Ankyra Sound Me and my sins go - toe to toe

@Arrille

Lost in thought, the butterfly drew lines in the sand with her paw. She had a new pack now, new friends to build bonds with and only the recognition from Ingram. She was worth more, she knew, but knew not yet how to make that clear. She sighed, drooping as she stared at the mess of doodles she had made. Then she smiled. If there was one thing she was trained for until she had it perfect, it was walking borders! Arturo was no stranger to the task, quite the opposite really, and he had taught her all he knew... How she missed her family.

She dragged herself up and about, making her way slowly to the border closest to her, ocher eyes on the look-out for both fiend and friend.

Arrille had come out of the grotto just for this one day, as he usually stayed within the Grotto. He gave the cliffs of Drageda a glance. He had a feeling he would end up there again one last time, after the meeting at Blackfeather Woods. 

That's when she spotted Chusi, and he smiled upon remembering what Ingram had said about her. And how he had teased him...he still wished to get back at him a bit. "Chusi? Hello Chusi!" he called out to her, starting to move over.

She was startled by a call she recognized; it wasn't Ingram, no, it had to be the pale boy from... a few days ago? Honestly, time had gone so quick she had lost track of it. She grinned, her pearly whites shimmering in the little bit of sun there was through the rather thin but large blanket of clouds. If she had known how the two boys had had a whole discussion about her, she would have greeted him differently - luckily, she didn't know, and she waved her poofy tail in greeting.

Arrille!! She squealed slightly. She stopped so he could catch up, her grin becoming a warm smile. 'Thought ya were with Drageda? Wha' happened? She asked whenever he had done so, brows lightly rising in question.

Arrille's ears flinched against his head at her squeal of his name, and he nodded back. "Came here with Caiaphas...turns out she knew my father." And he still wanted answers about his past. It came to his mind recently that he hadn't asked about his mother, but that slid out for now. "What about you? Ingram was telling me all about you" he said, with a teasing grin. But that grin was just cause he could only imagine Ingram's face. It was like a rivalry, to who could tease the other the most. Arrille thought he was ahead in that.

She didn't feel like she knew the name "Caiaphas", but if she had taken Arrille to see his father she couldn't be a bad wolf. It had been quite obvious from their first encounter that Arrille still really missed his family, much like she did at the moment. Aaan'? Did ya find 'im? She asked, eyes nearly glittering with hope for him.

But blood rushed to her cheeks then, blushing underneath her charcoal fur and mouth the shape of a little 'o'. Ingram? Ingram had told Arrille about her? But what? How annoying she could be? I-I - I mean, I-Ingrrr... Wha' did he say? She asked, tongue tied nearly so she couldn't speak at all. She had stopped walking at this point to, but her body was still turned into the direction the border was at.

Since the thread with his father isn't done yet, it's gonna be made vague

Arrille's smile vanished as he thought back to the meeting at Blackfeather Woods. Arrille shrugged after, he didn't want to think too much about it.

He smiled a little at her reaction. Could he? Should he? With their rivalry, how could he not. "Well...don't tell him I said this, but he told me...that you are pretty, dark like him, with soft brown eyes..." he paused, as he wanted to say more, but he couldn't think of what else to say.

Pretty. He had called her pretty. And her eyes... All this time, she had preferred blue like the sea, but perhaps Ingram's taste was different. Perhaps his taste was her! It would explain his niceness, but maybe she was more like a best friend to him... Did friends call each other pretty? Perhaps girl friends did, but Chusi wouldn't know much about it. This was all a bit hard for her naive brain to comprehend.

Were ya supposed ta tell? A set-up for her to declare her attraction to him? Could she now call him handsome instead of different too? She had to look at the ground for a bit, observe a pebble that got her undying attention for the time being. I-I mean, that's cool... She sighed.

Arrille made no gesture to answer, but his sneaking smile across his muzzle would have been a dead giveaway. It was a way for him to get back at Ingram, at least. "I was just thinking that you should know, you deserve to at least, right?"

Arrille titled his head a little. Did she not like the news? "Chusi? Something wrong?" he asked, worried now that he had said something wrong to her now.

Perhaps she didn't deserve to know - how awkward would things be if Ingram knew that she knew that he had called her pretty? It did give her that warm fuzzy feeling from deep within the tummy up to her cheeks. Ingram usually made her feel like that, yes, but now he could've been doing it on purpose and she just hadn't taken the clue...

Her brows lifted and she shook her head in a "no". Nonono - it's really fine... Just nut used ta compliments... 'specially nut frum 'im. She smiled like a doofus, her face summarizing something along the lines of "Can't believe the guy I like called me pretty".

He was not sure what she meant by that. By how Ingram spoke of her, he thought he liked her. Was it not mutual? "Do you...do you not like him?" Now, he may have disliked Ingram, and had a rivalry. But he was also a nice guy, he couldn't ruin this for him.

"W-Well he's pretty great, you know. Sure, he can tease a bit, but he's a fun guy" he started, trying to make Ingram look good. "He beat me in a fight, you know." As he said that, he felt his pride die a little. His eye may have even twitched a little.

Sure, it was quite obvious now that Ingram had dried up quite nicely from when he was just a child - perhaps a little arrogant still, but definitely a lesser pain in the butt. And though their friendship had developed over time when they were just kids, it had never gotten to the point he was being nice to her just to appease her... At least, she didn't think so. And then he vanished.

Her eyes fluttered close as she chuckled. I know, I know. She laughed, looking back at Arrille again. 'Like 'im, too. She said a little softer then, not wanting any eavesdroppers to know what she was saying, even if there were none.

He stopped when Chusi laughed and said she knew all that. He understood when she said so. "Oh...does he know? I won't tell if not" he said. Now he was wondering if it was a good idea after all for him to say so. Wasn't like it could ruin Ingram's life, right?

"You know, Chusi? You...you aren't so weird after all" he said to her, recalling their first meeting they had.

On one paw, she was happy Arrille wouldn't tell him. On the other... She wasn't sure if she would ever be brave enough to tell him something like that. She didn't deal well with rejection, probably because she had only been rejected a few times in her life and she was scared of that feeling. Sure, she could stare danger right in the face and say "come on, get me" but stare Ingram in his electric gaze and say "I like you"? It was a different kind of danger - perhaps not even danger at all. She sighed and let her head hang. No... She breathed. I dunno if or how I should tell 'im. She said honestly.

She looked up at him again then, a sincere smile beaming on her face. Thanks?

Arrille was quite curious to know now if she would tell Ingram. He decided then that he would take a break from teasing him, and perhaps he could help them, if it meant helping two friends. "You wanna keep going along the borders while we talk?" he asked, as he had been heading that way. 

"You should tell him...I mean, by what he said, he wants to hear that...might keep him from teasing me" he said the last part quietly, as if a murmur. "How about I go with you? Would that help?"

Yeah, they need sum markin'. She nodded, taking a few steps to then wait to see if Arrille would follow - one paw hovering above the sand in anticipation. When he did, she'd walk alongside him till they were at the borders, tracking them while urinating every now and then to strengthen their pack's scent.

She raised her brows. He's teasin' ya? She asked. She couldn't say it didn't sound like him, but then again, Arrille was nice and if he had trusting him with the secret that he found her pretty, that meant there was some friendship right? But maybe Arrille didn't feel too bad about it and she was exaggerating it all in her head. At his question, she nodded with a thankful pout. She was scared, truly scared, but since Arrille knew there was no reason for him not be there.

He followed along with her, marking the borders as she did where he found it to be necessary. He didn't do it as much, fearing his scent would be caught by someone from Drageda. 

He nodded back to her. "He made fun of standing high up on the cliff, knowing he could have fallen. And he's all like 'can you get that branch?'" he said, trying to pull his best impression on Ingram, even pulling a face as he did.

She chuckled. That did sound like Ingram. Perhaps she just had a thing for troublemakers in general. I mean, she was the daughter of the biggest troublemaker in the whole Teekon. Then again, Arturo had always gone for the pretty, nice girls. Perhaps females favored gangsters in general.

He grew up 'ere - 'sure he was fine. She hoped, at least. She wouldn't know what to do without him now.

He glanced at her upon hearing this, that he had not known. He wondered briefly if Ingram would have known his father, as Caiaphas had said that this had been her home. "Really? Well, that is...something." That did little to change his feelings about Ingram however, and the little competition he had with him. If he managed to help Chusi, he would no doubt start it again.

Apparently, Ingram had not told that tidbit of his personal life. She couldn't help but chuckle again. He was fine with sharing that he found her pretty but not with his life as a young gangster? That was indeed something. I did, too. Well, not like 'ere 'ere, a bit mur inland - Ravensblood Forest. She wasn't scared about sharing that. It had been the best time. We met when we were youngah... She smiled.

He was quite curious about this now. "When you were younger? What was he like?" He paused for a moment, trying to think what he would have been like. "What were you like?" he couldn't help but ask now, what was Chusi like back then? "I mean, were you any different?"

She chuckled thinking back to the good old days. It had been only good times then, she remembered, even though there had been downs. It was no where near as bad as some other things she had faced since her youth was over. He wasn't sow nice... Buht I was persistent. She answered. He had ta like meh at sum point... 'Guess that point is now. She joked with a goofy smile, never forgetting to strengthen the border whenever found necessary

'Don't feel like I've changed at all... 'Think Ingram could bettah answer tha'. She answered honestly.

Arrille smiled lightly, even chuckled a little. "So, you liked him since then?" Arrille couldn't let go of things either, but it wasn't anything like that, like crushes. He had wanted so much to have his parents back, he could never let go of that. Even if he wanted to.

"Well, I could ask him, I guess" he said, with a teasing smile. "If that's what you want."

She felt tingly and blushed under her charcoal fur, suddenly seemingly very intrigued by the border and strengthening every bit of it. 'Mean, yeah, buht I didn't know whut it was back then. She mumbled a bit, perhaps lying to herself. She knew it was something she had experienced before, with other boys her age, but Arturo's description of love didn't quite fit yet. A crush it was, back then, but now... He was pretty much all she had left besides Grimnismal now.

If ya really wanna know, I don't mind, honest. She nodded with a soft smile. She, herself, wanted to hear it as well anyway. It might just be a bit awkward for Ingram since he always seemed a little awkward with her... Had she picked up on that just now?

Arrille went to bump shoulders with Chusi, holding a smile. "Well, now that you know he likes you back...How does that make you feel? Better?" He helped strengthen the border more as she did. 

He made an 'o' face. So she didn't mind, like he thought she might. "Seems we are almost done here, right?" He hadn't even realized how much he had done. "So, what now?" he asked. He didn't want to go off elsewhere, where he would no doubt feel a bit bored alone.

Arrille asked good questions, Chusi realized. She had to take a moment to think about it. If they liked each other, why not go for it and become mates like Arturo and Lotte had done? She regretted not asking Arturo at what age she would be allowed a mate or when he had taken his first, but she digressed. Happy. She answered with a smile. 'n a bit nervous. She added, wanting to be completely honest with him.

She sighed a breath of relief, both from what he had told her and the fact they were almost done working. Now... We seek Ingram? She asked.