Shanghaied

Artorias stared with cold, hardened eyes at the multi-hued wolf within the cell while he continued to feign innocence and jest in the pirates' attack. Finally, something he said must have gotten beneath the pirate's skin, because Artisan rose and came to the bars, standing to face Artorias for the first time since he'd come to see him. The Aegis took the brunt of the wolf's attempts to threaten and intimidate him in turn, letting them roll off his back as if the pirate had been making fun of the way his fur was styled and not outright threatening the safety of his pack. He didn't give Artisan the satisfaction of a reaction, simply letting the captive simmer over until his rambling had come to an end. Artorias rose to his paws then and came up to the bars, only a couple feet of space and several thick bars of cold-rolled steel separating them. It would have been easy to do as the pirate demanded; to give in to anger and vengeance and punish the wolf as he saw fit. If he wanted, Artisan could have been executed and his body disposed of before anyone came looking for him. He'd simply vanish, never to be seen again.

But that wasn't what Artorias wanted. He hadn't wanted to punish the wolf he'd claimed during the raid. He'd held out hope that perhaps this wolf would show him that the pirates hadn't had violent or malicious intent—that they were all fun and games like he kept claiming over and over. Instead, all Artisan had shown him was that he was a liar. Artorias didn't take kindly to anyone who threatened his home or his family; that was why he'd captured a pirate in the first place. Sparrow only responded to shows of strength, and so he had answered in a language she understood. The pirate before him only further proved his assumption of the rabble the more he spoke, and though it hurt him to know he'd been right, it validated his decision to drive away the pirates with an overwhelming display of force. They were not jovial hooligans looking for a good time. They were a dangerous, untrustworthy, violent bunch that needed to be treated like rabid dogs.

"There is nothing fun about waking up in the middle of the night to find a group of armed invaders at your door," Artorias snapped back, blunt and direct. "I'm young, but I've seen more raids and battle in my time than you, I'm sure. And yes, I take direct attacks and invasions on my home and my family very personally. What you and the other curs did was not fun, it was aggression. Paint it however you want in your mind, you were in the wrong. You're right, raids fucking happen. And you lost. This is what you get for fucking with a pack and losing. 'It's not personal, it's survival.' Do you think the Armada, or the Empire, or any other pack would respond well to a sneak attack in the dead of night?" He spat the pirate's own words back in his face, weaponizing them against his captive. Without tearing his gaze back from Artisan's, Artorias slapped the tray of food back beneath the bars. He was not playing games. "You have no allies. Nobody is going to back a rabid dog trying to fight the world, and the sooner you realize that, the sooner you can start making good decisions for your life."

Artorias stepped back from the bars once more, looking over the pitiful wolf with an expression of genuine sympathy. "I had hoped that maybe there'd be some redeeming quality to you, some good that might make me think I'd made a mistake. But all you've shown me is that you're no better than the rest of them, and the world would be better off without your ilk in it. Despite what I think, I can't imagine being so alone and lost in this world that suicide would seem like the best option. I truly am sorry for you, wolf." The Aegis turned back for the stairs then, casting a parting glance over his shoulder to the tray of food. "Eat your meal, pirate. You're no good to your 'family' dead." Artorias set back up the stairs then. Though his meeting with Artisan had been much less fruitful than he'd been hoping, he would not punish nor harm the wolf. Meals would still be provided, and gods willing, he wouldn't kill himself to spite the world.

- exit Artorias -

"Artorias Carpathius" | "Carpathian" | "Corbin" | "Argent"