Ankyra Sound cover myself with the ashes of you

Thread title from: this song. :3

Having met what Vlad had named Bleckface (and that was what, not who), Njal had made his gradual departure from the collected group. He did not go far. It would take him time to adjust to this lifestyle - a lifestyle he had been born for, raised alongside, at least in his first years. It was a touch strange to him that his life would begin by the sea and end nearby it; a grim thought for the old man, to be sure. These were different waters from the seaside in Russia, and different too from the Swiftcurrent, from the lake at the base of his glacier - he followed the water like a lost man in a desert, apparently.

As Njal trailed across the sand, his listless steps gradually lessened in their frequency. When he came to a halt it was only about a half-hour's trek down the beach. He was surrounded by jutting rocks encrusted with barnacles, and watched when a prehistoric-looking bird coasted across the deeper ocean. Its silhouette drifted until it vanished in his periphery, and all that was left were the clouds - and the ache in his hip, which had effectively struck him down to linger among the sand and shells.

He turned his snout to peer after the older wolf as he took his leave from the group. Rat had been lurking on the outskirts, as was his custom, his habit, his way of being. He watched for opportunity, and as no one else seemed to be doing anything of interest to him, he soon trailed after Njal, keeping some distance between them. He thought that perhaps the other wolf might discover something to eat, and that he may be able to snag a bite for himself. Unfortunately, that did not seem to be happening.

Half an hour later found the old wolf paused to watch a bird. His own hungry eyes followed it too, drool pooling at the corner of his mouth before breaking free and falling toward the sand. But the bird left, and the old wolf did not move. With an irritated puff of air the rat also sat, his narrow head held beneath his pointed shoulders, his unblinking stare fixated on Njal.