Stavanger Bay schema

The aftermath of Rannoch’s baptism had gotten to him. Unlike hours before when he stood solidly, he now was splayed in the mouth of Skelliege’s den with his turquoise eyes cast to sea. Upon being taken to the den, Rannoch had easily fallen asleep as his body attempted to recover from the past few days.

Now that Rannoch was awake, he was unsure of just what to do. He had no idea where he was, who had taken him, or much about the pack that he was now a member of. Though he longed to just get up and run that was currently not in the picture. His limbs were sore and his head still throbbed and even he knew that these conditions were not favorable for traveling for long distances.

So, instead, his eyes lingered on the watery surface beyond as the weight of the situation truly began to settle onto his broad shoulders.

Having been a little reserved in the last week or so, since her drop, she finally begun to feel the need to get her legs moving. Things were changing around her that she didn't necessarily understand, especially with Amayo, and as much as she wanted to find the answers, she had to find the words first. She'd easily fallen back into silence, however still answering to calls as needed.

Most of the day had been spent within earshot of her den but as the day began to end, the night creeping up away from the shore, she finds herself farther than she'd intended. The sound of the waves keep her from approaching any closer, even if the daylight is going in that direction, but she knows she's far from ready... though for what, she has yet to figure out.

Something catches her attention and she swings her head, realizing she's somewhere she's never been, but the sight of another has her rooted in place. Qilaq clears her throat quietly as she begins her approach. The scent of the den is only vaguely familiar by a scent she can't pin a face to anymore but the most prominent one is one she definitely doesn't know. And, with only a little hesitation, she begins her strut to the mouth of the cave to find who the scent belongs to.

It took Rannoch quite some time to realize that another was approaching and when he did he quickly flattened his ears and bore his teeth to her. For the slightest second, when he had first caught sight of her, Rannoch thought it had been Lucy and his heart had skipped a beat. But her familiar sky-like eyes were nowhere to be see.

He offered a low growl towards the other and a frown that seemed to suggest that he was not in the mood for dealing with anybody else. But, despite his hints, he offered one more: “What do you want?” There was nothing inviting about his tone.

Whatever she expects from the little wolf, she isn’t sure, but it’s not what she gets. Her grey eyes widen, ears falling back upon her head, and she automatically lowers herself closer than she already is to the ground. Her experience with wolves her own age is limited, Doe giving her the most she can in order to make up what she lacks in siblings, and the young girl from the den night a few weeks ago had been such little interaction. He is bigger than her, which doesn’t surprise her, and so she whines in lieu of answering the question.

She doesn’t know what she wants but he’d looked so tired and sad, as she once felt, but how to approach it remains completely lost on the girl. Her tail thumps against the ground a few times and her chin rests upon the sandy soil, hoping he may just be scared upon her approach.

His question was met with a whine. He watched on carefully, his attention peaking as he looked on to the other with his ocean-like eyes. Before his capturing he had never been one to not welcome a fellow packmate, but things had changed drastically for him. Mostly, it was his outlook that had changed. Her no longer trusted his fellow wolf as he once had.

He did not offer the other any more words and instead pushed his ears forward and slowly came to a stand, as if he were asserting himself. His tail lifted and his fangs bore as he looked as intimidating as he could to the other, hoping she would get the hint and scram.

The other straightens himself out, making himself look bigger and her ears remain glued to the back of her head. Everything became overwhelming very suddenly for the girl and she slowly shifts her back legs to kick out to one side and the rest of her begins the roll over. The scent of the den, the one that is family everywhere she's been with no face to put to it, only fools her into thinking who she is submitting to. Her grey eyes stare at the teeth he reveals and her tai nervously beats between her legs as she opens herself up for exposure.

As the child fully submitted herself, Rannoch took a step forward so that he could look over her. Looking down to her, the Benthos pressed his plush ears forward as he looked at her with a hardened gaze. “Now,” he growled, his tail offering a strict wave behind him as he remained in place. “What do you want?”

He doesn't ease up much, even as she shrinks herself. Her eyes follow him when he approaches and she's clenched with the idea to close herself off. The longer she prolongs the vulnerability, the more wrong it feels, but eventually he makes his demand by only repeating the same thing he'd asked when she'd first arrived. The girl stares up at him, quickly shaking her head to answer.

Doe had worried about her daughter ever since the Drop. She hadn't seen much of the girl recently and it bothered her quite a bit. Had she realized yet that Doe was pregnant? Did she even know what that was? Doe realized that she'd been neglecting her foster daughter. She'd allowed the girl's silence to fuel her own silence instead of pushing past that and teaching her what she needed to know.

That would change now, and the first thing Doe needed to tell her daughter was that she loved her, and would continue to love her after she bore Szymon their brood.

But when she reached the end of the girl's scent trail, all such thoughts seemed to flee. Her lips peeled back in a silent snarl as she took in the sight of the younger, newer pup menacing at her girl.

Words were not what she wanted between herself and the insolent creature, but he stank of Skellige, and so Doe would limit herself.

"Why are you mistreating my girl?" she asked icily, stepping over and past her daughter to bear down on the greyscale twerp.

Suddenly, there was another amongst the mix. She swept in like a tidal wave and overcame him easily. But, despite this, the Benthos’ stance did not waver. Despite his hatred for the dark leader, he knew that there were some advantages of being in his graces.

“I am not mistreating her,” he replied steadily as he turned his attention to the cowering child. “She did not answer my inquiry of what she was doing so close to our Leviathan's den and so I was attempting to get some sort of answer out of her.” he turned his gaze back to doe, his eyes burning. “Just as you are doing to me.”

Qilaq stares at him for a long moment, uncertain how to answer the question he's asked her. Her silence hadn't been enough and if she can remember how to move, she'll squirm her way out from beneath him and run but her body doesn't obey. She remains frozen, looking upon his angry face as she begins to recognize what she's looking at. Certain curves of his face, the immaturity, words she can't put into place but the recognition that it is not an adult above her. Her ears splay heavily against her head, only more confused that he is angry at her in the first place but she does not yet voice her worry.

Whatever attempt is made is cut short and quickly Doe stands between her and the boy, straddling part of her for only a few seconds. She squirms and shuffles back, righting herself once more but her belly still touches the ground as she lay in wait.

Doe's eyes narrowed further as the smarmy little thing spoke, refusing to cow to her bullying, as Qilaq had done to his. The dusky woman held back a derisive snort and remained silent until the end of his little excuse. I do not want answers, she thought to herself - I want blood. But this little wolf belonged to Skellige, now, and she would no sooner harm him than she would steal from master, or lounge about in his private den.

Still, the boy's audacity angered her. Doe let out a huffy sigh and settled her rump down in the sand to keep herself from harming the child. Sulphurous eyes raked over his smaller frame, commiting it to memory and seeking truth his words could not provide. When she saw that he was still young - younger than Qilaq, even - her gaze softened somewhat.

"You are the outsider, here," she said delicately, lying down on her bulging belly and fixing the boy with a firm look that was not quite a glare. "And you were very rude to my girl. She has as much a right to be here in the territory as you do."

Finally, her gaze flicked back to the girl in question. Another spike of anger surged through her as she remembered how pitiful the girl had looked, cowering beneath the overgrown puppy, but there was nothing to be done.

"What are you called?" she asked suddenly, turning her eyes back to the boy.

It was as Doe examined Rannoch that he mirrored her actions, looking about her body carefully as he took her in. Soon enough he caught the delicate curve of her stomach and his curiosity heightened. He had never been around a pregnant woman and did not know where children had come from-- Eshe hadn’t quite gotten to that lesson. But, regardless of his curiousity, he did not press on the matter of her belly and instead looked back to her face as she softened. In turn to this, he lessened up on his own posture.  

As she spoke, Rannoch could feel a wave of guilt wash over him as Doe explained her perspective of the situation. His face fell and his ears flattened and he shuffled uneasily. He knew his mother would have been so disappointed in him-- for being so rude! Eshe didn’t raise rude boys! She raised gentlemen! Looking to both wolves, he offered a quiet, “Sorry”.

To Doe’s next question, Rannoch replied quickly as his guilt lingered.

“I’m Rannoch.”

Qilaq watches as Amayo settles down into a sitting position. Her front legs move to do something similar but she stills them before it's too obvious and she keeps herself planted in her spot. It isn't long, though, that she's lowering herself all the way to the ground and she wiggles her little body. It is not as tall, yet, nor as wide, but the fact Amayo copied her puts a weird little smile on her muzzle. Qilaq dips her nose between her paws suddenly to hide the expression, flicking her eyes upward as the boy speaks this time. With her features fallen, she rests her head on her paws and simply watches the interaction.

Pleased by his show of remorse - which Doe (in her infinite narcissim) took as deference - the woman relented and turned her attentions away from the boy's transgressions. She accepted his apology with a tacit nod and his name with a quirked lip. Rannoch.

"Doe," she replied, searching his youthful features as she went on. "Beta and den mother of the Depths."

She studied him a moment longer, but there seemed to be nothing to gain by either kindness nor menace.

"I think that Qilaq is the one that deserves your apologies," she said delicately, rising with no little amount of difficulty. If the pups did not come out of her soon, Doe was afraid she'd be bedridden before too long. However, that was a concern for another day, and for the time being, she was able to amble away from the pair.

Doe out.

Just as quickly as Doe had come upon the scene, she made her exit. But this exit had not been made without presenting her own name and title. He felt himself shrink lower to the ground at her title, feeling all the more ashamed in his actions. Not only had he been able to piss off this wolf’s mother-- he just happened to piss off the pack’s beta. His frown deepened as he watched her walk off momentarily before turning to the crouched wolf that he had so easily scared.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured honestly, his ears flattening as he looked to the child. He wasn’t sure what else to say now that he had scared her so.

Qilaq’s attention remains solely on Doe while she speaks, introducing herself and offering her thoughts on the situation. It leaves the girl unsure of the situation for Amayo picks herself up and leaves them behind. She doesn’t call or nudge her to follow and the girl turns her head, watching as her mother disappears. It is her hope that she would not leave her with someone that would harm her and so, slowly, she turns her silvery gaze back toward the puppy. Her lips twist a little and she lowers her nose to her front feet, wishing to bury her face and the rest of her body to hide, but she keeps still, hovering instead. The apology is spoken and Qilaq swallows a lump in her throat and, this time, she nods her head as if to dismiss the concern.

A sense of awkwardness settled upon him as he looked to the silent girl, a frown forming on his lips as he watched her tuck herself closer to the ground. He felt bad for how he had treated her and knew that he had to make it up somehow. His ears flattened as he managed to utter out his condolences once again, “Really, I’m sorry how I treated you, Qilaq.” he offered, his tone gentle, unsure of what else to do at that moment.

He says it again and Qilaq briefly shows her teeth in a grin hoping it may please him enough. Her body wiggles and her tail wags, but still she doesn't speak or get up from her spot. Amayo had left a few moments prior and perhaps she will return again as if she'd been forgotten. Her head turns the way she'd gone but she has long since disappeared from view. Instead of waiting any longer, she glances once back to the boy before she carefully picks herself up and trots along in the direction her mother had gone.

Though her smile was not all that convincing to the child, he did his best to mirror the turning of his lips so that he could smile back. Soon enough Qilaq, after a glance over her shoulder, decided to follow after Doe. Watching on, Rannoch made no attempts to stop her and rather remained quiet, feeling that perhaps he could make nice if or when they met again.