Stavanger Bay when the sky turns grey

Charon stood upon the beach while the last rays of the sun vanished on the horizon. He looked at the horizon with a broken smile and looked briefly to his side, remembered of Drake by Osprey's visit. In his journey to Duskfire Glacier, he hadn't thought of Drake for a second, too wrapped into his impossible journey and serious real life stuff that he'd forgotten all about his imaginary friend. This made Charon realise how he had regarded Drake as a real friend, when he wasn't real at all... Or was he?

"Maybe I don't need you anymore," Charon mumbled as he looked to the empty spot by his side while the ocean's waves calmly lapped at his toes. "Maybe it's time you go back to your troll family, or wherever you came from." Charon's ear twitched as he perked his ears forth and then flattened them in his neck. I don't have a home, other than your mind, and I won't go, because I'm your friend. "Whatever Drake — that was just my own mind pretending again since you're not real anyway." And Drake stared back at his friend with sad, frowning eyes while Charon stared at the empty spot on the beach, at his imaginary friend which refused to go away, with narrowed eyes.

Lyric padded onto the beach only to see a white wolf with these grey speckles in his fur. She decided she ought to go and introduce herself. He seemed lonely. She let out a chuff when she was close enough.

She wondered why he was so intently looking at the spot besides him. No wolf was there. She tilted her head and stopped a few feet away. "Hello," she paused " Do you mind some company?" she muttered sitting down. She wasn't sure what to make of this wolf.

Although she liked the colour of his pelt. She wondered where the speckles came from. This wolf was fairly young. Just a pup. Not much older than 4 months she didn't think.

When Charon heard another voice, he startled. He looked over his shoulder and saw another wolf, one he hadn't yet met. She smelled enough of Thistle Cloud and didn't seem hostile, however, so she was probably just a new addition to the Bay. Charon felt embarrassed, and he hoped she hadn't heard him talk to Drake (and with this embarrassment he felt guilty; in the past he would have instantly introduced other wolves to Drake, rather than feeling stupid for talking to an imaginary troll). She didn't seem to have, though.

"Yeah, sure," said Charon, and then his curiosity came rolling in. "Are you new here? I didn't see you before. Who are you?" At six months of age, Charon looked pretty much like an adult, but his mannerisms were still youthful and betrayed his adolescence, as well as small details in his appearance such as a general lack in balance and strength. "I'm Charon."

Even though Lyric had chuffed she still startled the young wolf. Lyric could tell this pup was curious. Just by the sound in his voice. "Okay ill stick around for a bit then. Sorry for starling you," she muttered smiling. "I'm Lyric, yes i'm new here, Thistle Cloud found me near the borders and i told her i was looking for a place to stay."

She wondered what this young wolf was doing on the beach but she wouldn't question him too much. Unlike him. She was slightly less curious. Although she still asked questions sometimes.

She rubbed her paw in the sand almost in a digging motion. nothing of interest she was just a little bored. She had a hard time sitting still sometimes.

"I wasn't startled," Charon was quick to correct. He didn't want wolves going around thinking he was a coward, or anything, so it was better to lie. He didn't know this new wolf well yet at all, and so he didn't know if she wouldn't go around telling things about Charon. She introduced herself as Lyric and said that she had been accepted into the pack by Thistle Cloud, as Charon had expected. "Oh. How do you like it here so far?" asked Charon while he stared out to the ocean.

Charon watched Lyric as she started to paw at the sandy beach, as if she was searching for shallowly hidden treasure or something. Charon was about to ask why she was doing that, when his left ear twitched. Ignoring Drake, Charon said, "Have you ever had an imaginary friend?" He was six months now, and it was time for Drake to move out, in Charon's mind, but for some reason Drake wasn't so eager to leave.

"It's nice here," Lyric muttered with a small smile. "Seems like a great group of wolves you guys have here." Lyric looked around for a moment. She wondered if any others were about. Who knows. When Charon spoke up again though she quickly returned her glance to him. 

 "Yea when I was small I had an imaginary friend. She went away though after I got to 7 or 8 months. Probably right when I decided to leave my birth pack." Lyric replied to his question. An odd one at that but she didnt mind. "Do you have one?" she asked tilting her head ever so slightly.

 It wasn't abnormal for young wolves to have imaginary friends. Or was it. She didn't really know because she had one as well. Perhaps another young wolf would think it was strange. She shrugged the thought off. She would rather not dwell much on her past. Kinda sucked for her.

"Yeah, Stavanger Bay is pretty cool," said Charon, and he smiled briefly while he looked out onto the water, considering everything. He wondered if having Drake was weird, but then, nobody had ever said anything about him being weird.

Much to Charon's surprise, Lyric admitted to having an imaginary friend too when she was young. He hadn't expected her to have had one at all, and had actually kind of expected her to say something mocking about it. Charon wasn't sure why; he'd always thought it was pretty cool that he had an extra friend in Drake... Up until recently.

His mind reeled when she asked if he had any, pondering between two options; either telling her that he did and completely romanticising the idea of having an imaginary friend as something only the cool kids did, or completely mocking Lyric for having one of her own.

Some day Charon would probably look back to this moment in shame, but for the moment he decided not to risk the former ending in disaster. "You had an imaginary friend? Haha, that's such a nerd thing to have! You're so weird, gods, I can't believe you had a pretend-friend! Of course I don't have an imaginary friend, that's super dumb!" Charon laughed mockingly, feeling pretty smart for saving himself out of this situation; surely Lyric wouldn't think twice of talking him down now that he pretty much rubbed her face in the dirt, mentally.

ooc: Poor Lyric <3  I think puberty has arrived on Charon's doorstep xD

Lyric frowned. She waited as Charon seemed to ponder for a moment. Then he proceeded to make fun of Lyric for having had an imaginary friend. She looked down at her paws. Perhaps telling him may have been. A bad idea. She sighed standing up and stretching for a moment. 

She could have sworn she heard him talking earlier. Hmm. If he was so intent on claiming he didnt have an imaginary friend. Then he wouldnt mind her asking. 

"Oh I see," she paused for a moment. "Then who were you talking to before I showed up. I over heard your voice but couldn't make out what you were saying." she asked tilting her head slightly then padding to stand in the shallows of the water. Letting the waves crash over her paws. 

She flicked some water towards Charon. She wanted to show him she was not easily bothered by his words. Even though what he had said hurt she knew it was probably just him going through his brat phase. 

She didn't mind. Shed dealt with worse at home. Home what a word. This was her home now. Her old pack. That was never her home. 


OOC: Plot twist she knew all along XD But ouch hurtful. lol. :P

Charon was annoyed that Lyric didn't seem bothered by his words. Hurting her seemed like the easiest way to make himself look - and therefore feel - better, but it was proving more troublesome than he had thought. Charon folded his ears backward when she casually asked him who he had been talking to. He had, of course, been talking to Drake, but there was no reason for Lyric to know all of that.

He ignored the water she splashed at him, just tossing her an annoyed glare while he tried to think of a smart-ass answer that wouldn't make him look like a nerd.


The easiest way out of this was to fabricate another lie around his first lie, Charon quickly decided, and it wasn't hard to come up with something. He found that lying about subjects that were actually true on another level was the easiest, and so his tragic family past was an easy pick.

"I was talking to my dead mother," Charon said slowly, his voice breaking up slightly. He frowned and stared straight at Lyric, seeking eye contact; daring her to call him a liar.

ooc: haha, go lyric! xD

Lyric gave Charon a hard stare. She wasn't quite sure whether she believed his story or not. She stepped out of the water and sat down. "Okay," she muttered quietly. This wolf was stubborn. She was in a testy mood. 

"Whatever floats your boat," she let out a small chuckle and trotted a bit away in case she pissed him off. She looked around. No other wolves in sight. She was determined to win this. He was lying through his teeth and she could tell. 


She lay down in the sand and waited as if expecting him to do something. If he was going to be annoying so would she. Two can play at that game.

OOC: Mwahahaha >:D xD

Charon couldn't tell from the look on Lyric's face if she fell for the lie or not. In his experience, most wolves wouldn't take the risk of calling him out on a lie like this; what did they know if he'd been talking to his dead mother or not? Even if they were ninety-nine percent sure that he wasn't, it wouldn't be worth the risk of the one percent that he would have been and that their mocking would crush his fragile little soul. Lyric, however, seemed to ponder whether she would risk it.

At first she seemed to give on, saying 'okay' and moving out of the water, her mood turning about as sour as Charon's did, it seemed. Then she made a comment and started to walk away from him while she seemed to be laughing.

Fully absorbed in his own web of lies (and, because it was based on truth, it wasn't hard to pretend or get lost in them, the barrier between reality and fiction growing vague), Charon didn't waste any time to jump to his feet and give her a hard stare while she walked away. "You think that's funny?" he shouted, agitated now, and he trotted after her, to the play where she lay in the sand waiting. "You think it's funny that my mother died? You wanna make fun of me because I'm a sad orphan?" The fur in Charon's neck and along his spine bristled in agitation and he stared at Lyric with his tail raised above his back, searching for eye contact dominantly.

Lyric looked a little startled when he began to yell at her. "No no, I don't think its funny at all. What i find funny is you think I cant see through the lie. Sure you may be an orphan. That's not who you were talking to though was it?" she muttered standing up to make herself seem less small but still non threatening. 

She didn't like feeling small. made her feel weak and she knew she wasn't. She was quite strong if provoked.  

She hadn't mean to annoy the young wolf. Wait maybe she had. She just wanted the truth. He wouldn't have asked her about her imaginary friend if he hadn't had one himself. Its not the first thing that occurs on every wolfs mind. 

Yes she had in fact had one when she was young because she had no friends within her pack. She was alone. A lone wolf within a pack. Which shouldn't happen. Each wolf should be allowed to pull its own weight. "Look I'm sorry I pissed you off, but i don't see a reason to lie, if i admitted I too had a friend. Perhaps if i had said no i would understand your decision." the silver coated fae stated.

Charon was agitated, not understanding why Lyric wouldn't just get off his case. He also didn't like to be called a liar; Charon considered himself very honest (even if he was often not; because he was not usually called out on his lies and they were often small white lies or adventure-stories that he made up, he did not consciously realise how often he made things up or used small lies to get his way) and noble, like a knight. His good name felt sullied by Lyric's allegations. Lyric continued to say that he hadn't been talking to his mother. "What do you even know about who I was talking to?!" Charon said loudly and sharply, clearly still very agitated with the situation and, most of all, his lack of control on the situation.

She continued to say that he had lied and that she did not understand why. Charon snarkily answered, "Well, if you gotta know, even though my mother is dead, thanks for reminding me, I was talking to my very real troll friend Drake. But he isn't imaginary. He's just not visible to stupid dorks, so that must be why you can't see him." Charon kept his head high, feeling strong and rebellious, and stared at Lyric, daring her to say the word 'lie' one more time.

"I don't," she muttered ears flattening. "I'm sorry, not that you have a reason to forgive me, but i hope you can." Lyric ducked her head slightly. Her ears twitched as he called her a dork. She deserved that after the heck she just put him through. 

"Well, I ought to go," she muttered. "Hope we can talk some other time, maybe. Tell Drake its nice to meet him." she knew her efforts were pointless but hey. Perhaps she wasn't going to make friends here. Who am i kidding, this is just one wolf. 

She turned tail and began to walk away although remaining alert in case the young wolf had something else to say to her. If not she would make use of herself someplace else. Caretaker. She would have to work on her patience. 


OOC: If Charon has nothing else to say. I think this will be my last post.

poor Lyric *snoogles her* <3 thanks, this was an interesting thread -- we should definitely have a thread again sometime when they cooled off a bit! :3

Charon was caught completely off-guard by the fact that Lyric suddenly turned round and apologised. He thought that she had been trying to give him a hard time on purpose, so he wasn't sure how to deal with the sudden giving up on that. Part of him felt victorious, though he was still surprised. "Well, uh, good," Charon awkwardly said, trying to keep his voice airy, as if it wasn't a big deal, even though he had been shouting before.

Lyric suddenly said that she had to go, a card that Charon himself had played before to get out of a bad situation. He however did not recognise it as such. "Okay, bye." She either had something better to do, or she wanted to leave because she felt dumb, which had been his intention. Regardless, Charon felt the winner of the situation, and he didn't think that he could gain anything by not letting her leave or following her. He watched as Lyric left, and sat upon the beach for a little while. He looked around before he started to fight aloud with Drake again, this time paying better attention if nobody was looking.