It had felt like so long since Alastor had killed Kefka, but also like yesterday. When she sat too long and thought about it she just felt like this tension she kept lingering on would never go away and she would just live on edge inside the pack forever. Manea had wanted to discuss her interests along with... other things. But she didn't really have interests. Should she have even been here? It made her feel kind of like she didn't belong or didn't deserve to be around others. She had lived alone for so long... maybe she was just meant to live and die that way.

So she moved out into the farther lands to track Alastor's scent because... if she left or Manea ending up kicking her she felt like Alastor should know that what he did for her, aside from what he did to her was actually worth something. When she caught up to him, or found him, whichever, she quietly approached him in a hesitant voice, "Alastor?" She bit her lip because looking at him was making her more uncomfortable. "Can we uh... spar?" Her scars were healed now, but still easily shown from the right angles. She needed to break the ice because she felt like she was walking on a whole different plane than he was. They were even in the same dimension.

"Relm"
F2U base by AshKatu

A warm summer breeze washed over the northern coasts of Boreas, ruffling through the long silken furs of the black and crimson brute sitting sentinel on a rock along the borders of Elysium. After that blue fae and Nirvana's sudden appearances beyond their borders, Alastor had committed to more guard duty. Couldn't just have anyone wandering willy-nilly into their lands like that. Bad for business. Bad for his family's safety too. He wasn't about to let anyone just waltz in, especially not after Kefka's ambush and attack on Relm when they were still a band. The scars on his face were a permanent reminder of why nobody fucked with the wolves under his protection—ever.

While sitting and watching from atop a hill over the sprawling fields of rocks, the soft sound of rustling grass behind him caught his attention. One red-tipped ear flicked back, and then Alastor turned his head until obsidian eyes found Relm's distinct pink form as she called to him. She looked nervous and anxious to be around him still, but she had sought him out and he wouldn't try to avoid her for that. She asked to spar, and for a brief moment, Alastor let his eyes move over the healed scars on her back—scars he had left behind when he'd ravaged her in his rage state. They were just about as healed as the ones on his face were. His gut wrenched with guilt, but he knew he had to learn to forgive himself and get over it lest he never be able to be around Relm again, and he didn't want that either.

"Sure," he replied, rising to his paws and tousling his long furs loose before sliding with a languid stretch off the rock to prep his muscles for the spar. Relm had a good bit of age and youthful advantage over him, and while he wasn't a senior wolf by any means, he knew she was a force to be reckoned with. "Any rules you want to set before we start?" He raised a brow while he took his position, squaring off his paws and rolling his shoulders. If she wanted to set ground rules, like no biting or clawing in the wake of their last encounter, he would give her the opportunity to.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Relm supposed she was a little surprised that Alastor was so immediately willing though... Relm was honestly the same way. She may have been avoiding him mostly, awkward around him and Manea. But she could easily push aside what they weren't and probably didn't want to talk about. It was better this way.

Relm was usually a bit more jokester type like Alastor or her father, but she couldn't muster up that mindset in front of him right now. Physically she seemed ready to face him and with no trouble, but mentally she was struggling so hard. "Rules? No." Actions would speak louder than words here. She would have smiled but... no her tones were more flat than anything.

She supposed she should wait for him to get ready though it seemed he had already stretched out prior. Her paws carefully twisted in the dirt as she took a deep breath and prepared herself for a strike. And without much more of a warning she thrust forward to close the rest of distance between them. She couldn't help but feel this thick physical tension around her, but that all changed once they made contact. She wasn't fully back to being loose and comfortable, but with the motions of battle she felt more comfortable around him. She opened her jaws in attempt to bite over the left side of his scruff over his shoulder while coming at him chest on. She was not lethal, but certainly a little more rough than a friendly spar.

Relm vs Alastor for Spar
Round 1/x
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Extra Large
Build: Medium
Disability: Partial Blindness - Moderate
Skills: Expert Fighter & Master Intellectual
Specialty: Tactician

"Relm"
F2U base by AshKatu

In truth, Alastor was grateful for the spar. When he was fighting, he didn't need to worry himself over saying the right or wrong thing. He didn't need to fret over the awkward tension that had built between him and Relm since the day he'd killed her father and mounted her. He could just let himself loose, focus on the fight itself, on the teeth and claws of his opponent and his own teeth and claws against them. Fighting was simple, living was harder. It was made even simpler when Relm declined setting any rules or limits. Nothing was off the table, which gave Alastor an insight into what the girl wanted. She wanted a knock down, drag out spar. The corners of his lips twitched in a little smile. "Good." Rules were boring anyway.

Relm kicked off their fight, and her brazen boldness as she charged straight for him made the dire brute actually smile. He ran to intercept her, though she had a significant wind up on him, aiming to slam his chest back into hers. He had almost a half foot on her and a good bit of muscle and weight, so a head on collision wasn't something he was worried about. She lunged for his neck and shoulder, and Alastor used the opening to go for hers in turn, craning his neck and using his height to bear down on her with sharp fangs going for where her neck and left shoulder met while he threw his body toward hers. He felt Relm's teeth bite into his scruff, drawing a snarl from the brute to her stinging bite. She wasn't holding back, so neither was he. He sought to grab hold of Relm and push into her, hoping to be able to overpower her despite her fangs slipping deeper into his skin as a side effect. She would draw first blood, but the pain only riled the masochistic brute up more. Perhaps she knew about Alastor's odd little king—or perhaps she didn't.

Alastor vs Relm for Spar
Round 1/2
Age: +1 years
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Heavy
Offensive Battle Accessory: Serrated Steel Fang Caps
Defensive Battle Accessory: Spiked Holly Crown
Companion 1: Miniature Penguin, Male - Battle
Companion 2: Raven, Male - Flying
Mutation 1: Retractable siam gemstone claws - Offensive
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Hunter
Specialty: Bloodletter

"Alastor Mendacium"

Alastor was a lot stronger than her as they had discovered earlier. Not that she was thinking about that, obviously quite the opposite even while she was in his grasp. Her snarls and other noises were quiet in his own attacks, but maybe he wasn't expecting her to push up into his bites when he grabbed them. Her withers drove up somehow carefully into his jaws as he bit down on her shoulder in mirrored response to her own attack. He started to push his weight into her, causing her to tiptoe backwards while she still caught her footing almost at his mercy.

She let go of her bite on his shoulder, going to pull back slightly off of him as much as she could before going to move her skull, while in close proximity, across his foreleg and chest and aim to tuck it under his front legs. Her goal was that once she was under him, she would use her back and shoulder to push up into his chest and topple him over sideways. As long as she was under him, her head curved in motion to attempt another bite on the side of his rib cage relatively low given that position. Her scars had been healed but she almost felt some kind of ghost pain or uncomfortably in them if they were against him, not that she was showing that.

Relm vs Alastor for Spar
Round 2/2
Age: Over 1 Year
Size: Extra Large
Build: Medium
Disability: Partial Blindness - Moderate
Skills: Expert Fighter & Master Intellectual
Specialty: Tactician

"Relm"
F2U base by AshKatu

Alastor felt his fangs find purchase in Relm's skin, gripping her between her neck and shoulder right where he'd aimed. But what he hadn't expected was for Relm to push her body up into his bite, almost as if receiving it from him. It gave him a far better hold on her than he anticipated, and with his weight pushing forward into her, he felt Relm stumble back on her toes. She was a strong fighter, but even she couldn't contend with the mighty dire wolf. He snarled and sunk his teeth in harder to her warm flesh, trying to make her submit or to bring her down. If he tasted blood from his attacks, he wasn't too concerned, since she didn't seem to have any qualms with getting rough with him either. Good; it made the fight that much more fun and interesting!

To his disappointment, he felt Relm's fangs relinquish their hold on his shoulder, the pleasant ache disappearing along with her jaws. No, he wanted the pain! He wanted that surge of dopamine and adrenaline through his bloodstream. He retaliated against her with another growl while he pushed harder towards her—only this time when he shoved his weight forward, he felt Relm slip beneath his larger body. Abyssal eyes blinked wide in surprise when he felt the smooth crown of her skull slide past his foreleg until he was almost mounting her head in an awkward, semi lewd fashion. Then Alastor felt her fangs go for his ribs, sharp teeth grazing through long silken fur to find his skin beneath, not quite puncturing, but definitely leaving marks and drawing some blood to the surface.

With her beneath him like this, Alastor was also forced to let go of Relm's neck in order to remain stable, but the pink fae wasn't giving him that opportunity. He felt her press up into him from below, trying to use her leverage and his weight to topple him over. Alastor refused to go down easy though, and as she pressed into him to unbalance him, he reached forward with strong forelegs looking to grip her around her waist from above, siam claws extended to seek her sides and find a more solid grip on her. If he was going down, he wanted to bring her down with him.

Alastor vs Relm for Spar
Round 2/2
Age: +1 years
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Heavy
Offensive Battle Accessory: Serrated Steel Fang Caps
Defensive Battle Accessory: Spiked Holly Crown
Companion 1: Miniature Penguin, Male - Battle
Companion 2: Raven, Male - Flying
Mutation 1: Retractable siam gemstone claws - Offensive
Skills: Master Fighter & Master Hunter
Specialty: Bloodletter

"Alastor Mendacium"

And the winner is...

ALASTOR

RELM must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Relm: Attack Roll: 27 Defense Roll: 47 Agility Roll: 28 Perception Roll: 59 Total: 161 Attack[27] + 5% Bonus[1.35]: 28.35 Defense[47] + 5% Bonus[2.35]: 49.35 Agility[28] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 28.00 Perception[59] + 55% Bonus[32.45]: 91.45 Total[197.15] + 5% Bonus[9.86]: 207.01 Alastor: Attack Roll: 57 Defense Roll: 46 Agility Roll: 81 Perception Roll: 34 Total: 218 Attack[57] + 65% Bonus[37.05]: 94.05 Defense[46] + 15% Bonus[6.90]: 52.90 Agility[81] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 81.00 Perception[34] + 10% Bonus[3.40]: 37.40 Total[265.35] + 40% Bonus[106.14]: 371.49

With her body underneath of him, Alastor reached out to grab hold around Relm's waist and once he was leaving the ground, she was toppling over with him. The feel of his claws even drastically different compared to the feeling of the same claws that marred her back almost brought her back into that moment. Maybe just a little bit of what she regretting letting him do, but more so of what she enjoyed out of it. A snarl left her as they tumbled, but she didn't proceed to attack him anymore.

Relm knew when she was beat, but she didn't have such an easy time admitting that. When Alastor ended up on top of her pinning her with her back against the ground, she didn't thrash around for more of a fight. Instead her ears pulled back gently while she her lips still gently curled up out of her previous snarl. Maybe the indication of her submission just not so... submissive. She had probably expected Alastor to be better, stronger. The only reason she was here was to get them over the awkward avoidance hurdle, and she at least felt a little better like it was working. She wasn't scared of Alastor now, though she wasn't afraid of him before either. He probably didn't know that, he could only assume what she thought and felt. Unspoken, Alastor was one of the closest to her, even in their shorter time together.

"Relm"
F2U base by AshKatu

Sharp siam claws had managed to find purchase in Relm's warm, supple flesh, and as his hulking form tumbled to the earth, so too did his opponent's. Alastor hit the ground and threw his weight in the same direction as his momentum, bringing Relm along with him as he rolled until he had her body pressed to the ground beneath him. He planted his paws on either side of her with one massive black paw held firmly to her chest. She snarled, and he snarled back, Stygian lips peeled back from pearly white fangs in a wordless command to submit, which to his surprise she did. In her own way, of course. Relm ceased her fight, surrendering to him when she knew he'd beaten her. No words were exchanged, but the volumes spoken by their body language did all the conversing for them.

Alastor was breathing heavy, a side effect of a good fight, while obsidian eyes stared down at the young woman. Her ears pulled back and the fight left her body, and so too did Alastor's. Gradually he relaxed his paw on top of her, but didn't separate the contact immediately. This was the closest they'd gotten since that day and for the first time in a long time he didn't feel the immediate need to pull away from her or avoid her. The awkward tension around them forgotten in the heat of the spar, allowing him to let go and just exist around her without fear of reprisal or harm to her. That's perhaps what had been most difficult for him in the days after their failed coupling. Not that he'd let himself go on her like that—but that he'd known she hadn't enjoyed it and couldn't control himself to stop. He'd hurt her and he didn't know how to make it right.

Maybe avoiding her was his way of showing he cared about her in his own twisted way. Alastor wasn't a normal brute by any means; he didn't feel emotions right, he wasn't in control in his baser moments, and often times he felt like there were two consciousnesses within his brain battling each other. But with Relm it was different. She'd seen both sides of him—in control and feral—and she'd still come to mend things with him. Slowly, Alastor slid his paw down her chest, over her side, and then set it back on the ground beside her. He didn't remove himself right away, but his expression did soften as did his posture. He couldn't say the words out loud, but the look in his eyes silently thanked her for seeing him as something other than a monster—something only two other wolves had done before her.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Tight breaths had been exchanged between them as they calmed from the spar and Relm hadn’t even focused on the way Alastor pinned her while her mind was still set on how he bested her. She didn’t notice until the motion of his paw moving across her chest, causing her to stop breathing when she slightly tensed up though it could have been read in both ways of hidden pleasure or completely opposite of not wanting to be touched at all. And honestly she couldn’t tell which way it was herself. She didn’t shy away from him immediately though, still shown that she wasn’t afraid of him. Maybe willing to test her luck again.

What he had done to Kefka, he was a monster. For valid reasons. But he was right in knowing that it wasn’t all that Relm saw in him. She couldn’t know the struggles, insecurities, or whatever was going on inside of his head. She turned over on the ground, slow paws from under him as she went to stand. Her blind eye was slightly towards him so she couldn’t look at him. “I’m... sorry.” He may not have known why she apologized, Relm felt like amends were enough for now. But she was sorry for letting him be a cause of more trauma on her. Alastor wasn’t the problem, she was. She may have learned her lesson though that may not have stopped her from next time. Whether it was Alastor or someone else. She didn’t know enough to understand what was wrong with her, forcing herself to push through clear unpleasantries. Or that sometimes the way she felt was completely normal. Maybe she hoped she would change the more she tried. She could never know for sure.

"Relm"
F2U base by AshKatu

Alastor remained where he was, seeming almost frozen in place, until Relm shifted and began to roll over beneath him. His breath caught, throat tightening while he tried not to breathe in through his nose. Relm was still very much in heat, and even though he could be around her without provoking the demons, he didn't want to risk it—not after the progress they'd just made together. While she crawled out from beneath him, Alastor finally began to move, taking a couple steps back to free her from underneath him. Then she spoke, and what she spoke blindsided him. She apologized. She apologized to him. It didn't make sense to the brute. Why was she apologizing to him? For provoking him when he was in a rage state? She had never seen him before like that and didn't know how he'd react. But maybe that was why she was sorry. For putting them both into that position where he had no control and she had buyer's remorse.

Alastor's lips pulled into a slight frown, unseen by Relm's blind eye, and rose to his paws. He trudged up behind the pink fae once more, looking her over with something akin to empathy and affection in his dark abyssal eyes. "I'm sorry too," he replied, the words slow and drawn out as he worked to say the phrase he seldom ever meant. But being sorry wasn't enough. He could see Relm was struggling with this new aspect of her life. The girl was young; only just turned two and in her first heat. Experiencing things she didn't know how to handle. She was pushing herself, and sometimes pushing herself too hard and too far. He wanted to help her, but he didn't know how. Gods, how was he going to be if Avacyn came to him in her first season looking for help? He'd be totally useless!

Coming to sit down on his haunches directly behind her, Alastor ran his gaze over the scars he'd left behind on her back. They were healed by now, but they would last forever, a permanent etching on her body of how the demon had ravaged her. He raised a large black paw, hovering it between himself and her for a moment while he considered what he was doing. He retracted—then reached forward—then retracted again. Hesitating. Deliberating. "Don't move... please..." he spoke with a low rumbling in his voice. Then he reached his massive paw forward, seeking to let it rest gently against her upper back, just between her shoulder blades. If she resisted or pulled away, he'd retract his touch again—but if she didn't, he would ever so slowly slide his paw down the ridge of her spine, following the marks he'd made with his claws with softer paw pads. He knew Relm didn't care much for touch, but if she was determined to push herself past her discomforts, maybe he could do something to help her there.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Relm hadn't responded as Alastor too apologized, but she was in the same mindset. She wholly believed she was at fault, none of it was Alastor's. He had protected her and taken care of Kefka, she had willingly given herself up to him. She had regretted it, but she wouldn't dwell on what had happened. Hopefully they were moving a step on the right direction.

She almost felt another near tension as he settled behind her, but didn't show any signs physically in fact hadn't moved at all. Her eyes moved across the ground in front of her, almost ignoring how close he felt. When he spoke though, her tail gently tucked into her as if she could mask the scent of her heat. Maybe a little for herself, but mostly for him. His paw carefully moved to rest between her shoulder blades which in turn made her very steadily lay down before him. She wasn't moving away from his touch, but she knew if he was going to search around her scars or whatever he had in mind, she needed to be more comfortable against the flat surface.

Her head turned slightly towards him, this time with her working eye though honestly it was probably better that she didn't look at him. "I trust you, Alastor." It probably wasn't a full truth, but she let it be even if she was lying to herself or forcing herself to make everything be okay. She wouldn't have denied him unless she really thought her life was in danger, otherwise she was just here to take the physical or mental trauma. "It's just that... I can wear my cape around the pack more." It was a suggestion that without saying was meant for his own comfort. Relm came off as mostly dislikable but really to those who knew her knew that she would always put other's needs before her own.

"Relm"
F2U base by AshKatu

The moment Alastor's paw touched Relm's back, he expected to feel her tense up, her muscles going rigid, some show that she didn't want him here or that she was afraid of him. He received no such response from the pink fae. Instead, Relm began to lie down in front of him, offering up her back for him to touch at his leisure. The girl's tail tucked into herself, somewhat masking the spicy scent that flowed from her, though not entirely. He still appreciated the efforts she made. Neither one of them wanted to goad or antagonize the other, it seemed, even if it was an impossibility. Alastor was a hair's breadth away from being a feral animal and Relm was in estrus. It was only his self-control that kept him sane, and all the gods in heaven and demons in hell knew how hard he fought to remain in control for her. For her. The thought was almost humorous to the dire wolf. He seldom did anything for anyone outside of his own interests, but Relm was different. She saw him as something different. Gods knew why...

Slowly the massive brute ran rough paw pads over the raised skin of the scars he'd left behind on Relm's body. He quietly wondered how she felt about them. Was she ashamed? Embarrassed? How would his actions impact the rest of her life? When she was meeting new wolves or lying with future lovers and they asked about her scars, how would she explain them away? Would she tell them a giant wolf tried to impregnate her, or would she lie to defend what shreds of dignity he had left? Relm made Alastor ask questions he never would have before. He'd maimed, crippled, murdered countless wolves and other animals before without a second thought. She was the only one he looked back on his handiwork with some shame. Had she been a virgin before he'd fucked her? Alastor hadn't had the courage to ask. If that was her first experience with sex... The dark wolf forced those thoughts away with a scowl.

His mammoth paw continued its trail until it reached the bottom of her spine—then continued further down. Course paw pads traced over her while sharp claws very carefully parted her midnight black fur. His paw only stopped moving once Relm spoke, saying she trusted him. He glanced back up at her with his seemingly empty voids of eyes, his paw resting just above the base of her tail, mere inches from her rump. What had he been doing? Where was his paw going with its intentions? Alastor had gotten so lost in his own thoughts that he'd been absentmindedly stroking Relm. He was glad he'd stopped when he did; he didn't want to cause her any further trauma than he'd already done. Relm spoke again, suggesting that she wear her cape around the pack more. Alastor's eyes narrowed with displeasure and he gave a brusque shake of his head. "No. You never need to wear that cape again," he spoke in his low growled baritone voice. "You don't have to hide yourself anymore." Alastor then slowly slid his paw back up her back, tracing some of the scars along the small of her back and away from where he'd been going. With Kefka dead, Relm never again had to hide herself away. He wouldn't allow himself to be the cause of her hiding to resume.

"Alastor Mendacium"

She felt him move past the scars, not that she was really able to tell because she couldn't see them but she could remember the feeling of his ruby claws holding and releasing her at her hips. It was probably a feeling or a thought she would never forget. But it was easy for her to forget or ignore those kind of thoughts when she was here with Alastor, or anyone really. It never really crept up on her though either. She wasn't laying awake in her den all night thinking of Alastor or Kefka. But maybe she was like a bomb getting ready to go off. She couldn't really navigate her emotions because all she had been doing for the last year or so was running. She never felt like she could settle down somewhere for long, didn't want to make friends she would end up leaving like Kichi on and off, not that it was really bothersome to either of them. Relm felt like she could speak to Alastor freely even if she was still uncomfortable. All he had to do was ask. Otherwise she would have kept silent for the rest of their lives.

She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when he stopped after she had told him that she trusted him. It wasn't really a relieving sigh, really more like she was just ready for whatever he was going to do to her. Every way her body responded to his touch she was feeling completely unknowingly. Like she was going somewhere else mentally but he was still there with her. She couldn't explain it, though maybe it was the same way she had been diverting their previous activities.

Relm had again found herself nearly crawling out from Alastor's touch, but the tension she was feeling was like if she moved the wrong way or looked at him like she was fragile, that it would hurt his feelings. She was careful the way she moved around him, but it wasn't for reasons other's might have expected. He had told her that she didn't need to hide herself anymore and she almost felt her heart skip at the thought. Maybe not fully wrapping her head around the fact that she was totally, completely free until right in this moment when he told her. She had turned to face him now, but she struggled to look at him because the entire realization of what he had done for her, even while she was fully aware of it already, the weights had all come crashing down at once and then lifted. "I need to go." She spoke in quiet tones while she was obviously struggling to hold herself back fully from the breakdown while her eyes were closed gently and she held her breath through a weak bit lip. She started to back away from him before she would turn away to go back to the island, though maybe she wouldn't go back to her den. Maybe she would just find somewhere else on the island to be.

"Relm"
F2U base by AshKatu

The reactions and responses Relm gave as Alastor touched her weren't the ones he'd been expecting to hear. The dark dire wolf had been expecting revulsion, resistance, or perhaps just hardened indifference. Instead he heard the shaky breath she released, a breath she'd apparently been holding in. Relm seemed preoccupied by something on her mind—or maybe she was just trying to mentally fade away and pretend she still wasn't here with him. It was hard to get a read on the introverted pink woman, but something in her posture and body language didn't read to him as disgusted or loathing. It just seemed like she was waiting for him to do whatever he wanted with her and she was preparing to take it. Alastor scowled again, not out of anger, but at hate for Kefka for having done this to her and made her this way. If he could, he'd drag the fucker's soul back up from hell just to tear him apart again. Gods, that had been such a near-orgasmic moment for the violent brute!

When he told her that she never had to wear her cloak again, Alastor saw something shift in Relm's expression. He couldn't tell what it was from his position behind her, but then Relm began to crawl out from beneath him again, and this time Alastor didn't pursue her. Instead, the brute watched as Relm stood and struggled to do even as much as glance back at him. She simply muttered that she needed to go and Alastor gave a curt nod of his head. He'd pushed his luck far enough and he didn't want to make Relm even more uncomfortable. They'd made great progress in rebuilding their relationship today and that was enough for him. Alastor gazed down at his own massive paws silently while Relm began to back away and head back for Alias, his head abuzz with all sorts of thoughts.

"Relm," Alastor called out to her before she'd gotten too far away. Black abyssal eyes lifted to seek hers if she stopped, and for the briefest of moments, the mask of manic glee was gone from the man's face, revealing true emotion. "I'm glad you stayed." When he'd killed Kefka, he'd removed Relm's reason for seeking asylum with Elysium. After he'd had his way with her, he was sure she'd leave to be on her own. Yet despite all that, she'd chosen to stay. It was a choice that made the brute genuinely happy and he wanted her to know that.

"Alastor Mendacium"