Stavanger Bay the night of long fangs

@Rannoch

 
The winds breathed that it was time for the young boy to receive the gift of the ocean – it was the evening of his spiritual guide ritual. With Doe in her state of pregnancy, the swarthy titan had elected himself to carry on the blessing. He knew his own weight when it came to the ancient ones, and he knew that if he were to take the boy to the sea, they would grant him the capability of meeting the child with the beast that would provide him with great strength.  
 
The sun was dipping low behind the mountains in the distance. The ocean lapped lazily at the shores, and the wraith limped toward the mouth of his cave, hoping that he would find Rannoch within. The child had healed well – due to Deirdre – and Skellige was pleased with his progress. It was time to delve him into the culture of the sea.  
 
Craning his head inside the cave, the brute emitted a short chuff for Rannoch, hoping that the child would answer the summons.   

Rannoch’s time with Deirdre had been a breath of fresh air and despite all of his previous apprehensions of the magick she spoke of, it somehow had healed him. He was renewed from the trip in both spirit and health and was ready to take on whatever the dark Leviathan had to throw his way.

He was resting from the trek when he was beckoned from the den. Though he was not asleep, he had shut his eyes and simply attempted to keep any thoughts he had at bay. The white witch had been working on combatting the darkness within him, but, somehow, it was still winning.

Pushing himself onto his paws and answered Skellige’s call. Stepping out to the den, Rannoch looked to the alpha with a questioning expression but did not speak a word.

 
The boy came as he was summoned, and Skellige peered at him with shadowy eyes. His lips remained a thin line on his grizzled face. Rannoch remained mute as he stared on at the shadowy brute. It was a moderate change from the blatant disrespect that had been shown to the leviathan before. Deirdre had told him that stealing children in the dead of night and tossing them to the open mouth of the sea was not the best way to win favors from anyone, but it was his nature to do so. The waters beckoned to him and willed him to do their bidding – he would not deny what they longed for. Since they had blessed the bay, he had known that there would be terrible things that would be required for them to thrive there. He had been prepared to demonstrate these actions from birth. His heart and soul belonged to the depths.  
 
"You are going to receive a blessing tonight. A guide to give you strength through your life," he remarked in a rumbling baritone to the young forest child. On that night, he would become a child of the sea – the great ones had spoken and their word would not be crossed again.  
 
With a quiet sigh, he glanced toward the waters and then back to Rannoch. Skellige attempted to keep his voice level and to speak with the boy as a young adult as opposed to a child. "Deirdre mentioned that you did not favor the waters of Blackrock, but we must have you drink of the plum whiskey and step into her depths. Will you deny this?" 

A blessing. The curiosity deepened at this. If this were to be anything like his baptism, he wanted nothing to do with it. He didn’t raise such concerns and instead listened to what the dark-haired wolf had to say.

He respected the fact that he wasn’t being talked down to and instead spoken moreso like an adult. This alone made him all the more eager to give the Leviathan exactly what he wanted. “Will this stepping be like the baptism?” He asked in turn, his eyes turning to the ocean that stood alongside them for a moment before returning to the Leviathan. He did not wish to ever touch the water again, but it were a more gentle approach then perhaps he could deal with it.

 
"No," he answered the Benthos with a short shake of his skull. The spirit guide ritual was far more pleasant than the drop – nothing compared to the baptism that all pups were forced to endure. The drop was designed to test their mettle, but the receiving of their animal guide was a ritual that would reward them for surviving the most difficult task of their childhood.  
 
Dark ears swiveled forward and he drew his salmon-colored tongue across his lips. "The baptism is a test of the waters. You have already passed, so now you are rewarded with the gifts of the sea," he explained as best as he could.  

This next step in the process seemed pleasent, though Rannoch couldn’t help but to feel suspicious. Despite this, he did not allow such thoughts to rise to their conversation. Instead, he offered a short nod.“Then I will do as you say.” Only fate knew if he would come to regret the words he just spoke, but, for now, he would just have to wait and see what would come of the gifting.

He waited in silence, wondering just what was to come of the night.

 
Deirdre must have contained magic of some kind. It seemed as though Rannoch was willing to go ahead with the ritual. Skellige knew that it wasn't the foreign Mannoah who would have taught him to listen to the leviathan. She did not speak in the common tongue well enough to be convincing of anything. He was obedient, and it was a drastic change from the nature of his being before he had gone to the woodland with the pale healer. For this, Skellige was grateful and he welcomed the change that he was to witness within the boy. His eyes flickered for a moment as Rannoch agreed to follow and go along with the blessing.  
 
A gentler nod of his head fell for the boy. "Very well, come then," he remarked and gestured with his snout in the direction they were to travel. He would have the boy drink of the whiskey first and then he would truly become one with the wolves of the depths.   

There was something fantastical about what awaited Rannoch-- the promise of being blessed by the very thing that had destroyed not only his shoulder but his spirit as well. But, perhaps, this was just another example of what Deirdre had taught him. Perhaps the ocean was also good in ways that the Benthos could not fully comprehend.

Following after with ease, Rannoch looked up to his captor in the new light. He wasn’t sure what to say, but, perhaps he could start by apologizing. After all, if anything, he could start with an apology.

“I’m sorry,” he said after a pause, looking from the Leviathan to the beaten path before them.

The words struck him and the hulking titan found his ears swiveling atop his crown. The boy was sorry... which was a peculiar thing for him to be. Skellige wondered to himself if there was something amiss with the lad. He thought of the rage that had been burning inside of Rannoch and he frowned against the breeze that was carried off of the waters. Surely, he could not have abandoned that wild and insatiable fire. But then... Deirdre had done far more impressive things in her time. Perhaps she truly had cured the rage. 

"Why?" he inquired in a gruff and quiet breath. Pausing for a moment, the sea wolf turned his gaze back on the young boy and drew the length of his ears forward. There was a glimmer of hope inside of him that suggested perhaps the young forest wolf would elaborate on his impromptu apology. The king of the water wanted only to rest his itching mind. 

Skellige’s rebuttal came gruffy and Rannoch turned his eyes back to the leader with shining eyes. There were many reasons why he was sorry-- the manner in which he had treated the Leviathan and the members of his pack, his snarkiness. It was inexcusable. Despite the circumstances, Eshe had raised a gentleman and not a brat.

“Because you have cared for me and I have been rotten,” he turned his attention to the sea as a sense of unease slunk through his being. “I must be here for a reason and you’ve only taken care of me,” he didn’t dare look at the yellow-fanged wolf and instead focused to what laid before them. “And, given that, you don’t deserve how I treated you.” his ears flattened and he turned to steal a glance at the other, wondering how he would react.

The explanation came to him in a flurry. The words of the lad were composed and understanding in a way that most children did not posses. It was not as though he had fumbled his words or spoke with haste. It was the manner in which the king of the sea understood him. It was almost a praising to the ancients of the swell. This child was what they had promised to him. He had been foolish to believe the young Sharkbait had been the answer to his many questions. Rannoch was the one the waters had intended and he wondered if he would suffer punishment for having doubted the fates of his people. 

A quiet huff fell from the titan's inky lips and he slowed his gait for a moment to turn his crown and face the child. "You will be strong here, my boy. You will know a new strength from these seas and the breath of the wind. I am pleased and proud that you show such growth," he rumbled in a surprisingly devoted baritone. As if on queue, the winds whispered into the tufts of his ears and the jagged fur along his nape danced wildly against its touch. Skellige knew his soul to truly be connected with his land. He was urged to ensure that the boy would know the same feeling. 

"Are you prepared to stay here? Truly... are you accepting of this blessing - that of the vicious black rock?" he then asked. It was as if he had lost control of his own voice. The powers of the ancient spirits that he so devotedly fought for had spoken for him. The wraith had been nothing more than a vessel. 

Promises of strength followed Rannoch’s apology and to this he nodded, liking what he heard. Strength had always been a pursuit of the young wolf and he was starting to feel that the barred shores of the depths would allow him such growth. A wind followed the Leviathan’s words and Rannoch shivered in it’s wake, feeling firsthand the power behind his sentiments.

The leader’s next words caught Rannoch off guard and his pelt bristled at the ferocity that he faced. Though he contemplated the words momentarily, he knew that this is where destiny had taken him.

He nodded then, regaining his footing in their conversation. “Yes, I am.”