It was late into the witching hour, and the woods about him seemed eerily quiet. Somewhere into the distance, if he strained his ears, he could hear the faint sound of scurrying creatures. Those far enough from the Titan Warlord to be unaffected by the weight of his presence. This distant murmur of motion was the heartbeat of the forest. Soft and steady, familiar. The sound ancored the Ashen leader as he stood in the small, empty clearing. He had met the trader a week prior. The man had been anxious to get his paws on some of the human trinkets the Warlord had recently acquired. Sirius had been reluctant to sell, the strange things amused him. But the trader had made a deal, a promise to him. He would come today with something that would sweeten the pot. He was, of course, late. Leaving the Warlord waiting, impatient and irritated. His soft growls ensured the silence that shrouded him now. If the man did not appear within the next half an hour, the deal was off. In fact, he would be lucky if he could walk, the next time Sirius found him. Time was ticking, he better show. "Speech"

"Let go of me!" She yelled between clenched teeth, held shut by the rope wrapped around her muzzle that was chaffing and raw from the struggling she was doing against the lead. Birds scattered from the trees, frantically escaping her scream. More rope secured her paws, in case she tried to run, and gave her only enough room to walk, but she was hardly even doing any of that. The male that drug her along, grumbling between his own clenched teeth, yanked the rope that held her each time she struggled and pulled her along by her face, rubbing the sores she had created for herself more.

This trip hadn't been easy on either of them, but she wasn't about to give up. Exhausted, weak, and starving, but she was not giving up. Blood soaked her fur around her face and paws, but that hardly slowed her down. Even the pain was easy to ignore while she struggled to be free. Her fight hadn't ceased since her parents gave her up to this man months ago, and now she was drug around from place to place while this man tried to sell her. He'd been beating her less for her transgressions, trying to keep her pretty, but the rope was ruining that now and the man was beginning to lose his patience with her - what he had left of it, anyway. Even the man was tired of her, but he seemed so determined to keep her around until something worth trading her for came around. She might have been young, but she wasn't stupid.

They'd stopped for a break in which she was tied to a tree and the man stopped for a drink and a rest to nurse some of the more recent wounds she'd inflicted upon him the last time she wasn't wearing a muzzle. When it was time to go again, she growled at the man and lunged at him, though it was useless in her shackles and muzzle. Yanked again off the tree, she was forced to walk again and hadn't been given the water the man was so grateful to find. They'd been walking for days now and the girl hardly had anything to eat or drink, really just enough to keep her alive and hopefully weaken her, though it didn't seem to be working much.

They walked like this for a few more hours, her struggling and him complaining, until they came upon a small clearing where someone else was waiting. They broke through the trees and brambles, nearly dragging her through them as she fought, and he looked at the man waiting for him. They'd met some time earlier and he was eager to trade this girl for the human artifacts the man claimed to have. Almost anything was worth getting rid of this girl for, but he'd seemed to be the only interested buyer. Thankfully he hadn't brought her with him while they discussed the trade, or he'd likely still have the wench on his paws.

Glaring between the men, she lowered her head and lifted her lip at the new male as much as she could through her muzzle, but stayed behind the slave trader. He didn't look much nicer than this one, and honestly, she didn't think she could take him in a fight. He was huge with fangs, even! At least she'd been able to get a few good passes at the trader, but she wouldn't stand a chance against this new man.

"She's a wild one, full of spirit." The man barked, gripping tightly to the rope that held onto her through his teeth. She continued to glare between the men, standing still only to see where her fate was heading now.

"Speech"

At last, as he reached the last tendrils of his patience, the man appeared. Sirius grimaced, looking at him, looking at the mess he had made of the girl. His eyes glanced over the girl, and back to the slaver. This was his honey? He bit back a sigh before he spoke. “So I can see.” he motioned to the trees, and his bear companion slipped out from beneath the shadows of a great oak, and lumbered into view. She stopped besides Sirius, nearly towering above him reared up as she was on two back feet. She took off the bag she held about her shoulders and dropped it in the space between them. “Your goods, as promised. You brought the steel as well as the girl, I assume?” he asked, keeping his voice even, bored, with a touch of menace. He would never show the slaver the anger seething behind the facade. This was not how you treated a wolf, even a slave. Sirius treated his own slaves with better care than this. He would ruin her, with treatment like that. Sirius believed slavery to be only a temporaty condition. A starting point, something for a wolf to strive to better themselves from. He would not show the slaver his desire to take the girl from him, he would deal with him, get his steel, and never see this skum of a man again. "Speech"

She wasn't healthy in the least, but she was young and he hoped he wouldn't see the lack of care that had gone into this. Had he not been ready to get rid of her, he'd warn this man of her feral tendencies; behaviors he'd dealt with he'd gotten her. Unable to care less what happened to her now, he was eager to trade. Whatever this man wanted with the girl, he'd have it. Upon mentioning the steel, he nodded and began shrugging off his pack. Weighted evenly on each side, it slumped from his back onto the ground. He still held her rope tightly in case she ran. Admittedly, it was on her mind and she watched carefully for him to drop it so she could escape. It didn't come though and she growled softly.

"It's all in there-" he motioned towards the pack that laid on the ground in a heap, jerking her rope and catching her off guard a bit as she stared at the bear, wincing as the rope rubbed against her unsuspectingly. "but I wouldn't trust her off the ropes." Whatever the man wanted to do with her after this wasn't any of his business, but he was not about to be blamed for this girl running off before the trade was official. Stepping forward a bit and pulling her along with while she fought back against the rope, he took only a few steps to offer the rope to Sirius, eyeing the bear cautiously.

It was the bear that stepped forward, grabbing the girl one one hand, and making a shooing motion with the other. “Yes, thank you, that will be all” The Warlord said with cruel dismissiveness. Turning his attention from the man as though he was already gone, the Warlord grabbed the bag, and slung it over his own shoulders. He then took a seat in front of the girl. By then, the slaver had taken his blood money and left. Sirius took a feline-like frontal claw, and snipped it under her muzzle, breaking the material and letting it fall to the floor.

“Bloody slaver” he growled unhappily, more to himself then the girl. Io would have to see to her chuffed skin. He grabbed the second pack the bear carried, well his companion patiently waited, rope held tightly in a deadly, hooked claw. He rummaged around until he brought out a few strips of dried meat, a gaud of water. “Help yourself, girl. Do you have a name?” she was just a pup younger than his own children.

The man was quick to leave with his treasures and be off before she could be returned. Taken by the bear's massive paw, she hunkered a bit in immediate fear of the beast, but her eyes flashed between it and the new man as he reached forward and cut the muzzle free from her raw mouth. Immediately the girls lips curled into a snarl and she lowered herself almost completely to the ground as she attempted to move backwards against the rope and bear's strength. Her tail tucked defensively up under her belly and she was too focused on trying to get away to see the food and bladder that had been dropped for her.

Glancing swiftly at the snack, her stomach yearned for the meal but her instincts told her otherwise. This new man could poison her or even attack her for daring to touch the food. She ignored the mans words and question, only hear mumbles and droning through her fear responses.

"Speech!"

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He watched her fearful reaction for a moment, he saw her uncertainty, her hesitation. He took a seat, and his bear did the same. Holding the rope, but ensuring it had a little bit of slack for the imprisoned wolf. Sirius could see she had been abused something terrible. “The food and water is so you can keep up your strength. You're a wolf without prospects in the world now. No fundamental skills, no family to fall upon. I hail from a pack called the Ashen Armada. There, we believe slavery to be a temporary condition. A place at the bottom where wolves can only work their way upwards. We will teach you skills, keep you fed. If you strive for more, you will have your freedom again, you will have earned it. Well you learn, I will not beat you, starve you, rape you. Of this you have my promise” he waited, sitting patiently in the earth to see if his words had any effect on the young girl. He would drag her home by the rope if he had to, but he would rather see her walk there by her own powers. "Speech"

She pulled against the rope with any slack she was given, but after a few moments she was able to lay down against the tension and pant nervously while she glanced between them and off into the distance. Still a bit frightened to absorb his words fully, her ears twisted and turned while he spoke and managed to take in a few of his words, words that did manage to quell some of her fears... temporarily at least. She had no clue what he was talking about towards the end, but as the food waited she found herself scooting towards it slowly, carefully watching for reactions. When she finally got close enough to grab the dried meat, she quickly moved back to her spot, pulling the leash taut again while she carefully ate the meat.

"Speech!"

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The Warlord was slow in his movements so not to startle her. His voice, soft, through still rich with authority. He treated her like she was a creature likely to startle easily. He treated her like he imagined his Wife would demand of him. And also, because of the fury left in his gut after watching that wretched excuse of a wolf manhandle her.

He patiently waited while she ate, doing so at the end of her rope. When she was done, he slowly rose. “We head back to my pack now. There, you will be introduced to my Son, who will begin to teach you the basics of hunting and fighting” and learn in the doing of it.

“Come easily, freedom would only mean starvation, or freezing to death, alone in these foreign woods” he didn’t know much of what he said was getting through, but he continued to do so. Keeping his voice gentle, authoritative, to see if she would begin to follow him.

Soon it was time to move. She'd barely finished the small meal when she heard him speak and fell the rope pull against her, coaxing her into rising. The longer she had laid in his presence, the more she'd become at least somewhat comfortable. Still a nervous wreck with her fur standing on end, but at least a bit more relaxed with the calming tone he carried while he spoke words that only went in one ear and out the other. Something about a pack, a son, fighting. Her skin crawled at it, she knew that word. Other pups from where she'd come from with that men spoke of horrid things, things she'd never dreamt of but suddenly envisioned.

A lump formed in her throat, but in the fear of punishment she trudged onward behind the man and his bear, whom she believed a slave like she in the moment. Didn't he same something before about freedom? Her mind raced at a mile a minute, yet she sulked behind the duo as they walked and kept her mouth shut.

"Speech!"

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She walked with hassle then she had given the trader, proving in the moment that the carrot was indeed better than the stick. He brought them from the woods, and into Armada territory, dropping off his bundle of iron near the communal area, before bringing her over to an empty den. “You are Armada property now, and this is Armada territory. The borders are patrolled, the lands outside this territory mean death for you. Remember that, for I do not wish it on my conscience.” hr softly ordered her, before raising his head and calling for his son.

It wasn’t far from morning now, and the boy was likely sleeping. He leaned back, waiting for the winged child to appear. When he did so, it was with a fierce yawn, and wings hanging sleepily from his back. Sirius watched him look from the Warlord, to the girl on the rope. “Dad…?”

He was not expecting a call from his father so early in the morning. He half-heartedly contemplated ignoring it. It was a nice dream, but in reality, he could never do so. Yawning, he pulled himself from his siblings and mother, and slipped quietly out into the night. The moment he left the den, warmed by the body heat of his family, he shuddered. Hanging his wings by his side and grimacing, before heading out at a brisk run. Both to wake himself, and warm him.

He arrived at the communal space, and for a moment his eyes were only for his father. Too sleepy to take in much else. When he realised there was a girl on a leash beside him, he blinked in shock. “Dad…?” He asked. What was going on here?

“Mortis, this girl was sold to us a slave. She is young, with no talents, and so far no voice. To let her go beyond pack lands is a death sentence. I’m leaving it in your hands to keep her alive, and teach her. She, and I, are counting on you” his father told him. As if that wasn’t the biggest ask in the world. The boy sat heavily on his hunches, shocked, and looked open mouthed at the girl. “hnnnuuuh?”

The walk wasn't long before they'd crossed the borders and made it to where she assumed was the center of the packs lands. Morning was close yet the heat of the sun had yet to do much but lighten the sky as she was mildly threatened, warned really, to not leave the pack. Death by natural causes or death by fang, she didn't want to find out. A meager nod showed she understood and she swallowed another lump that formed in her throat.

A child hardly older than her, but larger and certainly related to her captor, appeared and the two conversed briefly, more the man than the child. She stood at the end of her leash, eyes flashing between the two until the boy looked directly at her, in which she sheepishly looked away, her tail tucking as she tried to shy herself away from his prying eyes.

His father eyed him steadily, and heavily for a moment, and mortis knew it was to ensure he understood the importance of the job. He gave his father a nod, trying to show confidence he wasn’t feeling. Sirius moved forward, ruffled his forehead fur, and then moved away. Perhaps to patrol, his father looked restless.

With his dad gone, the boy looked to the girl, and the bear, grabbed the rope of her, and kissed her brow. “I’ve got this” he promised her, and waited for her to leave, as well. He then turned back to the ‘captive’ and scowled. “I’m not leaving this on you. You wont run away and get yourself hurt, or me into trouble, right?’ he asked her. But it wasn’t really a question, he was already cutting the rope. He had feline claws too, just like his dad.

He draped a wing over her gently, sheltering her with the appendage, and doing rather a good job of it - she was so small. It kept the light dusting of snow off her. “I, uh, I don’t know what to do now. What’s your name?”

Something about the younger boy was softer, less scary, than his father. Maybe age, or even the difference between their sizes, but she felt more comfortable with the boy now that Sirius was gone. She flinched when the rope was cut, fearing the worst and itching to bolt, but when she felt the weight of his wing draped over her, she relaxed into his warmth. A yawn escaped and suddenly she felt less like running away, comforted by the much less intimidating boy. Her legs felt like noodles but she managed to stand, leaning her little weight into him a bit. She had no name, simply called 'three' by her master as she was the third of a few pups. Whatever her parents called her before was lost.

“Come on” he said gently, encouraging her to follow him into the closest unoccupied den in the communal space. It got them out of the snow that had begun to gently fall, and cut off some of the cold. There was a pile of furs tucked in near the entrance, he used one to drape over the entrance hooks built in. that helped keep out the wind, too.

He grabbed another coat and placed it down near one wall, then backed away from it, giving her space. “You can sleep there” he offered, pointing to the fluffy sleeping pad. “Did you mind if I slept in the other corner? Or I can sleep outside, if that makes you uncomfortable” he shifted awkwardly from one foot to the other. The girl hadn’t spoken yet. He wasn’t even certain if she could. Maybe he should just sleep out in the snow. He had done it before. His wings would protect him somewhat. How was he supposed to help this girl? What was he supposed to do? He couldn’t fathom what responsibility his father had thrust upon him.

Eagerly following the boy under his wing to the den, she watched as he moved around to close the door and lay out a pelt to lay on. She shivered a bit, watching from the corner where she'd been left. She was ordered to sleep on the pelt that had been laid out, and she glanced at it briefly before he continued and her eyes fixed on him again, though clearly she avoided eye contact and kept her gaze low. He seemed nervous, maybe as uncomfortable as she was in this. What was even going on?

She only knew two things. One, she was exhausted and couldn't think straight, and two, this was her new home now. Whether it would be the home she longed for or a place she'd serve the rest of her short life, it was home. Groggy, she stumbled towards the boy as he shifted on his paws and leaned into him again. He was warm, warmer than a lifeless pelt would ever be, and something about him made her feel a little safer. "Here," she mumbled into his chest as her legs began to give out on her, slowly forcing her to lay down and sooner begin to sleep before she'd fully relaxed on the ground.


"Speech!"

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He lingered on the outskirts, uncertain, weary, and a little bit afraid. Not of the girl, but the immense responsibility of her. It was like giving him a child, and saying he must care for it. He was only a child himself in what world did this work? Frustrated, but hiding it, the boy moved to leave the den, only to be compelled to stay.

He sighed softly, pushing his nose under her, he nudged her back onto the pelt, so she wouldn’t get a chill from the stone floor. Once she was settled on the blanket, he lay down beside her, putting a wing over her once more. Offering her a blanket with the appendage. With the sleek, grey, black, blue comfort, she looked a little more at ease. Maybe he was doing something right?

He settled his nose down onto his paw, the morning had not come just yet. He would need to be up for patrols and hunting and all that soon. That, and teaching this girl who refused to give him her name.