"Go to hell," she hissed for probably the thousandth time as she was herded along towards an unknown destination, griping, groaning, and protesting in a myriad or ways for the entire duration of their little trip. The last thing someone who looked as horrid as Echo had recently discovered she was looking when gazing into a shallow pond earlier would want was to not only be found but be drug off to see someone else. Vanity wasn't really the entire reason for her displeasure and numerous escape attempts that all seemed to have been in vain. No, it was just a much less frustrating way to look at the situation.

Truth be told, things were not all sunshine and rainbows for Echo these days. Forget the fact that's she'd only recently escaped from some rather unpleasant wolves after a couple seasons of being their captive plaything along with more than a few others. Forget that she'd spent absolute ages plotting and planning her escape, forced to buddy up to some guys who honestly made her feel queasy, and only barely managed to get away from them at long last - and had to evade some pursuers after her grand exit from their grasp. All that was apparently for absolutely nothing because she managed to run into some stupid blue asshat and said the wrong thing, and now she was being forced against her will to go with him to who the hell even knew where!

For probably the tenth time this hour, Echo decided she was fed up with being prodded along by this... this... Shithead. Suddenly she collapsed to the ground and dig her best to glue her body to it, refusing to go any further and enter the stand of fruit trees he was apparently taking her to. "I'm not going, screw you, ya' didn't even say please once, and one of these times I'm gonna scream and someone'll come. There's probably one decent wolf left out there," it sure wasn't Echo, but... someone "This ain't no way to treat somebody, I didn't do anything this time, don't make me take your ears off so they match mine! Although I bet you'd look a little better with a nice crop, might make up for your shit personality," she rambled. Fighting him off had been... well, an exercise in futility. Horrendously embarrassing might be a better descriptor but she didn't really plan on retelling the story so understatements seemed good enough.

She considered waiting until he got close enough and trying to kick a nice big clod of dirt in his face again. That had been pretty funny, but she suspected he might have his guard up enough now that it wouldn't work. It'd been the only way she managed to run a good half mile from him the first time, but he clearly had a lot more stamina than someone who'd been worked to death for a few seasons.

Even as she lay, dramatically sprawled across the ground, she kept an eye on him at all times. Always searching, watching, looking for an opening, a chance to run, to fight, anything. He'd seemed relieved earlier though, so she suspected they were too close to wherever he wanted to go for her to get away very easily now. Of course, her last escape hadn't been easy either. But she'd made it. If there was one word to describe Echo, survivor might do nicely.

Valentine had better give him a fucking prize. If he didn't receive the biggest reward ever he was never doing another nice thing for his grandfather ever again. Period. Why? Because this little gremlin he was dragging back was crazy. C-R-A-Z-Y. He had half a mind to kick her off a cliff if her information was bad. He might do that anyway just because it would serve her right. Even Amadeus, who was usually very good-natured, was done with the fiend. More than once he'd suggested trussing her up like a turkey and carrying her the rest of the way, even if it meant he had to walk. "Look lady," he said with a tired sigh. "Where I go you go, so if I'm going to hell, guess what. You're coming with me." She then had the nerve to throw herself on the ground like a disgruntled toddler. Jupiter eyed her distastefully. Being so close to the old bastard's haunt meant Valentine could come to them and the little beast could stay right where she was. He was still, many hours later, blinking dirt out of his eyes from one - that's right, there had been many - of her escape attempts. "Oh, please. Anyone with any sense will take one look at you and decide you aren't worth the trouble." The moment he'd learned she had information on the slavers his grandfather hated so much Jupiter had known he would have to get her to him. It was hardly his fault she was a flighty, unreasonable little thing and required frequent tackling. Ready to be rid of her, Jupiter howled for Valentine. Then, having had the best idea ever, leaped at Echo suddenly. His aim was to sit on her and if he moved fast enough he thought he could get his ass firmly planted on her shoulders before she had a chance to scurry away. If successful he planned on pinning her there like that until Valentine arrived and maybe, if she was particularly annoying, he'd work up a fart for her to choke on. "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”You”

Valentine took in the howl with a scowl and refused to budge from his perch atop the tractor. He could only imagine what the big blue hemorrhoid wanted. Whatever it was, it could wait until he was good and ready.

The old king took his sweet time in climbing off the tractor. He yawned, then stretched. After he felt nice and limber (and he was sure that wherever he was, Jupiter was beginning to get annoyed)  he finally hopped down. After one final stretch he ambled in the direction of the howl and only once paused to scratch an itch.

At long last Valentine spied his oft abused grandson in the distance. He squinted, trying to decide what exactly he was seeing, and then - only once he was certain he wasn't seeing two frisky kids - padded closer. He exuded wariness. Honestly he never knew what he was getting into with this kid so he expected him to be up to no good.

Without saying a word he took them in. Jupiter sitting on the back of a small dark woman with his hind legs flopped out in front of him and his tail draped over the opposite shoulder, and the little woman, clearly ready to tear into him when given the chance. "I realize you're new to this, kid, but this is not how you get girls."

Right off the bat he was grating on her, as was becoming an established pattern by this point. They were both so sick of each other she honestly wondered how much self control he must have to have put up with her for this long. Too damn much. Lady... No one had ever referred to Echo as "Lady" before, derisively or otherwise. "Sounds fine to me. If you think I won't suffer just to fuck with you at this point you haven't been paying attention," she huffed. Normally doing anything at a cost to herself was a concept Echo was allergic to, but, given that she'd found no escape... An exception could be made.

Letting his next words go unanswered - partially because that shit hit home and she wasn't about to let him clue into that - Echo continued keeping her eyes ears and nose on task, trying desperately to sense even a minor hint about a possible way out. Next thing she knew, the oversized blueberry was leaping at her, totally unprovoked, and landed on her shoulder, completely knocking the wind out of her and preventing the tirade of rambling insults and griping she'd have unleashed on him. The second she could get a breath in she sneered and muttered, "Boy, you sure don't hold back at meal time do you? Fat ass." Ears flat against her skull, the short-furred woman Immediately took to squirming and thrashing with her legs in any and all directions, going out of her way to try and kick up bits of dirt in the general direction of his face when she discovered that wiggling away wasn't in the cards.

When she heard someone approaching and insulting her apparent captor, Echo cackled at Jupiter's expense for a moment before seeing an opportunity when his attention was directed towards the old man. Wrenching her neck around, she parted her jaws and sought to land as hard a bite as she could manage on his ass.

She called him a fat ass and he responded first by grinding said ass into her shoulders then by cheerfully agreeing, "Nope, sure don't. Keep it up little gremlin and you're gonna get a noseful of what I had for breakfast." Because he was quite happy with where he was at, Jupiter rode out (haha) the gremlin's tantrum. His expression was smug enough though his patience was waning. Where was Valentine? No seriously, where, because he was ready to fling the woman at him and make for the hills. "Alright, hobbit, you asked for it." His face scrunched up as he bore down - and found that it was surprisingly hard to fart on command with an audience. Jupiter had just managed to work something up when Valentine arrived. Immediately he aborted the fart - couldn't do something that undignified in front of the old man - and was displeased to hear what his grandfather had to say. Jupiter harrumphed. "What about girls who know about the slavers, hm? Because this obnoxious- OW!" Instinctively he leaped to his feet as Echo's teeth sank into his right butt cheek. He whirled to face her with murder written all over his face and then glowered at Valentine. "She's all yours." "Jupiter"   "Amadeus" ”You”

Valentine's expression turned sly as he took in the situation. He was settling in and ready to entertained when his grandson's words sucked all the amusement out of him. In an instant he was all business. Jupiter's comical reaction, hilarious as it was, went unnoticed by Valentine.

He stood and padded closer to the woman. All he saw was her and the chance to learn more about his enemies. Jupiter may as well have run for the hills after being bitten, because in his grandfather's eagerness to speak to the woman he was nearly forgotten.

Valentine's earnest eyes were riveted to her face as he asked, "What do you know about the slavers? Tell me everything."

She went from an expression filled with all the horror in the world as the oversized blueberry threatened to fart on her to a look of deep satisfaction when her bite sent him flying away from her so fast she'd almost believe he'd sprouted wings. Hah! Echo could think of no one who deserved a swift chomp on the rear than this guy. Unfortunately the roller coaster wasn't stopping here.

The slate man who'd arrived approached with a spark of interest in his eyes; a look Echo had the sinking feeling meant she was not going to be going anywhere anytime soon now that she'd caught this man's attention. Damn the blueberry straight to hell! As the slate man approached, she noted he had similar facial markings to her most recent captor. Great, so they were probably related? That meant there might be more of them lurking nearby. As she shrank back from the newer, more present threat to her well-being, she kept a running tally of the increasing number of obstacles between her and freedom.

Cropped ears flat against her head, bushy tail tucked tight between her legs, Echo was the picture of submission while her golden eyes darted around, always returning to Valentine before she spoke up in a soft voice, "W-what? Nothing. Not one thing, blueberry there's crazy, I don't know anything about any slavers, he misheard me and drug me halfway across the continent... I swear, I can't help you" she stammered, doing her best to look entirely confused and innocent. Normally she might have spilled her guts the second someone approached with that menacing look on their face, but  considering all she'd already been through... Echo was torn. If she didn't admit to knowing anything, she wasn't positive that she'd be able to fully convince this guy that she was being truthful. A thief tried to not get caught in the first place, so lying her way out of a bad situation was not at the top of her list of skills. On the other paw, if she did tell them everything... what happened when they went after the slavers. Would it be discovered that she helped them? That sounded like a great way to have the wolves she'd only just escaped on her trail again.

Ultimately her main focus was always surviving the next few minutes, but time spent as a captive had her thinking a little further ahead than she used to and there was a lingering sense of paranoia in her mind as she continued to silently fret over what trouble telling this man the things he wanted to know might bring to her.

When it became clear the woman was going to be difficult Valentine's eager expression faded. He glanced Jupiter's way and saw nothing but grim resolution (okay, and perhaps a little hate).

Without a word he stepped closer to the woman until he pushing the boundary between acceptable and uncomfortable. In a voice that was quiet but firm, he said, "Those slavers kidnapped my mate and son. They raped and blinded her, they broke him and they stole from me." He took a deep breath and then let it out silently. "You say you know nothing, but my grandson is convinced you do. I can only assume you're lying to protect them."

Valentine bent down so they were eye to eye. He actually didn't think she was trying to protect them. Perhaps he was making a premature assumption, but she didn't strike him as the slaver type. Nope, she struck him as yellow-bellied and since he certainly wasn't above threatening, he was going to scare the truth out of her. "What do you think I'm going to do to those slavers? More importantly, what do you think I'm going to do to you if I think you are one? One who won't tell me what I need to know?"

He straightened but didn't take his eyes of Echo. Valentine's expression was cold as he watched her. He wanted the weight of his words to sink in before he said anything else. Finally he said, "Be honest with me and you can go. Lying to me again will only confirm my first assumption."

Echo pulled back, seeming to fold in on herself a bit as she tried to shuffle away while the large slate man strode closer, an instinctive effort that would be in vain as he easily made up the distance, hovering uncomfortably close as his attitude shifted to something much darker. Something about him had her thinking he was unfathomably darker beneath the surface than even this new expression and posture would lead her to believe. He was the new, most present danger to her well being, that much she could understand right away.

For a moment all she could think was that she was glad Sol wasn't here with her right now. Sol. Her heart ached. The man proceeded to elaborate on his interest in the slavers. While Echo understood, she being herself found it difficult to care much for the affairs of others beyond how they related to her. Cropped ears pressed back towards her skull, jingling very softly as one earring bumped the other. It was the only sound for a moment before the man continued speaking and Echo remained silent.

Gold eyes glittered as she assessed him, clearly weighing her options and every one of his words. After a few beats she finally sat up a little, ears still held back in an expression of her insecurity. "If I knew about them, would it not be wise of me to avoid getting mixed up with them again. Surely if your slavers are at all formidable opponents, it would be wise to not let someone who knows me go off and fight them with my name on their tongues. If you failed, they would surely find out I was involved in helping you." She hesitated, pearly white teeth chewing at her lip for a moment. Clearly she'd already given him certainty that she did know the slavers he spoke of, but Echo figured he'd have found out anyway. He clearly wasn't going to believe the fearful 'I know nothing' act.

The war between wanting to spill it all now so that he wouldn't make good on the clear threat he'd been making and wanting to avoid having anything to do with any of the slavers even from a distance was almost unbearable. For a moment she shivered slightly, breaking eye contact with the looming man to stare uncertainly at the dirt. "I..." and then, with surprising suddenness, a shift as she looked back up at him, "If I were to tell you about them, how will I be able to be sure nothing will happen to be because I helped you? If I hypothetically know what you think I might know, it would only be because I suffered because of these slavers as much as your kin have." It was clear to Echo that her best option was to spill, mostly because it was the only option being given to her. However, the memories of her captors were still so fresh that every time she caught movement in her peripheral vision she was certain someone had found her. They had trackers and headhunters aplenty, it wouldn't be surprising to find someone had come after the escapee.

Valentine studied her, his expression unreadable, for several seconds. He said nothing as he weighed her words, but his eyes drilled into hers as if he thought he could read her mind by sheer force of will.

"I don't know your name." To his grandson, he said impatiently, "Do you know her name?" Jupiter shook his head but Valentine's attention was already back on Echo. "Let that be of some solace to you, but know this; it won't matter. When we are done with them there will be none left to trouble you."

After hearing her story and surmising what kind of treatment she had been subjected to, Valentine decided to change tactics. "There is only one way you never have to worry about them again. If my band doesn't go after them you can be sure they'll keep doing what they're doing, which means you'll never find peace. No matter how far you run, how careful you are, you'll always be looking over your shoulder, won't you?"

He pressed on. "I am going to win, but you don't know me; you can't be sure. I understand. But if you want to be truly free you're going to have to take a chance. Tell me what I need to know. Help me get rid of them."

If she weren't so busy trying to ensure her own survival and constantly hoping to see some miracle opportunity to escape she might have found the mountain of a wolf standing before her to be rather interesting. He was clearly intelligent and a quick thinker, as he quickly grasped any little hints her words gave him as to the best approach to take in this tense dialogue. If she wasn't exhausted already Echo might have considered giving him more of a challenge. As it was... Her cropped ears twitched as she considered his words.

Feeling like a pup in comparison to the slate man, it would be difficult for Echo to think he'd be wrong about his assertion that he would kill every last one of the slavers. Eyes narrowing, she wondered what sort of numbers he had behind him. Then, how many would be enough? His victory wasn't assured if he didn't have good information. "Who says I can't get far enough away to be safe?" She began to challenge, her words lacking the hard edge they'd had before and trailing off as a thought hit her. What if Sol-

Prompted by the question flashing through her mind, Echo eyed him once more with even more skepticism if that was even possible. Habit and instinct still said to run the other way the first chance she got but... "If I help you... If I help you, then every last one of them has to die." A pause, as she wondered why she was even contemplating giving in. Obviously it was the path that would get her out of harms way the quickest but... She had to know, right? Ugh. Shit. Fine. Wait a minute... "I thought you already had some escapee loved ones. Why do you need my input? How do you know if I know anything more important than they do?"

"Every one of them has to die." Well, that was the plan, wasn't it? Perhaps he should have repeated that line again. Yes, yes every single one was going to die. He could say it louder, he could say it slower. All of them. Guaranteed dead. He shook his head dismissively and gave an annoyed growl. "Yes, yes, as I've already said I have no intention of letting any live."

"Perspective," he said impatiently. "You've seen them from another angle. A different perspective. Your account will no doubt be different than theirs and hearing different accounts allows me to cover more angles." Rhyme had been a fighter of some sort. While he wasn't 100% sure what role Rhythm had played (and didn't really want to find out) surely her skills as a healer had been put to use at some point.

"I don't know that, but I can't know for sure unless I ask, now can I? Every angle covered increases my odds of success so I must gather as much information as I can. Even if you don't think it's important, you know something that can help me. The name of the an important man, a routine that is followed religiously. Hell, a favorite food might be useful in the right situation. Let me decide what is important."