she had been kept tied to a tree but saw the entire thing. when others came up to look at her, she always looked past them. when the blue man purchased her, she looked past him a bit to spot someone in the crowd. it had been a flurry of emotion, of anger and rage and defiance. primal things that meant something different to her. her heart quickened and felt it squeeze as she looked upon the face of the one she sought. she wasn't going to leave without at least seeing him. her owner was close by; he allowed her to wander around within his sight. he was already a kind man in her eyes. he gave her food and compliments. it could be worse. she could have been fought over like a piece of meat. standing on her toes, she spotted him at last. his back was to her, and he was walking away but she saw him. stumbling forward, Niamh raced over to the dark man and darted in front. her chest heaved and her eyes were wide but she could at least look at him. "mm..." she uttered uselessly, feeling her cheeks flush with red. it was the first sign of talking in a year. dropping her crimson eyes, she'd scribble in the dirt in front of the man. "are you okay?" and "saw fight." Niamh didn't know why she cared so much about a stranger. he was nothing to her. he hadn't bought her. he didn't even look at her. but she wanted him to. maybe that lit a fire in her. "k-k...kay?" she surprised herself. her eyes flew open, blinking a few times. "kay... kay?" she was trying to ask if he was okay, even though she had just written it. flustered, the albino looked away.

It was humiliating, for not just Fracture but Winterfell as well. How had this happened? One moment Fracture thought he was following his code of honor and rescuing an innocent, but then the next he was being taken to the ground by some hulking giant. He couldn't blame the man - Fracture perhaps had let his emotions get the better of him by insulting the saber-toothed wolf's skills - a lost fight was a lost fight and nothing to be ashamed of. However, along came his King, Tyranis and even Heloise to his aid. The two men had melee'd Sirius for disrespecting Winterfell, and then they too had lost. Fracture wasn't sure what might come of the brawl, but at least he was sure he wouldn't be forgiving himself for it anytime soon. He made his way to a tree outside a nearby stall, where the crowd of wolves was thinnest. Everyone seemed to be clamoring over two slave sales in the far end of the market, and Fracture sure as hell wouldn't be showing his face there again in another failed rescue attempt. The dark man needed time to himself to brood quietly, to pull himself together before he faced his King and apologized for the scene he'd made and the resulting damage to Winterfell's reputation that ensued as a result. He stood to leave - prepared to go lick his wounds quietly in a cave somewhere - when a streak of white rushed out in front of him and blocked his path. At first, Fracture thought it was someone else looking to pick a fight and he stiffened, lips curling slightly in what was almost a snarl. The expression soon faded as bi-colored gaze met hers, taking in her widened eyes and heaving chest. There was a quality to her that he couldn't quite put words too, but whatever it was she did not appear threatening. She bumbled something, and the dark man's head took on a tilt as he observed her. He couldn't make out her words, and she seemed to understand it as her head turned away. She was doing something in the dirt below him, but his eyes did not leave her to look at what it was she was writing. It was somewhat like being faced with a shy child, and Fracture did his best to understand. He leaned in further - head still tilted - as if he could decipher her broken words. "I'm okay, yes." The dark man confirmed cautiously, brows contorting in a confused frown. "Are you okay?" He was no stranger to the oddities of some wolves, and this place was full of captives and slaves after all. "Do you... need something? Are you lost?" Fracture almost didn't want to ask if she needed rescuing, because he wasn't sure he had enough pride left to try and fight for another slave's freedom and fail once more. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

she flinched at his sour expression, ears pinned against her head and lowering her body to the ground. Niamh didn't think the man would have snapped at her like that. she didn't know what to do now. maybe this had been a mistake. maybe she shouldn't have rushed at him like that but she didn't know what else to do or how to introduce herself to him... she didn't look up at him, keeping her eyes on the dirt before her as if she had greatly offended him. though when he asked if she was fine, her crimson eyes raised to meet his dual ones. "..." the young woman's ears piqued forward before nodding. her eyes drifted over to where Jupiter was watching before drifting back. Niamh pawed at the ground - he didn't look at it before - in an impatient way before adding in more words. 'fine' she wrote. "kay" she repeated, her voice a bit stronger now but still quiet and rusty. she gave a shuddering gasp before, surprise surprise, she spoke a bit more. "n...n-no. need" her head shook a bit viciously. "want. meet." she frowned in frustration. why was this so hard? it seemed so easy in her mind. she wrote some more down. hopefully, he saw it this time. but added empathize she did paw the ground again. "saw the fight. you were. brave. wanted to meet you before leaving" leaving with Jupiter that is. "did you. really win. fight against big man?" her eyes were wide in awe.

Fracture's head tilted as she directed him to the ground below them. He squinted at the words, confused and incredulous. Why could she not just speak? He did not want to offend her however - she did seem a little too innocent to be interrogating - and so he only nodded his understanding. "I appreciate your kind.... words." He managed, a small smile upturning his lip. At least she could communicate in some way, even though it was odd. "However I most definitely did not win." His eyes passed back over to her, and he felt he had to clarify. "This time, at least. This time I lost. We'd fought previously and I won. It was a hard match, I must have gotten lucky." He paused, looking back down at the ground to remind himself of what else she wrote. It was awkward to speak through the floor, and he grimaced slightly. "Leaving?" He responded, the soft question lingering in the air for a moment. "Did you come with a pack or... someone?" She never did respond to whether or not she needed assistance, but Fracture found it odd that a she-wolf such as her would be in a place like this. A slave market. "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

at least he had tried. it was more than she could say about the others buying slaves. she had seen a few races to his aid but did not know their names or why they had waited for a long time to do it. some also did not fight; they bargained and bartered the freedoms or continual servitude of the slaves. she had smelt a big pack going away with quite a few already. the thought saddened her. nobody had fought for her. Valkyrie had handed her over without question, without any other offers to be had. "m' sorry" Niamh said simply, her eyes downcast as the man tried to keep up with her oddity. she may be selectively mute but she still did not feel very comfortable speaking after a year of silence. but she too was trying. "y...you do m-more... most did." it was clear that he didn't know what to make of her, and this encounter did not go as she was hoping it would. soon he would leave, or her first if called by her new master. her eyes hovered in the air for a moment before nodding to the blue-furred man watching from a distance. "his" she spoke "he... b-uh-buy me." Niamh tried again, this time the words coming a bit clearer now. her eyes were now sad; she didn't know what to make of her master. he seemed nice and kind so far, though. he had fed her and complimented her. he didn't lead her away on a chain or rope. he let her roam around a bit after she proved she wasn't going anywhere. maybe she was just sad because she knew that the man before her now would look at her in pity. he had tried so hard to free that other wolf, only to fail. faced now with another slave... how would he react? she didn't want pity.

Fracture's lips down-turned at her words, eyes shutting gently for a moment. Another slave bought and traded like furniture. It was as if it was the norm in the south, wolves capturing wolves and then pretending they were lesser creatures worthy of sale. Bought with things such as deer carcass' or pretty jewels, as if they weren't individuals worthy of respect. It disgusted the dark man, and when he reopened his eyes they swirled with intensity. He set his jaw hard and turned to observe the man whom she gestured towards. He stood quietly for a moment while he looked on at the albino's 'master,' considering deeply. He'd already tried to buy the freedom of a slave once and had been humiliated for it. Now this woman approached him to praise him for his efforts, and it became apparent to him that no one fought for her. But was he willing to risk another brawl and have Ace and Tyr need to come fight his battles for him once more? He nearly flinched at the thought. "Excuse me." He murmured darkly, giving the woman a polite dip of his head as he began to walk away. -exit Fracture to new thread to yell at Jupiter- "Speech" "Thinking" "You."

"....?!" she said wordlessly, staring at the man as he excused himself. Niamh's mouth hung open, more shocked than anything. what had she done wrong? she only wanted to talk to him and now he was leaving. this was her fault; she had... tried to do something she wasn't sure. tried speaking to someone for the first time in a year. it took her awhile to realize he was headed for the man with bad intentions. panic flared in her chest as she jumped to all fours and raced after him. if he did something bad to Jupiter, then... then she'd be punished for it later. maybe that fear caused her to lose her voice again. Jupiter had been kind to her. he fed her. he... he... he owned her. maybe that wasn't normal but it felt right. it could be worse, couldn't it? wait...! she wanted to scream at him, but no words came out. wild and in a panic, she stumbled after him. not knowing what she'd do, or what he'd do. but Niamh knew she had caused more trouble than she was ever worth. trying to keep up with the dark man, she headed to an unknown future.