Ankyra Sound change is coming through my shadow

The shadow had lingered along the coast for some time, keeping clear of the borders of the packs she quickly found to be neighboring each other but flitting curiously around them. She had no desire to trespass, and little desire to join a pack.
At first, anyway.
Eventually the Messeda girl grew curious about the pack on the beach-- enough to find herself at their borders. She kept a couple of feet between herself and the heavy scents that screamed 'stay back', wary of being mistaken for an intruder. Samaantine wasn't certain if she would walk away from this conversation a member, an enemy, or a stranger still, to be forgotten before the next sunrise. After a moment of thought, she decided her feelings about this would depend on who answered her call. So she lifted her head and howled, then sat down with her tail wrapped neatly around her paws to wait.

he was only just getting back from the mess outside of their haven when a howl calls -- exhausted, limping and not in the best of spirits, ingram hastened towards the source. after several huffing minutes with the cold hounding his heels he was greeted by the sight of a wolf not unlike him -- dark furred with deep moss green eyes and exotic, captivating cheeks.

ingram allowed his gaze to rake over her figure unabashedly -- he was too tired, too sore to pretend to be diplomatic. any other day he might have been cheery, but he was soured by the day's unpleasant turn of events. his hackles lifted in pallisades as he considered she might be a wolf from furi's pack come to accost them, but she bears no scent he recognizes. if she had been closer to the borders he would have driven her out with aggression, but unlike the other interlopers to defile their forest, she had hung back and seemed well away from their clearly marked borders.

he did not let his guard down, but he spoke: "why are you here?" he asked wearily, a twinge of mistrust in his voice. he wished wylla was here - she was so much better at the Big Boss thing than he.

The Messeda girl was a bit surprised and a bit unsurprised to see who answered her call-- he was small, dark, and appeared tired, but there was something undeniably fierce about his demeanor. It was not enough to fully earn her respect immediately, but Samaantine dipped her head passively even in the face of the other wolf's borderline-hostility. She did not cower, but she would show no disrespect to the other in his home.
I would like to learn more about the pack that lives here, if I may. Samaantine answered levelly, meeting his gaze with a calm but deferential expression. She dared to venture a bit further: If there is strength and loyalty here, I may seek the opportunity to prove myself worthy of your ranks... if you-- or your leader-- will allow it.

any other day ingram might have ignored the careful degree in which the female only barely extended her deference-- hawkishly he focused on it, his yellow gaze hardening as he considered the reason she might not have fully observed her station. was she always this way? perhaps she believed she was better than him. ingram was ignorant to whatever thoughts processed behind her green eyes, but he was not ignorant to body language. he was not inexperienced when it came to contextually conveying ones' position through body actions -- he did not expect a groveling, cowering girl but some sign of respect was to be exacted. all he got was a brief dip of her skull and nothing that might express she was subordinate to him in any measure.

he did not like that she met his gaze. his ears pulled forward in stifled outrage, for it was rare for a wolf entreating entry in a strange pack to neither bow nor avert their gaze. he found this troubling -- particularly because grimnismal did not need more wolves with authority complexes. he was not a wolf hungry for power, but that lack of social convention made him uncomfortable and it made him annoyed.

"what do you know of loyalty?" he spat grouchily, feeling his fur prickle and the long tufts of hackles between his shoulderblades lift like quills. "you present yourself with no humility, but want entry?"

Perhaps arrogantly, the shadow had assumed her first attempt at joining a pack would go smoothly-- she was wrong. The moment the other's demeanor began to shift south, she began to wonder what she had done to offend him. Surely some misstep on her part; it wounded her pride to admit it, but she was more concerned with not repeating her error.
As he spoke bitingly, the Messeda girl quietly accepted her maybe-goal of joining as hopeless. Still, she sought to correct herself, taking the hint he gave with his words and lowering herself to a bow as he finished speaking. She wasn't even certain this was what he wanted, and she made little effort to hide her uncertainty.
I apologize. Samaantine pressed her ears to her skull and lowered her gaze, shamed by her own lack of social graces. Too often she forgot that being raised only among family did come with setbacks-- yes, she had been overconfident, though perhaps not in the way the other assumed. Deciding she would rather him think her naive than insolent, and already feeling pessimistic about the outcome, she admitted: I am inexperienced with pack etiquette, though I am learning. I meant no disrespect.

the sable girl offered a different posture almost immediately, folding her limbs against her body with her ears pressed against a cape of stark black fur. she spoke in earnest apology and as if on switch that was all that was needed to placate ingram. he was mollified almost immediately, though weariness still persisted in his gaze. he thought for a moment his uncharacteristic snap had caused her some form of discomfort and he immediately regretted it -- what if he made her cry?

little did he know she likely was not a wolf as sensitive as he assumed her to be, but all the same he felt guilty as she humbly gave in to her station. he shouldn't have been so mean, he thought -- maybe he had been too hard on her. plus, he was realizing she was kind of pretty. she had different features than chusi, who he esteemed as prettiest, but she had a certain appeal.

he tried to play it off as if he was only slightly subdued by her change in demeanor, but the truth of the matter was ingram would probably let a murdering bear into their fold so long as they seemed friendly (or attractive) enough. he lacked the coldness wylla had acquired, or the circumspect gravity that lycaon often imposed -- mostly, he just lacked the experience to know better.

"hmph." he jutted out his chin a little, mimicking the way he had seen wylla do, when she felt vindicated or got to say "i told you so". "what did you say your name was?" he added, trying to sound gruff as he cast her a sidelong glance.

really, for grimnismal's future, it was probably best wylla handle all interloper interrogations going forward.

As she waited for his response, Tine mulled where she would try to go next-- the other seemed to calm, if only by a fraction, but the girl was still not hopeful. She wasn't as affected by the possible rejection as she was by the fact that it would be her own fault. The shadow did not like failure in any degree.
When he did respond to her, she was surprised and a bit relieved that he bothered to ask her name, but she only barely relaxed her submissive posture. Enough to be more comfortable with holding it for a bit longer, should the conversation continue, but she did not rise or look to his face again. Truthfully, she was a little impressed that he was so demanding about displays of respect, even if it personally inconvenienced her. It swayed her towards wanting to learn more of this pack.
Samaantine Messeda. She offered softly, then paused a beat. If he had not driven her off yet, she supposed she would continue-- to her knowledge, it followed that she should make her usefulness known. The girl began uncertainly, tone subdued to avoid provoking him again. I am a traveler and a collector of information; my time in these wilds has been short so far, but I hope to learn everything I can about the packs and wolves here. I possess some knowledge of toxic herbs and simple poisons as well, but there is admittedly much to learn. These are the skills I can offer-- aside from basics such as hunting and guarding the territory.

ingram remained still as the female spoke, elaborating on both her knowledge of the wilds and her florally arranged education. ingram was struck by the small irony that there was another wolf that was adept with herbs -- and inwardly he wondered if this girl knew ocelot. it was stupid of him to assume that all herbalists knew each other, but he assumed it anyway - surely they must all draw from the same cache?

or maybe they were like witches, who he was convinced definitely all knew each other. how else did they all perfectly demonstrate that inimitable creepy haggard-lady-in-the-woods vibe?

he thought about just saying "YOU'RE HIRED!" brightly right then and there, but knew wylla would hand his ass on a platter for that. he could hide her in the grotto, but then he'd have the creepy lady to deal with -- and he didn't think chusi much would like that he had indulged in female company that was not his own. he was conflicted as he considered how to diplomatically handle this clearly far-more-skilled-at-life-than-him wolf. "you sound well-educated." he started, a sway of his tail given as he continued to speak. "before we accept you, you'd need to prove your worth. wylla doesn't care for words, she cares for actions. perhaps you can put your knowledge to the test and bring us... hmm.." he thought about it for a moment and decided he'd like some sort of plant to put in crazy-lady's water if she ever got snarky at him again. "hmm.. if you bring us some toxic plants for our caches. we have another poisons-lady, you know."

I am so sorry for the hold up + the fact that this post is really bad and vague, but I wanted to get this archived

The shadow agreed, thanked the man for his time-- but she found herself less interested when faced with the reality of joining a pack. Too much commitment, she decided. For now. Perhaps she would be back later if the urge struck her again, with the offering he had asked for.
Samaantine bid him goodbye and departed the borders of the pack, having learned little about the inhabitants aside from what she had gleaned from her interaction with the one who had met her. It was not, she decided, entirely a bad thing; this was an option, at least.