Cerulean Cape All that sound

The stranger looked at him. There was a brief pause between their words. She did not seem in any way to want to cause him harm, not that it would have mattered.
You chose not to follow them?
Taikon looked away from her, slightly ashamed of himself. He knew that there was no strong reason to feel this way, but the reality was that he had pledged himself to the pack because of a person who had since left the world. Moreover, Artyom and his family had left to an area that seemed practically uninhabitable far to the East. The wolves who remained... He held no loyalty to them. In particular, the Déorwine siblings who clearly themselves lacked any sort of value for loyalty. The prince said nothing of this, instead listening as the pale she-wolf shared a metaphor before declaring she was not one for metaphors.
The white male said nothing, unwilling to look her in her fierce eyes. It seemed a wise set of statements, yet he was not sure that what he had been doing most of his life was rising, or even shifting. Instead, he drifted. He was a leaf in the wind, unwilling to accept consequences even as he refused to change his fate.
At last, he broke the pseudo-silence as the waves sounded beyond the wolf pair. Indeed, he said, suddenly not wanting to share more. Instead, he shifted the conversation. I apologize, I was lost in my own head there. I am Taikon, he introduced, finally glancing her in the eyes before offering a deep bow. This royal greeting was a signature introduction for the Farukan prince.
She seemed a kind woman. He felt guilty suddenly for dumping on her as he rose from his bow.