A new darkness settled into the girl. From another's perspective, it was more similar to angst. Inside, she felt fury. Bitter, enraged, white-hot fury that she could not quell. It followed her. Day after day since the incident. At times, it still felt as if her tail was there and whenever she looked back, her eyes would begin to water. Her beautiful, bushy, long tail was now gone. Forever. It would never grow back. And though her honorary grandfather, Vidarr, promised that she would get revenge, she did not entirely believe him. How would he find the cruel son of a bitch? Those thoughts continued to linger as she lay across the Stone Steppe. Her paws were outstretched as her dark chin rested upon them. Bi-colored eyes lazily flickered back and forth as she absent-mindedly watched the sunset out past the lake and over the horizon.

Strai was given one ounce of freedom, to go with the three ounces of ass kicking that Vidarr had doled out after he had caught him and his strange oozing son fighting. Well, actually, he had caught Strai stealing and the ooze kid interfering. The viking lord had claimed Strai for his pack, and had finally released him from the wardrobe. He refused to return his knife, or his freedom, but Strai would take what he could get.

The Thrall made his way down to the steppe, eyes darting around him cautiously as he moved. He did not think for a moment that he was unsupervised, or that he would be able to slip from the pack’s territory. Besides, Vidarr had given him food and shelter. He would take that charity, and grow stronger. As soon as he was strong enough, he would carve his name in Vidarr’s flesh, so he would not be easily forgotten.

Smiling a dark smile, he made his way to the strange stone ruins, and caught sight of some pygmy pipsqueak staring at her own paws. A satchel filled with unknown goodies rested over her shoulders. He took a step on approach, eyes narrowing on the bag. “Hey, you. With the half-assed tail. What’s in the bag?” He said, his voice a low, gravely thing.

"Speech"

It was normal for the girl to keep supplies with her now. Anything from snacks to herbs to drugs to poisons. Really, it was a guess as to what she would pull out next. The bag rested softly over her shoulders, basically a shield from anything that may try to grab and take her away. So when the boy approached, Delphi could see his gaze directed to the bag over her shoulders. She heard him coming from a ways away but chose not to move. Instead, her chin continued to rest upon her paws, eyes barely moving to meet him. When he makes a move closer to her, his gravelly voice making note of her missing tail, Delphi can't help but raise her hackles. Her lips tremble as she shows her elongated canines. Now he has her attention. There was no need for him to be so rude. "Why do you wanna know? Need something to fix that ugly jagged face of yours?" The sneer on her face is obvious as she holds her ground, unmoving, eyes finally turning up to meet his bright gaze.

She returned bite with bite, and he scoffed at this. Did this damaged runt consider herself a healer? She couldn’t even save her own tail. What did she think she could do for the pack? "Du har inte bägge årorna i vattnet" He said, disdain in his gravelly voice clear. He took a step closer to her, then another one. What was she going to do about it?

He took another step. Close enough to reach out now. His eyes darted to the bag around her neck. Determining if he could snatch it off her shoulders. Not easily, but she was smaller than him, so her weight wasn’t going to be much leverage. That was the rules of the world. You fought for what you wanted, and if you couldn’t, you starved. He snagged a paw out in an attempt to grab at thestrap of her satchel.

"Speech"

Though Delphi had been taking lessons from Vidarr, her language skills were not quite up to par. So whatever the boy had said in that ugly voice of his fell on deaf ears. She could tell it was probably something mean by the sound of his voice and the look on his face. It nearly made her smile. Maybe her comment had also rubbed him the wrong way. Keeping her position lying across the cold stone, she watched him step closer. While she wanted to make another comment, she felt it more important to stay on guard. There was something malicious lingering in his eyes and as his paw reached out in a swiping motion, she was proven correct. Rolling over and away from him as his paw hooked around the satchel's strap, she moved to grab it with her teeth. Wiggling so that she no longer held the satchel around her shoulders, she gripped the bag firmly between her teeth and tried to pull it back out of his grasp.

His age meant he was still small. But next to him, the pretend-viking was smaller still. As she manoeuvred her strap so it was held by only her teeth, he gave a big tug. Dragging the smaller wolf off her paws until she was dangling beneath him. Strap still in her mouth like some persistent dog. "Let. Go!" He growled over his mouthful of leather. "Just. Give. Me. The. Food." He snarled. Viadarr may have given him a small allowance to eat, but he knew the importance of food. You scoffed it down the second you had it in front of you, before the bigger wolves could eat their share and then steal yours. 


She was hoarding food. He just knew it. And he wasn't going to stop until he got it. Growling still, he gave the bag a shake, and the wolf with it. Trying to dislodge her from HIS prize.

Delphi had not understood what sort of strength the young boy would have. Of course, she was rather tiny and easy to toss around, but to lift her completely off the ground? Her eyes go wide as he holds the satchel over her with her toes barely scraping the stone below. She nearly flings back and forth as he growls around the leather bag. He's insisting that she let it go and share whatever food she has in there. Why did he even care? Couldn't he ask for some?

A growl rips through her as she refuses to let go. By now, she only hangs on out of spite. "Make me!" Delphi shrieks back at him as she tries to get her paws to touch the ground. If she could just get a little bit of traction, she could take her bag back from the asshole.

Oh, that was exactly what he intended to do. He took a step back, and then another. His paws skidded a little on soft soil. He just needed to drag her paws a little more. Let her lose her grip, if just for a moment. He started to nod his head up and down rapidly, trying to rank her off the ground and let her thud back down again. Up, down, up, down. He was panting and his eyes wide with anger and exhaustion. But he didn't know how to give up, to stop. He had started this, and he was going to stop this. 


His paws skidded back a little more, and then suddenly his back right leg was falling into something. Cold water enveloped the limb as it kept going. The water surprisingly deep right there especially for a pup. At the loss of balance his left left slipped, and followed the first. With a yelp, he tumbled fully into the lake with a splash. Releasing the bag as he did so. His head immediately went under the water as the pup thrashed.

Suddenly, the boy is thrashing her around. Up and down and up and down. Over and over, making her paws smack the ground as she tried to scramble for purchase. Clearly, that wasn't going to happen as he backed them up. In the flurry of their bodies, she too didn't notice the lake. Instead, Delphi was focused on keeping hold of her bag. She was not going to let this guy get her stuff! Grasping to the leather for dear life, Delphi swung back and forth, slowly getting dizzier as the seconds passed. Oh, she really didn't know how long she could on for.

Just as she thought she was going to have to give in, she felt him fall backward. Opening her eyes wide, she watched from the corners as he stumbled back into the lake. A startled scream left her lips as she finally let go of the satchel. In the next second, she was plopped onto the ground among the mud and shallow water. It was freezing! Tears bubbled at the corners of her eyes as she rolled over into a sitting position. "My stuff!!" Delphi screeched as she snapped wildly in his direction.

When her eyes opened next to get her satchel, she noticed he was nowhere to be seen. All that she could see was the water flailing about. A gasp leaves her as she stumbles to her paws, slipping and sliding in the mud. "Hey! Can you swim?!" Delphi yells as she rushes into the water. Half of her wanted him to drown for how mean he was to her, but the other half of her knew better. She had to make sure he didn't die! Looking back to shore, she calls for her companion, Binti the Binturong, to come help in case he really couldn't swim.

Strai thrashed, and by pure coincidence his head made it to the surface. He sucked in a breath, and then spent it as he struggled to find Delphi. "You bitch! You'll p--" and then he sucked in water as his head went under again. His eyes were red. Both from the water, and anger. This was all her fault! He'd had a couple swimming lessons, but nothing had really stuck. And he was already more exhausted than he'd care to admit from the effort of throwing the other pup around. His parents had spent more time on important lessons for the short time he'd had them. Like where to aim your knife, and how to cross territory with stealth.


He thrashed some more, and then suddenly there was weight on both sides of him. The tiny pup and her companion were drowning him! Only, instead of finishing the job they helped push him to shore, where he could grab onto the side with his own paws. He hung there, panting and hacking water from his lungs. After a few hacks, he turned and glared daggers at Delphi. "Idiot pup, why did you help me!? Your parents never teach you anything?" A real wolf would have left him to drown, or ensured the job was finished themselves. It wasn't like her alpha would care if she killed a Thrall, and then her bag would have been hers. By right of might. And anything he owned would have been hers as well, like the dagger that Vidarr had stolen before locking him in a closet.


His eyes moved to the bag, currently discarded in the mud. She was distracted right now, and he was closer. He would just need to… he felt sick in his stomach. Why did the thought of grabbing her bag make him feel sick? He glared some more at the stupid pup. This was all her fault.

His curse word falls on deaf ears as she moves closer to him with Binti. Rescuer was not normally her title, but this time, and this time only, she would risk life and limb to get the boy to safety. With her on one side and Binti on the other, they were able to pull the boy from the freezing water and up onto the shore. Though it wasn't far to make it out of the water, she was panting and exhausted by the time they got far enough out that neither would drown. Glad that she didn't have to support him anymore, Delphi collapsed onto the ground and sunk slightly into the mud.

Her eyes close as he begins to scream at her. Even though he was hacking away, he still insisted on being a mongrel. "För Odens skull, vila!" The Swedish erupts from her lips as she finally glares daggers back at him. While it may not seem like she understood Vidarr's language, he had been teaching her phrases before bedtime. "You're still breathing, aren't you?!" She continues to shout as she tries to get back up onto her paws. As exhausted as she was, she still had some fight left in her.

Though she didn't notice him looking at her bag, she suddenly realized it wasn't near her. With her fur bristling, she looks around until she sees the dirtied leather satchel on the ground. "Binti, grab it," she snaps as her glowering look switches back to the boy. "You could have just asked, asshole," Delphi sneers as her lips raise up and a growl rumbles in her tiny chest. Taking a few steps closer to him, she lowers her head and allows her hackles to fully bristle. "What's your problem anyway?" The pup jabs at him, expecting real answers.

He dragged himself slowly out of the lake. Shivering and miserable, his gut churning. He felt oddly lost, and the weak emotion grated at him. "You don't rest, you fight and then you die" he quoted his mum at her. This pup really was daft, wasn't she? "You don't ask, you take. There's a weakness in my family. My mother told me. She said if she ever saw it in me, she'd thrash it out of me. Your parents should have thrashed it out of you." He snared at her.


He was tired, and body couldn't stop shaking, but he raised his head as she came closer, her fur bristling. "The weakest eat last, and die first. You're weak, and stupid." He told her, wondering if they were going to fight now. He'd spent his energy, so even though she was small and stupid, she might have a chance. He glared at her and tried not to look as if he wanted to crash.

His words bit into her. More painful than she had expected. Why had his parents raised him in such a way? Her ears fall back as she stops for a moment. Weak and stupid? Who gave him the right to call her such things? She could see he was just as tired as she was. All she wanted was to collapse and go to sleep, but she wasn’t going to give up.

“What makes you stupider than me is assuming I’m weak,” Delphi seethed as her eyes narrowed slightly. In the next second, she was lunging through the muck toward the boy. Her jaw opened up and aimed to take a bite out of his paw.

Delphi vs Astraios for Maim (breaking/mangling a toe)
Round 1/?
Age: Over 6 mo
Size: Extra small
Build: Light
Companion 1: Male Binturong, 22” - Battle
Mutation 1: Saber fangs (Offensive)
Mutation 2: Spicy blood (Defensive)
Skills: Advanced Healer & Intermediate Hunter

"You are weak." He agreed, his gravelly voice mocking and cruel. And then she was coming at him. A second shot of adrenaline in only a few minutes shook away his exhaustion. It vibrated through him, and left him feeling alive. He loved to fight. 


"If I win, I'm taking what's in your bag. Because that's what the strong do." He promise-hissed at her as she closed the distance between them. She was tiny, and her attack went low. He lowered his own head, angling his cheek-spurs to stop her attack if he could. Meanwhile, he aimed to grab at her scruff. Trying to control her smaller form. If he managed, he would dig in deep.

Astraios vs Delphi for dominance
Round 1/2
Age: under 1
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Light
Mutation 1: Cheek Bone Spurs (Offensive)
Skills: Intermediate Fighter & Beginner Hunter

Delphi's anger blinds her. She doesn't see him kneel down and shove his cheek spurs toward her advancement. A shriek erupts from her as the spurs dig into her shoulder. Logically, she should have leaped back and made distance between them. But now, she didn't care. All she wanted was to hurt him and if that meant taking away something that helped him walk, she would make it happen. Even when he made to grab at her scruff, Delphi pushed forward. Her snapping jaws aimed at his legs, ankles, toes, paws, whatever she could reach before his own grabbed her and lifted her from the ground. What he didn't know was that her blood was... peculiar. She fondly called it spicy. A grin splays over her lips as she continues to thrash about his grip. Hoping to break her skin so he gets a mouthful of her tingling and not-so-good-tasting blood.

Delphi vs Astraios for Maim (breaking/mangling a toe)
Round 2/2
Age: Over 6 mo
Size: Extra small
Build: Light
Companion 1: Male Binturong, 22” - Battle
Mutation 1: Saber fangs (Offensive)
Mutation 2: Spicy blood (Defensive)
Skills: Advanced Healer & Intermediate Hunter

His spurs hit, slicing into her skin in a way that caused her to let out the most satisfying shriek. He bared his teeth at her in a malicious grin. Despite his attack, and his teeth in her scruff, she still went after his toe. He let out a snarl of his own as he felt her teeth clip against them. He yanked on her scruff and twisted, trying to get her to loosen her grip before she could do damage.

As he did so, his fangs breached her skin, and the sudden lightning-sharp tang of her blood touched his tongue. It burnt where it touched, and he released her immediately with a yelp of his own. Surprise and disgust. He raised a paw and attempted to smack her down.

Astraios vs Delphi for Dominance
Round 2/2
Age: Under 1
Size: Dire wolf
Build: Light
Mutation 1: Cheek Bone Spurs (Offensive)
Skills: Intermediate Fighter & Beginner Hunter

"Speech"

And the winner is...

Astraios

Delphi must give up by submitting, fleeing or passing out. Totals: Delphi : Attack Roll: 39 Defense Roll: 1 Agility Roll: 23 Perception Roll: 55 Total: 118 Attack[39] + 30% Bonus[11.70]: 50.70 Defense[1] + 25% Bonus[0.25]: 1.25 Agility[23] + 15% Bonus[3.45]: 26.45 Perception[55] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 55.00 Total[133.40] + -15% Bonus[-20.01]: 113.39 Astraios: Attack Roll: 77 Defense Roll: 7 Agility Roll: 100 Perception Roll: 99 Total: 283 Attack[77] + 20% Bonus[15.40]: 92.40 Defense[7] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 7.00 Agility[100] + 5% Bonus[5.00]: 105.00 Perception[99] + 0% Bonus[0.00]: 99.00 Total[303.40] + -5% Bonus[-15.17]: 288.23

His sudden yelp as his teeth pierced her skin had her grinning if only for a moment. In the next, she was falling to the ground. Splashing into the mud and muck, it covers her almost entirely. Blood and mud envelop her as she looks up at the boy. As his paw rises to smack her, she tries to push back. There isn't enough time. His paw hurdles toward her and collides directly with her face basically stomping her back into the mud beneath her. An anguished cry leaves her before she begins choking on the mud.

During the commotion, her faithful companion, Binti, has left to fetch Vidarr. Their squabble had gone on long enough and now that blood was drawn, someone needed to intervene.

Delphi has asked for this fight, she had initiated it and came for him. If she couldn't live with the consequences, then she was still a baby and should suck on a teething bone and crawl back under her mother. He shook mud from his face, and glared at the small girl in the dirt. Still coughing mud from her mouth. He left her there, stomping through the dirt until he grabbed at her bag, still in the mud.

He opened it and started rummaging inside. After all, its possessions were his now. Fair and square. He was even going to be nice, and give her the back bag when he was done. He found some dried pieces of meat and grinned widely. Cramming them all into his mouth in one go. His cheeks bulged like a squirrel. His jaw moved quickly as he worked through the treats as quickly as he could. That was the game, and he knew how to play. You ate fast, or you lost it.

As for the rest of her belongings… he saw nothing else that looked edible to him, just bundles of boring herb-things. He turned the back upside down and gave it a shake. Letting her things fall out onto the wet mud. He ground it into the soft mud with a paw, covering the bundles of herbs in mud. As for the bag… he turned back to Delphi, and threw it at her. “The strong takes.” He told her, making his earlier point “the weak loses”

"Speech"

It seemed more and more often that he was approached by the strange, stout little creature. Binti looked rather like a bedraggled little old man, and the viking king could only imagine he'd be getting grey hairs from all of the misadventure and shenanigans. Viðarr had been getting things for the sheep in order, preparing the pens, getting everything settled and sorted out. With a sigh, he turns from his work and plods after the binturong.

He approaches from behind the thrall boy, gaze falling on him as he thrusts the bag back upon Delphi. "We take from others, boy. Not our own." He looms, casting a long shadow. There is pure menace in his tone, a darkness that has begun to rear its ugly head once more. Though Astraios wasn't entirely wrong-- the vikings were big on taking. That much was going to be clear to the other packs, the other inhabitants of this world, they would take. But they do not take from their own. Whether the thrall boy likes it or not, this is his own now.

"Explain to me what happened." Viðarr moves to her side, concern in his gaze. Muddy, scraped, but not seriously injured... good. The viking king doesn't know who started it, but he's going to end it.

"Viðarr"