered from "home"? She didn't dwell because it didn't matter. If she was needed, she'd be found. She was never truly lost, just very lonely. Somehow, she'd come to find she was used to it. The scars on her neck were deep, ugly, and obvious, too, but she never noticed them. It was usually her blank stare they noticed first, anyway. Nobody wanted to stick around for long, though. Predators tended to stalk such easy prey.

A sniff into the air huffed out, then splashing noises echoed off the walls and liquid surface. With eagerness and renewed energy, the tapir jumped forward, creating quite the wake. With powerful thrusts and kicks of her legs, she swam around, head held above the water with trunk raised up a little, just to be safe. It was fun. More fun than she thought she'd felt in quite some time. A smile grew on her face, tail wagging furiously as she waded out of the water onto a new island. Penelope dropped to the ground and began to roll, legs flailing about as she grunted and groaned in delight, the scratches she had being itched, the feeling of dirt getting caked to her wet skin adding comfort and protection from bugs.

Penelope sighed, sitting up to her belly. Her forelegs tucked a bit and she let her eyelids sink, the energy sapped back out of her, but from a pleasurable experience versus a Louie experience. Honestly, she hoped none would disturb her little peace and quiet.

---

"Speech"
Thoughts.
Louie's Bullshit.

Boy howdy was Iris happy and satisfied with life. With the return of Ghost and the confessions of love, she was content enough with herself to work on feed herself to fullness once more. With a few quick lessons, Ghost could even join her under the surface if he wanted to! Her happiness was infinite!

Right now, she was definitely on the hunt for food. She didn't require as much food as she used to, since she was now fully-grown and equipped with a quick metabolism to keep her full. The waters were choppier than usual as she circled about the school of rather large fish. Snapping her head to the side, she noticed that they were clustered thicker in the center. Giving a powerful kick of her hind legs, Iris cracked her jaws wide open and swam right through the storm of fish. They scattered in a panic, leaving behind those that had gotten caught in her maw. Chomping down on her mouthful of fish, she blew out a few bubbles through her blowhole to expel the water from her maw before swallowing her meal. Yummy!

Once they had settled in her tummy, the hybrid breached the surface, head popping up above the water and eyes staring right ahead in curiosity, finding the figure of someone else in the shallows, swimming around. Involuntarily tilting her head a little as the creature waded onto land and rolled in the dirt, she rumbled softly. No response came at first, because her sound was too low in pitch to be heard. Iris clicked rapidly, wriggling closer in the water and standing in the shallows. Once close enough, she squealed, "hi!!!"

@Penelope

The large tapir was drifting off, eyes lulling off as her ears drooped and breathing slowed. Just as sleep nearly stole her away from reality, a high-pitched greeting shook her away and her forelegs shot forward, a muscle cramping at the sudden movement. Eyes were so wide the whites showed, body tense and tail flailing. Ears searched for a source, catching the flutter of water from whatever spoke to her, head turning, but overlooking the swimming being. Penelope snorted defensively and threw herself onto her feet, wishing she was capable of being buried instead.

"Who's there?" she demanded, having learned to not act timid or shy or sweet to those who encountered her. Who knew what was behind the voice; who knew what monster laid in wait. With Dia in the midst of the caves, who knew.

---

"Speech"
Thoughts.
Louie's Bullshit.
@Iris

As she greeted Penelope happily, Iris waved her tail about, flukes dripping with water. Giving a little spray of water from her blowhole, she sucked in a lungful of air and watched as the tapir jumped to her feet and gained a defensive stance. Chirping excitedly, the hybrid responded, "Iris is there! Well, there is here. Here is there. Yeah." Losing herself a little, Iris snorted and stared up the the ceiling for a moment only to look back down and prance in place. "Don't worry, I don't bite! Well, I do bite, but only fish!"

Who could resist a playfully innocent little angel, right? Iris still kept her distance, however, being respectful enough not to be right in poor Penelope's face. After all, she was very big. And wet. Water got everywhere and not everyone liked it.

@Penelope

Don't worry? Hah! Jokes on you, I'm always worried. Penelope snorted at the voice, take a precautionary step backwards. A flehmen revealed surprisingly mean looking teeth, while her sense of smell took on trying to discover what this thing was. All she got was a thick smell of water and fish. Mostly the latter. It added some truth to the words that were offered, but she still didn't know what exactly she was talking to. Then again, Some things are best left unseen.

"Well, Iris... my name is Penelope, and I bite when threatened," she said, offering a gesture of trust with a cautionary tale to boot. There would be an effort to flee first, but she'd really taken to throwing rocks at others lately. It was at least an option if things went south.

---

"Speech"
Thoughts.
Louie's Bullshit.
@Iris