Ankyra Sound into the rainbow vein

Idk if the forest counts as part of their territory too but feel free to PP if it totally is! I don't mind some whumping ;D

And to absolutely no-one's surprise, Lucca failed in his quest to find Fiadh.

In fact, it was he who needed finding now. He was still kinda salty his family hadn't sent for him, but he had told Tegan not to tell lest they fret — and Tegan didn't have the most spectacular memory nor attention span. Still, had they even worried in the slightest? Had they even noticed? The thoughts hung heavy on his mind like the storm clouds gathering above in the skies.

The pudginess of the Blackthorn's youth had been eaten away by his doomed journey, revealing a slimmer, slightly more muscled form (though still no less awkward). Whatever chance he had at even being mildly intimidating was cancelled out by the sad droop of his head and the pathetic, barely audible gurgling of his stomach. Winter had driven out most prey and the rare carcasses left behind in the snow-covered fields were measly, half-frozen pickings at best. Lucca missed a lot of things from the Plateau, but near the top of that list was the easy food. This lone wolf gig just wasn't for him.

As if in agreement, the sky rumbled a low warning. With an uneasy glance upwards, the boy's strides lengthened and carried him quickly towards a monolithic forest where he could wait out the storm. He was already cold and hungry, he didn't need to be wet, too.

since their small band became a settlement, the storm that hung over ankyra only seemed to worsen. caiaphas had seen one other tempest that matched its fury — the gale that had displaced her family. 

weighed down by these portentous thoughts and the bitter bite of the wind behind her, caiaphas was surprised to encounter a wolf within the monoliths not of her own clan. at first she mistook the creature for Tegan; he was silverbacked with a lily white underside, yet she quickly realized her error. folding her ears back and regarding him with a cold eye, caiaphas assertively closed the gap and hailed him with a growl: you lost, friend?

Aw shit. It was only when another made herself known did Lucca realise how often forests such as the one he had just walked in to were claimed by a pack. Sure enough, the faint smell of wolfscent marked the trees here, though it was weak enough to give him pause. A struggling pack? By the looks of the lady who had...uh, greeted him, he wouldn't be surprised if that was so. She was thin and raw-boned, with a serpentine-like presence - the wind pulling at the dark fur surrounding her sharp features didn't help make her look any less menacing. Menacing, however, seemed to be exactly what she was aiming for.

With a dip of his head and small, friendly wag of his lowered tail despite her warning growl, Lucca replied with a soft whine. "Uh, hello, ma'am," he said hesitantly, having to raise his voice over the rustle of the leaves above. "I-I'm sorry if this is your territory, I am...I am indeed lost."

caiaphas’ gaze measured Lucca with astute shrewdness. from his lanky physique alone she knew his words to be true - he was worn tired as a dog’s tattered ear, and looked the part of chewed up vagrant. 

it displeased her to see rusalka’s claim so brazenly ignored, yet lucca’s contrite mien softened the lash of her temper. if she had found him gorging on one of their painfully established cache, perhaps her reaction would have been different. 

her ears were pressed forward despite the lack of belligerence in her pose; her tail was stiff as she looked him over. i can see that, the siren replied, rather humorlessly. where is your pack?

Even as he avoided her keen gaze, he could feel it bore into him while he shifted nervously. The woman had a strict aspect about her, unlike those Lucca had met in his travels. He thought back to grandma Apple and wished he had taken her up on her offer of company. Brazen and odd as she was, he preferred that old lady compared to this one. But it was cold and dark and he was probably way too close to this woman's home so of course she would be aggrieved about his meandering here.

He sucked in a breath at her pointed question, feeling a sting at the mention of pack. "I...don't know," he replied at length. "I was trying to find my sister, see; she dispersed a while ago and I wanted to warn her of this creepy man but I had no idea which direction she went and then I caught my brother's trail and tried to find my way back but got even more lost and ended up following the coast even though my family don't even live near the ocean but now it's winter and I'm so hungryandit'ssocoldandwindyand—" he inadvertently ended up on a hastily spoken monologue that quickly dissolved into sounds that barely even passed as words, stopping only when a sob escaped his throat and he paused to suck in a breath of air, which he took as an opportunity to properly introduce himself.

"I—I'm sorry." Pull yourself to together, man. "My name is Lucca Blackthorn."

caiaphas had grand plans to lay this fool to waste with the acerbic lash of her tongue, but then he spoke -- nay, he blurted -- and before long, it was evident he was just another lost soul, washed up on her shore.

he looked miserable, that much was true. he was a blackthorn too; as much as she disliked the ending she had found for herself in redhawks, they had fed her starving children -- and that strange, weirdly deformed loyalty was a hard loyalty to kill.

her gaze was calculating as she lifted her head, glancing him over one last time before she spoke. "normally trespassers are killed." she started, her voice continuing its dry inflection. "i will make an exception, as you are a blackthorn." a smile neither kind nor generous briefly spanned her features before it too dissipated, like soft summer wind ripped apart by winter's teeth. "who is your brother?"

He ended up staring at his dirty paws embarrassedly, head bowed almost as if he was already in subservience to the cloaked stranger. Maybe he was - she had spared his life, after all. Normally trespassers are killed. The comment sent a shiver down his spine, and Lucca felt his eyes well as he choked back a frightened sob. He had broken a rule! A law of the land! His heritage was his only saving grace and while Lucca was thankful, he felt guilt begin to claw at his conscience.

Her brief smile did nothing to ease his nerves.

"Tegan," he answered in a tiny voice, wondering if she knew of him. It seemed many wolves did, him being a scout and all (and a loud mouth). "H-how do you know my family?"

huddled there with wrackling sobs, it was hard to resent the boy -- unless you were some frigid harpy like caiaphas. as he choked out a sob, she remained unblinking -- though the news he was tegan's brother was received with surprise that was quickly disguised. 

how proliferate the blackthorns seemed -- or maybe, the world was just restrictively small. 

"i lived with the redhawks." caiaphas shared, electing then to go for partial truths - what harm could it do, sharing gossip with a sniveling boy? then she stepped back, as if releasing the heavy tension that constricted the two of them. "and -- you are in what is called rusalka -- or ankyra sound, to some."

Surprised, Lucca lifted his head at her answer, catching sight of her piercing yellow gaze before dropping it once again. His nose wiggled, testing the air as if he could recognise her scent somehow, but the smell of the brine carried over from the ocean was overpowering. He did not recall if he had met her or not, but surely she wasn't lying! She knew both his name and the Redhawks!

He realised then that if she had come from the Plateau, he could ask for the direction back home, but he was travel-worn and did not trust himself enough to not get lost a third time. Perhaps after winter, if he even survived that long. The woman stepped back, and Lucca released a breath of air he had been holding unknowingly. "I've never heard of Ankyra Sound," he admitted, gazing past her into the forest. "I—I apologise for trespassing, ma'am, really."

He shifted again awkwardly. "I will make it up to you!" Somehow, someway. He just really didn't want to be killed by this terrifying woman.

there was only so much apology caiaphas could take; she was ready to be done with this, and shook her pelt dismissively as she stalked away. lucca's mien was sincere, but the old harpy hated sniveling. not that lucca was doing much blubbering... but he was coming close.

her ear slid back at the mention of making it up for her; that was something that certainly could be arranged, and naturally, something the siren approved. she offered a rather villainous smile, her tail tip twitching like a thoughtful cat's. "you could. my son needs a friend - you are his age. i will take you to him." caiaphas was already sweeping away on thin limbs; it was so like her to assume that everything she said was law, and that nothing was ever up for debate.

The fact that her oh so thin patience was nearly at its end was lost on the boy, who assumed the best of everyone and was oblivious to his own grovelling. Yet as she began to slink away with an obvious air of contempt, he held back, dancing from one forepaw to the other hesitantly. At his offer, however, she responded with an off-putting smile, though nonetheless accepted. Lucca's features broke into a nervous beam — for not only had she spared his life but had a friend for him as well! Joyous days! Maybe this trip wasn't so bad, after all.

With a wave of his tail the Blackthorn trotted after the woman with a start, following her into the trees. "Thank you very much!" he chirped. His optimism had been partially restored, though a small part wondered if the woman's son was just as intimidating as she.

the boy hung back, no doubt having caught wind of the she-wolf's perilous grasp on patience. caiaphas continued walking, hearing the pitter-patter of lucca's unsure feet as the weight shifted from limb to limb in a nervous dance. she was about to turn around and perhaps snap at him, but he had thankfully bolted after her, and was now nearly at her heels with a quick trot.

the sylph threw back her head and howled then for @Illidan and @Svalinn -- and then, once either came, left lucca in favor of finding a meal from the caches.

the boy found it rather difficult to miss the caterwauling of his mother. he had been working on improving his skills in the water when her voice carried over the sound. his ears swiveled atop his crown and then flattened quickly to his head. the young ghost lifted his head and turned to where the sound had come from. with a short breath, he stepped from the tide pools and set off at a brisk trot in her direction.

once he arrived, it seemed as though she had another figure with her. his brow furrowed over his hawkish gaze, and he canted his head to the side with a questioning expression. “who's this?' illidan asked with little buffer to soften the question. the other wolf certainly smelled like a stranger to him; the scents on his coat were from places far away.

She didn't respond to his thanks, instead tilting back her angular head and summoning her son. Had he thumbs, Lucca would have awkwardly twiddled them as they awaited the boy's arrival in silence, none too eager to push his luck with the testy woman any further. Thankfully, he didn't take long. At once, the leader then stalked off to leave the two to...get along.

The son was nearly a carbon copy of his mother — mean, lean and dipped in ink. At his curt question, Lucca caught his cold, piercing gaze for only a split second before he just as quickly looked away, a nervous smile splitting his features. "Hello," he offered, voice breaking slightly before he shifted his weight and gave an amicable wave of his tail in greeting to the other boy. "I'm—I'm Lucca Blackthorn. Your mother, uh, said...said you might need a friend?"

the young ghost was pretty unimpressed with the sight that had been provided to him. his surly expression was latched tight to the grey-coated figure. he'd introduced himself as lucca and then continued on with a sentence that seemed incredibly perplexing to illidan. caiaphas had thought that he could use a friend. that was something that left him relatively stunned. first, who wanted their mother setting up play dates for them with strangers? second, wasn't he a little old to have the sea witch seeking out companions for him?

“i guess...” he drawled in a tone that was less than enthusiastic about the arrangement. “where'd you even come from?” the wildling then inquired with a canting of his skull and a thoughtful frown. the scents that lingered on the coat of the boy lucca were entirely unfamiliar to illidan. then again, he hadn't truly traveled very far in his short life. in spite of all that, the dark-hooded youth wanted to know what made this lucca a good candidate for friendship.

While he could be oblivious to social cues most times, it was hard to misinterpret the disinterested gaze of the other. Lucca's waving tail slowed to a halt before drooping slightly, the spark of hope he had had for a possible friendship in this new pack flickering right out of existence. Though he tried to keep up a positive facade upon his features. His greeting was returned with an off-handed remark, before the subject was quickly turned back onto him.

"A-a Plateau," he answered, "From a pack called the Redhawks. My entire family live there!" Well, most of them, anyway. The Blackthorns and Redhawks were an expansive bunch. "But, well, Rusalka is my new home now!" For the winter, anyway. He shifted before regarding the hooded boy again, noting he seemed much younger than himself, though didn't act like it. "Were you born here?"

while it might have been safe to say that illidan wasn’t interested in any playdate that had been set up by his mom, it was just as easily said that things could change. he was not the type to dive into situations with a positive attitude. rather, the dark-hooded young man preferred to expect the worst out of any new scenario. he had found that it provided him with a more realistic outcome.
 
it was not until the other boy mentioned that he had come from a plateau that illidan found himself entirely invested. he cupped his ears forward and canted his skull just slightly to the right. the sharp yellow of his gaze was latched tightly to the slate-cloaked lucca. when he mentioned that the name of the pack had been something about a red bird, the ghost knew that it wasn’t with liri and kavik. still, there was something else that caught his attention – something that he thought was different.
 
“you willingly left them? wasn’t that hard?” he asked, but his tone had softened some. “and yeah, i was born here but… i haven’t lived here my whole life.” that was a story for another day.

He perked up a little after his mention of the Plateau, which Lucca responded to with a wiggle of his tail, though he still avoided the intimidatingly piercing gaze of the other boy. The wolves of the coast — of this pack — had a strange sort of intensity the Blackthorn was not used to. Or maybe this was the norm and it was the Redhawk pack who were the weird ones.

At the other's inquiry, he looked to the ground sheepishly. "Uh, w-well, not willingly," he began, trying find a way to word his misadventure in a more noble way than simply I got lost. For some reason, he felt the need to impress this boy even more so than his lookalike mother. "My sister went...went missing and there was this cree—...dangerous man about, so we sent out a search party," he paused. It was technically the truth. "When the snows hit, I got, uh, separated. But I'm sure she's doing just fine! My sister is tough. I—I can't spent my whole life worrying after her, right?" He gave a huff of awkward, unsure laughter. Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry.

At the boy's answer of his own origins, Lucca realised he had never got the others name (nor his mother's). "Oh?" he queried with a tilt of his own head. The answer was a fascinating one, as the boy was still quite young; Lucca wondered where else he lived, and why he was back in his birthplace now. It seemed they both had their stories to tell, but first things first. "What's your name, by the way?"

illidan was careful to listen to the explanation behind why they had found themselves with a new member. it did cause immediate concern to think that it was really just happenstance that had given them lucca, and he wasn't certain how long the other would last in their ranks. these thoughts were hypocritical at best, he knew. after all, he had abandoned the plateau group as soon as he had found out that his mother was still alive. he had made his blood relations a priority over the bonds he'd made with kavik and liri... so he could not look at lucca with much judgment without it turning back on him.

“dangerous man, huh?” the ghost remarked with an interested expression. he hadn't found himself in the company of many others like that. he wondered what made someone fit the description in that way. “i'm sure your sister will be alright. at least, i've found that we're pretty resilient.” really, it was the best that he had as far was words of encouragement. he didn't really know much about lucca's sister, so he couldn't speak to her skill. he was speaking more from experience than anything else.

with a thoughtful glance toward his companion, illidan frowned. “does that mean you're only sticking around temporarily?” he asked directly, without cushion. repeatedly, he had to remind himself that he could not blame the other for his answer. he knew he could not hold others to standards that even he could not withhold himself. 

"i'm illidan," then, to his question on names.

archiving <3 lmk if i took too many liberties

caiaphas had managed to slink out of earshot while illidan and lucca conversed; it pleased her to see her son so industriously serious about his duties within rusalka. she was confident in leaving the young interloper in illidan's care, for she had read from lucca's body language he would be of little threat... and well, if he turned out hostile, he would have an entire pack at his throat within minutes.

browsing along the grotto's caches, caiaphas took account of what needed replenishing -- and then, once all was totaled, made for the barrow fields for new wares.