The Tangle tangled

After meeting up with the Heda at Drageda, Eljay'd spent a few days at Ankyra Sound. He knew he wasn't allowed in Drageda territory but Wildfire'd shown him where that was, at least, so he decided he would stay around it, like she had said. He wouldn't stray too far, but he also should make himself useful, he knew. Eljay'd mostly cried for a long time, feeling utterly miserable, and it showed in his every move that he had no idea how to prove himself because he knew that everything he was kinda good at involved pack life he didn't have at the moment.

Eljay'd already been thin when he arrived here and he had eaten only a little since while he tried to collect himself. He'd hunted, but most of it had been a failure and he cursed himself each time he'd let another critter get away. Meanwhile Eljay tried to track bigger prey, hoping that maybe he could convince the pack to come towards him when he found a good prey animal. But Eljay wasn't that great at leading hunts, he usually just followed, so he wasn't sure what he would even do and how when it came to it, when he would find what his goal was.

He'd left the Sound for the day and tracked through the outskirts of the tangle, but as he looked further ahead Eljay realised it might be better to look elsewhere — this looked like nothing but rocks and dirt.

Stealin' all ur threadz.

Tytonidae continued in her quest to find and recruit wolves to live by her side on the plateau. She returned to it often, and she had begun to make it hers. She pissed mostly near the center, making sure others would know that it belonged to somebody. The coverage was weak and sparse, but she had to start somewhere. Besides, it wasn't like she could claim anything without others to back her up.

When she spotted another wolf, she began to move toward him with a hint of cautious optimism. He looked kinda mopey from what she could tell, but considering she knew nothing about him, she didn't jump to any conclusions. "Hey there," she greeted, trotting up alongside him, but giving him enough room in case he wanted to scamper off and not deal with her. He didn't smell strongly of a pack, and he looked to be in reasonably good health. "You looking for something?" she asked, noting that he seemed to be tracking something or another.

Eljay startled when another wolf approached, having been so lost in thoughts he hadn't seen her coming at all. He went through a rollercoaster of emotions and postures — defensive, various degrees of submissive, and eventually landed back on neutral when he relaised that the stranger looked pretty neutral.

An ear cupped towards her and he greeted with a bashful smile, "Uhm, hi..." She asked him if he was looking for something and he shook his head at first, then realised he was looking for something and added, "I'm uhm, I'm trying to join this pack, and — and they want me to prove myself first, so... Uhm, I thought if I found something that could be hunted, then maybe..." He glanced over the barren lands of the tangle and sighed. "... But I don't see anything here..."

His behavior reminded Ty of herself at a younger age: unsure, a bit shy, and generally uneasy. She felt for him, wondering what sort of events had caused him to end up like this. Maybe his mother had gone away too early, too. Ty had since come to terms with the fact that she would never see her mother again, but that had not been an easy feat. Hawkeye was long gone, and while she did eventually want to see her father, she wasn't sure how long it would be until she built up the courage to do so. She wanted to have something to show before she visited Redhawk Caldera, and right now, she had nothing but ideas.

"They wanted you to hunt something for them?" Ty asked, but quickly recalling this was standard practice for packs to ask wolves they'd just met to "prove" themselves. Wasn't a pack supposed to provide for its members? "No, I don't think this place will do for hunting, unfortunately." She paused, straightened herself slightly, then offered a different proposition. "What if you joined a pack where you didn't have to prove anything to get in?" she asked. Bhediyon would be doing just that. Ty was a trusting wolf, and she would gladly take a chance on somebody who was willing to take a chance on her.

Eljay shook his head at the question. "Not exactly, uh — they said I had to stay on the outskirts 'til I proved myself... So I thought if I'd find a good hunt I could call them and, uh, I dunno, provide something." He sighed lightly, feeling totally useless at anything that he could do out here. "But I'm not that good at initiating things, I just... I'm better at following orders in a hunt and watching pups 'n stuff."

Eljay kicked a rock with one of his front paws and looked back at the stranger as they semi-offered him a place to stay. He blinked in confusion, not sure why anyone would offer him a place when he was such a, well, dweeb. "Do you have a pack?" he asked in confusion, not directly answering the question because the idea someone'd just come up to him and offer him a place was so out-there to him.

Ty thought it strange that a wolf would attempt to get into a pack that clearly didn't value him, but then again... she had yearned for Summer even after he had told her she couldn't be his one and only. The thought of Summer caused her heart to beat quicker for a few beats, but she had bigger fish to fry. When he asked if she had a pack, Ty paused for a moment, forming her answer in a way that was truthful, but (hopefully) optimistic.

"I'm working toward it," she replied. "You don't have to make a decision right now, but if this pack that's making you wait doesn't work out, you could come join me. I'd be happy to somebody as dedicated as you appear to be." She let those words stick in, then added, "I'm setting up camp on a plateau further south on the coast." It was the first (and only, as far as she could tell) plateau on the coast in the area.

As far as Eljay was concerned, this was totally normal pack-joining procedure. He actually knew very little about pack-joining, except for being present a time or two when mommy and daddy or Uncle P or Aunt Fox had accepted wolves into the Caldera, and he remembered very little about that. But his own cousin was in this pack and they were still making him do this, so he thought it seemed pretty regular a thing to do.

The offer the wolf was making seemed almost too good to be true, and Eljay quickly mentally mapped where to find it. Following the coast was one thing he could do, and finding a plateau at the coast seemed easy, if it was the first one he'd run into. "Wow, really? Thanks, I don't — that means a lot to me — I don't really know what to say." Eljay smiled fondly, and if he hadn't just mentioned being good at watching pups and following orders in a hunt he would've told her about his skills right now.

"Oh! Which way's south?" he asked, blinking as he looked towards the coast. Would be typically his luck to wander the wrong way, and he had no idea how anything worked with directions because he'd never left the Caldera for years. "Oh! I forgot to introduce myself!" With an apologetic look on his face he went on to say, "I'm Eljay!"

Tytonidae pointed her muzzle in the direction of the plateau, though she didn't think that would be very useful, so she tried to think of a better way to explain it. "Keep the coast to your right as you travel, and you'll be going south." He introduced himself as Eljay, and Ty realized she hadn't told him her name, either. "I'm Tytonidae Vasanta, but you can call me Ty for short." She really did hope he would join her... or at least come visit! Eljay didn't seem like the kind of tough-as-nails wolf who was cut out for being on his own, and she didn't meant that as an insult.

"If you get there, and I'm not there, you can just hang around until I get back. Hopefully there will be some other wolves who want to join me, too." In a way, she felt like the deal was already sealed, but she knew nothing would be set in stone until he made the trek to Bhediyon's home and pledged himself to the cause.

Eljay nodded a couple of times as she explained how he'd find the plateau she mentioned. It did sound really good, but he felt he should at least give Drageda a chance, too. Wildfire was there, after all, and it would be so nice to have someone familiar around... Though this offer seemed a bit too good to be true, Eljay thought that Ty was just really nice. After she introduced herself he smiled and said, "You're really nice! I mean — thanks, I guess." He smiled sheepishly, feeling grateful for the opportunity and glad that he might not have to starve to death after all. He felt his odds of finding a way to be accepted into Drageda weren't very high, so this was very welcome, and it gave him a confidence boost, one he perhaps needed to have any shot at all at joining Drageda.

Thanks for the thread! <3

"You're welcome," Ty replied, smiling. "And hey, even if you do get into that other pack, you're welcome to come visit us." She didn't want Bhediyon to have the same sense of intimidation that so many other packs in the area had. They were all so guarded, so wary, so untrusting. Tytonidae was none of those things, although she would be protective of her group.

"I'm gonna keep on keepin' on, but I'll see you around!" Okay, so she didn't know that for sure, but she could certainly be optimistic about it. She did hope that Eljay would come join her, or at least visit her, once he found out how things were going to shake out with his first attempted pack.

"Thanks!" Eljay said with a soft smile, feeling this offer was almost too good to be true. He considered leaving with Ty now, but at the same time he was afraid they might be offended here at Drageda if he did, and then he could never visit Wildfire he wanted to. It was safer to at least give things a shot here, he supposed, even though he was hungry and so far wasn't at all succeeding in contributing properly.

"See ya!" Eljay watched as Ty went out of view and then he looked around the dead mess in front of him. He let out a heavy sigh and then turned around to look for a better place to search for something to hunt.