i'd rather face the dark

@kevlyn others are welcome if they keep up

Still somewhat resentful given her lack of clairvoyance regarding Phantom's mute dialogue, Caiaphas took to the coast to expend some of her frustration. The pale wolf she had come to learn as Phantom was an asset to the Sound's future, but it did not deliver Caiaphas from the discouragement she felt after having such a difficult time grasping Phantom's nonverbal communication.

Slipping into the sea's embrace, Caiaphas gasped and winced as the sharp cold wrapped about her, instantly shocking her and sending a shudder wildly down her spine. Caiaphas had never had second thoughts so fierce -- suckling in a breath she felt her lungs constrict and her body revolt. She turned around quickly, stumbling blindly back to shore with her tail metaphorically between her legs.

Though the sun was high and bright and the sky was clear, the day was brisk and cold. It was a perfect time for Kevlyn to be among the sequoias, patrolling the borders in the relative shelter and safety of their monolithic forest... but he wasn't. Today the effort of patrolling was left to Spyridon and Nakai, and whichever females saw fit to perform the task. The Ostrega dog was taking a much needed break from his exhausting routine.

Still, the beach wasn't exactly welcoming. Quietly he thought to himself as he padded slowly along the shoreline that hiding out in Caiaphas' grotto would be a nice alternative, and in fact was ready to turn in that direction, but then he spotted the black-headed fiend of a queen. He watched as she waded into the sea, and then just as quickly was fleeing back to the shore as though she'd pricked her pads on something.

With a knotted brow, the young consort lengthened his strides until he drew up near her with his ears folded down respectfully. "Have you been hurt, my queen?" he asked, letting his tongue linger submissively on his lips as he shot a dark look out at the sea.

She was quick to escape the sea's touch, the very marrow of her bones extricated by unrelenting cold. Once her paws met the frozen sand she shook herself wildly to rid of the clinging icewater that shocked her senses, her eyes somewhat wide from the water's offensive touch.

As Kevlyn strode over to her with concern marking his muzzle the Siren Queen tried her best to hide her shattered composure. She afforded him a graceless smile that shuddered as an all-consuming shiver wracked her fine bones. "Only my pride." She admitted sheepishly, surveying the immaculately kept youth with a pall of amusement. The two were stark opposites in their decorum that day -- Caiaphas, roguish and wildly unkept -- Kevlyn's fur flat and smooth as a testament to his grooming efforts.

She became more serious then, hunching close as to ensure none heard them. "I have plans to raid soon, you know."

Though she uttered a quip, Kevlyn visibly winced. His pride was possibly the most important thing in the world to him; without it, he wouldn't be better than anyone, just another dumb body walking around. At least, that's how he saw it. Oh, yes, he was a man slave to the sirens of the coast, a position that afforded almost no pride whatsoever... for normal men. Kevlyn, on the other hand, was completely happy with his lot in life, and felt nothing but pride for being such a good consort.

He was almost about to say something about it, too, when Caiaphas mentioned the raid and his eyes lit up. "Really? On the glacier?" he asked in a whisper, lowering his head and cocking his nearest ear toward her lips. Even with the excitement of their pack stirring even more trouble, Kevlyn wouldn't dare look straight at her. It was a risk he was completely unwilling to take.

Like Kevlyn, Caiaphas' pride was important to her -- yet unlike him, she was not something one would feel pride for upon inspecting. She was rangy, disheveled, often times feral and disgusting -- her brand of pride seemed to center more around the chaotic brand of her work. But she too often felt the warm sensation of pride creep upon her as she witnessed Kevlyn -- he was what every Nereides expected in a consort, and more.

Her words excited him -- as they should have -- she leaned in with a furtive glance stolen towards the east where Duskfire sat. "Yes. I tricked them into believing it was Stavanger that dropped that omen at their borders." Little did Caiaphas know the Glacier was soon to be upon her. "While they are preoccupied fighting the Bay, I plan to steal in and bring Larus back.. and take whatever else is worth taking."

Kevlyn sniggered, perhaps a little meanly for a kid his age, but the chaos she orchestrated was particularly funny. Duskfire Glacier and Stavanger Bay were the two most threatening packs to the sirens. Undoing them was of grave importance if Ankyra Sound was to flourish; he knew this, and held no love for either of them. He held less for Stavanger Bay than the Glacier, if only because he remembered his encounter with an extremely nosy Bay wolf who had forever soured his opinion of that place.

"Should we hit earlier than that, siren queen?" Kevlyn asked, again awaiting punishment for his bold questions. Consorts usually didn't speak unless they were told to. Stating his opinion was brash, but brashness ran in his blood. "To speed their attack on the Bay? We could do it in the middle of the night, when most should be asleep."

Kevlyn's interest in their prospective plan delighted Caiaphas -- and it showed on her hideous features, which contracted in the manner of an ugly smile. But he was bold -- perhaps through lack of experience -- and while she would not chide him for his eager suggestion, she would circumvent it.

"I have employed the help of some.. outside assistance." She confirmed, her devilish gaze switching from the youth to the Glacier behind them. "We must be patient -- we will know when the time is right to strike."

Kevlyn appeared at times to be much older than he was, but he was truly an eager boy, and his features visibly crumpled when she advised him to wait. The Glacier would not wait forever for them, thought the consort... but it was his queen's desire that they not strike yet. He wanted to make her and their pack proud, but might have to rethink it.

"Who?" he queried, keeping his head humbly tucked in case she decided he wasn't worthy of that knowledge. Kevlyn was not one to wander beyond the borders of his home and knew little of the packs in the area. Caiaphas was a wanderer and gathered intel from all over, but he knew only of Duskfire Glacier and the bay pack further south. He could not imagine any other wanting to help Ankyra Sound in their destructive campaign.

she was excited for certain that kevlyn showed such a vested interest in their cause. as always, the consort did not disappoint.

for a moment she considered whether was wise to tell him, but being of a weak structure (and being quite partial to him) the moment of good sense was quickly discarded. she leaned in so none could hear save for him, as what she said next was very much for his ears only. "the dark brotherhood."

not that it mattered -- soon the whole pack would be aware, and they would bring a gift to the brotherhood as a sign of their good faith. but for now, kevlyn was the only soul to know the nature of what nefarious deeds kept caiaphas busy these days.

The Dark Brotherhood. The name wasn't familiar to the youthful Ostrega, who frowned thoughtfully. They certainly sounded like a formidable group, although Kevlyn couldn't help feeling like it was also corny, like some sort of attempt at being bad-ass that fell on its face. Surely if their name wasn't feared across the wilds, they couldn't be that reputable. Of course, he wasn't about to say that to his beloved siren queen; instead, he bobbed his head as if to agree that they were a good choice.

"Where are they?" he queried, not realizing that enlisting the help of the brotherhood didn't necessarily mean they would live in the Sound. His experience with these sorts of things was limited, so it was an easy mistake to make even though he strove to never make mistakes.