She lead them further into the lands. She knew Ultyr was not too far. They had swam to the island she had found while skirting a pack border. The structure here had her padding slowly, eye on everything and anything. The broken windows, the decrepit state of it, was sad. It was as if whoever built it had perished and no one had cared to keep the buildings cared for.

A part of her resonated with the building. She knew non-love and the feeling of being someone's trash. She also knew what it was like to lose everything. This building stood alone on the island and away from the main lands. She had seen the building in the distance from the main land and had almost wanted to beg to see it. Her courage to look upon Ultyr had vanished though and she was back to her habitual ways. Did he know that she enjoyed exploring? That she missed things she had had before Archnemes? Her fur had been cleaned by the ocean now but she still wanted a good soak in hot water. That was something she missed.

She padded through the building after finding a place she could slip in through. Her pace halting and the sound of her nails silencing as her eyes fell upon a shelf that almost touched the ceiling. There was alot in this place but that had her attention the most. Trinkets and knickknacks lined it but the thing her eye zeroed in on was nothing like a collectible or the half destroyed toys. A bag with its contents half strewn across the floor. She moved to it, paw daintily lifting the flap of the bag and eye on the contents. A brush tool, a compass tool, and charcoal! And the best treasure of it all, a thick book, bound in red leather with a golden tassel hanging out of it. The excitement of her find had her tail swaying and her face lighting up with the emotion. She grabbed the book tenderly in her jaws and drug it out careful not to puncture the binding, lowering herself and laying it between her legs, cracking it open right then and there.

She flipped silently through it, eye soaking up the contents. It was speaking of the continent, of its flora, faunas and even the climates! Her lips spread open and a huge grin plastered upon her face. At about halfway through there were blank pages! She could draw her own maps in it! Could track the stars and even chart them in it! Her tail went from gentle swaying to a full wag as she adjusted her hips for better comfort and started to turn the pages back to the first so she could go more thoroughly through them.

"Things I Hear"

The buildings on the island interested him. It was just close enough to swim to, he wondered what collections of things and trash he could find. He had led a few looting parties to several two-leg places back in the homelands. There was no end to the things they could find.

He noticed she had also looked toward the island. Was that where Abaddon would be? Did she believe he would be there? He had not given up his task to find Abaddon. Hopefully, the girl had not either. But perhaps she would be less keen to find Abaddon now that he had shown her what her new diety could do for her pleasure.

Upon landing on the island, he scoped out the dangers. Broken glass... he could smell snake... large cats... pigs.. chickens... Snake would be a good hide to trade, snake skin was a prize among his people. If he could find a good-sized specimen he could skin it and possibly buy himself another slave, or trade for information about the packs here.

He didn't let her wander too far until he noticed she gravitated to a book and his own interest was piqued. He watched her for a few moments as she settled into perusing the pages. Her little tail started to wag a mile a minute and that was when he walked over and stood over her to look at the book over her head. His paws were on either side of her body.

He brought up one of his giant mits to stroke her cheek. She liked books. Perhaps she could read? Or was it the pictures she liked? The bag next to her was small enough for her frame to carry it and the supplies. The strap was too long though.

He was a benevolent god, and he delighted in seeing his devotees pleased. He grabbed the bag and looped it over her body where it would fit her. He tied a knot in the strap so that it wouldn't drag on the ground. He did all this while keeping her between his legs and he loomed over her. There. She would be all set. He brought his nose down to her ear and inhaled her intoxicating scent, pressing his nose into the space behind her ear. Then he froze as he heard telltale thump on the ground behind them.

That was when he saw the great python slowly making its way from an opening in the roof and its way toward them.

He grinned and began turning toward the giant living rope. Its hide was a beautiful golden color. It froze, its tongue lashing out every few moments as it tasted the air.

She knew Ultyr was still close, he seemed to always be, but his movement caught her ears and she looked up from the book only to look back down with a blush on her cheeks as he placed himself over her. Would he say something about books being useless to a slave? That slaves shouldn't worry about reading? She'd been caught having an excitement over a small thing and she wasn't certain how he would react. She knew how his father would have, a memory flitting in her mind of when she'd had a book ripped from her and a beating for daring to "steal" a book even though another had lent it to her, she suspected on purpose to see her punished. She'd suffered a broken rib that day and hadn't looked at another book since. His words had been harsh that day. According to king Aryn a slave wasted their potential having intelligence beyond what they were told to do.

Guilt played on her face at having been caught with a book and her tail stilled. When his paw touched her cheek she tensed, half expecting anger or a slap from him for daring to do something without permission. His gentleness however brought that tension to relax from her and a sigh of breath to pass her lips. A small wag to her tail returning. Then he was placing the bag on her and tying it's strap around her to shorten it, her eye looking down at the book and it's words again. Her ears pressed toward him though. Then his nose on her ear sent heat to her cheek once more, their position intimate. The stale dusty air was doing nothing she knew to muffle scents.

Then a thump had both their attention. Her eye cutting to the beast. A blink at it. How did a snake manage to become so large? She waited for him to move and once he was moved she closed the book and slid it back into her bag, moving the cartography equipment back into it, it weight the bag down but thankfully Ultyr had tied it so it wouldn't drag and would sit on her side. She was more than aware he wanted her to stay away but she would still watch and make certain he didn't end up needing the help. She moved to a spot on the other end of the shelf and hopped up inside a shelf that was mostly empty, her head leaning out of the shelf and eye on him and the serpent.

"Things I Hear"

His eyes of fire focused on the snake as his ear listened to her movements. Good, she was getting out of the way... Clever girl.

The snake hissed as he tested its boundaries. Coiling on itself, getting ready to slither away. But Ultyr was ready. These pythons had no teeth, but the strength in their bodies was enough to squeeze the life out of him if he let it.

He reached out with a paw to thump it over the head, make it mad, and retreat. But this one knew it was out of luck and wouldn't back off. It leaped at him and took him by surprise. It's mouth clapped over his hip and the pressure made him snarl in pain. He sank his teeth in the flesh by its head but that just gave it more opportunity to wrap him in its cream and golden coils. His teeth had missed its throat and landed too far down to do proper fatal damage. Suddenly it was coiling around him with his mouth muffled by its flesh. He could only growl and strain against the beast.

She watched and her ears pressed. He slapped it's head and she watched it change it's behavior. Snakes could be deadly, regardless of their species and as a rancher and farmer's daughter she knew that. Then before she knew it he was in it's coils and its mouth on his hip.

She was no fighter but she moved then. He was trapped in it's coils and if it started to crush it could break every bone in his body. Even if it would possibly free her she was certain she wouldn't make it out there without his help. She shrugged backwards from the bag strap and leaped from the shelf. She dashed towards the struggle and while uncertain of herself in fighting other wolves, she knew how to deal with a snake.

She lunged her teeth finding purchase on it's face, disregarding how close to Ultyr she was. She placed a paw under Ultyr and the other on his hip to help he balance. The one under him gripped and scratched at a coil on the softer underbelly of the serpent, trying her hardest to use the strength she didn't have to pry it from him. Her toes barely touched the floor. If this didn't work she was sure she could get a shard of glass and cut it's head off.

"Things I Hear"

His little slave's effort to distract the snake was enough for it to recoil. It drew back its face and gave him enough of a breath to adjust his own teeth and claws on it. With one heavy kick, he got one coil off his chest trying to squeeze his breath out. With another scramble he unhinged his maw and quickly wrapped his jaw closer to its head and crunched down with as much force as he could muster, severing its vertebrae and nearly severing its head from its body as his teeth sliced through the skin and muscle.

Panting, he felt the muscles relax around him as it slumped to the floor. He was still seeing stars as he grabbed his little Kitten and pressed his nose into her fur, desperately trying to control himself from the high of nearly becoming a meal himself. His muscles trembling from the exhilaration, her scent driving him mad. The idea of her dying and him being left alone in this shocking new world without her, his last grasp of his father and Abaddon was more than he was willing to sacrifice.

He roughly pushed away from her and turned to the snake. His breath came in harshly as he split the snake's skin down its belly and began pulling it away from the meat. Traders would go wild for this snakeskin, who knew what he could trade it for.

The moment the snake recoiled from her and seemed to release somewhat she jumped back. She watched for another moment, looking for another opening when suddenly Ultyr seemed to have it under control again.

She wasn't sure if she should be relieved but as soon as the snake dropped, Ultyr was grabbing her and pulling her into him. Surprise colored her face at the embrace. Was this him thanking her? She wasn't sure. Her ears pressed but she also couldn't help but wag her little tail, there may not of been praise but it felt like she had done something right.

Though it was short lived as he pushed away from her, almost as if something angered him. Shit. She had done something wrong after all. Was what she had done not useful? Did he have it all under control without her help and she had only gotten in the way? Her ears fell and she stood from where he discarded her. As he went to work on the snake she went and gathered the bag. Her exploration of the place about to continue. But she also knew better than to leave too far from his side.

"Things I Hear"