Blackbeak Bluff Red is such a lovely colour on you but you won't be needing those

Set sometime before this.

"No," grunted a grizzled brown lump from the shadow of a tree. Lucas, suspended with his forepaws on the ground and his pudgy hindquarters held precariously aloft, lifted his head, lost his balance and somersaulted onto his broad shoulders. "Ow!" squeaked the fat pup while he writhed on the ground, drowning out the sound of a cackle and a cough from the shade. The kid was something else. Not entirely hopeless, thought the old wolf, but maybe a little too fat. "You gotta keep your back straighter," he commanded, then snorted. "Maybe lay off the rabbit thighs too..."

The crash of a restless sea against sheer rock wasn't so different from the old man's coughing, Lucas thought as he gazed out across the deep blue. White caps were plentiful on the ocean today, but he didn't know the meaning of that. He wasn't a sea wolf and hadn't been raised to read the waves like one. He understood the biting wind that blew in with the waves well enough, though, and knew that there would be a storm later.

Turbulent weather brought the sea birds out to play, and it was ultimately these that ushered Lucas away from the cliff. He hadn't known a bird to dive bomb a wolf before, but within minutes there were three seagulls wheeling overhead, taking turns at dipping low to nip his shoulders and his ears. The first one earned a chuckle, the second one a quiet growl, and the third a part-play-part-warning snap of his heavy jaws. The gulls were as nimble as ever a bird could be, evading him easily. With an amused snort, the piebald juvenile—or toasty bread roll from a bird's eye perspective—heeded them and shuffled away from the edge, followed by three pairs of wings squabbling over who would get to feast on his considerable buns.

despite her 'near death experience' /because like why not make your life as dramatic as possible/ where she'd come close to stepping right off the edge of the cliff during a particularly stormy night- ali found herself continuously drawn to the exact spot she'd cursed not too long ago. she couldn't exactly place what it was about the place but fuck it made her feel high as a kite up here, adrenaline soaring giddily whenever she stood close to the edge. crashing waves far below leaving her dizzy at the power they had to leave such an affect on her even from such a distance. she really couldn't bring herself to leave the sea behind- feeling a connection to it since stumbling across it. the sea was hers and hers only, something no one of her past life could relate to. she grins ecstatically, tail waving from side to side as she stretches her head high to let the rough breeze try desperately to push her back to a safer vantage point. a giggle slips from her jaws as she leans slightly into it- claws gripping at the soft earth marking the end of the fucking world. imagine getting to stand on the edge of the earth!

a noise catches her attention, just about reaching creamy ears across the sound of both the crashing waves and howling breezes as they dance together. curiosity instantly catches a hold of her and she moves alongside the drop, teal eyes bright with amusement at what she finds. the boy seems to be falling victim to the sea bird's games and ali watches the situation play out for a few moments, grinning as they continued to test his patience. she loved the bold antics of the birds around here, enjoying nothing more than racing and jumping at the winged creatures. she trots over, not even attempting to hide the amusement gleaming in shiny orbs as she glances from the wolf to its tormentors. "you just gotta show them who's boss" she announces with a grin. built nimble but long limbed she takes a small sprint into quite the impressive leap as she snaps her jaws at the air where the birds had been floating lazily beforehand. of course they evade her easily but not without an annoyed squack and they definitely remain higher than before. she smirks slightly then, awaiting a reaction to what she'd call quite an amazing stunt.

She came out of nowhere from his perspective, arcing gracefully through the air just in front of him with a coy smirk as he turned back to nip at a passing gull's leg. The boy's pale eyes widened as Ali touched down, scattering the winged vermin higher into the sky. "Woah," he couldn't help exclaiming even as the corners of his lips reached up toward his eyes. Amazing!

Truth be told, the gulls and their antics didn't bother him so much. Their nipping hurt a little, but Lucas had a good tolerance for pain and had endured worse in training with the troupe. Even still, their insistence was annoying, and Ali so expertly sending them out of reach and wary was nothing short of impressive. "That was a crazy jump!" he blurted, swinging his puffy tail with interest as he padded a few steps closer. "Where'd you learn to do that?"

Maybe she'd been part of a circus too and somehow knew where his troupe had got to.

she stands tall, head held high with unhidden pride at his exclamation, damn right 'woah'. her smirk widens at his own mouth's gleeful uptilt and her golden tail swishes from side to side across the long grasses. he moves closer, continuing to stroke ali's pride at which she laughs- tilting her head to the side as she leans back onto her haunches in one fluid movement. she really didn't exactly mean to come across as cocky as she did, she simply knew no better. she'd been a "princess" after all, she was quite used to basking in praise. 

when he asks where she'd learnt that she hesitates. well where did you learn that? her brows furrow thoughtfully in response to her own question, she hated to admit it but she supposed most to all her training had been from either her parents on their most trusted trainers. nevertheless they hadn't exactly taught her enough, not wanting to hurt her or blah blah. in fact really she usually just got lectures for behaving one way or another. in the end she merely shrugs. "guess i just taught myself, i've always enjoyed running and jumping" 'perhaps enjoying 'running' a little too much' comes the unwelcome thought but she pushes it away, resisting the urge to let out a low fuck off because well, she didn't want him thinking she was crazy.

she shakes her head slightly- shoving her focus onto the boy before her as she lets a smile return to her features- pearly fangs shining in the light. "i'm ali by the way, who are you?"

Ali's explanation was short and simple and Lucas accepted it without question. After all, he was a good dancer and he'd learned that in much the same way. No one had ever shown him. He just always had a song in his heart and his feet needed to move to that beat, and that was how it all began. The kinship he felt with Ali in that moment was indescribable.

"Well, it was an awesome jump," he said again, turning away suddenly when a brazen gull took another swoop at his ear. A huge grin accompanied the playful snap he sent in its direction, and the fluid swing of his tail suggested he wasn't so much bothered as amused by their presence. Eventually it would get annoying, but he had decent company now and their antics weren't yet too much for him.

"Oh! My name's Lucas," he introduced as he pulled back around to face Ali with his typical sunny smile. "Are you from around here? I'm sort of passing through. Lost my troupe in a storm, was hoping they maybe came this way, but no sign of them."

the smirk grows more genuine so that it'd be better described as a grin as the young male compliments her once more. it's one thing she can definitely never get enough of but she remembers her manners enough to chirp out a "thank you!" in reponse, tail continuing to wag from side to side- cutting through the strong breezes. she's glad to see that his dives at the birds are good natured, so many grumpy wolves simply seemed pissed off by their antics when they just wanted to have fun!

she notices the cockier of the bunch dip lower again and pretends not to see, shining eyes remaining focused on the boy until she hears the rustle of feathers and twists to jump where she'd predicted the bird would keep dropping to and sure enough her paw misses it by mere centimetres as she falls perhaps not as gracefully as before since the idea of showing off wasn't as dominant as the actual fun of it. she laughs as she falls back down and the bird moves higher but still remains closer than the rest. "that ones the cockiest" she muses, teal eyes bright with mirth as she now returns her attention to her company. 

he introduces himself as lucas and she returns his smile without hesitation. so far any wolves she'd met by the sea had been so much more outgoing than the uptight wolves from home and she loved it. her expression grows more serious in the form of open curiosity at what he says next. "i'm actually new enough around here, got sick of my old life so decided i'd start fresh and then just couldn't leave the sea upon finding it" her head tilts to the side as she presses on to the part that had actually gotten her curious. "what's a...troupe?" she asks, having absolutely never heard of such a word. was it just a fancy name for a pack? ooh or was it something much more exciting, that'd be great.

then realising a lot later than she should've that he'd basically told her he was lost she forces her expression to grow softer /or well she hoped it looked like that, being sympathetic wasn't really her strong point/. "i'm sure you'll find them anyway" she tries awkwardly, that's the kind of thing you said in a situation like this right? she continues to smile nevertheless, however it was perhaps gentler than before.

Ali's next move brought her within an inch of the seagull, sending it winging up to join its circling comrades. Impressed, the piebald youth plopped his wide rear end down and panted up at the birds. He thought with practice he could be that nimble, but his bulk was difficult to coax into a jump on the best of days and he didn't know how she predicted where it would fly. He guessed that with that kind of skill, Ali was an extraordinary hunter too, something he never quite got the hang of enough to do more but just survive.

"If I had wings," he observed, "I'd probably be cocky too. You could just fly away from anything!" That was quite the notion. Shedding his worldly limits and taking to the skies was a private pipe dream of Lucas', though he knew the futility of it. He sometimes dreamt about it, and figured that was the closest he would ever get to the sensation.

"Oh, they're my circus group! We're like performers. I was their dancer!" He did a little wolfish pirouette as if to demonstrate, then fixed Ali with an expression that was ever so slightly more grave. "That's all right though. They'll be okay. I lost my family once too but there's a lot of them so they're probably fine too." If he was overly bothered by his present circumstances, it didn't show. He lived entirely in the present and didn't dwell enough to be upset. "I like it here, too," he agreed then, squinting into the sun momentarily. "It's warmer here than where I was before even though the weather's getting cold, and the big water is beautiful."

Like an afterthought, he went on, "so did you find a pack near the ocean then so you can stay here, or still looking?"

with his mention of having wings ali finds herself gazing wistfully up at the high flying birds as they swoop and circle overhead. what must it be like to have that kind of freedom? to be able to shed your worries and just take to the endless sky. a life without limits...she relishes in the idea of it for a few moments before letting her gaze drop back to reality. a strange restlessness comes over at her- seemingly triggered by that statement alone and even looking out to the crashing sea stretching off into the distance did little to help. in fact if anything it just made her feel more trapped on this little piece of land. of course little was quite the exageration but at that moment she felt oddly trapped even if she'd done all she had needed to shed her ties. a small frown creases her features, brows furrowed in thought as she simply murmurs. "do you ever feel like i dunno...trapped?" she grasps for the right way of wording it but comes back empty handed- gaze still fixed on the see as she sighs frustratedly and turns back. "nevermind i've no clue what the fuck i'm on about, not usually one for the deep thinking" kind of a lie but that's besides the point.

she lightens up again at his next words- putting all her focus on him and him alone as he speaks. "a circus? performers? dancers?" each word sounds crazier than the last and yet oddly fantastic and she finds herself giggling away at his own little demonstration afterwards. "i've never heard of a circus before but definitely sounds fucking savage" a bit odd too perhaps but she wasn't gonna say that and hey, the coolness outweighed the oddity in her opinion. her head tilts to the side as he continues, eyes shining seriously at what he says. "i don't care how they feel though like what about you? are you okay without them?​" perhaps not the best way of wording it but believe it or not this was good for her.

she'd roll her shoulders back, shifting her position on the damp grass slightly as she blinked thoughtfully for a few moments. "i left my family" she said after a few moments of deciding wether to mention it or not. her slim shoulders lift in a shrug as she continues "no big deal though, if they care it'll just be because they'll be annoyed they wasted so much time on me" she wasn't looking for pity, in reality she really didn't miss her parents in the slightest and she was being unfair with what she said. somewhere deep down she knew her parents had cared in their odd way and probably did miss her, but sure fuck it they had it coming the second they tried to force her to be someone she wasn't. 

a pack? his next words are...interesting. she hadn't even thought about packs, still being very set on the whole 'i can look after myself you can all fuck off' attitude but it was getting so damn cold and that was making the whole experience a lot less fun. "i wasn't really looking" she admits "but maybe i should be i dunno, i met a girl that was from a pack that must be somewhere around here because she still smelt like the sea too" dammit she should've found out more about her pack when she could've! she eyes the boy again as she asks "what about you?"

she likes him, a simple line maybe but coming from her who tended to judge everyone it was quite the compliment.

Lucas fixed Ali with a pensive look when she murmured her question, but she backtracked and dismissed her own brief thought too quickly for him to formulate an adequate response. It would have been a disappointing one; Lucas believed that the world was infinitely large and went on so far that he couldn't possibly walk across it in his lifetime. There was a yearning in his legs to attempt it, but that idea scared him in a deep and primal way, much like Ali was bothered by the notion of being stuck on the earth. The open endlessness of the world was fathomless and that made his mind spin.

So he didn't answer but his mouth grew dry as he thought on it, and he was glad for the change of subject as well. His tail resumed a beating wag with every exclamation relating to his life with the troupe and he chuckled along with her. "They're not savage, silly!" (Slang was rather lost on an innocent cherub like him, it seemed.) "They're great wolves, love making others laugh." You know. Great wolves minus the bit about tricking and hornswoggling young, gullible little pups into joining them, then trekking them out so far that they didn't know how to get back home and had to stay. In Lucas' case it had been fun enough that he simply overlooked how bad it really was.

"Oh, well, I miss them all but I'll always love them from wherever I am, so it's fine," Lucas answered, which was rather different than Ali's situation, as she revealed. He dispensed with the urge to point out that being untethered was fun in its own way; surely she was aware, or she might not have left her family to begin with. "I'm sure they miss you though," he consoled, although it didn't seem all too promising. She left for a reason, after all, one that likely didn't involve being kidnapped from the sounds of it. She seemed to speak similarly of a pack—not something she was occupied with at the moment. Noncommittal, he concluded. That wasn't a bad thing though, not to Luc.

"Sounds like you're just a free spirit. Me too—gotta do your own thing, you know? It's your life, gotta enjoy it to its fullest while you got it." That sort of carefree attitude ran in his blood. One could call it selfish. Lucas called it self-fulfilling. Pulling a contemplative breath through his nostrils, the boy gazed out across the horizon and then rolled his burly shoulders. "I plan to look for my troupe a bit longer but I dunno where I'll end up if I don't find them. But wherever it is, I'll make sure to have fun with it!" Licking his lips and cracking a grin, he wondered, "did you like hanging out with that girl? If so, maybe you'd like her pack. Like wolves stick together, I think."

ahh this was so cute to type<3

she's fixed with quite the unfittingly serious stare from the boy for a few uneasy moments but lets relief wash over her when he lets her spoken thought slip past without dwelling on it. serious talk and expressing her emotions and all that blah blah shit had most definitely never been a strong point of ali's so whenever she accidentally came out with something that could potentially have some sort of deeper meaning she was quick to backtrack and move back to more light hearted conversing. 

the brief awkward moment of trying to even just imagine something so much larger than the mind could cope with that left you with an odd kind of inner ache was quickly abandoned by the two in a silent type of mutual agreement as normality was restored in the mere resumed wagging of his tail. she'd follow up by allowing her own gold streaked tail to swish from side to side as teal eyes lit up with pure amusement when he claimed she was silly for suggesting they were savage. why was she not even surprised that he'd taken that so literally and she lifts her head to gaze up at the seagulls circling around each other at a much higher distance now, smirk curling across her features as she held in the urge to snort. that could definitely provide some further amusement in the future if she delved into her rather large collection of sarcasm and slang-like comments. perhaps it seemed maybe a bit mean to straight away want to take advantage of his cluelessness but it was actually intended in the most good-natured way it could be. which is why she didn't correct his interpreatation of her words and simply let her eyes fall back down to rest on his- smile still lingering all the same.

"well i can see why you fit in with them so" she murmured, eyes almost uncharacteristically soft. it wasn't like it wasn't true, he had made her laugh more than once since meeting and she didn't feel the worry of him taking a compliment too seriously. she hated it when others would instantly cling to any 'nice' thing she said, it wasn't that big a deal like. she watches on curiously as he comes out with another sentence that would've left her cringing for days had it been anyone else but he just said it so matter of factly that made it oddly okay. and damn how the hell was he so optimistic? she was surprised to realise she actually envied his optimistic albeit naive view on the world. she shrugs at what he says next "maybe, doesn't matter much now though" she doesn't want to go into it so it's left at that. frankly she simply doesn't care if they miss her. this was her life now, gotta just keep looking forward.

free spirit, she smiles vaguely at that description. she likes it, because it's true isn't it? most would take her inability to remain fixed to one set of people as a negative trait but of course he managed to make it into something good. she's feeling increasingly optimistic in his presence and so she nods at what he says. "i guess i did like her, maybe you're right...joining a pack isn't that big a deal i guess like if i decide i don't like it i can always leave....i gotta be more carefree" the smile remains as she tries to grab onto his attitude. her head tilts as she fixes him with the rarest ever warm stare. "you know lucas you're actually probably wiser than most the other idiots out there who think they know everything- don't let anyone try to convince you otherwise" she's completely shocked by the protectiveness she feels towards the boy, the thought of someone trying to stamp out his flame makes her proper angry.

He grinned sheepishly when she complimented him. He guessed he wasn't used to getting too many of those. The troupe had been hard on Lucas more than they had praised him, but he knew they were doing it in his best interest. It wouldn't do if he only found meaning in the praise and approval of others—as a performer, sometimes you couldn't please your crowd. Sometimes you endured criticism. Lucas had learned to self-regulate his emotions so that he didn't need anyone else's praise or approval. He could find it within himself.

That didn't mean he didn't like praise when it happened, though, as evidenced by the pleased expression on his face. Ali went on to speak of joining the pack where her friend was and being more carefree, and he bobbed his head in agreement. There was no point being or staying anywhere if it wasn't enjoyable. That was Lucas' philosophy, anyway. It was ultimately the reason why, had he known they were close by, Lucas still would have gone looking for his troupe over his own family. He loved and missed them dearly, but he enjoyed being with the troupe more.

"You can always leave," he agreed, "but you'll never know until you try! I think you should go find her and see what her pack's all about. Maybe they're really cool and you'll find somewhere that fits you forever. Maybe they're psychos and then you can just take off again, like you said." Loyalty, according to Lucas, was conditional on whether or not you were having a good time giving it. That wasn't how most wolves operated, in fact it was a perspective that was likely to get him into trouble in the future, but that was how he saw it. He didn't know to what lengths some would go to ensure the loyalty of their followers—he didn't know you could die for such a thing. She called him wise and his face blossomed into a huge, bashful smile. He didn't think he was, but it was nice to hear someone else say it.

"Don't worry," he said with a boyish wink. "I won't change for anything." Taking a deep breath and flicking his gaze back up to the gulls, he smiled and said, "well, I better keep looking for my troupe. Who knows how far they've gone. And you better go and find your friend and ask about her pack, if that's what's calling to you." He wouldn't have minded her tagging along with him to meet the troupe, maybe join them with her spectacular leaping skill, but it sounded like her life was bound to a different path. "I hope we can cross paths in the future," he said, bright eyes twinkling, "and compare how we got on."

her expression remains openly happy, teal gaze shifting to where the earth dropped away and from here she could just about see that intriguing little band where water met sky and what? no one knew what happened beyond there. she glances back as the boy continues to grin at her little compliment and she rolls her eyes but the smile remaining upon her lips gives away the true good natured side of it.

a little noise of amusement slips from her when he continues on with his concept about her joining a pack. however laugh as she may it wasn't like he wasn't right, for all she knew they could be raging psychos. strangely this leaves her more amused than scared whilst the whole 'finding her somewhere that fits her forever' makes her stomach twist strangely. it's ignored however, and she simply nods in agreement for the sake of it being easier. no way was she gonna continue whining about something he obviously couldn't actually do anything about. wasn't like he could reach in a paw and fix up her brain- now that'd be handy. "we'll just have to see what happens" she murmurs softly, eyes shifting once again to the birds that littered the sky- completely focused on themselves now as the wolves below had obviously lost any interesting qualities. 

a smile creeps back along her jaws having faltered earlier when she looks back to once again be met by his pleased look- heck giving compliments was way harder than recieving them and if he was someone she'd known longer she'd be giving him a little shove on the shoulder and telling him to 'quit that'. however she simply endured it until he spoke up again, arching an amused brow at the wink thrown in there too. "well good" she laughs softly, stretching out her already restless limbs as he looks away. just as she readies herself to say something in the form of a farewell he gets there first and she continues to smile as she nods. "we'll see what happens and good luck finding your troupe, if i bump into any wolves that look like they could be performers i'll send them your way" her tail wags as she begins to step away "it will definitely be interesting to hear how much things have changed, safe travels lucas" with her own little wink thrown his way the golden girl turns and moves off, feeling slightly less lost than before.