Blackwater Islands oh, death

Joining -- @Akantha

He had skirted blatantly away from the sequoias of his previous home – the swarthy wolf a shadow among the night as he felt his lungs burn from what he imagined was the lingering scent of death and ash from Donnelaith.  Perhaps it was all in his head – he didn’t care. The moment his bright eyes had laid upon the charred land he had searched desperately for his sisters.. and there had been nothing left. No sign of Deirdre. No sign of Emaleth. He had scoured the lands around it – searching desperately for their scent to and any indication they had made it out alive.
 
Nothing.
 
He had left – questioned others if they had seen the witches of the forest.. None had.
 
And then he had mourned their deaths by completely shutting himself down.
 
A wraith now, the stocky wolf prowled to the borders of another ocean pack – somehow allowing him to be close to home without being there to remind him of his failure to fulfill his promise to them. His inability to protect his family. His features, once laid back and even good-natured remained hardened – and shifting his dark weight upon the borders of a pack he was unfamiliar with, the Mayfair determined this was as good as any place to check out.. for now, at least.
 
He did not call for them. Instead, the rogue swept himself low – he deserved nothing else. His form waited – sphinx-like in his posture now as his belly swept to the earth, his eyes straight before him. He waited for them to discover him – he clung to hope that even despite not recognizing the scents on their borders, that his sisters had moved further along the coast to here.
 
That Donnelaith burning had been nothing more but a nightmare.

Akantha, reclusive as of late after Whip's breakdown and Kalika's promotion, found it in herself to patrol today in the hopes of finding some sort of repreve from her unease. There was a chill upon her skin that was not from the weather; it was a balmy, but overcast, day with a slight wind coming from the sea. That couldn't be it. But what? The Mothers were significant in their absence, and it only served to highten the anxiety that strained against the fetters within.

As she neared the bridge, she caught a glimpse of something dark huddled low on the sands. Her ears flung forward and her hackles flared upright as the scent of the stranger infliltrated her nose—a male. Under normal circumstances, she might have drove forward and attempted to impose her dominance upon him in a violent way, or even chased him out if he proved unwilling to bend beneath her might. But she hesitated. With Gabe's disappearance, and Chelan's trip, they were dreadfully low on Consorts. Especially those of breeding age, as this one seemed to be.

So, while she maintained her aggressive stance, she approached slowly and came to stop a few short feet from where he lay prostrate upon the sands. Her hazel eyes were fierce as they flickered over him—he was hale, blessedly, and stocky much like Chelan. They could benefit from this, if he was willing to accept her decree. The Matriarch lifted her nose, which flared as it drew in a great breath. "Who are you?" She rumbled dangerously.

It was a dark form that lumbered toward him as he lay in the sands of the shore. Never before had the sea called to him until he had lost all those he held dear – and only now because the scent of the salt water reminded him of them.. of home. Somewhere, Blacktail Deer Plateau had been eradicated as such in his mind, and the tall sequoias of Donnelaith had replaced it – but they were no more, and the charred ash only stirred heartache and anger within the breast of the swarthy beast.
 
He exhaled gently as the she-wolf stlaked toward him – her form was held with unwavering dominance, and his eyes glimpsed the scars upon her muzzle before his eyes averted properly to her forelimbs – his own muscled figure remained still in his submission, though his muzzle bowed all the more in her presence as he considered her words.
 
Who was he, now?
 
Anore, his mind begged him to say. Begin afresh – Tartok had branded him as such – but they had done so in honor of his father. His late father, who would have been ashamed of him and his inability to protect his family. “Constantine,” he offered then, swallowing the surname of Mayfair – he did not deserve to be such. “I seek a pack for food and a place of shelter. In return I offer my skills – a mercenary, a hunter, a scout – whatever you might need.” He did not seek friends, nor family. Those were gone for good. For now, he sought survival – and a distraction.

Please skip over Indie, she’s just hangin' out

 
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Wolves drifted in and wolves drifted out. Such was the way of things, Indie had come to learn. Her babyhood had been spent with a rather consistent bunch, the Merry-Andrews, who came and stayed for long swatches of time [oftentimes, just for the spectacle]. It seems that had changed since she had come across both Donovan and Uma wandering the wild, with stories of the Merry-Andrews dwindling numbers. It pained her heart to hear of such a happening, but the pastiche group of conmen were in her past. The Nereides were her present and was deserving of her full attention.
 
So when a howl arose from the borders of the island, close to the land bridge, she made haste. The Matriarch, stalwart and bold, had beaten her to the chase and the vaudevillian pulled up alongside her leader, being sure to stand slightly behind to denote Akantha’s authority. A buxom shoulder bumped Akantha’s haunch as a silent way to say I am here, but nothing else seemed to be needed from her. Uncharacteristically for the starlet, her firey gaze settled upon the male but she remained silent and waited upon the women’s instruction [if there was any]. Indie wanted to demonstrate her dedication to the group of Sirens; as it was well past time that Indie truly proved her worth and gained clout within their small community -- and if Kalika found herself rising through the ranks through commitment to such tasks, then Indie would do the same.

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The same scent which had attracted Akantha (and Indie, so it seemed) managed to pull Kalika from her den and toward the borders. As she approached, the dark frame of a male came into view, corresponding perfectly with the Matriarch's bubbling warnings. If this same situation had occured not even a month before, Kalika might have jumped in to try and sneak her seductive charm onto the male without Akantha's noticing. But now that she had become Adept, there were different priorities lined up before her.

Kalika stepped onward with her tail high (though slightly lower than Akantha's) and her ears perked. Her face remained neutral as she examined the male, before deciding that his submission just wasn't quite enough. Submit, she commanded with a slow gesture toward the ground. Although many steps behind Akantha, she was quickly becoming much more confident in her position. Indie stood on the other side of the Matriarch, but without eminating the same intimidating air which she had not long before.

Akantha was silent as the male receeded further beneath her imposing shadow. Her hazel eyes flickered over his form again as he lowered his muzzle a bit further to indicate his complete submission—she was looking for any sign of injury or illness, but found nothing damning in the subtle shifts of his musculature. This Constantine did not ask her for much, and left little to be desired. He was a strapping adult with a gentle way of interacting with the world. At least from what she could see. The Matriarch decided, in an instant, that she rather liked him.

She heard the shifting grains of sand beneath the approaching feet of Indie long before she was in reach to brush her shoulder along the tufted fur of the Matriarch's hip. Akantha briefly looked back to regard the svelte woman with a softness touching the edges of her gaze only to catch sight of Kalika. The Adept swept onto the scene in full regalia—her tail waved high, and her stance was intense. Everything about her demanded Constantine's attention, and it didn't settle well with her.

Akantha whipped around when her Adept had the gall to demand Constantine's further submission when the male was already prostrating himself well-below them. Her eyes narrowed and her hackles bristled to full attention as she stared down the other woman with a severity that bespoke of physical reprimand should she not heed the very obvious warning. A growl erupted from her throat and she lashed her tongue over her lips only to return her attention to the supplicant.

"Very well. We are in need of healthy individuals. If you can stomach the diet of a sea wolf, and our female-dominated society, then I see no reason why you wouldn't thrive here." Akantha revealed with a shiver of her cricked tail. Another testy look was sent sidelong towards Kalika.