After his visit with Viper, he'd noticed that two of the Lambs were not in their places and that was a little worrisome. One Lamb he knew would never run- Pari seemed obedient and rather codependent- he would find her later, but the other Lamb he did not know. He sought her out first, tracking her up in the mountain until he found a hideaway den up in the Maw. She had dug her own, even with three legs and her short stature? It was a little impressive, even if it was against his wishes.

With little respect given to the wishes of her privacy, he invaded the small den as much as he could. He lowered his weight so that his chest brushed the ground as he crawled and silently crept inside, hoping to find the woman he was looking for sleeping within. He had every intention of scaring the hell out of her and blocking her exit. Something wicked within was bringing a smile to his face as he thought of how trapped she was to soon feel.

She had no idea that the apollyon had been to the large den where lots of lower ranked members seemed to stay. She stayed away from that place though. Even among them she had no place, she was less social and probably too flighty to be among them. She knew true hardships and cruelty. They mostly did not.

She had been in her den for a while now, after her day yesterday she was tired. She had luckily found an elderberry Bush and some juniper. She had it stored in her den. The berries she knew the use of, mostly. The juniper not so much, though she recognized its scent and knew healers used it for something. She intended to ask Zuriel later if she knew the plant, that was if she could ever get the courage to go find the woman. She was busy for the moment, nosing th hrough the elderberries, counting them and placing them in leaves where she would be storing them as small doses for pups and some with a berry more for adults. She intended to take this all to Zuriel later, after all no one would likely be okay with taking medication or treatment from someone of her stature.

A sound pushed it's way into her den, her remanants of ears pinned back. Her eyeless face moved towards the sound. "H-hello? Lady Zuriel? I-is that y-you?" the scent was close to hers but then it clicked in her head. This wasn't the kind demon mother, this was in fact the demon mother's mate, the Apollyon. Her paws pedaled her backwards, her rump curling under her fearfully. Her berries spilled from their leaves in her panicked state. Her head lowered completely and she pressed into the back wall of her den. She knew leaders before him and he smelled alone, leaders were always abusive. She was ready for the beating to come. "T-t-take w-whatever y-you w-want....." her voice came scared, and hushed. She wasn't going to scream. She knew better. No help would come and it would be like this always.

Walk "Talk" Think

It was an addiction, this little knack for cruelty. He wasn't really thinking about it, to him.. it was amusement. He didn't currently see the harm he was doing to her, to him.. she was being ignorant and needed to be taught a lesson. He was doing her a favor, protecting her, building her. His grin was spread wide as ever across his muzzle as he entered the den and she asked if he was Zuriel. No, no. Not Zuriel.

Aahh, there it was. She figured it out. The panic. He couldn't help it, his great lungs expelled and laughter ripped out of his throat despite his efforts to remain quiet and menacing. The berries that went flying just made it all the more comical.

He settled down as he watched her, actually feeling some sort of empathy for her now that he was witnessing her panic up close and personal. That didn't stop him though, no. This was necessary.

"Why have you strayed so far from your flock, little lamb?" He growled and lunged forward, teeth snapping audibly close to the poor girl's face.

"I have you trapped, I could eat you and not one member of the pack would know. The Shepherd will not be able to protect you. No one can stop me." Did it click yet? Did she understand? These rules were for her protection. He would continue to scare her for the moment, though he hoped his efforts would provide results. If not, perhaps she would remain with the flock out of pure fear regardless.

He brought his little act to an end and pulled himself out of the den, leaving her a little room to wiggle out as well.. though she would have to feel his presence and brush by him to do so. He intended on keeping it that way, not allowing her to create any distance between them.

"This den is forbidden, your home is with the rest of the lambs. I want to watch you fill it in, immediately." His red eyes narrowed at her, his words spoken through a clenched jaw.

His laugh was dark. If she had had a way to escape she would of made a bee line for someplace else. All she wanted to do was run. His question was left unanswered. In fact her body shook with her fear and his next words caused her to shove her face into the dirt. She was curling in on herself. This cruelty wasn't new to her but she feared it all the same. Ingrained in her was the submission of a slave who had no will to fight or try to placate her masters. If they sought to punish her, then they would do so.

He said something about someone protecting her, she knew this was far from the truth. No one  protected slaves, ever. If they did it was likely they too would become a slave. The sound of his teeth brought her to try to push her face into the dirt even more. She was sure she had just pissed herself too. She didnt make a sound though.

Even when he ceased trying to scare her she stayed as she was. Her breath was coming out heavy and fast. A panic attack had already settled in. He was only proving his cruelty to her by doing as he was. Even when he moved out of the den she had no desire thy unfurl from here she was on the den floor. She knew what she needed and wished like hell right now she had even one stem of lavender. Elias had no clue how she was now imagining him. She figured he was smirking and enjoying the feeling of being able to pick on someone who didn't fight back or even make a noise. He was just like Apostle had been.

His next words sounded like a command. It was not to be ignored. "Y-Yes M-m-mast-master." with that she was moving in almost a crawl. She emerged from the den still shaking, quickly as she could so she didn't have to touch him for more than a few seconds. The herbs and gifts were forgotten. She kept her body low even as she fought for balance while she used her forepaw to scrape the dirt back towards the den. She used her front left paw to stay balanced. It would take her a long time but she didnt want to anger him by stopping. Even when her paw started to bleed from rocks and overuse.

Walk "Talk" Think

She wasted no time on fulfilling his wishes, and that pleased Elias. He stepped back just slightly and gave her a little more room to do her work. While she worked to fill in the den, Elias kept watching the trees around them. This was a pretty well secluded little area of the Maw, he understood why Tana had chosen to put her den out here. Too bad that wasn't her life at the moment, her life was to be spent being a part of Ruina and building herself.

It was very clear to him she had no idea about any of this though. He watched her and let out a slight sigh. He almost resented Vale for bringing her in. When Elias asked for a Lamb, this poor broken soul wasn't what he meant but it wasn't in Elias to give up on her just because of a little wear and tear. Okay, maybe a lot of wear and tear.

"Thank you, little Lamb." He said finally as she finished. He could see her paws were bleeding, and he was aware of the herbs she'd just buried in their tomb to be forgotten. He sighed again, this whole thing was a mess.

He picked himself up, not wanting to waste any more time on this little endeavor as he started to lead her back to the cluster of dens within the top peaks of the Maw. He would keep his pace slow, his eyes and ears alert, and his attention mostly on her to make sure she was still following.

"Tana, I'm going to let you in on a Ruina secret, okay?" His thick neck twisted suddenly, brilliant red eyes flashing to look at her empty sockets. He was observing her, wondering if she was even capable of growing as an individual at this point. He straightened himself out again and kept his eyes forward on their path over rocks and cliffs to get back home.

"Lambs are lost souls who often are unaware that they are lost. When we come across Lambs, for some reason or another, something about them shows us promise that this soul is one that can strengthen Ruina as a whole. Most souls are drawn to us, they enter as Purgatorians and continue their work willingly and with a great sense of honor." He smiled a bit, thinking of both his son and Drakan as he said this. Already, they had sought out battle and his children seemed to be showing a great amount of interest in their training.

"I don't know what happened between Vale and you when he found you, but the fact that you came back as a Lamb and not a Purgatorian tells me that you did not want to come with him." He looked back to her for a moment, focusing now on softening his tone so she was hopefully more aware that he wasn't yelling at her.

"I don't blame you, honestly. In my family, almost all of us had scars before we were even six months old. My father himself only had one eye and many scars, so many that most didn't even want to look at him for long. Still, your scars seem to be the most severe out of all the wolves I have come across and yet you appear to be.. what. Two years old, three years old? You are about half my age and you're in worse shape than I am, little Lamb. I know you have been through some nightmares, probably not wanting to live through anymore. So, of course. I could see why you wouldn't have wanted to follow your stranger Shepherd. Maybe you know this or maybe you have yet to figure it out, but I hate to tell you.. the nightmare never stops. You are living in this cruel world and the best you can do is learn to adapt, to become stronger. Do you understand?" He quieted down as he focused on going over a particularly narrow part of the cliffs along the mountain path. He knew the wolf in his company was blind, was the difficulty of the terrain they lived in the reason she didn't want to be up here with the rest of them? It was starting to make more sense to him, but it was no excuse. He turned around and watched her take her steps, waiting to continue talking only after she made her way over to him safely. If she fell, he was ready to grab her.

Once she had finished filling it in she still did not stand to her full height of seventeen inches. She feared him thinking her challenging him in any way. Slaves that challenged their masters found death, and quickly. She was no muscular giant, no. She was a small slim girl with no choices given to her but to do what she must to survive.

She almost hated the fact that Vale had found her. Though she kept this quiet and to herself. No need to anger the Apollyon. She'd already done that apparently by just wishing to be left alone in a secluded nook of the maw.

He thanked her for her compliance and she perked what remained of her ears when he did so. Why thank her? It was the slave's duty to obey, even if the orders were said to just cause the slave torture or pain. He started to move off and she pinned her ears again. Did he want her to follow him? Or was he finished with her? She wasn't sure but he had come all the way here to find her so he likely expected her to follow. She did so slowly and unsure of it at first.

Once he started speaking she knew he had wanted her to follow. She did her best to listen and stay with him on whatever path he had chosen to lead her on. She was silent even as he commented on her scars. His explanation though left her thinking that perhaps he needed to learn what cruelty she had lived through. She didnt dare tell him yet though. It wasn't her place to speak freely.

When he finished speaking he asked her if she understood and she nodded repeating what she had once heard from Sintaro, though he might of lied as well just to gain her trust. "Strength comes in many forms, my lord." she was hushed. She had said what she had only to try to appease him and hopefully let him know that she was strong in her own ways. She knew rituals and how to properly sacrifice things, as well as herbal knowledge from listening to the healers of her old pack.

She was careful as she moved forward. Her forepaw were used to feel in front of her, skimming the ground for cracks and other things that could cause her to trip as they traversed up towards the mountain's den. She was no stranger to nightmares and what the world was either. She knew cruelty was in every wolf's heart. Each were capable of unspeakable horrors and even she did not diverge from this. She wished ill on all that sought to give her pain. Sintaro most of all.

Her choice of words made him stop in his tracks for a moment, a wicked feeling slanting his lips in a cool smirk as he slowly looked back to her. Was.. that... her being defensive? He liked that, he liked that a lot. She was defending her strength, which meant she was at least aware that she had some.. and that was important for building a wolf.

"How so, Tana?" He was fully aware that strength came in different ways, and he intended on utilizing all of those ways... though how much did she fully understand herself? And how much was she willing to admit to him? He continued walking, not wanting to cause her to feel anxious at all. He kept his eyes forward once again, though his ears were attentive and tall on his crown. He wanted to listen and waited for her explanation with an incredible sense of self-control despite how impatient he was feeling.

She heard him stop in his tracks and to avoid colliding with his backside and making a fool of herself she was quick to stop behind him. She had to admit his scent did help her to navigate the mountain and its treacherous paths. That and the sound of his paws before her. She did have to wonder if his deep rumble came from a mountain of a man or if she was just that small that he seemed so imposing. His question had her turning her head to the right. It was shame on her face now, slaves shouldn't know the things she did.

"I am not sure if it is the same as it was for my past home as it is here, but I admit I broke rules in my past home. I spied on the healers, listened to their lessons, learned what I could from afar. And as a mere sacrifice to Gods my body was the tool of the high priest, I remember his rituals, though I would not wish them upon any but him. These are things no slave should know of. As for skills, due to my blinding I can track rather well and my hearing seems to have only become better as the time goes by. My mother also taught me latin before her heart and body were sacrificed for the winter to be prosperous for the pack." she was subdued in her admissions to him. She was obviously ashamed that her want to learn lead her to break the law of packs. Slaves were not creatures that were ever to be educated. And Latin was not a slaves tongue either. Royalty and nobles were given that honor but no other was.

As he began moving once more she did too. Obedience would get her farther in life than disobedience. That much she knew.

He listened very carefully as she explained, beginning to move once again down the treacherous mountain pass once she stepped over the narrow part of it safely and met him on the other side. As she did so, he continued to walk next to her through it at a much slower pace so that she didn't have to focus so much on where she was going. He wanted her to keep her train of thought, as he truly wanted to know more about this little Lamb.

She knew about healing, and honestly the only other two in the pack that he could think of that shared the knowledge of healing was his wife and daughter... another nose tuned to sniffing out herbs could be useful, so he filed that information away for later use. Tana had yet to prove her worth as a Lamb, let alone someone trusted to go out and gather herbs.. but it was a thought. What she said next made him pause in his steps just for a split second as he looked her over, curious as to who she learned the language of The Apollyon from and how well she understood it.

"Et tam ipsi quam lingua doceat vos senex?" He spoke slow, through hushed tones and curiously spoken words. He wasn't sure how well she knew it, so he made sure to speak clearly and focused on his articulation.

She seemed to shock him with the fact that she knew latin, if evidenced by the pause of his steps. Then her ears caught the sound of the familiar falling from the Apollyon's lips. He spoke slowly and she could hardly blame him. Slaves did not usually get taught languages as they were for slaughtering and venting anger upon. How much should she give away though? She understood him perfectly, but she was not sure he wanted the truth. Her mother had broken laws by teaching her the language of royalty.

She paused slightly behind him but beside him. Her eyeless sockets turned to where his voice had come from. "Is fuit qui docuit me mater mea, et leges quæ erat in me scire aliquid sensit quod sit docere praecepta mea in belli persequendas et sanitatem." She spoke quickly but still without the beautiful accent she knew usually accompanied the words. She hoped she didn't speak the words too horribly though and that he understood enough. "Sed etiam quia sufficit tenere lingua regum qui cum eo loquerer sermones ejus." Should she apologize for knowing it? She wasn't sure. She gave him an apologetic smile. She figured she was a little rusty with the language. Was it hard to understand it? She hoped not.

"Talk."