It wasn’t often that the two leaders patrolled together. Keeping their schedules separate for the security of the Armada. Today, the Warlord rose on Azure’s day and met him by the border. Restless, and overdue a meeting with his co-leader. They paced in silence for a time, scenting the air, and marking the border.

The Warlord was content in silence for a time. Watching as Marshal sighted a rodent and dove from the sky. Killing it with a powerful strike of his talons. “I’ve moved Kotori to Lieutenant, and made him work for it. We’ll need to start pushing a few other wolves to leadership positions soon. Satoru needs a push, too.” He mused ideally, giving Azure room to give his own opinions on the wolves of the Armada.


"Speech"

As a general rule, Azure hated having a partner to patrol with. They were generally too friendly or too moody, they tainted the enjoyment of his solitude, and worse, Azure was nearly required to pretend he tolerated their presence. Sirius was the exception to the rule and as his father's titanic form trotted up alongside his own, things felt somewhat right. This was where he'd always wanted to be - at his father's side, an equal. "He came to challenge me before you." Azure gave a short laugh. "At least your second litter hasn't been quite as awful as I expected." Gossamer was an eager student and exceeding expectations at every milestone, Aris was challenging but with the confidence to be admired, Briar had rose beyond any of them to the station of a Queen, Kotori was becoming a fighter skilled enough to rival himself, and Ophie... was Ophie. There always had to be one disappointment in a litter, at least. "That small healer who had no business in the raid, she's doing well." Azure commented, adding his own assessment. Her name had escaped him entirely, but she'd won her fight when it mattered. "Gossamer as well." Sirius continued his musing, bringing a snort from his son. "Satoru is a slave, save your pushing for your children and grandchildren." The majority of his litter were relative disappointments like Ophie who needed pushing, save for Basilisk and.. surprisingly, Levi. The runt had nearly disabled him in battle, being one of the few wolves Azure had been made to surrender to. "Speech"

The Warlord snorted in soft amusement. He knew Azure’s opinion on the kids, just like he knew that they had grown on the Champion more than he’d care to admit. “It’s the first you have to watch out for” he said, glancing at Azure in amusement, before the full impact of his own words caught up to him. He thought of Asla and Indigo who had dropped off the face of the earth, and Mortis who was… uninspired. And sighed.

“Halo surprised me. I assumed she would lose and get the itch to fight out of her system.” he admitted. “He’s a slave that isn’t striving for as much as he should. He’s complacent. He needs a good kick up the rump. Your children are doing well. I do wonder when Basilisk will stop growing, and eating us out of house and home.”


"Speech"

At Sirius' snort, Az's muzzle tipped toward him with a half-hearted glare. "Yes, well, I suppose I can't argue that." He conceded softly. There had been a time where Asla and Indy were the only wolves he felt he loved, he would have done anything for them and they would have done anything for him. At some point that had fractured, to the point where his sister had begun to deliberately avoid him and his brother had vanished as soon as he was able. Azure frowned, blowing out a breath. "Obviously every litter sucks, but sometimes you get a good one." Halo, right. Azure spoke the name aloud once in recognition, then accepted that he'd forget it as soon as he lay down for sleep. She had surprised Azure as well with her willingness to fight, it was a very welcome attribute in a healer. "With Sedna and Mojito gone, she may be our lead medic one day." There was a small bitterness in his voice as he spoke of Sedna - a wolf Sirius had allowed to leave. So she was pregnant, who cares? The Armada could use new blood and they'd lost a competent wolf to those bamboo dwellers. Hanako had lost too, one of her closest friends. What if the loss of Sedna could drive his fiance away, back to Auster where wolves of her color lived and played on the ocean? Azure shook his head, clearing his throat and accepting the topic change. "He's a slave who can't even do his job. Ophie isn't getting any thinner." He commented with a chuckle. "At least Basilisk's height is keeping up with how much he eats. I swear he'll be taller then us both." "Speech"

“Indeed, I got you.” The Warlord said, the compliment touching his voice as they passed Marshal, devouring the rodent he had caught. He glanced at Azure again as his champion spoke the healer's name. Perhaps trying to memorise it. “I believe it likely. She’s not shy to take on large tasks, and gets things done.” He heard the touch of bitterness in the other's voice, and wondered at it.

“Ophie.” The Warlord said, injecting an impressive amount of exasperation into the word. And as for his grandson… “If that boy doesn't slow down soon, he might rival the height of those frost giants we encountered two years ago.” and that height would be wicked impressive.


"Speech"

The warlords compliment brought a self-depreciating snort from his nose, but he said nothing further. Sirius was continuing on about Halo, the unlikeliest combat medic. "She is terribly shy and soft." Azure interjected, speaking the qualities as if they were deplorable. "But as long as she grows a spine when necessary I suppose we could do worse." Azure gave his father a grin as he let out his exasperated sigh of 'ophie'. His head nodded. "Yes, Ophie. The one who you can roll at the enemy in battle." While it was always fun to taunt a younger sibling, it was way more fun to taunt the 'thicc' sibling. "Speaking of my son - you adopted some small orphan? Seems to have taken a liking to Basilisk." He could smell his son on the girl's fur more often than not. Did Sirius not see a problem with this? Basilisk was destined for greater things than some dirty orphan child. "Speech"

The Warlord gave a half smirk, knowing the Azure saw those traits in the healer as deplorable, while in the Warlord they cultivated his protective instincts. “I tested her mettle on myself, and she didn’t back down. She has some learning to do, but I believe she will find her strength as a healer” He was investing in her. Quietly helping her grow, and was satisfied so far in what he saw in her.

“Hazel” the Warlord said, nodding. “She’s a small spitfire, and has a lot of ambition. I’ve seen her create competition with Basilisk. It’ll be good for the boy” he said, knowing Azure’s protective tendency towards that one son in particular. He also thought Hazel would be good for the pack. She had a lot of spunk, and he loved that girl already. He didn’t say that to Azure, who could be close minded about these things.


"Speech"

Azure gave a small eye roll, but did not argue his father's words. Sirius was known to have grown softer with age, but as long as his ferocity as a warlord remained where it was, he was welcome to cuddle all the puppies and compliment all the healers that he desired. "Good." He stated. Halo was young yet herself, but perhaps she could do things here. God knew his younger siblings had been complaining for a healer who could teach. Of Hazel Az was still unconvinced. "Basilisk doesn't need a distraction like that. They'll be yearlings soon and I believe you are well aware of how distracting puppy love can be." He eyed his father carefully, thinking but not speaking aloud of his two siblings. They'd spent much of their young life wrapped up in each others arms, and Azure did not want that for his son even ethicalities aside. "Speech"

The Warlord shook his head with a disgruntled growl at the reminder. Taking a moment to settle down again, and letting his eyes wander over the familiar marks of the territory around him. “Basilisk isn’t the sort, and the two train well together. If you wish to separate him from her, I believe you’ll be cutting off access to valuable lessons. But he’s your child.” The Warlord acknowledged. Personally, if Azure wanted to concentrate his attention on his children, he had others that needed the support. He didn’t see them training and learning as readily as Basilisk and Hazel.

Changing the subject, the Warlord considered other problems within the pack, and projects he wished to see moving. “Recruitments down. It’s been a while since we saw fresh blood” The Warlord used to take his time seeking out new recruits. There was a time he would bring them home in droves, and time would tell fairly quickly which ones were suited to the Armada life, and which ones didn’t make the cut.

"Speech"

Sirius dismissed his concerns easily and Azure sighed in reply. The Warlord had always been as soft as his own children as he was hard on enemies, a trait Azure did not share. He knew Basilisk was destined for great things and had realized as much as soon as he saw the boy's massive size. Many direwolves had been raised in and among the Armada's territories, and Az's heir was on track to tower over them all. Couldn't his father see that friendship like this was an unnecessary distraction? "I hope you're right." He murmured, refraining from an on-character retort of 'yes, he is my child.' Sirius had not often steered him wrong but it was with reluctance that Azure ever allowed himself to be guided. The subject change was one he accepted, though he made a note to have a discussion with Basilisk to see if he truly had learned anything from the orphaned riffraff Sirius had taken in. "Recruitment seems to be down everywhere." He countered. "Abaven used to be a pack thirty strong, now it seems they're fewer in number than even we are." Perhaps it was a lingering consequence of the Ooze, too many wolves had died and not enough had reproduced to fill the gap. "Speech"

The Warlord gave a quick double-look towards Azure in surprise. He hadn’t realised that. He supposed it had been a time since he had made the trip down to Abaven and taken enough of a sniff to get an idea of their count. He knew Aerie was a small pack, and Hattori had wandered off to start one of his own, spreading those wolves left even thinner.

The Warlord had always enjoyed dragging home strays, but it seemed the dynamic of the world had changed. “I hadn’t realised.” He said out loud, musing it over. “Perhaps it's past time Mortis settles down with a wife and adds a brood to the pack.” he glanced over at Azure, and smirked softly. “I doubt he’ll produce one such as Basilisk, however”


"Speech"

Sirius' look of shock brought a laugh from his son. "Don't go getting any ideas now, it was for entirely selfish reasons that I scouted them." Azure was the last wolf who'd walk around aimlessly judging the strength of other packs, he didn't need to approach their borders or seek out an accurate count of warriors when he knew that the Armada's army was the best there was. "I'm thinking of sending Calypso east to them, I just wanted to make sure their renovation was ready for students." His daughter was not thriving in the Armada the way other pups were and had, and Azure was not willing to take time out of Basilisk's lessons to help her or her siblings catch up to him. At his father's next remark Azure laughed once more, shot the Warlord an incredulous expression, and then thought better of it. Mortis' business was Mortis' business - but hadn't he noticed how remarkably close his winged son was with the koi-wolf boy with whom he shared a den? "Sure, yeah. Get on with it, Mort." He called out to the open air, knowing his brother could not hear. Mortis' orientation worked out in Azure's favor, so he'd support his choice. If Mortis chose a male as a mate, it all but secured Basilisk for heir. If Mortis bore a winged son who rivaled Basilisk's height.. Az didn't even want to think about it. "Speech"

The Warlord frowned thoughtfully at that. Surprised that Azure would send off any of his children - hadn’t he said once that he believed no one else would be worthy of training Armada wolves? Or something to that effect. The Warlord found it interesting that he would change his tune now. Otherwise, he had no objection to sending a child to Abaven. They had been Armadas allies for a long time now. “I’d be interested to hear their teaching styles” he commented.

At Azure’s laugh, Sirius glanced at the boy, and gave a soft sigh. “I’m waiting for him to get over his infatuation.” He said, showing he wasn’t completely oblivious.


"Speech"