Ankyra Sound Follow The 'Sound'

Arrille had to admit, he was beginning to enjoy life here. Even though he only knew about two wolves in the area, three if he included Chusi who he recently discovered lived here thanks Ingram. But now he was beginning to feel that he should meet others, such as...well, the only name he could recall at the time was @Nyx. But for now he sat at the salt water pool in the Grotto, swirling a paw through it.

If this isn't AW, please thwack me and I'll remove post!

She hadn't been to the grotto since getting back to Ankyra Sound, mostly because it took her that long to find its entrance. Her memories were those of a small child being carried across the beach and up into the sequoia forest, and did very little to help with her orientation. If anything, her memories screwed her up even more.

She descended down into the expansive cavern, frowning at a cluster of briars and brambles someone had carelessly dumped in the entryway—who does that?—and emerged in the soft blue light of the bioluminescent ceremonial chamber. Its religious purpose was far beyond her comprehension; the Nereides were long gone. Instead she saw just a faintly glowing pool, and edged in blue light, a pale figure perched at its edge.

"Oh," she said, stopping abruptly in the middle of the dark cavern. She hadn't been expecting anyone else, and this wasn't Lycaon. Wylla shifted awkwardly on her paws, though how much Arrille could actually see was questionable; most of her pelt was surely hidden by the shadows, while her white markings would catch the bacterial blue glow and stand in stark contrast. "Hi! Who're you?"

It's all good

Arrille looked to see the other wolf that greeted him, or at least attempt to. He guessed they were female by their voice. "I, uh...I'm Arrille" he spoke up. They must have been part of the Grotto as well, or otherwise why else would they be here. "Who are you?" the boy asked to the female, dropping his face back down towards the pool, continuing to swirl his paw in the water.

Wylla took a moment to stretch, then flopped down and stretched out on the cavern floor. It was cool, but relatively dry. The whole place smelled even more like saltwater than the outside but it was cozy, so it would suffice for a home, even if it was a little claustrophobic. Her would-be companion was evidently morose, staring down into the water and sending ripples across the surface. He would make a flawless Mulan.

"Wylla," she shared, stretching out a single forelimb and splaying her white toes with a grunt. After a brief pause during which she watched the cool light play on his face, she asked, "why so glum, chum?"

Arrille heard the name Wylla in his ears, and did not recognize it as one of the names Ingram had mentioned to him. He shrugged his shoulders as he continued to swirl and dip his paw in the water, ripples going across and rippling the reflection around the cavern. 

"It's nothing, really...just bored, I guess." That was a lie, he stil had plenty on his mind. "What are you doing? Resting?" he asked over to her, lifting his head to glance over before looking back down to the water.

"Uhhh huh," Wylla replied noncommittally, and hauled her slim figure up off the ground again. With a few quick steps she was at the edge of the pool, where she dipped her own paw in and started swirling it too. There had to be some appeal in it, right? The guy was weirdly focused on it. She wondered if he could see into the future somehow, and settled her gaze on the rippling surface.

When the water failed to do anything interesting within ten seconds, Wylla flicked her forepaw and sent water splashing in Arrille's direction. With a cackle she rose to her feet and told him, "then stop being boring and you won't be so bored!" and pranced a few feet away, tail swaying.

Arrille swirled the water with his paw slowly, and in his peripherals spotted Wylla doing the same. He gave her a side glance, then went back to the ripples. Until she splashed water up, wetting the tip of his muzzle and messing with his ripples. 

Stop being boring, huh? He grew a grin as he got up, then with his still wet paw he quickly batted at her. He didn't wait to see if he managed to touch her with his wet paw before he got going to another area of the cavern, getting into a play bow.

Ah, so he did have a bone in his body capable of something other than swirling! Wylla's grin unfurled as Arrille reached out and bopped her in the face with his wet paw, and she aimed a playful snap at his toes seconds before he whirled away and disappeared deeper into the cavern. It felt good to be home, somewhere safe and defended and without the constant nip of winter at her heels.

It put her in a good enough mood to play with a stranger, which was pretty rare, but it would turn out that Wylla wasn't bad at being a pack mate. She was just bad at everything else. So she bounded after him, tail high and waving, and aimed to snake a thin foreleg around one of his to trip him up as she pranced past.

Arrille gave a quick yip at the payful snap she made, then watched as she moved after him from his bowed position. He didn't see the paw till it was too late, then he flopped onto his side after being tripped. Laughing. How long had it been since laughing? "H-Hey! That was so not cool!" he tried to say through laughing.

Even though she didn't want to, she couldn't help chuckling herself as Arrille went down ass-over-tea kettle, and then it was her turn to bound several steps away and turn, hind end and tail both flagging up into the air in an inviting play bow. She slapped her forepaws on the cool cavern floor and listened as the clap of flesh on stone echoed into the deeper chambers,

Arrille kept his attention on the other as she moved away, grinning to himself as she chuckled. As she invited him to play, he was not one to deny the opportunity. So he bounded forward, going to pounce just before them and bat at them with his paws, letting loose a playful bark towards Wylla.

As Arrille reared up and waved his paws in her face, Wylla snapped at them with gentle claps of her jaws, far different from the one she'd employed to crunch Raptor's toes. If she caught any of Arrille's, they were let go immediately. It only took a few seconds of that for her to lunge forward, attempting to check him with her shoulder in a form of roughhousing she'd once done with Ingram when they were younger.

Arrille flinched his paws pack as every now and then Wylla caught hold. Then immediately let go every time she did. Eventually, she lunged forward with her shoulder and he was down. He had not expected roughhousing, and had not played like this before...yet he still laughed. "Okay, okay! You win!" he shouted through laughs. She had him down, and even though it was not a spar but rather play, he gave in still. With a paw he went to try and boop them.

Gonna conclude this here 'cause it's getting pretty old and I really need to prune down my number of threads! Thanks for the fun!

Though Arrille was large, he toppled easily under the smaller wolf's onslaught and Wylla laughed genuinely, a pure and light sound that was so rarely employed, even her own ears twitched. "You need more practice," she declared, hoisting herself off and away from him and giving her pelt a light shake. "We can spar sometime if you want." From somewhere outside the grotto, a voice called low on the wind. Wylla's sharp ears lifted, and then she said, "sorry, duty calls," before parting ways with a wave of her tail.