Loathe as he was to admit it, it took Aesop a few days to gather up the courage to actually go and check the shore out. It wasn't that he was afraid of the water, per say, but rather what might be in it. He couldn't help but cook up terrible fantasies in which the second he stepped foot on the beach, a great leviathan surged from the waters and did- whatever leviathans do. Eat him? Drown him?

Eugh.

But he came here with a goal, and he would damn well see it through. So a few days after his acceptance into the Bay, Aesop plucked up his courage and strode purposefully to the beach. Near the edge of the forest, where the trees gave way to open sand, the trunks and branches were salt-bleached and the air was sharp and salty. Right, salt water. Of course.

Oh god.

Aesop broke the treeline, coming to a stretch of sand that ends with at the rolling waves. There, in the foam, were two figures. Pack mates, he presumed, though he'd had little contact with any of them since arriving. Tail up and posture friendly, he trotted along the sand (holy SHIT sand was hard to walk on.) They must not have noticed them, and also must not have been getting along, because over the wind he heard the younger (must be a pup, he was so small) shouting.

"Hey now," he said, "what seems to be the problem here, gentlemen?" Would he have to break up some petty spat? He sure hoped not, he was here to appreciate the (oh god it was so big) ocean, to smell the salt and maybe, just maybe, dip a paw in the water and hope for the best. Even now, he kept just beyond the reach of the waves. Aesop wasn't afraid, just... cautious. Yeah, that's right.

Well, there was certainly something going on here. He regarded the two impassively, trying to take in as many details as he could before he would have to act. The two were puffed up, teeth bared and stances aggressive. If it came to fisticuffs, Aesop didn't think he'd have much of a problem breaking the two up, one was clearly a kid and the other couldn't be much older. Honestly, talking the two of them down didn't seem like it'd be that hard, either, except for-

"None of your business, old man."

Okay, now that was uncalled for. Now, he liked to think he was a patient man, and so he took a few subtle breaths and let the blatant disrespect roll off of him. There was no apparent change in his demeanor except for a frown, and Aesop turned to the possible intruder and definite smart-ass. "Well, that was a bit rude, don't you think?" he said, voice calm and even. He wasn't so sure if the stranger actually was an intruder, more likely than not he really lived there and had just been caught at an unfortunate time by a more unfortunate individual. But every case like this one had to be approached with some caution. Also the guy was pretty damn rude, which Aesop was not pleased with.

Maybe he'd make him sweat it out a bit. Yeah, that seemed the best way to go about this. Completely fair and not at all petty, because Aesop was totally not bitter about being called an old man. "Well done, kid," he said to the youngest, "catchin' this guy right in the act. Gonna need you to back me up while I question him, think you can handle that?" Aesop closed the distance between the two of them, drawing himself up to his greatest height in an attempt to intimidate Atreyu. "So what, exactly, is goin' on here?"

Well, at least the kid was having fun. Less and less Aesop was thinking that he was dealing with a true trespasser. The kid didn't quite seem to have the guts for it, since he shied away like he did at Aesop's approach. If he was an intruder, he was probably regretting it now and had not thought the move through all too well. As it stood, Aesop doubted that that was truly the case. He gave the youngest a solemn nod, as though acknowledging that even though the road ahead may be tough, they were comrades in arms.

He almost cracked up at the youth's input. Precious. He was trying so hard, and hopefully the kid would learn a thing or two from this. And maybe the stranger, too. The earlier slight (old man, the nerve) still stung, but he was magnanimous, and so long as the kid was a good sport about this, he'd probably let it go. Forgive and forget, and then they could all be friends.

Not a trespasser, the stranger said, and Aesop was inclined to believe him. If he had really sneaked (snuck? whatever) in, he probably would have turned tail the second Aesop's young comrade at arms found him. His young comrade at arms who, apparently, was Thistle's son. Interesting. The stranger seemed to get more and more strained, while Aesop did his best to appear composed. Once the youth was done speaking, Aesop took his turn.

"Hey now, no need to be so harsh there. You'd do well to learn yourself some manners, boy," he said, as unaffected as ever, "but I've got a good idea of what's goin' on here. I think my associate here has just about the right idea. Reckon you're just new around here, same as me. Am I right, mystery solved? Because it seems like we've still got some business to settle between you two."

Aesop looked between the two of them, less than impressed with the show of maturity from the older wolf. He wished that the stranger would have the decency to at least pretend to be an adult. The youth's imitation was a bit much for him, and so he spoke up. "For fucks- ya'll need to put those tongues back in before I make you wish you had," he tutted, still unsettlingly calm. Now that he had a clear picture of exactly what this was, a misunderstanding, he just wanted to smooth things over with the two younger wolves and then be on his merry way to check out the sea.

"Longevity," he offered to the boy, glancing between them. "I think it don't matter too much how long we've been here. Ya'll got issues, and we're gonna solve 'em here and now and walk away friends, alright?" Maybe that was aiming a little high, though.

First he addressed the youngest of the pair. "First, I think you gotta apologize to our buddy here, who was just tryin' to have a nice swim. Don't think he was plannin' on a Spanish Inquisition. So go on," Aesop prompted, before turning then to the stranger. "And you, kid, best apologize for your cheek. And then I think we should all agree to forgive an' forget, yeah?" That sounded reasonable to him. With any luck, he would have this all smoothed over soon, and they both would have learned a thing or two.

The youth gasped, and Aesop inwardly cursed himself for, well, cursing. He just hoped Charon wouldn't go swearing around Thistle and tell him who he learned it from. An angry pseudo-mother (mother figure? Whatever it was, it seemed complicated and he wanted none of it) was one of the last things he wanted, especially when he already seemed to have his hands full with two kids who really needed to just calm down and quit being so stubborn.

When the older of the two spoke up, Aesop snapped a warning glance at him, because he best not try and stir up any more trouble. This alone was hard enough to deal with, and he didn't need Atreyu stirring the pot some more.

That taken care of, he turned to Charon. He listened to his story attentively, though he took it as a (probably) biased account of the goings on. He thought for a moment, then said, "well, yeah. But no. I agree that our friend here needs an attitude adjustment, but even then, if he wanted his space, it'd be pretty cool to give it to him. But that's a lesson for another day. Trespassin' is a big deal, and a mighty big offense to go accusin' someone of. For that, at least, you owe him an apology, kiddo."

Well, this was becoming more than he bargained for. He winced, slightly, when the kid started yelling, and was very, very inclined to just excuse himself from this conflict. Not his problem.

No, but it takes a village, he had to remind himself. And even if he decided to excuse himself, he no doubt would teach the kid that this was an okay way to behave (which it wasn't) and would probably have to deal with a very spoiled brat running around. And he would have no one to blame but himself. Sort of.

With that in mind, Aesop sighed, long suffering. He stopped paying much attention to Atreyu, if he needed to deal with him he would deal with him later. For now he needed to get Charon to calm his fluffy little butt. Aesop backed up a few paces, then sat on his haunches, face grave and disappointed.

"A shame," he sighed, the most emotive he'd been yet, "and I was thinkin' you might be the perfect candidate, since I've been lookin' to take an apprentice. What, with the way you were so great at interrogatin' our friend here. Would'a taught you swimmin' and what have you, but I don't think I could take a guy who can't admit when he's done wrong." And then he shook his head slowly, as if bemoaning the loss of a candidate.

Now, this was banking on a whole lot, mostly that the youth held Aesop in any esteem. But he wanted to get the kid off of the defense, because terrorizing him wouldn't do Aesop much good at all, not if the youth was linked at all to Thistle.

God, he forgot that kids could be such a handful.