Captain, My Captain

The female starred up at the bat hawk with a touch of annoyance.

“You don’t make any sense. No Face? Faceless? Nobody? What kind of names are those?”

Philomena had been talking with the bat hawk for a few minutes, and she was already showing signs of irritation as she interacted with the other creature. This… No Face as he preferred to be called seemed to be on the other end of the spectrum, quite amused as he continued to talk to the young woman.

“The best kinds, Miss Philomena. The best kind.” The hawk canted his head to the side, his gaze taking on a more serious expression. “I’ve been watching you for a while now. Your homeland was taken from you, was it not? What do you plan to do about it?”

Philomena gritted her teeth, the words holding a sharper edge to them than she was expecting. The hawk didn’t shift his golden eyes from her, and Philly could swear that if looks could kill he’d have pierced through her ten times over by now.

“I…” Philomena muttered, her gazing falling to the floor.

“Even after having such things taken from you, you’d just let others walk all over you?”

“Shut up!” Philomena growled, snapping her gaze up to the hawk. “You don’t know how it really went down! ...and I never said that I was going to let them walk all over me!”

The bat hawk smirked, fluttering to a lower branch towards the young wolfess.

“Then you’ll fight?” The hawk seemed to know more than she cared to admit.

“Of course I will.” Philly growled. “Someone needs to stand up to the bully, or the bully will win, right? That’s how we view it as a pup. It’s the same sort of concept as an adult, isn’t it?” Philomena flicked her tail back and forth.

“So I’ll fight. I’m going to stand for what’s right… and unless you want to stand with me, No Face or whatever your real name is, get lost!”

The hawk spread his wings, letting out a sharp cry.

“Of course I’m joining the fray! I wouldn’t have tested to see your resolve if I wasn’t!”

Philomena paused, considering something. If this hawk had lived in Dragoste territory… then perhaps it had seen her father’s interactions with the Empire wolves.

“How much of the Risen Empire do you know about?” Philly decided to ask, cautiously.

“I saw your father come to them… and I saw you get taken away. More than that… I only know from what you’ve revealed yourself. Though you’re a bit of an open book about them, aren’t you?” No Face fluttered down to the earth, gazing up at the dire she-wolf.

“You want to avenge your father… but in some ways you feel that they weren’t completely wrong. You need to decide where you stand before you can face them, Philomena. You can’t have a paw on both sides.”

Philomena closed her eyes, taking a moment to think.

“I stand… against them. They threaten freedom… they threaten true choice. Everyone deserves that, good or bad…” Philomena opened her eyes again. “...and just because your opinion is different from yours you shouldn’t be punished. You shouldn’t be considered an obstacle. It’s wrong.”

“Then let us go, Captain Philomena! Let us rise from Dragoste’s ashes to stand against the Risen Empire!”

Captain… Philomena gave a firm nod. She liked the sound of that. Maybe… maybe this wouldn’t be such a bad idea after all...