Ankyra Sound 'til it's gone

Eljay'd mostly been hanging around Ankyra Sound in his period of trial here at Drageda, while he wondered how much longer he had to wait. He supposed he should prove himself, and he had tried... But he hadn't found anything big and good to hunt and by the time he had Eljay'd felt anxious and he had been too afraid to call for others of the pack. What if that wasn't what they wanted, what if they wanted him to prove himself in a completely different manner and they'd scoff at him for his petty attempts? And so he had shoved the whole hunting campaign idea aside. It wasn't like he was any good at leading hunts, anyway. It would've ended in disaster.

No, he needed to come up with something else. Something better.

Maybe a game, he thought, but then he hadn't a clue what sort of game. He wasn't any good at telling stories either and anyway, he wasn't sure what kind of stories the wolves of Drageda would even like. As a matter of fact, he knew nothing about the wolves of Drageda and he was beginning to lose all hope. At least he had Ty's offer to get back to... Perhaps if this didn't work out... But for now he felt guilty if he were to just up and leave and he wanted so badly for this to work. He hated the thought that he'd have to give up on Wildfire again after finding her out here. And anyway, what if Ty's thing didn't work out or what if she'd realise he was no good too? Well, he supposed he'd just see when he got there.

Deciding he would just go look for herbs that Raven had taught him about, Eljay shuffled around the Sound's territory, near the shore and not far from Drageda. He tried to remember the herbs Raven had told him about, but it was so hard to remember. He was sure there was this... yellow-flowered thing against pain... or was it to induce vomiting? He just needed to dig in his mind a bit more. Eljay felt guilty that he wasn't doing anything very useful for the most part, but he needed to collect his thoughts and think of some good way to prove himself. Oh, man, he missed mommy so much. And daddy. And Liffey. Lagan, too, but Lagan would take care of mommy and daddy, as he had the past months. Eljay wasn't needed anymore, he was only a burden. With a sigh Eljay continued the search, until he found a green plant that he recognised from when Raven'd shown him a thing or two. With an "Oh!" of recognition Eljay dove towards it and sniffed the plant while he tried to deduce a good way to pluck the whole thing from the earth.

He’d heard of the wolf outside their borders, along with the warning in mind, he finds himself more curious than anything. He’s easily become restless in the last little while, daring to travel more and more outside of Drageda enough that he wants more. Having always been one to stay close to home, and aside from traveling from Trigeda, he’s spent most of his time at home. A few expeditions here and there but his usefulness within the pack feels few and far between. Getting outside the borders has been refreshing lately, with more for him to explore. 

The sound has become just as familiar as Drageda but the scent leads him this way anyway, watching for the blip of grey he’s come to expect. When Arlo does find him, he keeps his distance at first. The straggler has the body and physique has a loner should have but something else hangs in the air. His relation to Wildfire oblivious—or lost—from memory, Arlo presses forward and only stops when the other appears to have found something.

What little herbs Arlo knows, he learned from his brother but he does not necessarily recognize what is beneath the nose of Eljay. His ears swivel forward, tail stiffened out behind him, and offers a light chuff if only to give him a heads up he’s in the background.

With a focussed frown on his face Eljay dug around the root of the plant, trying to find a good way to get the plant from the earth. When he heard the chuff Eljay startled slightly, head rising as he looked up to see another wolf. He guessed it was from Drageda and soon scent confirmed the suspicion. Even though Ty's offer was in the back of his head Eljay wanted it to work out so badly with Drageda, for he'd be near Wildfire again and somehow it would prove that he was not a complete loser if he could do this one thing.

"Hi," he greeted, forgetting about his plant for the moment as he focussed on socialising with the wolves of the pack of his dreams. "I uhm, I'm Eljay." Maybe he'd been told about in Drageda, or maybe not; he couldn't be too sure. Eljay desperately tried to find something to talk about so that things wouldn't grow awkward. "Have you been a part of Drageda long..?" he asked, the edges of his tone hinting that he was not feeling comfortable, but at least he'd said something.

It does not surprise him to gain the full attention of the stranger. If he is trying to worm his way in, talking to the others would be a good idea. Given guidelines on how to treat the other, the brute eases a step or two closer to make the conversation a little more lax. The rest of him remains stiff and stoic, a warrior’s stance, as he sizes up the outsider.
 
“I’m Arlo, gona,” he introduces with a twitch of his tail. “I was born in it,” he answers after a beat. It had been a different name at his birth, and transformed into what it is now, but still, he feels the same. “I was not raised by the sea, though,” he adds though nothing more than a minor detail when it comes to what they encompass, especially since he has been returned to the salty waters.

Eljay was relieved and happy enough that he was accepted into this conversation. He let out a sigh of relief as Arlo introduced himself and answered his question, saying he was born into it. His next statement made Eljay think that Drageda had probably not always been here, if he had not been born by the sea. "Oh! The whole pack moved here?" he asked, trying his best to sound interested because he wanted to hear more if he could. "I uh — I lived in Redhawk Caldera all my life up until now. This is the first time I'm looking to join another pack. Wildfire's my cousin, so, uhm..." He smiled sheepishly, not sure if Arlo was interested in the information and knowing he had not asked for it, but wanting to get a conversation going.

With what little the brute knows about Eljay’s situation, he is surprised by what he’s told. Drageda has not always been kind to outsiders, or made it easy, but the laxity since Seageda’s fall had been noticed. If he’s Wildfire’s cousin, he cannot grasp why he’s been forced to the outskirts with nothing to hold as a title. He opens his mouth to speak though he is unsure of the words he wants to use, or what he should or can say, and instead snaps his teeth back together. There isn’t much to be impressed by the wolf in front of him but a relative of Heda’s mate is hardly a true outsider.
 
“In a way,” he decides to answer, setting the other information aside for the moment. “For generations, we lived much further north than this on the coast. We were called Seageda. Another pack of Heda’s is Trigeda, a few days travel from there and I spent most of my life there until I made the move here,” he continues to explain. There is hesitance in his voice, still, but he overs a wag of his tail in a friendly manner nonetheless. “Why did you leave Redhawk?”

Eljay listened eagerly to the history recited to him. He wanted to learn as much as he could about Drageda, and realised as Arlo told him of the pack that Eljay knew little about Redhawk Caldera's past before he had come there. As far as he knew that pack had existed for generations, too, but he was not sure. He didn't know any of his or the Redhawk family's grandparents and before Wiffle, there hadn't been any pups he knew of, so maybe it was more recent than he had always thought.

He nodded several times as he listened to the story. Did the Heda have multiple packs? He was surprised, but didn't make note of it. He wondered if she would leave Drageda occasionally to visit her other packs but was too afraid to ask dumb questions. "Wow, that's a rich history," he said with a soft smile. Then the question came, and Eljay felt the smile fall off his face while he recalled the fight with mommy.

"I... I had to. I mean, not like they chased me out or anything, but just... I dunno, I felt like I wasn't doing any good," he cut his words short there as he realised how poor he was presenting himself, then continued awkwardly, "I mean, not that I wasn't good, but they had — my younger brother was also really good at puppysitting, so I felt they had enough paws, y'know..? I just... Thought it might be better for everyone if I'd try to find my own place." He didn't mention the fight with mommy, unable to think back to it like that and unwanting for Drageda to find out he had left because his mommy yelled at him. He wanted to make a good impression and this was the closest to lying Eljay had ever come, even if he hadn't technically told any untruths. It was still plain to see on his face that there were emotions and that it meant a great deal to him to be unable to live in Redhawk Caldera still.

The pair of them talked for just a little while longer before Eljay decided it was time to continue looking for some way to prove his worth again and bid Arlo good bye.

editting in an ending ^^