Ankyra Sound make a den, build a fire; later, the smoke will taste like plums

Short post, buh. He's calling for @Caiaphas, but AW

He’d thinned out as his weeks as a loner, having gotten nowhere fast with Drageda. Getting too close is a dangerous game and he hasn’t figured out how to tow and he’s made no headway. Clearly whatever strategy he had up his sleeve isn’t working and his mind wanders to the witch he met some weeks ago, finding the strength of her scent nearby. With hesitation, he nears the borders of the sound—it’s almost too close to the cliffs for comfort—but keep skirts along the southern border where the forest resides, keeping his distance from the northern end.

After a while, hovering outside the end of the tree-line, the boy lifts his nose and calls for her.

a howl she wasn't expecting filtered through the forest -- from her vantage in the grotto, she could only just make out it. she took her time uprooting the youths from her flank -- and after securing they were at least accounted for by lycaon and kierkegaard, strode stiffly up to the surface.

as she picked her way through the southern perimeter of the forest she moved in the manner an old sow would -- her joints tired, her expression fatigued -- when her lamplight gaze came across a familiar figure she stopped, tail held outright and muzzle bent in a scowl. "what do you want?" she asked him, suspicious yet curious to find out why he had dredged her from her preferred deeps.

It takes a while for the call to be answered and he quietly paces around the general area, wondering if he’d made a mistake. The weakness in borders causes him to wonder if they’d moved on, or if Drageda had come down on him, but there’d been fresh markings every so often during his travel.

When she does emerge, her turns at the sound, ears cupped forward to see the same grumpy face he’d been met with. A smirk forms upon his features and he shifts his posture, only slightly, to stand down to her presence. She doesn’t hold herself much different than before but… there’s something. Dark eyes narrow and he slinks forward but does not come too close. The smell of milk and stale breath comes across to him and his brows lift, questioningly.

“Whatever you want,” he says, flicking his tongue against his teeth. “You.”

he seemed almost snakelike as she came across him; cream and pale and forked of tongue. he was subservient, but she did not trust him. her gaze narrowed and to test her limits, she stepped forward authoritatively -- her tail hooked over her thin, motherborne haunches and her ears erect. so he wanted her. get in line, she thought with a scoff.

only, the strangeness of his bald answer caused a shift in her. she studied his face openly for any deceit or guile. surely, there was something else. whatever she wanted was a terrible thing -- would he truly be able to excise such commands? "did i leave that much of an impression?" she asked almost coyly -- except for the fact she was too harrow-faced and wizened to be coquettish.

She offers authority and where he might not usually give what they want, he’s compelled to lower his larger form. It’s awkward and he doesn’t like it, but he has a need that only she can give him. His tail hangs low between his legs and ears relaxed upon his head. When she speaks, he looks up, unable to tear away from her hardened expression.

“Mhm,” he offers her with a flick of his tongue across his teeth. “I think you’d benefit from me,” he says with a point upward, angled toward the cliffs. Her looks hadn’t gone unnoticed before but now he needs to act, and this is his only shot at success when his death is written in the stars should he go at it alone. "My loyalty is not with them."

caiaphas followed his gaze upward, but when she looked back there was no warmth in her sharp yellow eyes. if he was so willing, she assumed, to throw them under -- who was to say grimnismal would not experience the same fate? the possibility did not elude her, and she studied him with a long, cold stare.

"who's to say it is with us?" she queried, a lash of her tail given as she waited his answer. it would have to be a good one -- with whelps at her side, caiaphas could take no chances with strangers.

She takes the bait and turns to follow his gaze, but he’s brought back to watch her as she considers his words. The weight of her judgment remains heavy in her eyes and he keeps from making contact but they are where he can still read her. A pack and regular meals might give him the edge he needs for his purpose, searching out to rescue his mother from them, but he needs to lay some trust somewhere. His knowledge of Drageda may not be much but maybe it is enough to win her favor.

”Who’s to say it’s not?” he dares. ”But I hardly believe you’ll stand a chance against an army,” he suggests with a roll of a shoulder. They’d won a war, at least, and maybe most of them are children, but what do they know?

she kept her gaze iron-fisted and cold upon sirio; his knowledge of the war that raged in blackfeather -- a surprise to her -- did not have any affect on the sterness of her gaze. she heaved a sigh, feeling resentful of her newfound eminence. sirio's knowledge of their proposed enemy would have to be tested another time -- she could not afford to appear too eager to learn of his secrets -- lest he think himself far more valuable than he was.

the waif readied herself to leave, cutting him one last glance before she spoke. "i've stood against plenty of armies." she replied clinically, if a bit cryptically -- "but if you want to prove your worth, you'll have to try a lot harder than that. i'll let you figure out how."

whatever she meant, it was impossible to scrutinize from her gaze -- and she did not wait for a response before she turned her back boldly to him and stalked for the grotto's heart.

She speaks of her foes and he is not surprised. Of course she has. Her history is written clearly across her face and he has yet to translate each memory laced across her form. But she takes his bait, whether or not she needs it—of course she does—and Sirio watches as she gives him the chance to prove his worth. She is quick to turn before he can even open his mouth to say anything, watching her disappear back into the depths. Did she seem a little shaken? He narrows her eyes when she is lost from sight, waiting a little while longer before he takes the final steps of his acceptance into Grimnismal.