Ankyra Sound It's funny how reflections change.

Another one with Arrille, perhaps?

Grimnismal had become a home to Nyx, though she was still wary of the potential threat that loomed over them. With knowledge of a more recent altercation including their neighbours, the golden Ostrega had kept mostly to herself in the weeks following as she considered her own involvement. Keen to be useful but clinging to her claim that she didn't want to die for these wolves, she'd remained deep within their woods and stocked caches to the best of her ability - free from any conflict on the outskirts.

Nyx didn't source many prey animals that evening, and she abandoned the search when an owl dropped from the canopy to claim the rodent she'd been pursuing for over an hour. Turning, she began to retrace her steps through the trees in the direction of her den and growled lowly in frustration to herself as she hoped for better luck later in the night.

Ask, and ye shall receive

He kept close to the entrance of the caverns. It was safe there. Drageda would be looking for him. Wanting his blood, his head on a platter. And then, there was this...thing wrapped around his neck. It clinged to his neck, and it really pissed him off as he could not get it off. Arrille was having the time of his life. 

Stalking about close to the woods near the sound, he tried best to keep himself hidden. And he caught the scent of someone he recognized...and someone he knew had not been at the fight. At least not from memory, and he still had some loose bits here and there. "Hey Nyx...so how's tonight for you?" he asked, turning in her direction.

Not sure what wounds (if any!) Arrille has from the fight with Drageda wolves so I'm just gonna be vague.  xD

She had not been expecting anybody, and so lifted her raven-tipped ears when a masculine voice broke the quiet of the forest. She blinked in the direction the sound had come from and fixed the pale wolf with a fierce stare, which softened with recognition when she realised who had approached. She let silence linger for several long seconds as her yellow eyes roved his ivory features before settling them on his cobalt gaze. He looked exhausted. Striding forward, the agouti wolfess reached out to bump her snout comfortingly to the underside of the yearling's jaw.

"Gotten yourself into some trouble," Nyx said, "haven't you?" She'd heard only briefly of the latest altercation with Drageda but not of the youth's run-in with an entirely different species. It was when she moved in closer to inspect his nape and shoulders for wounds that might need tending to that she spotted the object that bound his neck, and she lifted a brow in curiosity. "How kind of Drageda to gift you such a handsome accessory," the golden female chimed, using her usual humour to mask the very real concern building within her breast.

He only got a few scrapes as well as a big scar along his scruff

Arrille huffed. He had gotten into a lot of trouble...and he had yet to thank the others of Grimnismal who had been there for helping him. As well as apologise for getting them involved. They hadn't needed to, yet still they had. Put themselves in danger for his sake. And Kierkegaard, he had not seen him about...even though he had not liked the man very much he still worried. Arrille had not seen him since the fight. 

"Wasn't them. It was...something else. I don't know what it was, never got a lo- Wait...it's handsome?" He tried to look at it, he hadn't had the chance. All he knew was that he didn't like it, even if it was handsome.

She held her breath, stifling a nervous laugh as Arrille rambled on about his new collar before he really registered what she'd said. Casually, the golden Ostrega rolled a shoulder: "sure," she said, convincingly enough. Truthfully, it was quite possibly one of the ugliest things she'd ever seen and did the pale wolf no favours, and despite her 'don't give a shit' attitude toward it, it riddled her with uncertainty.

"Let me have a look," she asked, but moved in without permission anyway. Nyx' yellow eyes roved over the equipment and, gingerly, she poked her nose against the band. The leather smelled strongly and she couldn't place the scent, so she drew back with her nose scrunched in distaste. "Smells like ass. What the hell is it, anyway?"

He stood there silent for a moment...then grumbled. "I hate it" he said. If this thing was handsome he didn't want it to be. He had thought it ugly, or imagined it so. "Tried to get it off, but it just won't."

He laughed a bit at that. "Does it? I haven't smelled it myself so I wouldn't know." He shrugged. He had no idea what it was. It was irritating though. Stuck there with no way of getting it off. "Ingram tried, and failed. And in front of Chusi, as well..." It must not have been a pretty sight for her to see, her tough man fail. "So, what were you doing out here?" he asked, as he did not wish to think about the thing around his neck any longer.

She tore her curious gaze away from the unusual contraption that bound her pack-mate's neck, lifting her vivid eyes to look upon his face as he spoke. Her ear perked at the mention of Ingram's failed attempt, and wondered briefly why it was so significant that he had not succeeded in the presence of Chusi. Nyx was unaware of the pair's budding relationship, and so brushed it off as Arrille padding out the conversation with a more detailed description of how the scenario had played out.

She wondered how Ingram tried to rid the pale youth of his new burden, if he tried gnawing through the material or yanking it over his ears. The dark coastal wolf was clever, so Nyx femy confident that he would've done his best, and so made no move to assist. While the collar might be an inconvenience and a discomfort, it clearly wasn't hurting him. This thought helped her relax a little.

"Hunting," she responded simply, figuring her ivory comrade changed the subject on purpose, "and failing miserably. An owl stole my rat." She canted her head to eye Arrille with feigned suspicion. "What of you, skulking around in the dark?"

Arrille scratched at his neck under the collar with a rear leg, shaking it. It annoyed him greatly, was really pissing him off. He really hoped that it would not be there forever or it would simply drive him mad if it did. Arrille had tried so much to get rid of the thing around his neck, to no avail ever.

The boy tipped his head at Nyx. "An owl stole your rat? That sure sucks" he said. He looked about, wondering if the said owl was still about. "Wandering."

She watched quietly as Arrille twisted and hoisted a rear limb off the ground to reach toward the object adorning his neck, and set about clawing at it. Nyx was glad, in that moment, looking at him awkwardly scratch at the skin beneath his new accessory, that it had not been her to gain his misfortune. She wondered inwardly if the irritation was there permanantly, or if it would be a matter of growing accustomed to it until they figured out how to remove it.

Snapping from her thoughts, the golden Ostrega blinked up to seek her pack-mate's frosty blue eyes and nodded. "Yeah," she scoffed, "right in front of me, too! The asshole just dropped out of the trees, grabbed it and was gone." She furrowed her brow, recalling the obscenities she'd yelled after the damn bird. As for the pale yearling's very vague response, Nyx strode right past him and bumped her shoulder suggestively to his. "Come on," she beckoned, "we can wander together."

There was no end to the irritation he felt. As she spoke he felt the need to scratch again. And...laugh. Which he did a bit, he laughed a little. It was like a light chuckle and at least it took his mind off of the irritating scratch. "That really sucks." To her suggestion he nodded, and started to move along with her. 

"If we find another rat, we can get it together" he said. Even though that he was not hungry really.

Nyx was glad to see him laugh, and satisfied that she'd been able to distract him from his misfortune with her dry humour, at least temporarily. She and Arrille had not gotten off to the best start, but he seemed to be getting used to her. Perhaps if either party tried hard enough, they could encourage their budding friendship to grow.

"Fuck," she laughed at his suggestion that they might happen across another rodent, "it took me long enough to find that one! If his buddies had any sense, they'd have gone into hiding." Her yellow eyes found Arrille's ivory features, and her smile faltered somewhat. He was littered with scrapes, some worse than others, and she'd been so caught up in eyeballing his new accessory that she forgot of his drama with Drageda. "So, what's going on with you and the cliff-dwellers? I had a feeling they wouldn't appreciate us being so close."

Arrille shrugged. It might be the case, maybe they were all in hiding. "Might get lucky, one might stray out of hiding. Then, it will be ours." He smiled at the thought of that happening. Of them actually making a catch, get some excitement in their wandering.

However, his mind trailed from that by her question. "It's...something I did" he said quietly, glancing away. He tried to make it clear he would rather not talk about it with his sudden change in tone.

He answered her question, but only vaguely. The boy averted his vivid gaze, turning his head to avoid the furrowing of her brow in response. So apparently, he was at fault, as as such deserved Drageda's attack. The agouti Ostrega frowned deeply, unwilling to let her young pack-mate drop the subject.

"Hey," she huffed, loping forward in several longer strides to veer to the left and interrupt his own pace, forcing her frame before his own much larger stature in attempt to make him look at her. She shot him a stern glower, yellow eyes narrowing somewhat as she tried to guage his reaction to her very sudden, serious change of character. "I'm assuming it's not over and this could put all of us in danger. If I'm going to risk my life for you, then I want to know why."

He tried to race past her before she could get before him, but she had caugth him by surprise with her longer strides first. He thought about turning off himself, but only he averted his gaze away to avoid looking at her face. She stared him down with her yellow eyes, and he felt rather unnerved by this. 

"It's not my fault, it's..." He wanted to blame them for attacking him. Or Caiaphas for luring him here. Or even his father for leaving first... "It's my father's fault. He left, and Caiaphas promised me we'd find him. So...so I came here...I left them to find my father...and look at how that went!" he cried out. When it came to his father, he certainly got rather...vocal.

He moved to avoid the sharpness of her stare, but Nyx was quick and remained all up in his face. He was a giant in comparison, even when she straightened her form, though it was easy to be intimidated by her fierce glower. As such, Arrille gave in relatively fast and blurted that it was not (despite taking blame just prior) that he was not the one at fault. 

The agouti wolfess gave a backward cant of an ear at the boy's confusion, though listened as he rambled about his wayward father. Her expression softened for a few moments as she pieced the snippets of information together to conclude that, before Grimnismal, the pale youth once called the cliffs his home. Drageda had been his home, and he abandoned them to chase the ghosts of his past.

She understood why this would be an insult to Drageda, but came to feel pity for her young pack-mate. Family was important, and there wasn't a single day that passed that Nyx didn't think of her own; if the opportunity to reunite with Dirge arose, she'd reach for it without hesitation. "So, what now?" Nyx asked, tail lashing at her hocks. "Does Caiaphas know where he is?" She frowned again, certain that the coywolf was not to be trusted.

Arrille snorted. Yes, she knew. And when they found him, they both had been very hurt by his words. Arrille the most, or that's what he thought at least. "Oh, we found him...and now I wish I never had." Finally he went to match her gaze, instead of trying to avoid it this whole time. "That bastard disowned me. If I ever see him again..." He felt his fur bristle at the thought, and a snarl he had not expected to come up.

Her curiosity peaked at the boy's announcement that they had, in fact, already sourced his mystery sire. Nyx lifted her brows then, sour expression morphing into one of utmost interest. Arrille turned to her then, newfound confidence in his budding frustration as he spat words of distaste in regard to the wolf who'd, apparently, disowned him entirely.

Nyx didn't know the finer details as to why Arrille had ended up alone, though she did wonder where his mother had wound up. Perhaps she had turned tail on him too, which would indeed have been an unfortunate thing to happen for him. He was still very young, maybe just shy of a year old, and the golden Ostrega recalled thinking she knew it all at that point in her own life - but in reality, she was just beginning to learn.

The snarl surprised her, and she drew back to eye him thoughtfully. "He's obviously not worth it," she rolled a shoulder, choosing to take her young pack-mate's side in the matter; "Grimnismal are your family now, though."

Arrille nodded to Nyx. She was right, he was not worth it. Not worth his time, not worth his gaze. Not even his thoughts. His father was worth less than the dirt under his nails to Arrille. He spat on his name now. "He is nothing to me..." He pictured he was there before him. Pictured what he would do. 

"I will make him wish he never had me." He would make his father hate him more. He smiled lightly to Nyx. "Yes...thank you."

Fade here?  :)

His anger was... different. She recalled their previous encounter when Arrille expressed a pissy attitude in response to her attempt at spooking him in the Grotto, which had been cute and amusing at the same time. But this was something else. This was pure fire in his heart, venom that dripped from his harsh words, and Nyx felt a mixed sense of pride and uncertainty. She was glad that the boy did not cling to the hope of making amends with his estranged father purely because of their shared blood, but worried that his pent-up frustration could bite him in the ass one day. Wylla would surely be on the prowl for him soon, if not already, for rocking the boat with Drageda.

"Come on," she beckoned to the pale youth, bumping her shoulder encouragingly to his tufted white chest before turning away and assuming lead of their wander. "Forget about that asshole. How about you help me find one of those rats, hm? Sounds like you could do with a snack!"

Arrille snorted just at thinking about his father. The one evil in his life. The pale boy followed upon being beckoned by Nyx, and off they went to find a snack. "A rat, yes...something to tear into would be nice" he said. He had not meant to say it like that, but it did not exactly pop into his mind that he had said it like that. He huffed as he followed behind Nyx.

Sure!