Sea Lion Shores you say you will if you could but you can't

@Engel :o :o :o

it was the barking that drew him near.

he heard it as he was crossing over the land bridge at low tide, the distant sound he'd not heard in so long. eagerly splashing through the shallows, he loped to the source and was delighted to find a herd of the creatures, so plentiful down south, where he had grown up, basking languorously in the spring sun.

his tongue lolled out of his mouth as he grinned. aditya knew better than to get too close, but to watch from a distance was delightful. he sat on his haunches, staring at them intently. a good strong pack of wolves might be able to separate one of them from the rest, enjoy the fatty flesh. he'd eaten it once before; there was nothing like it, richer and many times more delicious than even the larger prey inland.

for now, though, he hunted alone, and while he'd come over partly to find food for his companions, partly to explore, he didn't see any harm in resting and observing for a little while. he'd have to tell easy about the creatures when he got back.

or maybe not. he could see the young morningsider trying to take on one by herself. he smiled at the thought.

Engel found these...things quite interesting. Seals they were called. They were big, fat, blubbery. And loud...very loud. The red male lounged about just a bit away from them, just watching them make all the noise they wanted. And the only scent he could catch was theirs and the salty sea spray. Had he scented the other nearby, he would have been off to the races. So he remained there, basking in the spring sun, completely unaware of the other nearby.

with a bark of delight, aditya did a leap in the air before dashing off, kicking up sand. the trip down the coast, seeing coelacanth again. . .all of it had put him in an extraordinarily good mood, and he wanted to take full advantage of it before being weighed down by the pressures of responsibility again. he was a brown blur against the beach, flying like a seabird.

speaking of seabirds, he wondered if he could try his luck catching one. his muzzle lifted to stare at the sky, hawkish gaze scanning the area for the creatures, and he was about to head toward the cliff when he came inches away from colliding with a stationary figure on the beach.

"oh, shit, sorry--" his apology died in his throat as he wheeled around and caught a good look at the other wolf. immediately, his hackles raised and the fur along his nape and spine prickled, and he bared his teeth in a snarl. "you!" he said in awful tones, taking a menacing step forward.

engel. the anger he had held for the man had largely dissipated over the past couple of moons--he'd been too busy to dwell on it--but now it was back, and tenfold, since sorrel's presence was a constant reminder of what kind of a wolf his former friend was. he glanced toward the isle, hoping the girl hadn't followed him to the mainland, before returning his cold stare to the ex-morningsider.

Engel sighed with relief. The sea spray air was refreshing. And then he he heard someone coming, and lifted his head. Expecting Awinita, or one of the others of Ironsea. Even a lucky meeting with Samaantine. But...

As soon as they realized, he realized as well. His eyes grew wide and he got up right away. THe way he addressed him...he knew there was no longer any friendship. "A-Aditya...I didn't expect to see you here" he said, with one of those grins. Though it was more fearful...as he was thinking Grayday was about too. "This far from Morningside, and..." He stopped, gulping. He was fucked, and not in the way he hoped.

the fear in engel's voice invigorated him, and his lips drew into a smile as well, albeit a nasty one. "not so far," aditya responded, figuring that engel would have no idea about their move from the plateau. "you know i'm a scout. always on the move."

his eyes were shards of ice as he took in the sight of engel. he looked good, and had pack-scent all over him--someone had obviously believed his bullshit and taken him in. it wasn't a smell he was familiar with, though, and aditya wondered if a new group had sprang up near to, or even upon, silvertip mountain; he could see the dark hump of the crag just to the south.

"grayday told me what you did," adi said, face falling in a frown once more. he shook his head, feeling the disbelief he'd held back for moons. "how could you? i thought you were better than that. you made a mockery of my judgment."

The look that Aditya had now...that smile. It was unnerving, unlike his old friend. Always on the move. So then, Engel guessed that Grayday was not with him, but that didn't make him anymore comfortable. 

Then...Engel was just most confused by what he was saying. "Wait...what did I do?" he asked. Surely that comment back in the meeting wouldn't be what he meant...so what had he done? "How could I what? Aditya, whatever I did I don't know what on earth you mean."

aditya normally had a fairly long fuse, but engel's face, his. . .his fucking stupid questions, accelerated the spark 'til it went faster and faster until he finally blew.

"how could you ask me?" he roared, eyes wide with disbelief. "do you go around preying on so many girls that you forget your victims, or what you did to them?!" he swung around, intending to go, but a thought came to his mind--if he left engel here alone, he could find sorrel again. who knows what could happen if he took his eyes off the old man?

adi turned, chest rising and then falling in a weary sigh. he was resigned to guard duty, then, to watch over this red pervert until the morningsiders went home. he was half-inclined to do some harm to engel, to ensure he'd stay far away from his family. perhaps it would come to that.

Engel's eyes widened. "Woah, what?! What girl?! I preyed on no girl, Aditya!" He had been accused of something he found heinous himself. And that hurt, especially since it was an old friend that had said it. "Aditya, what did Grayday tell you" he asked, trying to calm himself down.

running into engel not only gave him the extreme displeasure of looking upon this cad's face once more, but it dredged up the memories of that day at the border, where they'd cut engel away like the dead, perverse weight he was. how he had at first been so sad, seeing the ruddy-pelted man leave, and how his sadness had been so misplaced.

"i trusted you," aditya remarked, glaring at engel. "i vouched for you, when grayday made you go. defended you against my own father-in-law. . .my father. my family. and i unknowingly put them all at risk by doing so."

and for what? friendship's sake? how could aditya have been so blind as to trust this man? this man, who preyed upon one of the weakest, sweetest members of the pack. it could have been pema, or lavender. his stomach churned, and he swallowed thickly, feeling suddenly disgusted with himself, with engel, and with the entire situation as a whole.

"sorrel," he said softly, the anger a dangerous current beneath each word, lying in wait to drag engel into its depths. "you went after sorrel. and that is unforgivable."

Engel was just becoming more and more confused. What was Aditya on about?! It was confusing him so much! What had Grayday told him? He was hurt to hear all of this from Aditya. Then came the answer.

"W...Wait, Sorrel?! This is about Sorrel?!" And then it all came. When Day had found Engel, after he had been trying to calm down the girl. "I never came onto her! I had scared her, then tried to calm her down! Grayday happened to come by while she was scared!" Then he was in disbelief, and complete hurt flashed by. "Wait...you really beli...you belie...." He couldn't even say it.

aditya dismissed the story with a snort, though the seeds of doubt had been sown in his mind. when they would sprout, he didn't know, but for now, he was solidly anti-engel, and that agenda blocked any sort of consideration to an alternate take on the matter.

"of course i believed grayday," adi spat, scowling. "he's an honorable man. and i--god, engel, i knew how you were! your dirty jokes, your constant flirting. but i liked you enough to give you a pass--i thought i knew you!"

betrayal rose like hot bile in his throat, and he resisted a gag, thinking of his illness, that recent brush with death. he had regretted not getting the chance to get all of this off his chest, to scream in the face of the man who had wronged sorrel--wronged him. but hariji had finally given him the opportunity, and he seized it with alacrity.

"grayday has no reason to lie," he reasoned through gritted teeth, his eyes piercing into engel's own. "he doesn't do things without a reason. and if it truly were an accident, why haven't i heard that from sorrel?"

Engel was even more hurt by the dismissive snort. He should have expected much. And Engel...he blamed himself. He was this way, so in these situations, he knew he would be the one to take the blame. The one seen in the wrong. 

But it still hurt...hurt enough to say things he did not mean. "Grayday is blind...he didn't see what was going on. And do you really expect a scared girl to speak?" No he didn't want to deal with this. So he started to turn away.

fury coursed hotly through his blood as engel insulted both his father-in-law and the girl he'd taken under his wing, but before he could respond, engel had turned away. why, the fucking gall of him. . .

"don't turn away from me, you coward!" aditya hollered, lips set in a snarl. "i wasn't finished speaking to you!" he puffed himself up, so that the differences in their sizes were even further exaggerated, and trotted after engel, drawing alongside him and rounding on the man.

"sorrel was scared because of you! she didn't want to talk because of you!" he growled, nearly foaming at the mouth for how angry he was. "the girl trusts us, tells us things. if you were so innocent, why hasn't she cleared your name? bolo, chutiya--tell me, fucking tell me!"

his patience had long flown out to sea with the birds, and his breath came in short, heaving gasps. he struggled to keep what was left of his composure as he waited for engel's (likely bullshit) reply, hoping that the russet wolf wouldn't summon his new packmates to save his ass. that was all they needed, was to make an enemy of one of the coastal bands.

Engel stopped. Coward...how many times had he been called that in the past? Still it hurt him. Aditya got in front of him, but he averted his gaze. He didn't want to do this, didn't want to argue. But all Adi was saying just prompted him. 

"Put yourself in her place" he started, eyes downcast. "Someone who scares you comes by. They try talking to you, and someone you trust comes and snaps at them. And your young, so you think the other is in the wrong cause they are getting yelled at." Then he finally looked up, an all too serious look. "Would you say something? Or just believe they were in the wrong?"

"you will not blame sorrel for what has happened," aditya spat in imperious command, eyes snapping to meet engel's. "no, i believe sorrel is truthful, and kind. and if she felt it was wrong to turn you away, she would have spoken up by now."

his shoulders fell, then, as a wave of defeat washed over him. he felt worn down by what had transpired over these past long, tense moments. here he was, tearing apart a man he'd once considered his best friend in the world, over something aditya hadn't seen but only heard of. it wasn't his place to give justice, nor was the anger he held still constructive.

it was a shame, that it had come to this. that engel had gone so far, and seemed to have no remorse for what he had done. aditya felt sick, and he felt sad, and he wanted no part of this conversation--or engel--any longer.

"i can't take any more of this," aditya rumbled, turning away from engel and padding away. he stopped after a few paces, though, and swung his head back around to give the man an icy stare. "don't bother trying to argue your side any further. i never want to see you again."

with a lump in his throat, he turned his gaze northward once more and trotted away, engel left behind. . .this time, he hoped, for good.

Engel stood strong against Aditya and his words. Still he was blamed, and he made no further argument against it. He knew that if Aditya did not see it by now, he wouldn't ever. His once friend turned away from him, but not before giving an icy cold stare that nearly shattered Engel's stance. He wanted to say that he wished things could be different...but he could not muster the words. He made sure that once Adi was gone, that was when he would break. And he would shed tears for this broken friendship he had hoped would last...