Chade hadn’t lost his childish nature right away.  At first, when it was just him and Ricin he had still wanted to play at times but little bit by bit that had faded.  The world was too dangerous and Ricin too important to play around.  The only exception was if Ricin was determined to play but the joy it caused just never stirred as strong.  

They needed to be allowed to stay in this band, it was the best chance they had at surviving and learning how to survive on their own better.  Chade needed to get stronger with regular food and deeper sleep, he needed training.  They would be more likely to keep him and Ricin if they were useful.  It would also be good to get to know more wolves for connections.  Despite his wariness of strangers, there was a need to know them and so he would.

Walking along with band territory he came upon Alastor.  Chade was already a good size and likely would grow a bit more yet Alastor was larger still.  Chade stepped up nearer Alastor but still with a hesitant distance in case the wolf didn’t want to give him any attention, perhaps it had other matters of priority.

“Hello sir,” Chade spoke up, aiming to be as respectful as possible, “I’m Chade.  I was wondering what I should do to help.  I’m an ok hunter, um, still learning how to fight.”  Chade stood there somewhat stiff, hoping the guy didn’t mind Chade approaching him.

"Speech"

The band had finished setting up their temporary homes in Auster's groves and Alastor was busying himself setting up patrols around the area. He'd heard that Manea and Saracyn had chased off a bear from the campsite when they'd arrived and he fully intended on making sure no more predators came about while they were living here. Whilst scouring the northern edges of the grove, the sound of approaching paws caused fluffy ears to flick back and his head to swivel around to spot the latest addition to the band approaching him. It was the blue-furred pup with blazing red eyes, one of the two brothers Manea had brought into their fold. Alastor's characteristic smile split his maw in a toothy grin while the pup approached and stopped.

"Hello, little fellow!" greeted the giant of a wolf, finishing the approach that the pup had stopped. The little guy must have been shy. When the lad greeted him as "sir", Alastor immediately held up a paw to stop him in his tracks. "Oh no no no no, there's no need to call me 'sir'. My name is Alastor! And what can I call you, my little blue friend?" The wolf introduced himself as Chade, then asked how he could help the band. "Well, you're in luck, Chade! I'm just running a patrol and you're welcome to join me. We've had some bear issues around here and I'd like to make sure none of those fat monsters come sniffing around again." Alastor gestured with his head for Chade to follow him as he resumed his path around the edge of the grove, sniffing for any signs of threats near the band.

While they walked, Alastor suddenly got a whiff of a familiar type of scent. It was bear by nature, for sure, but he couldn't pinpoint it exactly. It would require a bit of tracking to find, and with a young pup in tow, the Mendacium patriarch was hesitant to go off on a bear hunt if the boy wasn't a prepared fighter. "Feel like chasing off a bear with me?" he asked Chade with a wicked grin. "Wanna be the band hero for the day?"

"Alastor Mendacium"

Maybe it was the fact Alastor was a male that it seemed more natural when he smiled than Manea had.  Dad had loved them, it had been mom who hadn’t wanted them.  He also had no desire for formalities and sure seemed friendly at least.  It was enough for Chade to crack at least a hesitant smile and even a bit more relief when he heard there was a task to help with.  Both for the good of hoping they showed to be worth keeping and he wasn’t all that sure what to do with himself otherwise.  There had been so much he needed to do for so long it was hard to accept the idea of relaxing.

There was a quick nod of agreeance to helping with the patrol, “Sure, I can do that!” Relief to work had him seem excited at the idea of fighting bears.  Really, he’d tried running from bears whenever it was just him and Ry.  This wolf looked really strong though and seemed to not have any fear of bears.  Maybe Chade could learn from him and in the back of Chade’s mind was an internal battle of whether or not he hoped they found another bear.

Chade knew the scent of bear all too well.  It was the sort of scent he could never forget after it had killed one of his siblings.  Alastor put a new spin on things Chade had never thought of.  “Hero?” Chade kind of figured he was on the bottom run of things as the new kid in town.  Manea had to come and save Chade and Ricin as it was already.  He could be a hero?  The notion was slowly taking hold as the more serious face of Chade’s perked up more at the imagined idea of ‘hero’

“No problem,” Chade nodded as his mind took away the fear of what bear claws and teeth could do and instead of the idea of walking back to the band with the pride of having helped chase away such a dangerous creature.  “I’ve fought them before, well, with help.” With a lot of help admittedly, “well, I fought a little,” humbly having to add on that latter part.  

"Speech"

Chade was eager to help out, and Alastor appreciated the lad's enthusiasm. It reminded him of the reason why he loved puppies and yearlings so much; they were just so full of life and innocence! "That's the spirit!" he remarked with jubilation while they began their patrol. When he offered Chade a chance to be the hero for the day, he didn't know how the boy would take it. He seemed perplexed by the idea, but the more he dwelled on it, the more the cool-toned pup seemed to brighten to the notion. After a moment he agreed, and Alastor grinned so wide he showed nearly every wicked tooth in his massive jaws. Yes, he knew the dangers of taking on a bear, and yes he knew that death was a strong possibility in any fight with an apex predator. It wasn't that Alastor was reckless—it was that he simply didn't care. If death came for him to take him away, then he only hoped his end would be as gruesome and gory as he made it for everyone else!

"Come along, I'll show you how to fight one for yourself," said Alastor, deviating from the patrol route to begin hunting the hunter. Of course, he wasn't going to let the pup do all the work; that was asinine! But he wouldn't coddle the boy or keep him held back either. If Chade wanted to prove he was grown up enough to handle himself, then Alastor would give him every chance to. The scent of the bear led the dire wolf and pup further into the grove and away from the band’s camp, almost up to the Bifrost before the scent got stronger. He demon wolf kept moving, nose twitching while his paws carried him to the mouth of a cave along the coast. This had to be where he bear was hiding out.

"This is it! Are you ready, Hero?" asked Alastor, giving Chade only a moment to respond before he poked his head into the cave and yelled a loud, "HELLOOOOO!" Alastor’s voice echoed about the coastal cave for a minute. It was silent in response. Then came an ear-splitting roar. Alastor’s predatory grin widened and he backed up from the cave mouth, giving it a wide berth as thundering footsteps came closer and closer. From the darkness emerged a large grizzly bear, chuffing and grunting while it eyed the brute and pup with beady black eyes. "Use your size to your advantage. Go for its legs and belly." Instructions passed to Chade, Alastor wasted no time rushing the bear, a flurry of fangs and claws as he launched at the grizzly in a wild pounce, biting chunks of fat and fur to keep the ursine distracted.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Chade had expected this bear would be closer and come charging at them any moment.  The farther they went and watched Alastor carefully scenting it Chade wondered if this was a necessary thing or Alastor’s idea of a good time?  How far away did they need to keep the bears?  Obviously, if the bear got too close it was a problem but Chade really wasn’t sure how far any bear would wander for the odds of getting into the band?  Apparently a large chunk of land needed to be kept clear considering how far along they were getting.  

Chade would never forget the scent of bear.  The first one he had met had scarred his soul for life, a dark stain forever attached to his heart.  Chade would never forget that awful moment of causing his sister to trip so that the bear killed her instead of Ricin.  The pup could never do such a thing again so he had to learn how to fight and win.  How to kill mercilessly.  This wasn’t just about being a hero now, this was about being able to protect everyone instead of picking out who to save and who to die.

The bear hadn’t been interested in them in the least.  The darker thoughts were broken away as Alastor spoke and called him a hero again.  The confidence being projected on him was good for the soul and helped get the boy’s tail wagging again with the desire to prove himself.  A firm nod is given, “ready!”.

Alastor hollered out to the bear as Chade peered into the cave, imitating Alastor in both how far he stuck his head in and then backing off.  The roar sent a shiver up Chade’s spine but then Alastor was grinning.  There was something dark and dangerous in that grin but at the same time reassured Chade everything was under control.  This black and red wolf had to be crazy strong!  

The bear appeared and it was huge!  It didn’t seem as big as the goliath one Chade and Ricin had run from when younger but that likely had more to do with Chade growing than the bear being smaller.  This guy was still huge.  Chade reminded himself this time wasn’t about running.  Thoughts of fear were forced away as he snarled back at the angry grizzly.  He nodded at Alastor’s directions and ran for the left front leg.  Perhaps it was as much habit as Alastor’s direction that had Chade choose the leg first.  Chade made a habit of biting his prey first on the leg before trying to kill it.  Still, there was nothing about this bear that was remotely prey-like.

Chade’s teeth sunk in and he shook his head to rip open the flesh behind the knee torn open more.  He hadn’t expected to get the time but Alastor had the bear busy.  There came a point where Chade had to drop what he’d bit and leap out of the way of the incoming bear swipe.  Did that mean he’d made enough of a difference to get noticed?  Chade’s heart was racing.  There was no way he’d have been able to do that if Alastor wasn’t helping!  

Chade wasn’t planning to stay out of the fight though.  He’d dodged the one swipe and was planning to go right back for more.  This bear wasn’t going to win, not this time, nor would he let the other wolf do all the work.  Never again.

"Speech"

Alastor held the majority of the bear's attention while a flash of blue darted underneath the bear. Even with the roaring ursine right in his face, Alastor could hear the growls and snarls of Chade doing his work on the bear's legs. Grinning and laughing to himself, Alastor tore claw and fang into the neck and upper chest of the roaring bear, releasing his hold only momentarily to drop back to the ground in a deft maneuver to avoid the bear's swinging claws. Alastor circled around to the bear's side, clambering up the heaving sides of the bear with vicious claws to keep its attention away from Chade. As expected, the grizzly took the dire wolf to be the bigger threat and tried to round on the wolf, but Chade would stop and intercept its legs when it tried to turn, breaking the bear's focus long enough for Alastor to climb up the bear's back.

Hoisting himself all the way up to the bear's head, Alastor extended his new claws and dug them hard into the bear's scalp until he hit bone. The grizzly bellowed in pained panic, rising up on its hind legs to try and throw the wolf off its back, but by then it was too late. Alastor had tugged the bear's head back, forcefully exposing its vulnerable throat which he eagerly bit into with powerful jaws. He felt the veins and arteries pop beneath his fangs, and using gravity to aid him, he dropped with a tug on the bear's throat, pulling out a section of fat and flesh that exposed ripped arteries. Blood gushed like a waterfall down the bear's neck, staining its brown coat a dark, sticky red. The grizzly gave a confused, weakening groan while it wobbled, woozy from the sudden blood loss. Alastor stepped back to give the toppling ursine space, moving to shield Chade in case it fell towards the boy.

The grizzly finally collapsed to the ground after a moment, its body giving little jerks and twitches as the life left it with the final beats of its heart. Then it lay still forever more. Alastor, breathing heavy and high off the adrenaline of the fight, let loose a giddy laugh while he studied the corpse. "Whew, wasn't that just the time of your life? Really gets the blood pumping and air in your lungs! Haha!" The dire wolf turned to smile at Chade, reaching over to nudge the pup's shoulder with a giant black paw. "Well done, Hero! Now you can tell everyone how you helped kill a grizzly bear! I couldn't have done it without you!" While that wasn't entirely truthful, Alastor wanted to boost the boy's self-esteem, show him that every wolf mattered in a fight to the death. Hopefully he had learned a lot here today.

"Alastor Mendacium"

Chade had gotten a moment to view Alastor’s work on the bear as he’d dodged that one attack towards him.  He had climbed up the bear!!  There was plenty of an opening as it clearly had to focus on Alastor.  As Alastor put his claws into the bear’s scalp Chade bit into the bear’s leg focusing only on opening the wound larger. Chade didn’t have much more than a few seconds though before the bears balance teetered after having its neck ripped into it.

The moment he realized the bear wasn’t firmly rooted Chade was back peddling.  His wary watch of the bear only paused momentarily by the view of Alastor getting in front of him.  He hadn’t known Alastor long, heck they had just met, and maybe a kid should assume the adult would be ready to defend them in a fight but, it was touching.  

*THUNK*  

The bear’s giant body hit the earth.  Chade’s brow furrowed and he took a cautious step or two back closer to it.  The amount of blood near its head assured him that bear was never going to be a threat.  Chade glanced from the blood at his head to where some red splotches were on the ground from what blood Chade had spilled.  Most of the damage he had done was blood hidden in the thick carpet of the bear’s fur and, on his own muzzle.  Alastor had done the majority of the damage truth be told.

Still, Chade had hurt it.  Chade had fought, he had scored blows and the bear was dead while the dark blue wolf was alive. A small, proud smile was growing on his face. It felt good not to seem helpless.  Someday he’d be sure to do just as much damage as Alastor had.  Damn, he looked a lot less friendly when he was ripping a bear to pieces like that.  
Chade’s bright eyes looked at Alastor as he spoke up, “You’re amazing!  You just ripped his throat right out!”  With the fight over his tail was up and swishing back and forth, “That was…fun!”  He had to think on the word, it wasn’t one he’d used much in a while.  

Then was the mention of hero again to give Chade that reminder of getting to go back to the band and tell everyone how he helped take down a bear!  Even so, when Alastor mentioned not having been able to do it on his own Chade shook his head, “If I had to bet on two bears or you then I’d still label you thrashing them good even alone.”  The fact he figured Alastor hadn’t really needed his help didn’t seem to hinder his smile at all, “but, I did hurt it, I did my part.  Not someone helpless that needed saving.”  

If Alastor wanted the boy's confidence to be strong though he’d apparently scored that, “Can we do this a lot?” There probably weren’t bears around every corner though, “Well, at least as often as there are predators about.  I have to get really really strong and this is a fun way to do it!”

"Speech"