The purchase of the Wolverine had been steep, and cleared out his remaining buffalo coats. To the Warlord, that just meant another excuse to go after the dangerous beasts. He draped the coats over his back and made his way back to the trader. There, he made the exchange, and walked away with a tiny bundle of angry in return.

The young Wolverine would need a great deal of training, but for now it followed the Warlord. It knew he offered food and safety, and it knew no one else in this world.

He took it back to the Armada, carrying it in his maw the majority of the way there. He made a beeline for Malalia’s home, and placed it down on the grass in front of him. He cleared his throat and let out a soft chuffing noise of greeting. She would need to come meet and name the small bundle of fur in front of him. She would be in charge of its care and training from now on - this Wolverine was hers.


"Speech"

The den was bigger than when Sirius had first taken her to the common grounds. On the outside, it remained pretty much the same, a small hill with an opening. But she'd since cleared away the dirt, and on the inside she'd expanded the main chamber considerably. She was contemplating other adjustments when Sirius' soft greeting floated to her ears.

Mal poked her head out of the den with a smile and a greeting on her lips, but her eyes landed on the brute's tiny companion before she could utter any words. Her tail had begun to wag slowly. "Is that really....?" And it really was -- a wolverine kit. Her wolverine kit, just as the man had promised.

"I -- wow -- thank you, thank you!" she finally spluttered. The yearling scuttled out of the den and gave the man's shoulder a grateful nose-bump, before returning her curious gaze to the small creature beside him. All at once, she was shooting him question after question. "What's his name? Does he just eat meat? Can he -- will he be able to understand me?***" And perhaps most importantly--"How do I start training him?"

"Speech"
[OOC: ***This is also a clarification point for me lol but, Sirius does actually talk to Bast right?]

The young girl's enthusiasm brought laughter from the large Warlord. She bumped her nose against her shoulder - likely the best she could reach. He took a seat before her, lowering his head to watch her first interaction with her new companion. Instead, she turned her attention to him, question after question tumbling free.

“I communicate with words, and she responds with sign language in her paws. Marshal can croak at me, but he prefers not to. It changes from companion to companion. The alpha of Valhalla speaks to her cats and they speak back. Some creatures can't seem to form the words. This Wolverine has been around wolves most of its life, and has understood the simple instructions I've given him so far.” He explained to her carefully. He nudged the Wolverine closer to his young pupil.

“Teaching him will be a lesson for both of you, but you can come to me when you're unsure on how to proceed with something. He eats meat, and vegetation.”

The yearling took in his words carefully, before turning to face the creature once again. Sirius nudged it towards her, and she blinked, wide-eyed and not quite knowing how to begin. The man offered himself as a resource, but it was clear she'd have to do the ground work on her own.

After a bit of thought, she settled for lowering to the kit's eye level. "...Hey there, little guy." Her voice was soft, but clear and firm. "Follow me over here?" She walked a little ways away from the kit, with an encouraging smile and a "come here" flick of her tail. The wolverine stared at her with a mutter of uncertainty, before looking back up at Sirius, and staring at her once more. It didn't seem to want to move away from him....

Mal frowned, but she wasn't going to be deterred. She padded back to her den, dipping inside before dipping out with a rabbit haunch from an earlier hunt. She tore off a strip of meat, and repeated calmly, yet more firmly to the kit -- "Come here!" -- pairing tail flick with an added nudge at the meal. Immediately, the young wolverine padded over to her, and she dropped him a little piece in reward, which he set upon immediately with happy little munching sounds. She gave him a little pat on the head while he ate. "Well, he'll listen if there's food...." But really, who didn't?

He had done much the same with his own children, gifting them a companion and the instruction to train it. He had seen all of them make headways in this task. Or at least, their companions were still alive and seemed to follow their basic commands. He had no doubt Malalia, who was older than his offspring, would make even better headway.

He chuckled softly as she tried to get him to come to her, and then used the age-old trick of food to get what she wanted. “You’ll do perfect, you're already laying the groundwork.” he pointed out to her. The little Wolverine was happily eating at her feet, and the Warlord raised his eyes back to the wolf.

“Alright, as for the other matter…” he unhooked the pair of steel claws that had been clipped into his bracers for ease of carrying. The metal clicked together as he held them gently in his teeth and stepped forward, to place them before the warrior and beside the Wolverine. “Now you match, too.” he joked. “Did you need a hand getting them on?”

"Speech"

Other matter? They'd talked a bit about her battle companion, but Malalia had mostly forgotten about the weapon until the moment Sirius pulled out those claws. She eyed the glinting steel as he set it down in front of her, and let out a huff of laughter when the Warlord pointed out the similarities between the accessory and her companion. She could only hope to be as skillful with her new claws as the fierce little predator would be with his... though at the momet, the young wolverine looked about as dangerous as a flower as he munched away.

"Nah, I've got it." Mal gently took the claws in her teeth and tried to slide them over her paws. Her brow furrowed as she pulled them onto first her right, and left forepaw. "....Maybe?" Her ears flattened sheepishly, and she held out her right forepaw to Sirius. The weapons were, in essence, a wolf's version of brass knuckles with claws added. It was a good fit, but the yearling found them to feel a little unnatural, having never used weapons before, much less ones that seemed to modify the use of her own limbs.

After he checked and made any adjustments, she would flex her wrists, and attempt to walk around, getting a feel for them. "Okay, so how do I start beating people up with these?" Wolf's claws were fairly blunt, and thus far she'd mostly used her forepaws to grip, trip, or bruise her opponents, scratching being secondary to those ends. She flicked her ears and looked back at Sirius with a tiny grin. "This doesn't mean I get to fight you now, does it?" She joked. Mal knew a spar between them was a long way off, but that wouldn't stop her from bringing it up. Incessantly.

"Speech"

He leaned back, giving her space as she assured him she had it. She gave it a go for a moment, but it was clear the unfamiliar movements were a bit awkward for her. He leaned forward, hooking a cat claw over them and tugging them into the proper position, checking them over for size and tightening them were necessary. They were a clever piece of work that would be adjustable if she grew any more. No wonder they had cost him a pretty penny.

He watched with a critical eye as she wondered about with her new accessory, getting a feel for them. She spoke about a spar, and he laughed softly. “How about in a couple days? Give yourself a chance to adjust to them. See if you can get the Wolverine to follow some orders, give him a name. Then, we’ll give everything a proper spin, alright?” he suggested. The Wolverine would hardly be a danger at that point, but it would be good practice for the both of them.

“For now, I recommend practising on tree trunks. Get a feel for how they sink in, what motion frees them, so you don't get them trapped in flesh at a crucial moment.” would be his suggestion. She could see how they play out in real time in their spar.

"Speech"

Whoa. Okay. She didn't expect him to actually agree to the spar -- not so soon, anyway. The Warlord tended to brush off her humor or return it in kind, never committing, but holy shit it was actually happening. She nodded slowly. "Alright, I'll get to it," she returned, with all the nonchalance she could muster. Which was just about next to none. Her tail was wagging a mile a minute.

She was excited to train the bundle of fur. And name him, too! That was an unexpected surprise to the yearling, green to all things companionship. A part of her still viewed the babe as an independent predator in his own right, if a bit young, but he really was hers. Hers to command, and her responsibility too. She briefly considered her den arrangements, where the animal would sleep, and the daunting task of training him for battle... There'd be a lot on her plate in the coming days.

Sirius advised her on using the claws, and the she-wolf listened intently. "Sort of like bear markings," she commented. The motion he described reminded her of how they would stretch up on tree trunks to score their claws down the bark. Maybe that was something she could mimic. In a moment, she was nodding vigorously. "Thanks for the advice... and the wolverine... and the claws..."

Her ears couldn't help but flatten again as she trailed off. He was doing a lot for her, in the yearling's eyes. Taking her in had been one thing, but he had gifted her these battle aids... and what had she really done to deserve them, anyhow? The spar didn't faze her, at first, but now something like guilt churned uncomfortably in her belly. "Um... so, I'll see you soon!" She whirled around to leave before he could reply.

Mal called for the kit to follow her. Much more amenable now, the young wolverine followed easily behind her, and she let out a huff of approval, and dropped another piece of rabbit.

Time to find some trees....

-exit?-

"Speech"