Rarely did I leave my... Well, I supposed it would rather unironically be called a 'lair'. The thought might have been humorous to a happier, younger individual; to me, I hardly crack a smile at the mundane joke.

Rarely didn't mean never, however, and evidently, as I happened to be out and about currently.

I'd never gone to the beach, I one day realised. I'd acquainted myself with various others who called themselves 'pirates' and... I'd never gone to the beach. One might blame the vampirism, the allergy to the sun, if only I didn't have such thick, slick fur. The sun hardly touched me, only for the slight sunburn on my nose and occasionally the skin around my eyes.

It was a discomfort, but not agonisingly painful. If anything I'd learned to completely ignore it over my centuries of life.

Really, I couldn't blame the sun; the only thing I had to blame was my own misery. How... As the youngsters would say, 'edgy.'

The feeling of sand between my paw pads was strange, unfamiliar, and entirely unwelcome. I didn't like it at all, in fact, and yet I persevered. My only thought was of how I was going to get the itchy, grainy substance out of my fur later this evening.

I looked over at the ocean as I dipped beneath the eaves of someone's hut. Whose, I didn't know; like I said... I didn't come to the beach.