Asla was going to make a full recovery, and there was little he could do other than hover outside the den waiting for news. Better to be doing things, and get his mind off the trouble that had found his young daughter. One such thing was a reward that was owed. He had no doubt that if Naiche had not been with Asla on the day a lion decided to attack her, things would be a great deal worse. He had lessened the watch of his companions on his kids lately, and now he was regretting doing that. He could have arrived on scene to help her, if he had warning.

Instead, Naiche had been there. And a favour was owed. He sought out the young warrior, chasing him down in the communal area. “Naiche, a word?” he said, tone more serious then he intended it to be. He did not like Asla injured, nor a favour owed.

Naiche's fowl mood hadn't gone away since the whole lion fiasco.  His tail hurt, and the thing was an even bigger pain as he was supposed to be relaxing more. Less work, less training and that had been no where in his plans of how to grow stronger. 'Relaxing' was not a word he planned to ever use for himself since the past tragedy.  He wasn't waiting forever to fight or train, for today he had imagined that he would just roam again.  Naiche was rather proud at this point of how well he knew the place with his frequent careful patrolling of it.  Really though, it was hard to sit still with all the thoughts going threw his head.  Damn Asla, and the lion, and himself for falling into the lot of it.

He heard the wolf's steps and then his voice.  Naiche turned to face Sirius, a bit surprised at the warlord choosing to see him again.  At first he had been being tested and ranked but as a day to day chore wouldn't Sirius be more interested in wolves that had proved their worth?  What was this about? It sounded serious going by the warlords voice.  The whispered question in his gut asked if the warlord knew and Naiche felt guilty relief when the smaller wolf figured Sirius would be acting much different if he did.

"Sirious? Of course, anytime." The warlord didn't know, but he might plan to point out they should have run instead of fight, or other critiquing details.  Potentially in trouble but much milder and for the wrong reasons? Shit, he hated this.  He helped eat up the small bit of remaining distance moving towards Sirius.  He looked a bit surprised but the tone of Sirius voice and sudden appearance was well, surprising. "how can I assist?""Speech"

Naiche quickly approached, his mood obedient and subdued. Perhaps he blamed himself for not doing better, not doing more, to keep Asla safe. Sirius would have done the same in his shoes. But, for a small wolf, and a student, out of his element, Naiche had done a damn good job. Of course, Asla was the more experienced of the two, but she was also small, and his girl. He appreciated anything Naiche might have done to keep her safe. “Asla told me how she was attacked by a lion unexpectedly, and you helped her get out of it. That was extremely brave of the two of you to take on a lion, unequipped as you are. I want to give you a reward for what you did. A battle companion, to help you fight. Since you’ve already proved you’ll use your skills for the good of the Armada.” "Seer"

A reward? That was the last thing Naiche had expected and the queasiness in his stomach had him feeling it was the last thing he wanted also.  The wheat-coated wolf deserved a tongue lashing more than a reward.  It might have not been his idea but he had gone along with it.  Naiche had stupidly let his ego blind him to truth and followed Asla on a lion hunt.  Moronic.

Naiche’s tail wasn’t the best for expression at the moment since it was staying down, but his ears now pulled back unhappily at the offer of a reward. “I don’t need a reward,” Naiche shook his head, “I don’t deserve it either.  I’d be dead if it wasn’t for her.” Reward? Naiche was trying to to remind himself he wasn’t the one who said the lie, wasn’t the one who came up with the idea but did that matter?  To not speak the truth was to go along with deceiving the leader of the pack.  Naiche hadn’t even been with the pack that long and he was ready to start deceiving already?

Damn Asla.  Kicking himself hurt more than the tail, it didn’t feel quite as bad if he poured some of that hate into Asla instead of himself.  Why was he keeping it a secret? For her? He hated her? For himself?

“I’m sorry, I do appreciate it that you would want to reward me to begin with.” Naiche hoped his guilt wasn’t as visible as it felt to him.
"Speech"

Sirius was surprised at the action of the other wolf. He seemed subdued, and unhappy with the offer. Sirius snorted, shaking his head and stepping closer to the wolf. “I get it, I do. You didn’t do as much as you wished you did. But a lion is well out of the weight class of both of you, and you both still have a lot to learn. That you got out of there alive says a lot about both of you. You should be proud of yourself. I never would have let you up against a lion yourself if I could have helped it, but you did what you could with what you had. So stop beating yourself up” the Warlord scolded. Giving a longer speech then he usually would.

But, in that moment, he saw much of himself in Naiche. He also would have been unhappy with a packmate getting hurt under his watch. He expected the best of himself. But he wasn’t foolish enough to think Naiche had a real shot against something as large and fierce as a lion.

“So, don’t be ridiculous, and we can go over what companion would work best with you.” He suggested.

Damn it! If Asla hadn’t made the suggestion he would of already reported the true facts to Sirius, why was he doing this? A scolding for being too hard on himself was the worst thing yet. “No. I don’t.” The words stated flatly, before actually meeting his gaze, “because Asla forgot to mention a few details.  Yes, a lion attacked us but we had known it was there.” Naiche was tense with anger, but it was turned inward on himself.

“She had told me we were on an assignment to go chase it away, and I didn't question it which was stupid.” Now it sounded like tattling but damn it he was going to tell the whole thing, every fact because this was the leader.  Naiche was going to get rid of the festering guilt and whatever punishment he got was earned. “we went to the place, we saw it, we still set up positions.  We were stupid, we only had ourselves to blame and we…” Naiche grit his teeth hating this, “failed the pack, if we’d messed up,” Naiche shook his head viciously, hate towards his own actions “then you could have lost two members of the pack over the stupidest thing, one being your daughter.”  Not that Sirius needed to be told what the consequences could have been.  Now it was more Naiche emptying his gut of all he’d withheld.  

A punishment would come, it was deserved and Niache would welcome it.  The words ‘I’m sorry’ almost came out but what frail things they were. “All I deserve, is your wraith, not rward.”
"Speech"

Naiche’s change of tone, and sudden adjustment to eye contact intrigued the Warlord. He considered the man for a long moment. Then, the true story came out. Sirius didn’t know if he should laugh, cry, or scold. The ridiculousness of it caught him for a moment. And he understood Naiche’s hesitance now.

Sirius chewed it over for a moment, considering it. “I see. You wanted to protect Asla and withhold the truth. I am your Warlord, and your leader. The safety of this entire pack rests on my shoulders, and next time, you will tell me the truth with no hesitations.” he warned gruffly. As for the rest… well, that was Asla’s foolishness. As a Princess, she was held to a high regard then most. He could not blame Naiche for believing her, even if it was absurd. But, he would speak to his daughter privately. “I will speak to Asla on this. But, if you hadn’t gone along, she likely would have gone herself. You were between a rock and a hard place, and I can see you only tried to do your best. I will still get you a companion, but consider it an asset and not a reward. To help you win, next time you find yourself in a precarious predicament.” he said wryly.

Protect Asla, what a laughable thought.  Yet somehow that was exactly what he had been doing.  How had his head been so twisted around? Naiche truly didn’t like her, no fooling himself in that so maybe it was just the instinct to protect one you’ve fought with and had to trust with your life in a fight? Maybe.  As to the order to tell the truth without hesitation Naiche nodded, “I swear by my life’s blood I will,” the words formal and certainly without hesitation.  It was a relief to be done with the secret.

Asla was going to be a bigger pain than she already was now, wasn’t she? Then again maybe she would decide to ignore him after this.  No, one way or another he would surely have to deal with her at least once more.  She was bound to want revenge against him when she learned he hadn’t kept their little secret.  After that though she might want nothing to do with him.  So be it, there were other wolves he could spar with and were certainly less confusing and irritating.

He was still getting a companion? It just got a new label as to the reason and he apparently wasn’t getting punished either. “Thank you,” Surprise and sincerity at the warlords generosity.  “I’ll make sure such situations are only when truly necessary,” you know, versus running out to help find the situation himself.  It was done though, he was free of this weight of guilt.  This not only freed him from guilt, got him assistance in a fight but it also increased his loyalty to Sirius even more.  Naiche had already gained a pack and training from the warlord but now he was getting forgiveness for a sin and something to assist him in fights.  Naiche would certainly lay down his life for this wolf with no thought.
"Speech"

“Keep your word, and I won’t have to spill it” the Warlord said severely. He did not appreciate being lied to, but he understood that Naiche had been dragged into this. He let out a soft sigh. Who knew being a parent was such an emotional rollercoaster? He wanted both to scold Asla, and to hold her tightly. He doubted she would be happy to receive either.

He could see the relief in Naiche’s expression, and he leaned over, rubbing his shoulder against the man. Spreading the scent of pack and Warlord across him, mine. He thought softly. Just so long as he didn’t do anything else foolish and get Asla killed. Through, he knew exactly where the blame lay for that missadventure.

“Alright, now that we’ve cleared the air… battle companion. Do you have a preference?”

"Speech"

Naiche gave a firm nod at the order.  Never again would Naiche be so dumb.  If Asla did talk to him later then he would be sure she knew it as well.  Would she possibly trick him again? He hoped not but no matter what Naiche would report truthfully and fully to Sirius.  This wasn’t about what he could get away with but what was right.  Somehow, he doubted Asla would see it that way.  

The smaller wolf found he liked Sirius possessiveness, after all he had no desire to ever leave and it was good to know someone would put such claim on him.  So the rub was appreciated, stretching out his own neck as he accepted it.  Home, family, it was all he had missed.

Naiche had found most companions to be irritating or a nuisance when he saw them with other wolves.  Admittedly he hadn’t given them much chance to prove themselves otherwise.  However, they also were help in a battle and Naiche wanted every edge he could get in a fight.  The trick being he had not given any thought to what sort of animal he would enjoy spending time around, or at least tolerate it.  What would be most useful in a battle?  Naiche didn’t answer right away, “Whatever would compliment my battling best,” perhaps Sirius would know better than him what sort of animal that might be. A slow shake of his head but then the head raised just a tad with some thought, “Something that can get up high would probably be useful.  I can’t climb as some can.“ Animals that could climb had a big advantage over him in areas with lots of tree’s. “Just, not a lemur.” Tamsyn’s lemur had Naiche confident he didn’t want one of those irritating creatures.
"Speech"