Ankyra Sound Deliver us

For @Ingram and perhaps even @Lycaon

She had lost most of what she had dreamed of in a matter of months. Her family, who's ghostly faces she still haunted her dreams. The pack in the mountains that she was supposed to lead - a promise she couldn't keep yet again. A charming boy that had given her his heart, lost to the freezing winds of winter. Chusi had never felt more alone than in the ending of the year, unknowingly spending the first day of Christmas in a globe of loneliness. So what better thing for her to do than return to the coast - the place she knew to be more sacred than any other. No forest could match the bleeding of the trees in Ravensblood Forest, and there she wanted to go again. Perhaps remnants of her past lay there, pieces of memories that she could learn from.

And then she would go and seek her father, mother, brothers and sisters. She missed them more than she could express and hoped they were still around. If not... She had no idea what to do if she could not find them anywhere. Though she believed to have had many friends as a littler girl, most of them would have forgotten about her right about now.

Her graceful yet quite thin form found a way over the salty beaches of The Sound, head hung low and nose breathing in the salty smell that brought back unwanted thoughts.

ly will just hang back and observe for now since you primarily tagged @Ingram :}

he watched the sylphlike creature pluck from one end of the strand, her nose whisking the sand. he sensed she was guarding a purposeful countenance, but he could not ascertain her features well from his view atop the grotto ledge, as she passed beneath him to slip further down the coast. rather than bring himself to her attention when she drew near, Lycaon shifted his weight onto his other hip and plainly watched her survey the parcel from his high vantage point--this wasn't his territory, he didn't have any resources to stock against the interloper. fraternizing with the locals wasn't his bag and this woman did not fit Wylla's profile, therefore he had no reason to intercept her. 

of course she could always be an asset in determining where their sister was presently dwelling, but he hadn't thought that far. "doesn't look like wylla so i don't wanna and i ain't gonna" was about the extent of his transaction with being useful to the goal, so he left her to whatever task she was set to and awaited Ingram's return.

the sound was not home anymore - not that it ever had been, and yet, ingram found himself revisiting the raw blue waves and the cold, littered shore. he had given up on discovering wylla at ankyra - both he and lycaon were at crossroads, shoring here until the weather cleared and they could resume their search further inland.

Ingram found many things vaguely familiar about the strand, yet did not expect Chusi to be one of them. his rendezvous with Lycaon was forgotten as he spotted the inky female in the dunes. she looked thinner than he remembered, and older too -- yet perhaps the same could be said for himself.

he stared in disbelief, frozen by both incredulity and a paralyzing flush of clammy nerves. he remained unaware of his brother's presence, his gaze transfixed on the figure he had never dared to dream he'd ever see again.

Her first winter had been spend with her family, learning new skills and training to be the worthy grown woman that would follow in her father's pawprints one day. Today, she didn't know what she was training for anymore. To survive, she concluded, since she wasn't sad to a point that made her not want to live anymore. There was so much still out there for her to discover - and not only on the cold beaches she had called home, but in the mountains where the surface ripped at her padded paws and the forest where she could feel it living all around her.

She sniffled at the near-frozen sand, but no - her family's scent was no where to be found. She sighed as she raised her head again, nearly freezing when she realized she wasn't alone. She blinked, peering at the stranger. Why did he feel so familliar? But then, those silvered hackles... those electric yellow eyes... Though older, it was hard not to recognize him and her heart skipped a beat.

She couldn't get a single word to come out of her usually chatty mouth, wondering if he recognized the butterfly of the coast after nearly a year had passed.

go ahead and post without me since he's just watching.

Ingram pulled up on scene, unceremonious in body language at first but then flash-freezing at the sight of the waif--just like he'd seen a ghost. Lycaon tilted his head, curiosity inscribed on his visage. he tucked his ears and ducked a bit so as to not appear too glaringly vouyeristic, while still peering over the ledge at the pair.

he had been spotted; once more a chill raked through him as he felt their gaze connect. not even the slap of briartic water or the whisk of wintry wind between them could possibly sever the intensity of that connection.

he remained unaware of lycaon overhead, flat as a fur (cur?) pancake against the steppes.

"Chusi?" the boy whispered hoarsley, disbelief trickling from his quieted tone. if it was her, was he dreaming?

It was as if the world crumbled away around them, leaving but a void where she could nearly feel him breathing. There was no way she was that far away with her mind that this could just be an illusion - her daydreams had never been so detailed. The boy (or should she say man now?) she had longed for for so many months had returned to the very place they were introduced to each other's company. No way.

He remembered. Her heart fluttered and a smile could not be helped. No way... She breathed. A blush settled on her cheeks underneath her charcoal fur. Ingram...

ingram was painfully aware of his inability to move, to react -- and he knew how transparent and painfully obvious his lack of collection would appear to anyone watching. like lycaon. oh god, he thought inwardly -- please don't be watching.

a more thoughtfully composed individual might have recovered quickly from seeing chusi rise from the sea like a vision - yet ingram was reminded all over again of the adolescent meekness that had claimed him the last time they had spoke. it had been a year and somehow its grip had not lessened. ingram was certain it had strengthened. how was that possible?

he tried to offer a smile, though it was loose and weak -- particularly in the face of her own smile which poured over him like a brilliant shaft of sunlight on cold ground. "uh," he started with a gulp, finding himself incapable of looking away from her warm features: "hgh...hi." the only thing he seemed to be able to command was his tail, which rose over his hocks in a sign of friendliness.

Finally, a familiar face. Meeting Arrille had been nice, but she'd prefer Ingram over anyone she could've come across on the beach. Hell, she nearly preferred Ingram over anyone period. She grinned as if it was only yesterday they had spoke, the loneliness that had claimed her for quite some time being dragged away by the tides. Even his awkward 'hi' got her to feel nice and she couldn't wait to catch up - to tell him of her adventures and to listen to him speak again. Perhaps he'd even like to join her in her return to the bleeding forest where their last meeting had taken place.

Chusi had never been shy - flustered, perhaps, but her confidence was something she was proud of. She walked up to him once her knees didn't feel as weak anymore, observing his near-adult stature, his messy, wild fur... Gosh, she had missed him. I'll be darned... She grinned. 'Didnt... didn't expect ta see ya 'gain.

he envied her confidence, the rapid way her temerity course through her like the surging welt of a spring. if only he could encapsulate that enviable mettle and poise it as his own.

he remained spineless as the jellies he often avoided on the coast, and when she fluttered to him with warm self-assurance he felt the last of his nerve wither away. she cowed him in many ways and he, lacking the fiber to combat it, would quickly divert his ineptitude by trying, as any child did, to divert the attention elsewhere.

but this time he found no cutting insult or cold rebuke, and his tongue lapsed dryly at empty air.

"i.. i.. same." he finished lamely, still rooted tensely to the spot. "um, howar you?" he winced inwardly at the affect his tenseness had on his articulation, hoping plainly she would not sense it.

She didn't know why, but the whole situation made her giggle. It was obvious she had caught him rather off-guard, something she didn't think she'd ever witness first hand. As kids, he usually had something rude to say to her - not that she had minded much. She wondered what wacky adventures had kept him away from the Teekon for so long - or perhaps he had been here all along but they just hadn't walked into each other until now.

She shrugged with the happiest smile. Better. She answered honestly. He could probably scent she was a rouge now - how was she going to explain that? Was she supposed to tell about Mouse? Aaand ya? She raised her brows in expectancy.

chingram: https://i.giphy.com/media/geuHoekIQH7Da/giphy.mp4

her giggle caused him to visibly shift; perhaps the first movement he had dared issue since tension had seized him. he blinked slowly, trying to decipher the giggle. was she laughing at him? oh god, his heart and mind raced in a patter of frenzied and disoriented measure. he was aware how painfully stupid he looked.

he wasn't convinced she wasn't laughing at him and while he sheathed his umbrage a part of him felt wounded. the manly part of him. which didn't really exist anyway. all the same he felt a faint pluck of his masculinity challenged (for no got-dang reason).

unwilling to admit he had not been as good as her, he parroted a whimpy "better." back to her. "found my brother. looking for my sister." he could have asked her more, like how teeegleey or whatever pack it was she was in, but he was not considerate, nor was he observant enough to pick up the lack of scents clustering her hide. perhaps someday it would gall his conscience, but now he remained unaware.

Chusi didn't fancy thinking negative of someone, especially someone like Ingram. Though he found himself to look stupid, she found he looked cute. It was a strange yet pleasing sight to see someone as wild and "dangerous" as Ingram act so flustered. And to think she was the cause. It made her feel fuzzy.

She raised her brows, finally able to look somewhere else than at her childhood friend, but couldn't spot a single soul with him. Oh? She asked, lowering just one of her brows. 'Didn't know ya had siblin's. She was smiling again, but found it odd they had never spoken about it. Then again, had she ever been interested in anything other than just him? She couldn't remember a time where she wanted to know his entire family tree, as long as they had been spending time together it had been fine.

don't want to keep this delayed as i'm not the spreeing type so imma have lyc leave :)

if ever there was a time for a crab with jamaican patois to emerge from the foam, crooning kiss de gurl, it would be now, as these two besot kids stared into eachother's eyes. Lycaon squinted (like that would help him hear what they were saying), but he was too far away to parse anything meaningful from their conversation. body language was multilingual, however, and the ivory boy mustered the situation quickly--somehow, Ingram and this gal were very familiar with one another. and probably ready to hold sexual congress right here in front of him. 

Lycaon didn't really understand the drawing power at play here--he had never been twitterpated before, or felt the spectrum of emotions that vibrated on the same frequency as infatuation. instead of approaching the duo, Lycaon gurned on a lump in his throat. was his brother going to take off with this girl? and leave him to find Wylla alone? was he about to be abandoned again?

angst consumed him, so as quiet as he could manage, the boy slipped from his perch in the backdrop and scurried through the gaping mouth of the grotto's entrance.

l-lyc ;-;

when chusi finally shifted her gaze from ingram to their surroundings it was as if water suspended in a sphere was suddenly without gravity; he collapsed like a puddle, dripping and trying to recollect his thoughts. with her attention momentarily shifted he swallowed and tried his best to regain the haughty muster he had once coldly piloted her way.

all the same, the vitriol wasn't there any longer and like lycaon, ingram did not understand why the fight was pulled out from under him. he followed chusi's gaze, only narrowly missing the shadow of his brother that flitted on the cliffs above them. "i have two." he said, as if it were not obviously by his previous statement. "my brother is probably around here somewhere." without chusi's stare boring into him and making him as consistent as congealed guts, he was finding his (barely there) wits again. "we've been here for a bit."

That he hadn't made any rude remarks (yet) truly stunned her a bit, but she supposed she just had to get used to a wiser(?) and older Ingram - which wasn't that hard. She wondered if he found that she had changed. She hadn't been feeling very fantastic the last few weeks, but that was all in the past now that she had found him again. And this time - this time she wouldn't let him get away from her that easily.

She snorted at his first statement. Oh really? She smiled. Though she wasn't the brightest of the bunch, she knew how to count. 'Have four since begin-springish. She informed proudly. If only they were here to meet him - if only Ingram's brother was here to meet her! Her tail started to wag again. 'Think I'd meet 'im soon, hm? She asked, a slight smirk accenting her playfulness.

Oh really?

he was a little deflated that she had caught his bumble; he wanted to lamely add that surely he knew how to count too, but the words never left his lips. besides, him being capable of counting was questionable at best. he really only seemed to apply basic arithmetic when he was figuring out who got the bigger half of a carcass. even then his mastery of math was rudimentary at best.

all the same he knew four was two more than two; and if two siblings kind of seemed like enough, he couldn't imagine four. sharing a meal five ways was not in any way attractive to him.

he was still somewhat nervous, though he could slowly feel a resurgence of good-old ingram coming back - not deer-in-headlights-and-possibly-braindead-ingram that had graced their presence just moments before. witlessly he hoped chusi did not judge him for it. "you could meet him today if you wanted." he said with a roll of his shoulders, casting his gaze about for the brother that unbeknownst to him had slipped off only minutes before. "like i said, we been stayin' here looking for wylla." he would have left it at that but realized he didn't realize why chusi was here. why was she here? "where are you staying?"

Chusi did not mind how Ingram was acting - she wasn't one to judge others unless it was a serious offence. Being a bit stumbly 'n bumbly really wasn't considered that. If anything, she'd much rather have him be like that than act all tough. With Mouse, she had been the tough one, and she was not about to dumb herself down just to make Ingram feel cooler.

She grinned with her mouth open, closing it slowly again as she poofed up as much as her neck fluff. WOOOOoooooo... She let out, her volume and excitement decreasing the more time she got to realize she was acting ridiculously. She lowered her ears in shame, but it didn't last long before she regained her "cool". With ya two, I suppose - if ya would have meh. She answered, making it pretty clear she was alone.

her squeal caused his hackles to raise, though more out of excitement than challenge. ingram had expected to hear of teaa-leeg, or donnelaith -- but when the girl said she was going to stay with them, well, any aforementioned collection ingram might have clutched to his chest immediately withered. cue meat-sponge moment, take 2.

w-with them?

he cast a gaze about as if trying to figure out where on that lonely and empty beach chusi could possibly stay. would the grotto be good enough for her? would she find the squalor they lived in appalling? what if she didn't like lycaon?

or worse, what if lycaon didn't like her?

awash with doubt and uncertainty but thrilled by the prospect of being next to chusi, ingram replied: "oh, i guess that'd be ok." he had to make it sound like he wasn't actually interested, right? "i mean, if it's ok with lycaon." he added coolly, lowering his eyelids in what he imagined was an indifferent expression.

To think they could finally spend time together without the protective father and Ingram disappearing on her again. No, now that she had found him, she wouldn't lose him. Besides, this reunion was far too perfect to break them apart later - obviously The Sea wanted them together. Perhaps with her help, they could even find Wylla. And her family. They'd all be together again.

Her face lit up, not too worried about his brother maybe not liking her. She had yet to encounter someone who truly disliked her, at least, she thought. Besides, extra help was always appreciated, right? New friends? O'course. She nodded, rather considerate and regal. This is so excitin' actually - we'be able to go on adventures finally. She frowned then, averting her gaze to somewhere on the sand. Ingram, why did ya leave without tellin' meh?

Ingram shared Chusi's excitement, already envisioning how they would spend tomorrow. the prospect both thrilled and horrified him - for justifiable reasons. he had it on the highest authority  (lycaon's actually) that he was a real pill to put up with -- how long would it take for the halo effect to wear off and for Chusi to come to her sensibilities?

hopefully never, if Ingram had his way.

he was about to turn to show Chusi the grotto when the weight of her question hit him. he could feel the abandonment in her voice and the strength of it nearly knocked him back.

"I didnt want to," he offered weakly. he hadn't had a choice, though Chusi didn't know that.  "I'm sorry."

There were a lot of things some would find unforgivable. Abandonment, abuse, betrayal. Chusi herself was fortunate enough to only have to endure two of those things, and only one had she never forgiven. That had been the whole ordeal with Olive and Dakarai and how they had brought their whole family in danger. It had tore her life apart, and while dealing with the absence of Ingram had been hard, she had not wanted to pass judgement. He didn't give much of an explanation as to why he had done what he did, but at least he apologized.

And Chusi knew perhaps better than most that there was strength in forgiveness. She smiled again. Alright then. She nearly sighed, hoping he would tell the full story one day. Then she could do the same about how she had been wrapped up in all sorts of situations. Where... Where're ya guys stayin'? She tried to change the subject.

ingram would have enjoyed chusi's story - a part of him wondered if the journey that had deposited her here  had the same bleak pages as his own. he didn't ask - not for lack of interest, but simply because he was caught up in the moment.

"we're staying on this beach." he answered, his gaze turning to the mouth of the distant grotto, which from their vantage was hardly more than a crook in an inpenetrable cliff. "just for now. we're gonna keep looking for wylla but i'm tired and lycaon doesn't like the forest. besides it's where we were born." he swept up his chest in a deep breath of briny air: "it's good to be back. i can show you where we are staying?"

Chusi had little to complain about. The beach was nice, and she might even get Ingram crazy enough to take a dip in the freezing water. That'd be nice. She giggled, ready to follow him wherever. The thought of sleeping with the two brothers was both comforting and awkward. Hopefully they'd all be too tired to think about it later.

Fade?

if you had of asked sleepy-eyed ingram this morning what his day would transpire into, he would have never predicted this. a girl. repeat, a girl (woman? was she a woman yet?) was following him back into his den. he still felt tingly and a little peaked.

he was silent but no amount of quietude could hide the soaring grin that he struggled to conceal; a grin that he carried all the way to his brother in the grotto.