The tyrant thumped the tree that housed the squirral-man. He had already taught the man a lesson in his fruitless endeavor for freedom. In truth, he had had little time to tutor the willful imp in the ways of servant. Now, he was putting some distance between himself and Deathbelle, and didnt want this loose thread hanging around her untrained.

Besides, this man had wasted away enough of his life, and Sirius had no patience for self pity and slothfulness.

"Get up, you and I are going to have a heart to heart" the tyrannal warlord would say, voice dry and mildly amused. Weather the man moved or not, Sirius would continue. "You have one shot at freedom, because let's be frank, your not going to beat me without help. Do you want to earn your freedom or waste away in this tree, useless and stagnant."

Nestled in a hidden nook, Balsam heard Sirius approach and sighed deeply to himself. He had about enough of this pompous giant. His gaze turned heavenward and he stared humorlessly up into the higher branches as the beast spoke, shaking his head slowly all the while. The man hadn't a clue but that was far from a bad thing. It was a positive as far as Balsam was concerned. It meant Sirius might not see him coming when he was ready. And he would be ready. Not a day had gone by that he hadn't trained in preparation of their next fight. Balsam didn't think he'd win the next one, but it would give him a chance to learn and prepare for the fight that came after. Eventually he would win or he would die, and he was to the point where he didn't care which outcome won out. He would not be a captive forever. Slowly Balsam leaned over the lower branch to gaze passively down at Sirius. There was no wasting away; he hadn't been idle. But it pleased him that Sirius thought he'd spent his time sulking. "I will beat you. I will be free. And you will never, ever, truly win." Sirius had beaten him in body once but never, not even on that day, had he beaten him in spirit. Balsam hadn't lay there cowed when the man had won. He'd gotten to his feet unimpressed by the giant's tantrum. That blase feeling hadn't changed.

Sirius snorted, unamused as the imp refused to leave his tree. Sirius wasnt fussed about out waiting him, he was yet to show the slave the feline claws that had grown in after the firefly festival. He had no qualms with going up there and dragging him down by his ears if he had to. He would wait, first, give the man a chance to mull over his words.

"You can remain my slave for the rest of your days, and I'll have you digging latrines as you try again and again to win your freedom and failing. If you refuse to dig, then I will chain you to the hole and let me men use you for target practice, if you know what I mean." The bastard tyrant smirked, letting the man consider this worse case scenario, before moving on.

"Or, you can pledge allegance to me for a year and a day. In which time I will offer you training, and warrior duties, a place in my pack. At the end of this time, you are free to leave, free of your debt to me. If you still chose to."

Balsam's gaze hardened as he stared down at Sirius. He jutted out his chin in defiance. This beastly man would not win. Though it was far from ideal, death with an unbroken spirit was preferable to admitting defeat. He would not - could not - bow to Sirius. His pride wouldn't allow it. "We will fight," he agreed coldly. "Again and again, no doubt, but you are wrong if you think freedom is all that is at stake. Who knows," he said with an angry shrug. "You might win every battle - maybe I will be here for the rest of my days - but you will never win the war." He looked Sirius up and down with a scathing expression, then spit the words, "So let me get this straight. You insult me, threaten me, beat me and then expect me to serve you? Then you are a fool. No man with a heart in his chest and blood in his veins would stoop so low. So put me in the latrine. Piss on me. I'd rather die covered in shit than fall on my knees and kiss your feet."

Sirius snorted in disgust at the man. Let his pride be his downfall then, perhaps he would come around after he had marinated a while. “So be it” the Tyrant said, and lurched up the tree with explosive force, with the intent of taking the tree climber by surprise. Sirius had never before demonstrated in front of the man his prowess in tree climbing, which he had slowly build up the strength for after his caws had grown in. He dug into the bark, lurching himself upwards with more momentum than actual body strength as he reached with surprising speed, the low branch the imp had settled on. He managed to grab the smaller wolf by his scruff, and toss him out of the tree with a powerful swipe of his jaws, before flipping and landing on all fours back on the ground once more. With an almost evil grin on his face, he would launch himself at the hopefully stunned wolf, in an attempt to drive a paw into his head. If he could, he would knock the man out. Sirius Vs Balsam for knock out Round one of ? Size: Dire Wolf Build: Medium Companion One: Extra large companion, Battle Vulture (plus 10%) Companion Two: Snow Leopard (plus 10%) Battle Accessory (Offensive): Bracers Battle Accessory (Defensive): Bracers Mutation 1: Fangs Mutation 2: Claws Fight Skill Level: Master Specialty: Weaponsmaster "Speech"

Well, what do you know. The mammoth could climb. He wasn't great but really, who would expect grace from a heavy ground dweller? Certainly not Balsam. Granted he hadn't expected the beast to be able to climb either, but it shouldn't have come as too much of a surprise considering the taste he'd gotten of his claws the first time. Sirius succeeded in knocking Balsam out of the tree. Though he was without his usual speed coming off the ground, Balsam succeeded in dodging Sirius' stomp. He rolled to his left away from the bastard and then sought to kick off the base of the tree and propel himself back towards the offending oversized foot. His goal was simple: wrap his front paws around it, bunny kick it with the back and bite out the tendons that ran down the top of Sirius' foot. The beast wouldn't be able to do anymore head stomping if he couldn't use the foot in question. Balsam versus Sirius for Freedom Round One of Two Age: 1+ Size: Extra Small Build: Light Mutation: Claws Fight Skill Level: Intermediate

The midget was able to dodge his incoming foot, but Sirius was hardly worried. He still looked down at the creatures fighting skill. After all, he had barely been able to scratch the Titan thus far. Still, one had to respect how tenacious this little bugger was. He never knew when to give up. The smaller wolf ran to the tree, and Sirius charged forward, expecting him to climb upwards and away. He should have expected that Balsam would never run from a fight. Instead, the tree hugger shoved off it, coming back towards the titan. Sirius let him have the foot, wrapping around his forepaw, digging it and kicking for all he was worth. Even Sirius could admit that hurt, but instead he put his momentum in his back legs, and body slammed forward in an attempt to catch the wolf and knock him hard to the ground. He was still going for a knockout, it would be much easier to tie him at the bottom of a latrine this way. Sirius Vs Balsam for knock out Round two of two Size: Dire Wolf Build: Medium Companion One: Extra large companion, Battle Vulture (plus 10%) Companion Two: Snow Leopard (plus 10%) Battle Accessory (Offensive): Bracers Battle Accessory (Defensive): Bracers Mutation 1: Fangs Mutation 2: Claws Fight Skill Level: Master Specialty: Weaponsmaster "Speech"

With his back still on the ground Balsam knew he was in a bad position but that did little to dissuade him from his attack. He succeeded in sinking his teeth into Sirius' foot and promptly sought to shake his head. He put every ounce of strength he had into the bite in the hopes of crippling the limb. Simultaneously he kicked as hard as he could at the back of Sirius' leg with his hind legs, his front ones serving as anchor points to keep him in place. The goal there was to hook his sharp, catlike claws into the tendon that ran the length of Sirius' leg. The goal there was the same as his bite/head shake. He wanted this leg crippled. The heavy beast did what heavy beasts did best and tried to flatten Balsam. With nowhere to go there was no dodging it and the entirety of Sirius' weight fell onto him. As the beast's shadow loomed over him there was only enough time for Balsam to grimly (and perhaps a smidge gleefully) hope Sirius own weight on Balsam's closing jaws would sever the tendons on the top of his paw. Balsam versus Sirius for Freedom Round Two of Two Age: 1+ Size: Extra Small Build: Light Mutation: Claws Fight Skill Level: Intermediate

And the winner is...

BALSAM

Sirius must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Balsam has won his freedom, and may not be challenged for for two weeks! Totals: Sirius: 128.81 Balsam: 176.22