Ankyra Sound Always had high, high hopes

Time was a trivial thing; it was a concept created by those that came long before him, and it would likely survive long after him. Aningan was not that great at keeping track of time, however—he didn’t see what made doing so, so important. But changes were noted as the days went by. The passage of time was noticed in the shift of the days, as the cold slunk away and the heat crawled in to take its place. It was noticed in the way he grew, reaching high father’s height and filling out, and how his coat did not shed its thickness the same was as those around him. The changes were small, happening gradually and therefore seeming less drastic than what they truly were, but he noticed.

In the morning hours, before the sun had a chance to really settle in the sky, Aningan made his way towards the shore. Although the sand was warm even then, he braced it and promptly took to the water, standing only as far out as to allow the remnants of waves to slide around his wrists and ankles. The scent of the salt that tickled his nose with each passing breeze was all the more intense there within the water, yet his senses did not complain; truthfully, he had grown accustomed to the sting months ago. Desensitised to the ocean as a whole, he was allowed to relax and simply enjoy the cold water, as the sun climbed higher and higher overhead.

Raleska prowled the beach, restless without her dam at the helm. She wondered when Caiaphas and Vercingetorix would return. A part of her resented her mother significantly for leaving with the man with no further protection: what if he was a dark spy, and was just waiting for a chance to get the siren queen alone so he could kill her? Caiaphas had scoffed at Raleska's needling doubts, and had left anyway.

She liked to think that despite Caiaphas being gone, she was doing alright. She checked the borders every day. She played with puppies. She hunted and ate when she could. She was hungry right now, and was trawling kelp the way Kierkegaard had shown her so many months ago. Down the coast she saw the tall form of a pale wolf -- recognizing it instantly as Aningan, Raleska made towards him curiously. They had not interacted much of late outside of communal things, so Raleska made towards the wading boy with a gentle wag of her tail.

The higher the sun climbed, the warmer and more uncomfortable he became. Although this summer was not technically his first, it was his first time experiencing the warmer months with a full coat of fur adorning his body. As he stood there, his tongue rolled out of his mouth and hung down off to the side, the occasional drop of saliva falling and joining the ocean. Maybe next summer wouldn’t be so bad, though he was sure that, just like now, he’d be wishing for the winter to make its way back home.

At first, Aningan hadn’t realise that there was someone else on the beach. It wasn’t until she joined him that he took notice to and turned to greet her, his tail swaying. “Salutitsinik,” he began, beaming; although the last time they’d been alone had resulted in a rank challenge, he had never had anything against her, nor did he currently. Yet, his smile did falter and—briefly—fall after his voice replayed through his head. “Oh, no. Uh…” he stuttered, trying to get his languages in order. “Hello.” Was that the common tongue? He watched her expectantly, searching for any signs that might suggest she understood him. Only after finding one would he let out a nervous breath and inwardly pat himself on the back (knowing multiple languages was hard sometimes).

Raleska and her author had forgotten all about that rank challenge, so thanks for the reminder! Anywayz, the swarthy Eyjolfur's expression was gentle, a rare relaxation reserved for only those packmates she had come to regard as family. Aningan had been with them since the beginning, and he, along with few others, had the rare luxury of seeing Raleska without her prickly exterior.

She didn't understand his greeting, her brow furrowed. A question lingered upon her tongue, cancelled quickly as Aningan switched to a language she understood. "Where'd you learn that?" Raleska didn't have an interest in learning, but she realized then she knew little of her packmate besides that one time he had challenged her, kek.

yes hello federal officers? i would like to report a fourth-wall-breakage plz n thx send the aliens immediately

Did he forget to blink? Maybe, maybe not, he wasn’t entirely sure. He was so focused on watching her that he didn’t remember that eyes need to stay lubricated until there was a stinging sensation in his, forcing him to close them in a seconds-long blink. Yeah, that made things better. It didn’t matter much anyway, because she didn’t respond to the greeting directly. But hey, he could still work with it! He decided that he would just keep an eye out for any signs of confusion as the conversation continued—what could possibly be a better way to figure out which language he was using? Definitely not listening to his own words, that was way too easy.

Aningan stared at her for a second before shrugging his shoulders and answering with, “Family. Old family.” He’d been surrounded by the language up until leaving the glacier. “I used to only know that,” he explained. “But then I met the uppik—owl, you’d call her—and she helped me learn this one when we were traveling. And before.” He had also heard the common language in passing and was able to use that and his friend’s teachings to gradually learn it as a whole. There were times, though, when he couldn’t match words and meanings together, but he did his best to make those moments few and far between. “Sometimes I get confused with them,” he admitted, seeing no reason to hide it; it was the truth, after all, and not something easily hid. “They’re easy to mix up.” Even though they sound absolutely nothing alike.

:/ snitches get stitches :/

While Aningan was struggling to remember to blink, Raleska was struggling to figure out what he had said before. It was garbled mumbo-jumbo, according to her face -- which dictated CLEARLY her confusion.

Then he explained it was because of -- an owl.

That didn't make it better, according to Raleska. Her eyes narrowed in disbelief, having no recollection of said owl. Really, of all things on the beach, an owl? Considering he forgot to blink and now was talking about an owl teaching him things, it was no wonder he was getting things mixed up.

Rather condescendingly, Raleska smiled that knowing smile of a caretaker caring for a doddering idiot. Wow, can't believe I was beat by this Lenny McFreakin' guy, she couldn't help but think -- what a wound to the pride there. "An owl?" She would play along. "That's so cool... where is this owl?" And on second thought, did Caiaphas know Aningan was a fruitbat??

is that a tHrEaT im gonna tattle on u

When Aningan looked at her, he didn’t see a condescending smile. All he saw was a smile, as plain and simple as that, and what he thought was a genuine interest in his companion. And while he didn’t fully understand what she meant by saying it was cool, it sounded like something positive. “Yeah, cool!” he repeated back, pretty sure he’d used the word right (couldn’t possibly go wrong by just repeating someone else, after all).

The interest shown in the owl was surprising but not unwelcome. In fact, Aningan was pretty happy about the fact that someone seemed like they actually wanted to meet her! “She should be around here,” he answered while tilting his head back to look at the sky—but she wasn’t there. He looked in several directions, a frown appearing and then gradually deepening with each clear patch of sky. “Maybe she’s sleeping… hold on!” Immediately after, he swung his head back again, only this time it was to howl for his friend. Then he waited, and waited a bit more, only to realise that she wasn’t going to show up. “Usually she’s close by,” he tried to explain. “I don’t know why she isn’t now.” That she didn’t show up was worrisome (really, though, she’s just chilling in a tree, tryna take a break from the overly happy-go-lucky dude over here).

your friend is a trashbag for overlooking this for so long
Raleska waited, in earnest, for this owl to appear. Her eyes traced the sky expectantly as Aningan howled, as if she would see this bird take wing against the cold blue sky in any moment. Yet she didn't see anything at all, and long after Aningan's howl faded, Raleska conceded to the possibility maybe the bird would not show.

Despite Aningan's lack of burdensome proof, Raleska believed him -- it was in the way he smiled back, and how he became excited; maybe this owl was shy, or sleeping like he had said. Either way Raleska gave a shrug, as if to say no big deal. "Maybe she doesn't like me." Her tone was teasing, and a spark played out in her yellow eyes.

all of which makes me anxious,
at times unbearably so.

Still, there was no sign of his friend. Growing antsy, Aningan began fidgeting uncomfortably where he stood, growing more embarrassed which each second that ticked by. Why wasn’t she appearing? At this point, he was almost certain she was sleeping—there was no other answer, no other reason for why he would be ignored like this. Thankfully, her lack of appearance did not spell for him complete disregard but, even still, he found it difficult to then joke about it; he couldn’t hear the humour in her words, his mind far too preoccupied with his inability to summon the owl, and the worry that came with that (what if she wasn’t sleeping, what if she was hurt?).

“Can you not like someone you’ve never met?” he asked, gaze snapping back to her after having drifted off to scan the skies once again. That was something else to think about—something else to worry about, actually. Did the uppik possibly not like Raleska? He didn’t want to think it true, especially since they’ve yet to meet but mostly because he didn’t want two he considered friends to not get along with one another (he was still a child at heart, always hoping for those he cared for to, in turn, care for one another).

When the uppik continued to not show up, even after being given plenty of time to do so, Aningan grew concerned. No longer worrying about whether or not Raleska was liked or disliked, he quickly dismissed himself so that he could go search for his (supposedly) missing friend.