Ankyra Sound Meditation and exploration

Steele is new to Grimnismal and is at the Grotto. This is open to anyone!

Steele trotted off away from the Alpha female to where she said his living quarters would be. He wanted to get to know this place as he wasn’t familiar with any place here. This was all new to him a place to sleep and possibly a pack to get to know. 

As he neared the mouth of the cave, a mouth to him it was. He looked up as if he’d seen a ghost, it was a bit scary as he took a few steps more toward the cave opening. He took a few whiffs of air just to see what kind of smells we’re flowing through the cave. No familiar scents came to his nose. 

Steele decided a good idea would be to sit at the mouth of the cave for now. His body collapsed on the damp cool floor and he let his head rest between his paws. There were few sounds around so it was the perfect time for him to let his mind just wonder.

There was another little life in the grotto, and Ephraim hated it with the fervent heat of five thousand suns. Every peep the squalling babe made set his nerves tingling and each time his eyes fell on him, his flesh felt seared. Had he only been a little older, a little more of a wild carnivore than a downy babe, there would be no other child. Alas, he was still just a young thing himself, scarcely capable of anything so heinous. But every chance he got, when Caiaphas wasn't watching closely or when he was hidden from view by his other siblings, he tried to hurt the pup; sat on him, shoved him, nipped him too hard with sharp little teeth. He was almost always caught and punished, which only served to fuel him. Caiaphas was his mom.

When he wasn't bullying Svalinn, he was out on the beach, watching the clouds float by and lazing around as per usual. He put more energy into rejecting the new arrival than he did anything else in his life. He was just heading out that way, fast on his paws in the impatient manner of children, when he came around the corner and tripped right over Steele. He was way too tiny to have done any damage to the dark adult wolf, but he fell gracelessly on his face over the newcomer's side.

"Hey!" the indignant hybrid squawked, rounding on the sleeping adult, though there was really nothing he could do or say to Steele. He was too small, his vocabulary too limited. Instead, he glared.

this would have been before the bear has come but close to time

Steele awoke when he heard small pads hitting off the ground toward him. It was strange hearing the sounds of other wolves around him, something he'd have to get use to. Unknowingly it would not be long for him to get use to because of unforseen circumstances. He picked his head up as Ephraim spoke to him. He smelled the air and sensed no danger at the time. It was something he taught himself living out by himself, always check before and after waking up from a nap for anything that can harm you.

"Hello, I'm new here." he said as he stood up. His face was gleaming, finally someone he could talk too and get to know. For the time being it was a good day for him, everything was falling into place even though he knew that never lasted long in his life at this moment he was happy to get to know someone in the pack.

The adult wolf seemed to completely ignore his blunder—it was for the best and saved young Ephraim's ego a light bruising, but at the same time, served to make him feel ignored as well. He backpedaled and glared up at the newcomer, who introduced himself as such, but the small coywolf pup had nothing to say in response to that. Everyone was a newcomer to his limited world. What's the big deal?

Instead, he repeated himself. "Hey," he said, this time on the tail end of a growl as he motioned for the brute to get a move on. "Go!" Ephraim had places to be, and he wasn't supposed to go far from the grotto alone. Like that stopped him. Yeah, right. But Steele was conveniently there, and the crafty pup decided in that moment to take advantage of it. He could go farther down the beach without getting in trouble if he had an adult accompanying him.

Without much else in way of words, the dark-faced boy trod out onto the rough sands, pausing when the sea roared to shoot an expectant look back at Steele.

Steele cocked his head to one side, this was one pup who knew what he wanted and would get it either way. Though he didn’t know who’s pup it was he didn’t want him to go unaccompanied through the territory, reluctantly he stood up. As Ephraim looked back Steele was headed his way, slowly but surely. 

“Where are we going?” Steele asked, curious as to where the little one wanted to explore too. Careful to let Ephraim have his space Steele kept a little distance betweeen them, with his independent personality he decided it would be best to give him that.

"Dunno," Ephraim supplied, helpful as ever. Much of Ankyra Sound was a mystery to him. He already knew the ins and outs of the grotto, if not where the tunnel network led to, but the wide beach and especially the encircling forest were both unfamiliar territory. One day he would be master of it all, knower of every hiding place and commander of every insect, amphibian and crustacean, but today he was just a very young pup with very big aspirations.

And, of course, no real will to pursue them. That was too much work. He wanted to explore the beach not because he wanted to get to know his home better so he could be a better contributor, sooner, but because he was bored. That was all. He was bored of his current surroundings and being bored made him restless. He preferred to be relaxed, watchful, without feeling a need to move. So he pressed on at a hurried pace down the beach with Steele behind, and only came to a stop when he encountered a seal.

Not just any seal, but a large bull in his prime. The coywolf pup stopped dead in the sand and took a step back, ears flapping downward, as the bull roared out his dominant claim over the strand's seal population.

Steele just nodded at his response, obviously being a pup he had an adventurous side and so he let it be. He trailed behind Ephraim just a few yards, still careful to give him his space. After they ended up down the beach a bit he heard the yell the seal gave out to stake his claim for the property. Steele didn’t want Ephraim to get hurt and so he stepped in front, between him and the bull seal. 

“I think we should turn and find somewhere else to venture to. It would be dangerous to go toward him.” Steele said not breaking eye contact with the seal, his ears slowly glued to his skull. He would wait until Ephraim was a safe distance away before he would follow. Seals were dangerous, especially to smaller wolves.

The bull hardly took note of the tiny coywolf pup who was staring wide-eyed at him, but the adult wolf was another matter. He swung his bald head around and regarded Steele with wet, beady eyes, sizing up a rival predator with a heavy huff from his flared nostrils. His body gave a blubbery lurch as it took one seal-step toward Steele, then paused to gauge the man's reaction. If the wolf didn't draw nearer, he had no reason to waste his energy on him. He had mates in need of that energy.

All the while Ephraim shrank down in the sand behind Steele, tail curled toward his belly, and warily watched the colossal creature. It didn't look like it could move very quickly, but Ephraim wasn't exactly a professional when it came to running yet. He was clumsy and probably even slower than the seal, and his paws went all the wrong directions on the sand. If it wanted to bulldoze him it probably could, and the very thought terrified him. Steele's words held a great deal of wisdom—get away from here—but for the moment little Ephraim was frozen in place.

Steele gave a small growl, it was hardly even enough to notice. He then turned toward Ephraim who was shrunk toward the sand. He sighed, he knew the pup was scared and so he reached his muzzle to the pup and gave him a small nudge. “It’ll be fine if we can move back where we came from. Maybe we can explore somewhere else.” His voice was as soft as he could make the raspy deep words he usually spoke.

Steele wondered how old Ephraim was and why he wanted to explore so much, he caught himself thinking about when he was a pup. In his younger days he loved to see, hear, and smell knew things. As an adult he’s a little less adventurous now. He waited for Ephraim to start moving before he did, so that if the seal was to come at them at least he’d be in between the bull and the pup.

All it took was Steele's gentle push to get Ephraim on his feet again. He wisely chose a direction perpendicular to the bull seal, heading instead toward the high cliffs that bordered the sound. The bull huffed, satisfied with their decision, and lumbered away back to his harem.

Ephraim's confidence returned with each step he took; it was only moments before he was back to his usual self. He remained indifferent to Steele while also maintaining his acute awareness of the adult's presence as he investigated a clump of dried seaweed near the base of the cliffs. Each strand was shriveled and crusted with salt. He picked through them momentarily, wincing at the sharp taste on his tongue, and found beneath them a better treasure: a petrified starfish, which he hoisted and showed off to Steele with a toss of his head.

Steele let Ephraim take a few steps ahead before he followed, it was a precautionary measure for his and the pups safety. He let out a bit of a relieved sigh as they went a different direction from the seal. His ears did peek as he heard the huff of the seal as he went back to his business, but Steele decided it was best not to give another look back. 

He watched the pup and with more room they put in between the seal and them he seemed to be more adventurous like before. Steele roamed the place with his eyes for any more danger, he didn’t want to put them in any more situations if he could help it. Although he kept his eyes peeled for danger he also watched Ephraim explore, the dried seaweed was the first they had come upon that he had not seen before. Steele gave a smile as he seen the pup exploring the dried seaweed and even tasting it. He shook his head and then they moved on until they had found the starfish, he seemed to be having a good time and Steele approved. He never wanted to put out ones adventures as this was how he got to know the world before. 

“I bet that tastes better than the dried seaweed” Steele teased with Ephraim. He let his rump hit the sand as he watched him toss it and show it off, chuckling a bit as he did so.

The spindly limb of the starfish slipped from between his teeth and thumped into the sand, but apart from a quick glance down, the boy gathered his ears over his head and pinned his attention on Steele. When the adult wolf reclined some short distance away with a statement, Ephraim took it as evidence that the starfish wasn't harmful. He picked it back up and proceeded to romp with it in a brief moment of carefree wonder.

But as all children were wont to do, he grew bored very quickly, and ultimately dropped the starfish back on the pile of kelp. "Hun'ree," the pup complained with a frown as he closed the distance between himself and Steele, and expectant stare fixed on the man's belly. He wasn't Caiaphas, but surely Steele had nips hiding there to feed him with, right?

Steele kept chuckling as he threw the starfish. Ephraim seemed like an adventurous pup, he couldn’t help but just keep thinking about himself when he was younger. He shook the though from his head as he laid the starfish down and turned back to Steele he let a neutral gaze fall on him. Steele was definitely not fit to feed this little one. His body didn’t have the right body parts for that. 

Steele sighed and shook his head at Ephraims sort of question. “If you can’t eat meat yet, I can’t feed you. But we can go back to your mom and pause our journey for now.“ he says as he walked toward the pup. It wasn’t too far back to his mother but the pup would sure be hungrier by the time they got back.

Steele used more words than Ephraim could comprehend, but he got the gist well enough and his face turned upside down. The brief smile he wore morphed into an ugly frown and he made a frustrated sound, stamping his feet in the sand. It was a short-lived tantrum by anyone's standards, taking too much precious energy to uphold for longer than a handful of seconds, and shortly thereafter he was escorted back to Caiaphas to fill his rumbling tummy.

Steele followed Ephraim back, letting his guard down as they travelled closer to his mother. If he ever had pups himself, he’d need to be readied because they sure are adventurous. Steele smiled at Ephraim before he waddled off toward his mother to get his belly full of milk. A happy groan left his throat as he trotted toward the Grotto to take a nap after the exciting time.