Ankyra Sound before blood

All welcome, but tagging @Caiaphas. Set on the borders.

Sea salt spattered the length of Gluska’s spindly legs. The fur along his chest and belly was crusted over, reeking of brine and blood. There was a sharp glint to his yellow gaze as he trailed the base of the cliffs, pausing every so often in his trek to check the air for markings. Though he had not yet neared the entrance to the secluded sea-side pack, Gluska could still smell her. The length of his muzzle was pointed skyward, ochre-tipped ears stood erect atop his narrow skull. He could not escape the sound of crashing waves, even from where he stood on the opposing side.

Sauntering forward, Gluska trailed the edge of cliffs for a short while longer before they seemed to suddenly cease. Curiosity sparked like fire in his yellow eyes as he looked on the opening of their pack. Secret, safe, and reeking of Caiaphas’ marking. A curling smirk turned his dark leathery lips upwards. Prowling forward, skull low to the earth, he neared the very threshold of their territory. Gluska thought for a moment to call the dark wench to where he stood, but decided against it at the last moment. It would be far more interesting to see if she happened upon him… or if someone else braved their borders.

omg so excited.. i made it so she didn't find him bc shes terrible at tracking

Winter was upon the coast, and already Caiaphas could feel the sharpness of its character. The sand against her feet no longer warm -- the pale wash of sunlight across her back weak and diminutive. Even the flora that breached the swash line was tinged with decay. Caiaphas could not deny winter's hold on the country -- but this did not mean she relished it.

She picked her way along the sparsely vegetated borders, where the last of the sequoias folded out and gave way to sandy plains. She was not long near the borders before a troubling scent bore itself on the wind -- she froze, a dark frown worrying her features. Had she the facilities to think herself crazy she would have assumed she had lost it -- but inane as always, Caiaphas simply assumed it was a trick on the wind. She had to be sure -- and so, with doubt hounding her down she trotted off in the direction she thought the scent had come from.

<3

Their numbers were few; the coywolf could tell as much simply by the scents that wafted from their marked borders and the lands beyond. He would not have been able to predict their precise numbers, but he was certain that they did not have many. Remarkably, the great lack of a male presence seemed to intrigue the ochre-tinged Gluska. He furrowed his brows tightly across his forehead and peered at the rising cliffs that surrounded Ankyra. Not certain that it was a place that suited Caiaphas, he wondered what had drawn the dark wench to the seaside.

When a growing scent seemed to draw his attention away from the surroundings, crisp yellow eyes caught sight of a familiar waif. A wicked smirk creased his features and the male scuttled several feet away to cloak himself behind a short stack of brush. His vision was locked on the darkly cloaked woman. She had never been good at tracking. Gluska was certain that he had the advantage in that situation. Drawing in a heavy breath, the coywolf male leered menacingly at the woman from the cover of sparse foliage.

Caiaphas was not expecting a visage to loom threateningly from a frond of disarming tussocks -- and as Gluskap's muzzle flew sharply into her view she skittered backwards with a shriek and a snap, her hackles flared wildly and her eyes rife with outrage. It took her a moment to compose herself, though her demeanor softened as she recognized the offender.

"What are you doing?" She ventured, regaining her composure at a slow rate. Her heartbeat was still thunderous, and she tried her best to conceal the alarm from her brother. "Where's Kaliska?"

The ochre-tinged male was met with ruffled hackles and a ghastly expression of surprise from the dark woman. Gluska chuckled with a flash of his yellow gaze before he drew himself out from behind his form of concealment, slinking towards his sister. Inquiries fell from her lips as Caiaphas slowly found composure and the male watched the fur along her neck and spine inch downward – questions that he truly had no answers to. So, he met the woman with a shrug of his shoulders and a frown. “What are you doing?” “Watching.”

“Where's Kaliska?” she asked of him, and while he wanted to provide a noncommittal shrug once more, the subject of his sister was more touchy than that of his intentions. Flicking his gaze upwards to meet her own, Gluska canted his head just slightly to the left. A small half-smile curled one side of his narrow face. “Who knows? Perhaps she’s luring some unwitting fool with her tricks,” he mused. Still, if Caiaphas did not know where their ghastly sibling was… the coywolf male felt his stomach twist.

i suck sorry <__>

Caiaphas' ears laced back in indignity, finding Gluskap's nebulous answer not quite satisfying for her demanding inquisition. She had seen Kaliska earlier that week, but was not sure if Gluskap was aware. It seemed he was not, and this made a small content (read: smug) expression creep across her narrow muzzle in superiority.

"Where are you staying? The Sound will be no place for you." She meant her home -- it was not an inhospitable gesture -- she knew enough of the male to know he would not have appreciated the Nereides' way.

The two would converse then, free and glib conversation without care. Caiaphas was happy to see her sibling back -- and it was these warm thoughts that enveloped her as their conversation waned and the two parted ways into the night.