Sun shone on the white, fine sand, sending cascades of white glow over the waves and turning them a rich turquoise. Soft winds blew off of the ocean, bringing inland a sharp smell one could only identify as salt. Nothing stirred for a while, only the waves softly lapping at the shore like a mother Liepard grooming her kittens.

Suddenly, a flash of blue stirred, breaking the spell of utter lifelessness, and a Vaporeon emerged from the ocean. She shook off her pelt, sending droplets of water flying into the air, and with a dainty paw, stepped onto land. This was Lia's favorite beach. She loved the sugar-like grains of rock that crunched under her paws like fish bones. It was a morbid thought, but to her it only made sense; after all, there was no other sound she could liken the crunching of sand to.

The young Vaporeon blinked, letting the oils that protected her eyes from the salt water melt away. She wouldn't need them on land, there was no salt to speak of. Lia liked the ocean considerably more when it came to vision. Her eyes worked much better under the waves and the scenery was prettier too, but she didn't really think much of it than a slight annoyance that nagged at her stomach.

"Lia!" a voice called from the edge of the beach where sand met flora.

"Fay?" Lia responded, confusion emanating from her dainty voice.

Brown fur flashed as a Buneary leaped out of a clump of ferns and onto the beach. His small paws powered him along the sand, pushing him off of the ground in great bounds every time he moved. "Lia! Where you been?" he asked as he halted by her side.

Lia blinked. She couldn't remember why she was in the ocean, she just was, and that was it. The Vaporeon wanted to slam her head on something. She could never remember anything, but that didn't matter unless she was around Fay. The little Buneary asked far too many questions for her liking.

"Oh... just swimming around...?" she responded air-headedly, shifting on her paws and tilting her head.

"You've been gone for eighteen hours and forty-three minutes, that's a long time for a swim," he chattered on in his annoyingly smart fashion.

Lia shook her head. "I don't know, maybe I slept when I was there," she shrugged.

"How deep did you go?" he pressed. "Did you see anything out of the ordinary?"

"I don't know!" Lia responded again.

"You sure are lucky being able to stay down there that long, you get to see all those things down there. What's it like-" Lia tuned him out. She liked Fay, he was nice and considerate, but she hated when he asked questions; they never seemed to stop. "Lia? Lia?" his raising voice snapped her out of her daydream.

"What?" she responded shakily, her voice unsure.

"Are you alive there?" he teased a bit, waving his small paw in front of her face.

"Yes, I'm alive!" Lia hissed, furrowing her brow and batting away Fay's paw with her own.

"Oh, I know that I was simply asking in a theoretical sense in which it is associated with an analogy or hyperbole of sorts. A facetious remark, ya know?"

Lia shook her head. "Leave me alone Fay!" she complained, a whine lacing her words.

The Buneary shrugged and hopped away, his long back paws digging into the sand and scattering the white grains as he made his way to the forest.