What we build is broken

Mortis sat there and listened, his expression carefully neutral, letting his son get it all out. The frustration, the unexpected turns. It was almost more like he was speaking about fatherhood than training a wolf. But Oleander wasn’t a father, and this wolf wasn’t a healer’s assistance. She was a slave, and his son was trying to mould her to fit his image.

When Oleander finished speaking, Mortis leaned forward, cupping a paw gently over that of his son. He didn’t speak immediately, trying to be careful with his words. He did not want to chase Oleander away, and he was a little afraid that he wanted his image of Halo, and his image of Oleander to overlamp more than they were now. That would… make him a hypocrite.

“I bet you that this girl has never had a moment of kindness directed at her her entire life. That kind of life… it does something to a person. But no ones the same, and people break in different ways. Sometimes they become meak and afraid, jumping at their own shadows. Sometimes they lash out, because all they know is hurt or be hurt.” he kept his paw over Oleander’s, there was no judgement in his voice. “The Warlord, and the Warlord before him believe in slavery. Do you know why your mother became a healer?” perhaps it would feel like the question came out of the left field, but he kept on. “Because she was the most compassionate wolf I have ever met, and she never met a wolf she didn’t want to help. It sounds to me like Basilisk demands you look at this wolf as a slave. Are you a slave master, Oleander, or are you a healer? Because the way you approach a broken patient is so much different to how you would approach a slave that needs… moulding.” Halo was gone, and Mortis was halfway to being gone himself. Their kids were growing up in this world with a broken family. He had never wanted that for them. Did Oleander look at Basilisk like a father figure now? A leader to look up to? His heart ached for his child, his baby boy. He had missed so many milestones, he had missed being there to answer Oleanders questions, to show him the world the way he saw it.


"Mortis Fatalis"