Dragoncrest Cliffs one gonna heal my body, another gonna heal my pain

AW

After about an hour of impatiently waiting for @Muses' return, Ingram elected to disobey her instructions to stay put. After all she wasn't the boss of him. No one was. Not even Wylla, who he just humored so that she could feel better about herself.

He wasn't really sure where he was going, but he found himself inexplicably drawn to the greying edges of the sea. He watched as the saltwater frayed the coast, dragging up and down the dark sand in frothy laps of chalk-white foam. Overhead the chatter of seagulls was diminished by the wind, and he shivered, feeling a sudden chill swirl up his spine as the breeze teased his hackles.

He looked up the strand, and then down; there was no one he could see for miles. Ingram was too proud to admit he was lonely, or even vulnerable; to put his mind at ease he started digging into the sand in the hopes of maybe finding an unsuspecting mole-crab to play with.

Muses was fully prepared to return to where she had left Ingram, trusting that the youth would stay within the seculuded area at the edge of the valley for at least a couple days. There was enough food left that he would not have gone hungry, and she was prepared to return with some fresh meat as well. To her dismay, she had caught scent of the pup lingering not too far from where she had met Deirdre.

Sighing, she tracked the child down, alternating between having her nose up in the air, and down along the ground. He was a fiercely independent creature, as she had come to know, and he was old enough that it was not unusual that he would want to spread his wings and fly on his own. Still, Muses sighed, dutifully tracking him down, he was not old enough to be on his own. In hindsight, she realized that the age gap between him and her new friend was much smaller in comparison to herself and Deirdre, but the young alpha was not on her own; that made all the difference.

Eventually she made her way to the beaches that sprawled out from the cliffs. She did not see the boy until she rounded a corner, and he became fully visible, digging for something in the moist sands. "Ingram," Although her sharp bark carried across the shoreline, there was nothing but tenderness in her tone, a hint of question teased into the boy's name. "Why did you come here? I told you I wouldn't be gone for too long. We don't know exactly what's out here yet." As the boy's self appointed guardian, she could not allow herself to let any ill befall him.

With his nose along the sand he chuffed, placing a long paw in the sand with his claws outstretched. He raked the earth over once, then twice: he watched as water swirled in the small he had dug. Nothing but seafoam and the swill of sand for his efforts.

His ears pulled back as he heard quick bark of a wolf. He rounded his shoulders and swung his head around sulkily, viewing Muses with the typical deadpan teenage scowl. He shrugged his shoulders -- another teenage gesture -- and looked to the ground with a churlish expression. "I was bored." It wasn't a sufficient explanation for his disobedience, in any way. He started to ask her how the expedition had gone, but then reconsidered: to do so would be to express interest in Muses, and destroy the carefuly constructed Wall of Apathy he had built around himself. How Muses put up with such an indolent creature was anyone's guess.

Muses frowned, briefly annoyed but hardly enough to be offended. The sentiment was fleeting, and she quickly found herself waddling towards the youth, tail wagging in a neutral position. "No harm done, I suppose! You're a lucky lil pup, considering all the trouble you get into." She hummed, walking a full circle around the boy, nosing the buffer of air in front of him to make sure that he was alright. When she was convinced that she could detect no anomalies, she took a step back. A grin stretched from ear to ear as she took in a deep breath, and readied herself for the upcoming good news.

"I found a place for us to stay! It'll probably be nicer than hiding out in the forest. And now, I'm sure I'll be able to find more food for you." After all, growing boys needed nourishment! "Now, before you try telling me you don't want to go, hear me out! You're almost an adult now, but neither of us no what the dead of winter is like here. And now we won't have to worry about bigger or hungrier predators." She didn't think that Ingram ever thought about being worried, but she chattered on merrily, happy that things were finally starting to look bright.

His indolence rolled off of the kind woman like water off of a duck's back - she was much more tolerant than Lusca had been. He sullenly watched her as she circled around him - as if she were his mom! His mom. The thought pained him and he felt a prickly rise of hair along his spine and chest, though he quelled it quickly.

Muses mentioned a place and for a moment Ingram allowed a flutter of hope to rise in his gaze; somewhere to stay sounded lovely, but he was too grumpy and tempermental to admit anything in the world could possibly be pleasant. "What's it called?" He tried to ask indifferently, though he could not help the faint edge of interest in his voice.

"Donnelaith." Came her simple response. Muses pronounced the name carefully, recalling how Deirdre had spoken it with  tenderness. "Do you see that forest very far off in the distance? That is where we shall go." She had found Ingram in a forest, and hoped that the familiarity of a wooded place would bring the young boy some comfort. A forest meant shelter and food. Within that forest could be a home for them both.

"It is led by a young wolf and her sister. She has a kind heart, and mentioned to me that there were nearby packs with youths your age, so that you might not feel alone." Although she was not significantly older than Ingram, there was a distinct difference in maturity. Wheras Muses had seen four full seasons, and then some, pass, her little companion was still learning about everything the world had to offer. "Will you come with me?" She implored gently, stopping to face the youth head on. Green as he was, she wanted to know that his opinion mattered, and that she had no intention of distressing him, or forcing him to do anything that he was utterly against. Even the young deserved respect.

Donnelaith. The word seemed so foreign to him, yet in some way it had implicable meaning. He reformed the word silently in his mouth; when Muses motioned to the trees his eyes followed, trailing along the gnarled oaks with their fragile and bare limbs.

Donnelaith. It wasn't home, but could it be? Ingram's expression was somewhat hopeful, though he tried to shield it from his kind companion by gruffly nodding. "Okay." Of course he would come; he would pretend it was because he had no choice, but deep down it was because the boy had grown quite attached to Muses.

She would never hear it from him, though.

She was elated to hear his sombre reply, a single word that held neither excitement nor displeasure. Tail beating a steady rhythm, she breathed a sigh of relief. "I'm glad I don't have to go alone." It gave her comfort to be with someone else, even if that someone else was a moody teenager with a muddled voice that was difficult to visualize.

"I told Deirdre I would make sure that we will make sure to be well fed and well rested before our arrival." In short, there was no rush to get to Donnelaith. "So what do you say, shall we figure out what kind of food we van hunt down around here?" She flicked her ears playfully, lowering herself into almost a play bow. Ingram may had have some inkling of the area, but it was all new to the ivory furred she-wolf.

Ingram didn't want to go alone either. His tail swayed in response to the slight shift of relief in her posture -- that was, until he caught the instinctive response and quelled it. Heaven forbid he express he was happy too!

If there was one thing Muses would never have to do, it was convince Ingram to eat. While they would have time to talk more during their jaunt to Donnelaith, for now the youth readied himself to follow alongside Muses as she hunted. He wasn't old enough where he could offer much assistance, but he would try -- even if it came in the form of distracting whatever they encountered so she could sneak up for the kill.

"I saw some stuff by the water." He offered unhelpfully, his gaze glancing down to the sheared coast.