Stavanger Bay hyperparadise

For whoever, yo :D

A few days had passed since Atreyu had been re-accepted into the Bay, days in which he had spent recovering from his impromptu journey and scouting out the territory in an attempt to familiarise himself with it again. While the wolves of the coast were blessed that they didn't have to memorise winding paths or twisting trails that those living in the mountains or forests would, it was still easy to lose yourself on the long stretch of sand that made up the Bay. Atreyu found himself once again ambling along the beach as the sun descended on another lazy winter day, letting the frosty waters lap at his ankles.

Already, his fur was windswept and covered in all manner of sand and debris from the sea. He looked as if he had lived here his entire life. In fact, he sort of had. Though, not in the Bay, of course. His old tribe had wandered the coastline; he grew up next to the ocean. Atreyu was almost certain he had sea water instead of blood.

Coming a halt, the boy let a particularly rough wave crash against his legs, salty droplets of water reaching up to dampen his chest and sides. With a happy bark, he then turned on his heel suddenly and raced into the deeper water, his sprint turning into excited leaps as he waded further in. The shock of the icy water eventually caused the boy to turn back but he remained in the shallows, falling onto his back and letting the waves roll his body every which way.

i couldn't resist! :o

Even though he liked playing in the ocean, Charon always cleaned himself when he returned to the forest. He was fairly clean: he liked to get dirty, but he also liked to get clean when dirty-play-time was over. The boy presently darted out of the forest and ran out onto the long stretch of sand that gave the Bay its name. "Let's look for crabs, Drake!" he called out to his imaginary friend, and he began to run across the sea, over to the ocean.

Because he was so absorbed into his own mind, Charon didn't notice another wolf standing in the shallows of the ocean until he nearly bumped into him. Startled, Charon came to a screeching halt and looked up at the sea-wolf for a moment, blinking. Because of the ocean's scent, he couldn't exactly smell if the wolf smelled of Thistle and thus belonged here, but Charon guessed that it was the case. What else would the wolf be doing here?

"Uh hi," Charon said, blinking as he stared at the other wolf. "Are you new?" He hadn't seen the wolf around before, so he guessed it to be so. Quickly continuing, Charon added, "Why are you wet? Did you swim? Can you swim? Are you gonna teach me to swim??", and stared up at the other wolf inquisitively, taking up some of his personal space as he got closer, hoping that the answers would be positive.

Yey! :D Also maybe @Aesop wants to join in when your joining thread is done?

Hoping no-one had seen the momentary lapse of his usual totally adult professionalism, Atreyu rolled back into a sitting position, shaking out his drenched scruff before casting a wary glance around the area. Out of nowhere, a young silver-furred pup seemed to simply materialise, racing across the beach like a missile — with Atreyu as the target. Having no time to dodge the other boy, he flattened his ears and braced for impact...only to have small droplets of sea water splash onto his face and chest as the stranger came to a screeching halt.

Blinking, Atreyu got to all fours and took a step back, ears pinned forward as he was suddenly barraged with questions. He also had some questions of his own. Firstly, who was this? One of Thistle's kids? It dawned on the boy that this could be Gunnar, the one he mentally promised to take to the rock pools. Almost instantly, Atreyu hastily scratched that promise off the list, unimpressed by his first impression of the boy. Gods, was he that annoying as a kid?

"No," he replied simply with a snort, before lifting his lip slightly as the pup leaned forward, intruding on his personal bubble. "Shouldn't you know how to swim already?" Atreyu continued, sizing the freckled youth up. What was he like, two months? Three? Living by the ocean, one would expect a pup would learn to both swim and walk simultaneously. At least, that's how he had learned.

Yes, feel free to join in whenever, Aesop! :D

Also, I think puberty is starting to knock on someone's door. *feels sorry for Atreyu*

It was strange for Charon to receive so much resistance from a wolf within his pack. He was used to giving respect only to Thistle and Ragnar most of the time, and beside that, most wolves thought him to be brilliant and creative anyway, so they usually didn't mind much if he made himself tall or take their personal space. When the stranger said 'No' (even though Charon was pretty sure he had been swimming — the liar!) and curled his lip upward, Charon instinctively backed off a little and pinned his ears back, his tail falling.

As soon as he had responded this way, however, Charon realised that he wasn't going to let this noob tell him what to do. He raised his head again, large childish ears flopping upward and towards the stranger, and his tail rised above his back. Even though he was still clearly an adolescent, to be seen by the awkward manner in which his lanky limbs moved and his overall youthful appearance, the four-months-old youth was growing rapidly in height (though not reaching the stranger's height yet; which only caused Charon to want to try harder to look big, puffy, tall and dominant). "You can't tell me what to do, noob! And you can't tell me what I should or shouldn't be able to do, 'cause I wouldn't ask you to teach me if I could already do it, [size=9]duh[/size]!" Charon boldly shouted at the stranger.

"And I'm not sure you're from around here anyway, 'cause I can't smell Thistle anywhere on you and you're not being nice like every other wolf who lives here is! You probably just swimmed here!" Charon then uncurled his lip, showing his teeth, testing the boundaries. At this point he was pretty much convinced he had unconvered a dangerous trespasser (if not only for the fact that his own mind didn't want this to be a Bay wolf, because he only wanted cool and friendly wolves in the pack).

Ask and ye shall receive B)

Loathe as he was to admit it, it took Aesop a few days to gather up the courage to actually go and check the shore out. It wasn't that he was afraid of the water, per say, but rather what might be in it. He couldn't help but cook up terrible fantasies in which the second he stepped foot on the beach, a great leviathan surged from the waters and did- whatever leviathans do. Eat him? Drown him?

Eugh.

But he came here with a goal, and he would damn well see it through. So a few days after his acceptance into the Bay, Aesop plucked up his courage and strode purposefully to the beach. Near the edge of the forest, where the trees gave way to open sand, the trunks and branches were salt-bleached and the air was sharp and salty. Right, salt water. Of course.

Oh god.

Aesop broke the treeline, coming to a stretch of sand that ends with at the rolling waves. There, in the foam, were two figures. Pack mates, he presumed, though he'd had little contact with any of them since arriving. Tail up and posture friendly, he trotted along the sand (holy SHIT sand was hard to walk on.) They must not have noticed them, and also must not have been getting along, because over the wind he heard the younger (must be a pup, he was so small) shouting.

"Hey now," he said, "what seems to be the problem here, gentlemen?" Would he have to break up some petty spat? He sure hoped not, he was here to appreciate the (oh god it was so big) ocean, to smell the salt and maybe, just maybe, dip a paw in the water and hope for the best. Even now, he kept just beyond the reach of the waves. Aesop wasn't afraid, just... cautious. Yeah, that's right.

Rofl, I feel sorry for Aesop x_x

Atreyu was granted the satisfaction of seeing the pup recoil from the flash of his fangs — but it was only momentary. As if he were Alpha, the kid started forward again, ears pricked and tail held high in what Atreyu guessed was a show of laughable dominance. He flicked his own ears back as they were assaulted by the seemingly aggressive pup's screeching. He could barely follow what he was trying to say, but caught the word noob and wrinkled his nose in contempt. Atreyu would bet anything that he had been here even before the kid was but a tiny speck in his mother's womb.

Opening his mouth to respond, the Iota quickly shut it again as the other boy continued, accusing him of being a trespasser. He would have laughed had he not been so riled up by the youth's shouting. Bristling his hackles, Atreyu leaned forward over the smaller boy, taking a step forward and baring his teeth. Being so young, the Iota knew he would still be low in the rankings — whether he was the Jarl's kid or not. "And? So what if I did?" he snapped back in response to his pack mate's bold claims. What're gonna do about it?

He went to continue but a sudden deep voice interrupted. Atreyu's stomach dropped, worried that Ragnar had stumbled upon him about to throttle his child. He turned, and was relieved to be met with the sight of cream instead of platinum fur. However, the man was no less scarred than the Jarl, and perhaps just as imposing. Atreyu regarded him for a second before reluctantly stepping away from the silver-furred child, shooting him a narrow-eyed glare. "None of your business, old man," he muttered to himself (though loud enough for both of them to still hear), his bratty attitude rearing it's ugly head thanks to his and the kid's brief altercation.

haha, i love this thread <3

When Charon had finished his line of accusations, the stranger made himself tall and puffy and bared his teeth. Charon was frightened by this, instinctively wanting to recoil, give up, and let the stranger win the spat. He probably would have, had he been able to smell that the stranger was actually an inhabitant of the Bay. However, because Charon believed that all Bay inhabitants were super nice to him all the time, no matter how he behaved (because so far, they had been), he just couldn't believe that this wolf was actually someone who lived in the Bay. Besides, the stranger even admitted to being guilty! As the stranger said 'so what if I did', Charon let out a gasp, as though he had just unveiled an evil mastermind's plan to take over Stavanger Bay.

This caused Charon to keep his dominant stance and baring his own teeth, even though it was evident from his eyes that he was nervous and frightened. If this were really a trespasser, he'd have to chase him away; and since the stranger just confirmed that maybe he did just swim here and didn't actually belong to the Bay, Charon wanted to chase him out, though he had no idea how and if he would manage.

He was as startled as the stranger when he heard another new voice. This wolf's voice sounded much friendlier, and as Charon sniffed the air he soon found out that he actually did smell like Thistle, so he was likely a new wolf in the pack. The adult looked fairly impressive and commanded respect, much more so than the stranger. Charon hoped that the adult Bay wolf would listen to him. "I was gonna chase this trespasser out!" Charon compellingly said to the Bay wolf, and he looked back at the stranger. "He doesn't smell like anything 'cause of the sea and he just admitted that he just swimmed here! When the stranger said 'none of your business, old man', Charon gasped and said to the Bay wolf, "And he was also super rude! See, there he does it again! And all the Bay wolves are nice so I'm not sure he's even a Bay wolf at all!" With a compelling look on his face, Charon turned to the Bay wolf, hoping that he'd help; alone, Charon could never chase out the stranger, he had come to realise, although he would have given it a try if it had been needed.

I'm cackling.

Well, there was certainly something going on here. He regarded the two impassively, trying to take in as many details as he could before he would have to act. The two were puffed up, teeth bared and stances aggressive. If it came to fisticuffs, Aesop didn't think he'd have much of a problem breaking the two up, one was clearly a kid and the other couldn't be much older. Honestly, talking the two of them down didn't seem like it'd be that hard, either, except for-

"None of your business, old man."

Okay, now that was uncalled for. Now, he liked to think he was a patient man, and so he took a few subtle breaths and let the blatant disrespect roll off of him. There was no apparent change in his demeanor except for a frown, and Aesop turned to the possible intruder and definite smart-ass. "Well, that was a bit rude, don't you think?" he said, voice calm and even. He wasn't so sure if the stranger actually was an intruder, more likely than not he really lived there and had just been caught at an unfortunate time by a more unfortunate individual. But every case like this one had to be approached with some caution. Also the guy was pretty damn rude, which Aesop was not pleased with.

Maybe he'd make him sweat it out a bit. Yeah, that seemed the best way to go about this. Completely fair and not at all petty, because Aesop was totally not bitter about being called an old man. "Well done, kid," he said to the youngest, "catchin' this guy right in the act. Gonna need you to back me up while I question him, think you can handle that?" Aesop closed the distance between the two of them, drawing himself up to his greatest height in an attempt to intimidate Atreyu. "So what, exactly, is goin' on here?"

Inwardly, Atreyu grinned as the newcomer replied to his old man remark while the kid gasped though, outwardly, he kept his eyes narrowed and flicking between the two wolves. He then shrugged, not particularly worried if he had offended the man. If truth, he didn't look that old — he was probably around Ragnar's age — but he was also most definitely older than the two he had stumbled upon. But he seemed offended by his comment, and the boy was secretly pleased with this, feeling a streak of fierce rebellion flaring up.

Of course, the man sided with the talkative pup, seemingly playing into his game of spot the trespasser. Atreyu turned his head as he rolled his eyes as the stranger spoke to the kid, before looking back to see him stride towards them. He suddenly seemed bigger than before, and the Iota shrunk back slightly, his hackles settling though his eyes still flaring in defiance. Did he really actually think he was a trespasser? If Atreyu was, he was certain he would've been beaten to a pulp right now. Stavanger Bay was a quite secluded place with really only one entry way. Anyone who tried to enter but was unknown to the Bay wolves were quickly dealt with...harshly.

Glancing again between the freckled pup and the now rather intimidating man, the boy stepped back, his muscles poised and ready to bolt if things actually got serious. "Nothing," he said through clenched teeth, trying to keep his nerves at bay. He found his anxiety rising, knowing that the green-eyed wolf wouldn't actually attack him but also worried that he could be as unstable as the kid seemed to be. No, he appeared reasonable. And calm. Maybe too calm. Shit. "I'm not a trespasser!" he suddenly shouted, tail rising into the air. He looked down at youth, glowering. "You're being stupid."

Charon was glad that the Bay wolf believed him when he said that he had caught a possible trespasser. He even asked for back-up (which didn't surprise Charon that much, considering he was pretty awesome, so of course the Bay wolf wanted his back-up). "Yes sir!" Charon agreed to the Bay wolf's request for back-up, and he turned his attention back to the sea-wolf stranger quickly. To Charon, the thought that he might have swum all the way here wasn't strange at all, considering he knew very little about swimming and how far a wolf could swim and if it was possible to swim all the way around the rocks that separated the Bay from the rest of the ocean and shores.

The Bay wolf asked the stranger what was going on here, and Charon nodded vigorously, as every good back-up should. "Yeah, what's goin' on here!" echoed Charon, trying his best to assist the Bay wolf in the interrogation. The stranger answered by saying 'nothing' while looking super angry, which to Charon was only more admission of guilt. First of all, no one was ever doing 'nothing', so saying that 'nothing' was going on here was a blatant lie. And secondly, the angry stature of the stranger betrayed that he felt cornered, which to Charon was only more proof that he was guilty.

The stranger said he was no trespasser, and Charon rolled his eyes. "He's lying!" he loudly said to the Bay wolf. " 'cause if he is a Bay wolf he'd be nice, like you!" And there was nothing nice about the stranger that Charon could find. As the stranger raised his tail and glowered down at Charon, he was torn between following instinct and submitting and chasing him off. The latter was the easier option now that he had a competent adult at his side, but Charon didn't want to appear meek. Besides, he just wasn't used to being wrong; everyone pretty much always just played along with Charon's fantasy stories where he was ominpotent and awesome and all sorts of shades of cool, so he wasn't used to anyone down-talking him like this.

"I'm not! You're rude. Super rude!" Charon rose his tail and glared up at the stanger, his heart thudding in his chest, and he told himself to stay brave. "And why don't you prove you're not a trespasser? If you were reaaally a Bay wolf you wouldn't be rude about it and you would just be, like, 'oh, sorry sirs, I just like I dunno washed myself in the sea so that you can't smell mom — um, Thistle — anymore'." Charon felt awkward for accidentally saying 'mom' instead of Thistle (it felt almost like he was betraying his mother), but he quickly corrected the mistake and kept glaring at the stranger, counting on Cool Bay Wolf Guy to back him up.

Well, at least the kid was having fun. Less and less Aesop was thinking that he was dealing with a true trespasser. The kid didn't quite seem to have the guts for it, since he shied away like he did at Aesop's approach. If he was an intruder, he was probably regretting it now and had not thought the move through all too well. As it stood, Aesop doubted that that was truly the case. He gave the youngest a solemn nod, as though acknowledging that even though the road ahead may be tough, they were comrades in arms.

He almost cracked up at the youth's input. Precious. He was trying so hard, and hopefully the kid would learn a thing or two from this. And maybe the stranger, too. The earlier slight (old man, the nerve) still stung, but he was magnanimous, and so long as the kid was a good sport about this, he'd probably let it go. Forgive and forget, and then they could all be friends.

Not a trespasser, the stranger said, and Aesop was inclined to believe him. If he had really sneaked (snuck? whatever) in, he probably would have turned tail the second Aesop's young comrade at arms found him. His young comrade at arms who, apparently, was Thistle's son. Interesting. The stranger seemed to get more and more strained, while Aesop did his best to appear composed. Once the youth was done speaking, Aesop took his turn.

"Hey now, no need to be so harsh there. You'd do well to learn yourself some manners, boy," he said, as unaffected as ever, "but I've got a good idea of what's goin' on here. I think my associate here has just about the right idea. Reckon you're just new around here, same as me. Am I right, mystery solved? Because it seems like we've still got some business to settle between you two."

As the child accused him of being rude, Atreyu — in a show of obvious maturity — stuck his tongue out between his revealed teeth at the boy. He'd show him rude. If anything, the kid himself was being completely discourteous as he wasn't giving the adults enough of a chance to talk things out. Didn't he have any siblings he could go annoy? Ah, or his mother, Thistle? Quickly, the boy then withdrew his tongue and instead quirked a brow. So he was the leaders' kid. Hadn't Thistle already had a litter when he had been here the first time? They had another litter already? Pale eyes studied the freckles that littered the youth's features and he wondered at the peculiar markings — they didn't match Ragnar or Thistle's at all.

The older man took over the questioning then, causing Atreyu to look back at him, his tail flicking in annoyance. He had half the mind to just turn and run into the ocean, trusting his swimming abilities to be far superior than his pack mates'. He could just swim right out of there. Though, the Iota knew that fleeing wouldn't help his cause at all, so he stayed rooted to the spot, glaring daggers at the two wolves who, in his mind, were ganging up on him. The whole situation had escalated rather quickly. Giving a stiff nod to the large male, Atreyu took a few moments to gather his thoughts before talking. He didn't want to explode in anger again. "Yeah, your mum—" at this, he shot another glance at the pup "—accepted me a few days ago. I've been here before, too."

As if this somehow earned him some sort of badge of honour, the boy puffed up his chest, exchanging a glance between the two of them before continuing. "Ragnar accepted me then. So technically I've been here longer than you both."

The stranger wasn't getting more polite with time; if anything, he seemed only to get worse. He stuck out his tongue and Charon gasped loudly and looked at the Bay wolf in indignation — did you see that?! — before turning back to the stranger and sticking his own tongue out in a cruel and merciless retaliation of rudeness.

The Bay wolf suggested that Charon's pretend-conversation was actually true, although Charon doubted it. After all, wouldn't the stranger have been the one having the pretend-conversation, except it would be a non-pretend conversation of course, rather than Charon giving the suggestion? It seemed kind of easy for him to suggest that that was what was going on now, after Charon had given him the suggestion himself. He wasn't buying any of it just yet, though it seemed that Bay wolf was less worried and seemed to believe that it really was all just a big misunderstanding.

When the stranger said that Charon's mum had accepted him, it felt really weird. "She's not my..." Charon began, but he trailed off and looked away rather than finishing his sentence. If only she had been his mum, then his life would be a lot better.

Then the stranger concluded with that he had once been accepted by Ragnar, and had thus been around longer than Charon or Bay wolf. Bay wolf was new himself, so it was a pretty stupid argument, considering the stranger was new, too. "Well if you want to get bonus cookie points for longi.. longemi... tit, uhm, longemititty —" (well, he almost got it right) "— Then maybe you shouldn't have left like a loser in the first place!" BOOM, right in the kisser. If anyone out of the two of them had the right to announce himself the wolf who'd been here the longest, then darn it, it would be Charon, who'd been here from the very beginning; which, in Charon's mind, was like, forever. Who cared about what happened so many years and months BC (Before Charon).

Aesop looked between the two of them, less than impressed with the show of maturity from the older wolf. He wished that the stranger would have the decency to at least pretend to be an adult. The youth's imitation was a bit much for him, and so he spoke up. "For fucks- ya'll need to put those tongues back in before I make you wish you had," he tutted, still unsettlingly calm. Now that he had a clear picture of exactly what this was, a misunderstanding, he just wanted to smooth things over with the two younger wolves and then be on his merry way to check out the sea.

"Longevity," he offered to the boy, glancing between them. "I think it don't matter too much how long we've been here. Ya'll got issues, and we're gonna solve 'em here and now and walk away friends, alright?" Maybe that was aiming a little high, though.

First he addressed the youngest of the pair. "First, I think you gotta apologize to our buddy here, who was just tryin' to have a nice swim. Don't think he was plannin' on a Spanish Inquisition. So go on," Aesop prompted, before turning then to the stranger. "And you, kid, best apologize for your cheek. And then I think we should all agree to forgive an' forget, yeah?" That sounded reasonable to him. With any luck, he would have this all smoothed over soon, and they both would have learned a thing or two.

The pup went to correct him but trailed off, earning another curious flick of his ear from Atreyu. As mildly interested as he was in the boy's origins (and, apparently, how and why he had come into Ragnar and Thistle's care), he still was very much not on proper speaking terms with him. As the kid then stumbled on his words, the Iota smirked, only for it to quickly disappear as he finished his sentence. His hackles bristled again defensively and his fiery temper urged him to take a swipe at the boy to put him in his place. How dare he call him a loser! Though — his flaring eyes quickly glanced over to the male who had taken on the role of peacekeeper between them — perhaps that would not be a wise decision. The man had considerable bulk beneath his creamy coat; Atreyu was sure he would be flat on the ground before he could even lay a toe on his young pack mate.

Perhaps making the smartest decision he had made so far, the yearling stayed put, letting himself simmer in anger as the man spoke. His eyes flicked over to the pup as he told him to apologise, giving a nod in agreement. Damn straight he should apologise. How he thought Atreyu was a trespasser was beyond him — maybe his nose didn't work properly. At the stranger's comment directed towards him, the boy replied with a soft snort and tch sound. Of course, he'd apologise too, but only after the kid sufficiently did. He wasn't at fault, after all. Like the man said, he had only been out for a pleasant swim in the Bay before the youth almost bowled him over and started acting all high and mighty. "Yeah, go on, you first," he sneered at the boy, allowing him be the one to say sorry first.

Charon gasped audibly when the Bay wolf said 'fuck' — he had seemed like such a perfect gentleman up until this point, and now he was swearing! What a bad boy! Charon wasn't sure if this made him less or more of an intriguing fellow. Probably the latter, considering Charon was currently very much in his 'no' phase. He begrudingly nodded as the Bay wolf suggested they patch things up, though still not entirely convinced that stranger wolf was actually part of the Bay. All the facts were against him, after all.

When the Bay wolf corrected him, Charon nodded. It was something like that, yes. Charon didn't know who the 'Spanish Inquisition' was, but he was pretty sure he wasn't it. Except if it was cool. Then he definitely was it.

The Bay wolf suggested that he apologise, although Charon thought that only the stranger owed an apology. He shot the stranger a fiery glare as he said Charon should go first (he'd probably not apologise at all, even if he would!), and then turned to Bay wolf to further explain the situation. He'd only come in halfway through, after all. "Well I don't think I did anything wrong! I was just walking up here 'cause I wanted to learn to swim so I asked this guy if he was gonna teach me how to swim, 'cause he looked like he was pretty good at it. And then he was all saying I should already know how to swim and he refused to teach me anything, so then I got suspicious 'cause all the Bay wolves are super nice and this guy obviously isn't nice at all, so then I asked him if he was part of the Bay and he actually admitted that he was a trespasser!" Charon concluded the grand finale of the story with wide eyes at the Bay wolf to convince him of how very gravely wrong the stranger was in that, completely convinced he was right. "So anyway, even if he's not a trespasser, it's still his own fault that I thought he was 'cause he got grumpy and didn't wanna teach me anything and said he was a trespasser even though he isn't and got really rude."

Case closed, right? Now all Charon needed was an apology. Or an admission of guilt to clear Charon's good name. Either would be fine for him.

The youth gasped, and Aesop inwardly cursed himself for, well, cursing. He just hoped Charon wouldn't go swearing around Thistle and tell him who he learned it from. An angry pseudo-mother (mother figure? Whatever it was, it seemed complicated and he wanted none of it) was one of the last things he wanted, especially when he already seemed to have his hands full with two kids who really needed to just calm down and quit being so stubborn.

When the older of the two spoke up, Aesop snapped a warning glance at him, because he best not try and stir up any more trouble. This alone was hard enough to deal with, and he didn't need Atreyu stirring the pot some more.

That taken care of, he turned to Charon. He listened to his story attentively, though he took it as a (probably) biased account of the goings on. He thought for a moment, then said, "well, yeah. But no. I agree that our friend here needs an attitude adjustment, but even then, if he wanted his space, it'd be pretty cool to give it to him. But that's a lesson for another day. Trespassin' is a big deal, and a mighty big offense to go accusin' someone of. For that, at least, you owe him an apology, kiddo."

As the older man quickly shot him a look, Atreyu averted his own eyes away from his reprimanding gaze, quickly staring down at the water that swirled around their toes. Despite his comment beforehand, the boy knew he really should show his elders respect, especially if they were much, much bigger than you. Not to mention the scars that adorned his face. Atreyu wondered at them, curious if he was a warrior like Ragnar. Or even a former Alpha? Perhaps a little too optimistically, he made a mental note to later ask the man for some fighting lessons; if his build and scars where anything to judge him by. Though, obviously, he wouldn't bring that up right now. There were much more important things to deal with at the moment.

He quietly sighed as the kid explained the situation from his point of view, favouring himself to be the victim of the ordeal. Well, firstly, he didn't walk up to him, the pup damn nearly knocked him over! Not that a wolf his size would do much damage, of course, but he should have watched where he was going! He continued, and Atreyu listened as intently as his green-eyed pack mate, amusement flashing across his face as the pup stated that Bay wolves were all super nice. Obviously, he had never met that one-eyed female he himself had met when he first came to the Bay. And he was sure there were plenty other secretly not-so nice wolves lurking around in the ranks. Atreyu fancied himself pretty friendly — he just had a very short temper. But an attitude adjustment?

He flattened his ears at the man's statement, turning to face him as he spoke, though gave another nod of agreement. The kid needed to learn a lesson. Trespassing (especially in Stavanger Bay) could get one held captive or even killed! How could one be stupid enough to walk over clearly marked borders? Conveniently, the boy forgot about that one time he strayed a little too close to Silvertip Mountain and was quite literally thrown from their lands. "Yeah, and I only thought you should know how to swim because, y'know, you live in a Bay," he piped up in a matter-of-fact sort of way before resentfully adding under his breath, "and I'm not a trespasser."

Charon thought it was rather unfair that he was being accused of things, when he had done nothing wrong, in his own not-so-humble opinion. Even though the Bay wolf said that the stranger needed an attitude adjustment, he also said that Charon needed to apologise for accusing him of trespassing. Charon believed that he had never accused the stranger at all, and had instead gotten a confession after he said maybe he wasn't from here, or that it was possible he wasn't.

When the stranger said that he was supposed to know how to swim already, Charon gasped and retorted, "That's why I asked you to help me, dummy, but you refused to teach me and just said I was supposed to know already and so that was that was that! And that's super mean!" Charon pouted as he looked at the Bay wolf, still trying to convince the pair of them he had done nothing wrong.

Charon was beginning to feel rather cornered because they both wanted him to apologise and were much older and stronger than him. Because more volume was more convincing in Charon's world, he bellowed, "[size=9]I didn't do nothing wrong and I don't wanna apologise![/size]" Charon felt really uncomfortable now and tucked his tail between his legs, flattened his ears against his skull and lowered his head. He scrunched together, making himself small, suddenly turning submissive and rolled his watery eyes, which mirrored his uncomfortable feelings, up at the Bay wolf.

Well, this was becoming more than he bargained for. He winced, slightly, when the kid started yelling, and was very, very inclined to just excuse himself from this conflict. Not his problem.

No, but it takes a village, he had to remind himself. And even if he decided to excuse himself, he no doubt would teach the kid that this was an okay way to behave (which it wasn't) and would probably have to deal with a very spoiled brat running around. And he would have no one to blame but himself. Sort of.

With that in mind, Aesop sighed, long suffering. He stopped paying much attention to Atreyu, if he needed to deal with him he would deal with him later. For now he needed to get Charon to calm his fluffy little butt. Aesop backed up a few paces, then sat on his haunches, face grave and disappointed.

"A shame," he sighed, the most emotive he'd been yet, "and I was thinkin' you might be the perfect candidate, since I've been lookin' to take an apprentice. What, with the way you were so great at interrogatin' our friend here. Would'a taught you swimmin' and what have you, but I don't think I could take a guy who can't admit when he's done wrong." And then he shook his head slowly, as if bemoaning the loss of a candidate.

Now, this was banking on a whole lot, mostly that the youth held Aesop in any esteem. But he wanted to get the kid off of the defense, because terrorizing him wouldn't do Aesop much good at all, not if the youth was linked at all to Thistle.

God, he forgot that kids could be such a handful.

The pup's retort caused a smirk to flicker across Atreyu's lips. He refrained from rolling his eyes again. If he thought being denied swimming lessons was super mean he needed a massive reality check. A tiny voice piped up in the back of his mind, reminding the boy that the silver-furred pup was just, well, a pup, he still had a lot of growing up to do but Atreyu ignored it. No, he should know how to already. They lived in a Bay and that was the reason Atreyu was sticking to. He would have stamped his foot in conclusion to his thoughts but, suddenly, the kid started squealing.

Flinching a little in fright, the boy lifted his lip again, before settling himself before he ran the pup into the ground. He thought about being the bigger man here and just apologising himself, though his pride wouldn't allow it. The calmest of the three spoke then, moving back a little with a slow shake of his head. "Oi..." Atreyu breathed quietly in annoyance as the man mentioned taking on an apprentice. He had already claimed him as his mentor, in his mind, how dare he offer his skills to that brat? He cast a look back to the now sulking pup, scoffing at the pathetic display.

this will be my last post if no one goes after him :-) thanks for the super interesting thread - unlike Charon, i loved every word of this. ♥

The disappointment in the Bay wolf's voice and expression was vivid, and it made Charon feel even more horrible. He didn't want to apologise, especially because stupidface the stranger wolf who wasn't nice at all refused to apologise too. Maybe if he had apologised first, Charon would've realised that he should have just got on with it and apologised first, and maybe he would've learned a valuable life lesson he could apply later on in life; but for now, his stiff upper lip remained very stiff. Even though there were many faults on his own, Charon did not see them and refused to believe he'd done anything wrong.

Charon's lip quivered as he watched the disappointed older Bay wolf, whom he just wanted to be liked by. His watery pupils stared up at the wolf from the corners of his eyes, leaving a streak of white underneath them. He was about to tell them about his tragic past, figuring that if nothing else, at least that should create some sympathy for him and make them forget all about the earlier altercations.

And then...

Oh, no!

Oh, yes; feeling intimidated by the two older wolves and completely out of his element, Charon felt a hot trinkle of pee run down his leg as his bladder protested against the uncomfortable situation. Unable to face the humility that would surely be caused by their reactions to this, Charon closed his eyes and started to awkwardly gallop across the beach, fully intending to get away from the situation and the humility. He let out low, quiet whines as he dashed away and into the forest, where he would look for solitude and try to forget about this shameful day.

last post here for me B)

Aesop was beginning to see the problem here. They were the perfect stubborn trifecta. Atreyu did not want to admit he was wrong, and neither did Charon. And Aesop, in his steadfast attempts to play peace keeper, was being pretty obstinate himself. There was only one solution in his mind, they'd make up and be happy and things would go great from there. Everyone would learn something and wander away a better person, if only Aesop stood firm and made them all do what he said. If only they would only do what he said, which was proving to be the wrench in his plan. Apparently not everyone is content to just do what he told them to, no matter how much easier that would make everything.

Or the youngest of the trio would have an unfortunate, bladder related incident. Aesop cringed at the first, unmistakable drip of urine onto the sand. He watched in abject horror as the scene unfolded before him, pity in his stare as Charon ran off.

"Oh, shit," he muttered. With a nod to Atreyu and a promise to talk with him later, he set off after the boy, determined to make this right for fuck's sake.

Thanks for the entertaining thread, guys! <3

A sudden silence settled over them after the pup's outburst, followed by the older man expressing his disappointment. The lull in the stand-off was filled only by the roar of the ocean beside them, along with the cry of seagulls above who were seemingly unaware of the bickering pack mates that stood below. Atreyu smirked as the kid's blue eyes started glistening with tears, trickling over and staining his freckled cheeks. How pitiful. Did he really think he was going to win over the scarred man by crying? Or maybe it was an act to get them to feel sorry for him. Well, Atreyu definitely wouldn't be...especially now that a sudden and acidic stench filled the air.

He furrowed his brows, glancing quizzically at the eldest wolf before spying the tiny droplets that fell onto the sand underneath the pup. Pale eyes stared for a moment or two before his mind caught up and the boy erupted into laughter. The ashamed pup quickly tore across the beach after his embarrassing display, though Atreyu could only make out his blurry outline, tears of laughter obscuring his vision. "Did he just piss himself?" he choked out, turning to the stoic man. But he was not laughing. Instead, with a curse and then a single nod to his pack mate, he too, took off after the kid, leaving Atreyu alone to reflect on the amusing situation that had just unfolded.

Woe to Stavanger Bay if that was the Alpha's heir.