Citadel rather liked swimming, though he hadn’t had any official lessons yet. Now that the beach was available to the pups he found himself intrigued with the territory. The water was just starting to warm up as the summer season progressed. It was nice out here, peaceful. He felt less heavy and clumsy in the water.

He was enjoying himself so much that he didn’t realise just how far he had gone. You couldn’t keep track of scent markers in the water, and it wasn’t until he looked over at the beach and found it unrecognisable that he realised he’d gone too far uh-oh knowing he was going to be in trouble, he started to swim to shore. He wasn’t sure he could make the full swim back to the Armada beach in the water.

He made it to the land and shook the water from his fur, looking about himself in some confusion. He’d never been here before, but he really needed to get back into scented territory before he got into trouble. An odd scraping sound came from the water he had just left. He tilted his head in confusion as he saw something big and reptilian start to crawl out of the sea. what was that!/


"Citadel Fatalis"

Perhaps it wasn't terribly typical of an alpha to meander off for long periods of time, but Scylla was confident in her wolves enough that she believed they wouldn't burn the forest down around them. It wasn't like she was their keeper, after all. Being a healer and an... anti-healer... Scylla was always on the lookout for nice, potent plants. She'd heard tell that there were some juicy poisons around Waterfall Peak, so that's where the slate and cream fae headed.

Scylla was just sniffing around the edge of the pool at the bottom of the falls when abnormal splashing caught her attention. Blue and grey eyes flicked upwards to see a big puppy hauling himself out of the water and onto dryish land. Not only did she see that, but she saw the glinting eyes of the crocodile before it hauled itself out behind the boy. It was always something, wasn't it?

With a sigh, Scylla placed her pack of herbs upon a rock and moved forward, passing the big child to place herself between it and the crocodilian. "Don't be a snack, kid. Stay away from the bitey end." Crocodiles were capable of bursts of speed, but this guy was rather large, as salties were. He lunged towards the closer wolf and Scylla reached out to deliver a smack to the things nose in a bit of bitchsmack fashion. Maybe the thing would get the hint and go... but of course it didn't.

"Scylla"

A wolf he hadn’t noticed suddenly appeared, and stepped towards him. He turned his attention from the water lizard thing to the wolf. His tail started to wave behind him, so far his interaction with strange wolves had been positive. He was a little confused when she kept walking - right past him - and towards the water. He turned, following her motion as she started to speak. Talking about… snacks. His stomach rumbled.

While he watched, the water-reptile (now dubbed Water-teeth for its snapping motion) moved, and the stranger smacked it. “Wow!” He said. Confused, but impressed. “Are you family?” he asked, noting the blue tone and marks around her eye. Perhaps he should actually be concentrating on the Water-Teeth. He trotted a little to the side of it, watching. “What does it want?”


"Citadel Fatalis"

The boy asked if she was family and Scylla laughed softly, lips pulling back in a smile though she didn't take her eyes off of the crocodile. "You never can tell these days. There's Klein blood everywhere." Her family was full of uh... lovers. There were cousins, siblings, aunts and uncles all over the place. She had no way of knowing whether or not this child was related to her. Not by a simple cursory glance.

The boy spoke again, asking what the crocodile wanted and Scylla laughed again, though this time it was louder and she shook her head. "To eat you, my boy. There are many big things that enjoy eating wolves. Especially tender young pups." The fae cut a sidelong glance at the blue boy and clicked her teeth together in an audible chomp. It took that single moment of broken eye contact for the reptile to lunge.

Scylla sprung backwards like a mongoose (don't laugh) and thrust one foreleg outward. The little mechanism in her bracer shot a serpentine blade into one nimble paw and she reflexively struck out. The point of the blade sunk into the eye of the armor encrusted reptile and it opened its mouth in a hiss, head jerking away and thick tail jerking towards her defensively.

"Scylla Klein"

Klein. He was sure he’d heard that name, perhaps in passing. He couldn’t remember, and he couldn’t place a paw on it. Was there Klein in their family? He didn’t know. Her warning at what the Water-teeth wanted didn’t throw him. In fact, it delighted him. That made this an enemy, something he should fight! A chance to prove himself, and his clumsy paws.

“Ohhhhh” he crooned in delight at her moves, as something bright and sharp appeared in her bracer. Right, he needed to prove that he could fight too! The pup with the bear paws lunged forward. Remembering her advice to avoid the bitey-end and jumped on its back. His large paws hit hard, and he extended his claws to dig into its thick hide, realising at the last moment just how hard it was to find purchase in the things back.


"Citadel Fatalis"

The realization struck the boy that the big scaley thing wanted to eat him and his disposition seemed to change. While Scylla kept the attention of the front half, the pup leaped upon the crocodiles back. Who was she to tell him no? She wasn't his mother or guardian or anything, for that matter.

Another slash of the serpentine blade across the reptiles face had the big beast curling about and heading back into the water. A full out retreat. Scylla watched the boy, making sure that he was safely back on the ground before the crocodile disappeared into the depths once more, the only indication of its presence being the swath of blood bubbling up to the surface.

"Scylla"

He was able to ride the crocodile until he figured out how to dig his claws under its scales. Biting flesh and giving him a better hold. He started trying to bite at its eyes and scales, really struggling to dig in. But he was having so much fun trying he didn't immediately realise when the strangers slashing cowed it, and it started to flee back into the ocean.


He struggled to dig his claws back out, the water rising around him. Until finally, he was free. He leaped off its back, landing on the shore in a clumsy heap, before he raised his forepaws And let out a whoop of delight. “That was fun!” He said, grinning up at the other wolf. “I'm Citadel.”

Scylla watched as the croc drifted back out to sea. Hopefully the dumb bastard had learned a lesson from all of this. Don't try to eat wolves. Even the small ones were formidable opponents. She could kick just as much ass as a dire could. More so when her enemy underestimated her due to her... diminutive stature.

Now that the enemy was gone, the pup turned back to her with an exclamation of glee. Scylla chuckled and seated herself on the sandy beach. He gave his name as Citadel and the striped fae nodded. "Scylla Klein, Sovereign of Obscura," she replied in kind, then leaned forward and spoke in a lower, conspiratorial voice. "That means alpha," she informed him, assuming that he wouldn't know the term Sovereign.

Lifting one paw, Scylla gave the boy a pat atop his head. "I assume your parents don't know about your excursion into the danger zone?" One brow lifted and the small woman gave her head a slight tilt. "Do you need me to walk you home?"

"Scylla Klein"

“Sov-er…ey…” he started to say, attempting to conquer the unfamiliar word when she chimed in with an explanation. The word meant alpha! “Oh, like my dad!” He exclaimed, excited. “He's Warlord, and that means Alpha too.” Wait, did that mean she had her own pack? That just be that other odd word she had spoken. He had so many years questions, and they were all jumbling together in his head in an effort to be spoken.


But her next sentence blew the steam right out of him. He slumped, hanging his head. “I was swimming, I didn't mean to go so far. Please don't tell them…” he begged, eyes wide and bright and innocent as they landed on the older wolf. “I need to get back to the Armada.  It's this way. Or… was it that way…” he turned one way, and then the opposite.