Ankyra Sound there's a place I have dreamed of

She darted between the sequoias, ears pressed forward and tail swinging uncertainly at her hocks. The sky overhead was overcast and dark, evening setting in earlier than she'd expected, while the brisk coastal wind buffed her fur. She felt dwarfed alongside the monoliths, gaze darting up the trunks of the largest, and skimming along those of the fallen. The sky promised a storm, and already flurries had begun to fall. Yet it was not this that had the girl's tail flick with agitation; rather, it was the thick wolfscent that served to block her access to the beach she'd visited not a month prior. 

She knew truly that the little, magical place was taken when she came across the border, pausing a few week back as she tried, to no avail, to catch a glimpse of the surf she could dimly hear. Disappointment swirled in her chest as she paused, not quite ready to turn around and walk back the way she'd come. There was nowhere to find the little glass pieces in the packlands, and she'd grown to love her little collection dearly.

he’d been milling along the salals when a stirring in the treeline bid lycaon’s attention. he snuffed the air—a windrow of gusting rime carrying with it the fresh and alarming message on its spurs of a strange wolf in the area, and in the compromising situation of nearly ontruding their borders. lycaon sotpped in his tracks, spine piloerecting, and began prowling instep with the mincing footfalls that crunched amidst the woodlot.  

rustic in his approach to dealing with transients, the beta did not come upon the Drageda wolf brandishing cuspids just yet. instead, he enlisted a less…deleterious technique. arriving a short distance sidelong of her, he regarded the pallid female with tired scrutiny and issued a tactless demand. ”hey. you. blue-eyes-nose-blind. beat it”, with a directive thrust of his head.

There was a flash of movement, a crunch of snow, and the girl took a quick step back, ensuring there was ample room between herself and the border. Still, she didn't turn tail and slip away; surely that would be regarded as suspicious, and the wolves here were strange; she did not know their intent. A moment longer did she track the movement through the massive trunks as the pale form approached, optics tracing the sterling form as he pulled up sidelong of her, ears flicking back and tail waving at her hocks in appeasement. 

Still, his message was blunt, and she took a careful step back. But! She could not quite step away so easily, and a moment later came her own voice, tepidly questioning. "who are you? this pack was not here very long, was it?" Besides, she was not nose-blind, and the mild annoyance she felt at the label gave her the gall to question the man.

when the silver-limned girl didn’t immediately abide by his orders to leave, the freshly-decreed beta didn’t really know how to react next. Dalia didn’t even seem to realize she was enroaching on their territory, and instead of graciously absenting herself from the area, merely pulled back and began pressing him for answers to questions he wasn’t really sure he was allowed (or prepared) to answer. ”uh.. wuh… we come and go…” his jaw slackened ineptly, eyes drifting between her and the strand—where was Wylla when you needed her? he leveled his gaze back at her with a defensive glower. ”who are you? do you make a habit of sticking your nose where it doesn't belong or is this just a special occasion?” he countered pointedly.