@Kaori and
@Wylla - Kierke's gone and convinced a youngin' to join >___>; this is backdated like 3 days
The two wolves had made their way carefully back to the borders of Grimnismal. Kierkegaard knew the entrance well, as he had sought Caiaphas' company many times when she ruled over the pack called Saltwinter. So, as he and Kaori drew closer to the edges of the territory, the ghostly figure cast her an expectant look and nodded his head. It was a silent motion of confidence, and he hoped that she would find some strength there to meet Wylla with. If she were to show weakness, he was afraid that the young leader would turn her away. Though he did not appreciate cowing to such an inexperienced wolf, Caiaphas had picked this home and he was destined to stay with her as long as she wished to be there.
Drawing his head back, he called for Wylla in hopes that she might approach the borders. He did not have the authority to grant someone a place in the Grimnismal ranks. The dark-faced girl was the only one he knew who would be allowing strangers into their pack. While they waited, Kierkegaard plotted ways to hide the young Kaori in the grotto, if she was refused by their Alpha.
Ever since the incident with the half-dead (half-dumb?) wolf in the forest, Wylla's efforts to keep the outer borders secure had doubled. As a result of the added work, her cranky tank had also gone and overflowed, so she wore a venomous scowl as she prowled through the woods, itching to just hit someone. She was mostly looking for Lycaon—she hadn't forgotten how he had called her a skunk, and his being her long lost brother hardly excused him of that—but when a call came from someone other than her pallid sibling, Wylla groaned and heeded it all the same.
Being a leader was so much work and she just wanted to lay down and make someone else do it for her, but she also knew that she would never actually, because her ego was far too real.
She pitched her brows up when she arrived to see not only Kierkegaard, whom she assumed had called for some other purpose, but also a black yearling. Wylla couldn't tell Kaori's age, only that she smelled of youth, but it was Kierkegaard whom her sniping gaze landed on. "Stray dogs have diseases and are a waste of good money, Kierkegaard," she informed him, mostly jokingly, but she couldn't mask the real question in her eyes. Who was this and why had Kierke brought them here?
It did not take long for the soot-faced woman to arrive. Kierkegaard regarded her with a careful expression, lowering his skull and holding his tail tightly to his hocks. As much as he hated it, she was his Alpha and he wished to stay in the sound for as long as Caiaphas did. Though she was young, he could admire her spitfire tenacity and the way that she took everything in unabashed strides. While he thought that she was inexperienced and unprepared for her role, he would focus on the portions of the woman that he did appreciate until his time there ended.
Her eyes roamed over his companion for a brief moment before they settled on his own ragged, ghostly shape. The sentiment that she passed to him caused his nose to crinkle and a chuckle to escape from his mouth. Kierkegaard shook his head and then glanced toward her with a half-smirk on his inky lips. “Then why did you let me in?” the mercenary inquired. He was as stray as they came, and had been turned away from plenty of packs. Truth be told, if it weren't for Caiaphas, Kierkegaard was certain that he would not have a place at her side. Still, he did not appreciate the sardonic comments from Wylla – not when Grimnismal's numbers were still few.
Before he could say a word about the dark child next to him, Kaori had opened her mouth and prattled on about Lycaon. He frowned and turned to her with an exasperated sigh, furrowing his brow and fixing her with a stare. “Lycaon is here, child. Show respect,” he growled softly. Kierkegaard recalled meeting the young pale youth on the shores as he and Caiaphas had returned from the wash. Still, it seemed the two women beside him shared a shred of common ground. He turned back to Wylla with a small nod.
“She's come to be trained. The girl seeks a place in our ranks as my apprentice.”
"Lycaon," she answered automatically.
"He likes your witch, and the witch needs her dog." In truth, Wylla appreciated Kierkegaard's stay on the sound and approved of his methods on the borders, and most of what she said was in jest, even if her disapproval of Caiaphas was higher than the sky for stealing Lycaon away. Her feelings about the grizzled male would change markedly if she ever found out how little he really thought of her, but she was none the wiser to that, and thought of him as one of their more promising members. Naturally, it was mostly because his age and experience provided advantages that the pack's yearlings and younger wolves did not; Wylla wouldn't be Wylla if she didn't think of advantages. She didn't know him personally at all, and true to her oh-so mature and inclusive nature, didn't plan on fixing that.
She leveled her gaze next on Kaori, who repeated her name and earned a classic Luschyon squint in response. Was there ever a time when one of the siblings wasn't squinting at something?
"How do you know Lycaon?" As she asked it, there came a gust of jealousy in her tone, for she shared more than just blood with Lycaon; she was no less vengeful when she thought she might lose her beloved siblings to another, and Kaori jumped immediately from unassuming trainee to Lycaon's probable girlfriend in a flash, which took her (completely unfairly, mind you) about fifty steps down on Wylla's Like-You-Or-Hate-You Ladder.
Kierkegaard stayed her hand, if only because he could tan her hide if he really wanted to.
"Trained for what?" she had to wonder, but her gaze was hot on Kaori, as if asking another question:
what do you want with my brother, you harlot?
Sry for Wylla's insecurity lmao
You guys go ahead and skip over me for the next few rounds until Wylla makes a decision on Kaori. <3
Her dog. Younger years would have made him offended to such a remark, but the ashen brute simply grunted at her with an expression that lacked any modicum of amusement. Though she wasn't entirely wrong, perhaps that was the reason for his lack of enthusiasm. The smirk slid from his dark lips and he listened as Kaori explained how she knew Lycaon. Kierkegaard wondered if she would be suited to handle the rest of the exchange with Wylla on her own, or if she was bound to fumble against the leader of Grimnismal. He hung awkwardly in the background and only flicked his tail once when Wylla addressed him directly. She wanted to know what Kaori would be trained to do.
The ghost seemed irked, but he remained respectful to the leader of the coastal pack. “To live... without being taken advantage of. Figured she'd do well to learn from the most self-assured wolves I know,” he responded to her with a small shrug. It came off as nonchalant, as though it was an obvious reasoning. He did not know that Wylla felt at all threatened by the prospect of other females in her midst, and one so young and pretty. The woman did well to hide it, for the most part; or the ghost was too daft to catch on. Kierkegaard swung his head to nudge Kaori to speak to the Alpha and stepped back to let them converse.
"Yeah, he's nice," huffed Wylla, "and off limits." It would take a truly remarkable woman to turn her opinion on her brothers dating anyone around, so it wasn't much of a personal attack on Kaori herself as it was an attack on everyone, but it surely came off that way. Without knowing anything about the other wolf, who was she to say whether Kaori was good enough for her brother? And, after all, she was leaping to conclusions. She wasn't quite riled up enough by hormones to turn Kaori away for the crime of being—gasp!—a woman.
But she didn't backtrack at all, and instead, forged right on ahead. "Sure, whatever, just don't forget to feed her." For the most part, Wylla left Caiaphas and Kierkegaard well enough alone. She preferred to ignore that the sea witch existed at all, and Kierkegaard, despite his promise and use as a guard for Grimnismal, was unfortunately lumped into the same category by association alone. Within the corridors of her mind, Wylla plopped Kaori down in the folder entitled, "who cares," and turned away from the borders. "Come tell me about it when you've learned something," and then she departed, leaving Kaori to freely explore her new home.