Haunted Wood Kill what you want to Take what's left and eat it

25°, currently it is snowing/misty and set during the late afternoon. Located in Haunted Woods, phantasm river | ooc notes: for puppies who want a merc thread! Hela and Ven have one still open but if Thalia wants a newer one I'm tagging her anyway | tagging: @Clay @Valour @Hela

As the air grew colder, time ticked on. After the wound on his knee, the Warlord had spent much time healing and ignoring the pups - something that irked him beyond all reason. He wanted to prepare them more for the life of a mercenary than they were now. They were having too much fun, enjoying themselves a little too much and now, now was time for them to face the Warlord's challenge to become a mercenary. To teach them the ins and outs of killing and destroying what little kindness they had left. 

He sent out Aldrich to go and find the nearest child, bring them back to him. The rat was welcome to bring more than one should he cross paths with them, for now, just one would be good enough. Two or all three would be better - but to expect a rat to track them all down seemed almost impossible. While he waited for a figure to appear, he waited at the edge of the water, feet soaking while he slowly paced along the edge.

He had followed Aldrich silently, his tail down low and ears tucked back in fear. The boy knew of the rat, knew of its meaning—knew that it was the henchman of Vengeance. Whatever was to come was not going to be pleasant, and as they walked in silence Clay tried to prepare himself for whatever was to come.

And as soon as the rat dropped him off it had scurried away, leaving the boy behind... and there, standing before him, pacing, was the warlord himself. Clay swallowed at that, trembling lightly and hoping it would be dismissed as him being cold rather than fear. He made no move to comment or speak to the man, instead he continued to hold his tongue and wait complacently. I t was just the two of them.

Clay was the target for today, it seemed that he was found by the rat first and quickly the rodent skittered off - perhaps to the den in search of any scraps that the warlord had left behind; wasting no time to skitter off and disappear in the fog. 

While watching Clay enter the clearing by the water, Vengeance stood. Feeling the water around his feet-washing past, the silence that fell between them after the pacing had ended. The nerves were palpable, he could feel the fear that Clay still radiated. Perhaps he was the best choice for today's lesson. 

It's about time you forget what fear is. His voice echoed. Eyes dissecting the boy carefully. Picking apart every shutter, the silence spoke more than anything. Normally one would ask why they were summoned, or were quiet and assured enough that they waited to be addressed first; Clay was neither. Despite my certainty that it would be a two on one fight, did I fear the outcome? No. I left wounded and allowed my rage to fuel my strength. You will too.

Stepping closer to the young boy, water rippling in the air with every step that disrupted its flow. Together we will kill your fears. Tell me, what are you afraid of. Later he would kill that kindness, for now, one thing at a time.

Valour had been found next by the rat, the sneaky little tasty tidbit that Vengeance kept around for whatever reason. He could smell that Vengeance and Clay had been around it and a shiver of apprehension crawled down his spine as he remembered how the man had looked at him when he was being nice to Clay. He swallowed as they grew close, he heard the rumble of Vengeance's voice and paused listening out of sight. He swallowed thickly at the words and approached quickly, avoiding looking at Clay for the time being. "Fear can also fuel a fight. It used to for me" he said his ears shifting back as he looked at his mentor, wondering if he'd be punished for disagreeing. "Rage is better. I know that now of course" he said softly, dropping his eyes to hide his shame that he had to go against his support to Clay to save his own ass. He snuck a glance toward his friend, a somber expression on his face as he stood up "Stand up tall Clay, even if you're scared. Now" his tone was encouraging but the demand at the end was sharp. There was a gentleness in his eyes, a sort of plea for the boy to stop cowering and act the part with his help.

I am SO sorry for the late reply omg. ToT

Clay watched as Vengenace stood, staring him down amidst a silence that did nothing but continue to light his nerves on fire, sending trembles across his body at a faster rate that was even hard for the boy himself to deny. His mouth felt dry, too dry— his tongue rough and limp like a piece of waded cotton that had been stuffed into his jaws to silence him.

"It's about time you forget what fear is,"

He could not move, could not talk. The leaders words were like lead on his body, a cold splash of water that drenched his bones and anchored him to the ground below. Was he going to attack? Going to hurt him? Clay couldn't understand what else the man was saying. The only thing passing through his ears was a thick sheet of static, suffocating him and killing all senses.

That was, until he heard the voice of Valour. It pulled him away, and in a turn that nearly gave him wiplash the boy spun around to see his friend. "Valour," he whispered. Clay did not understand what his friend was saying as well. 'Used to?' Did someone hurt Valour in the past. The older seemed to strong to him that the thought of being in need was comprehensible.

He searched Valours face at the command, but eventually gulped and stood tall. His chest puffed out and head pulled up to reveal the slender column of his neck. His face still was contorted in uncertainty but he turned to Vengeance to answer his question. "I...uh," He didn't want to give an answer. He knew Vengeance was going to use it against him, whatever it was. Truth be told, Clay was afraid of a lot. He always was. But the one thing he wasn't afraid of was his friend.

Of the boy standing next to him.

It's okay!!! It's been a tough last few months for us all ;3;

Not too long after Clay was brought, it seemed Aldrich was quick to find another pup, the one that would perfect this little meeting. Pleased, he gave the rat a nod and sent it on its final way, away from the training session that would soon come to blossom. Valour's words forced a frown onto the dark man's face, eyeing the boy with daggers as if he meant to question the Warlord's words, to add doubt to what was said. Even if he quickly corrected himself by stating that rage was indeed better fuel than fear - something that Vengeance himself believed to be true, his voice still boomed in response. Not for Clay, it isn't. He growled.

Fear clouds his mind and slows his progress. He began, explaining gruffly why he had opened the session the way he did. The boy had yet to bloom into a true Nightwalker and he would soon be an adult, ready to take on a new role and rank in the pack. With this current boy he saw before him, he could never graduate from Soldier, or even be demoted to Grunt due to him being too pathetic to even hold a rank above newcomers. He continued to share his hard stare among the boys. Your friendship weakens him, something soft for him to fall back onto. I blame it for his lack of progress. He focusses on Valour before continuing. I blame you for his failure.

Valour himself was a promising pup. His rivalry with Hela was interesting, progressive, they were both growing very well despite how they may feel about each other. But there was the opposite when it came to Clay. You and Hela are growing fine, while he is stuck as a pitiful, pathetic, sack of shivers. Even the captives have more fight than he does. The boy who claimed he was not weak upon their first meeting - he was certainly doing a poor job at proving Vengeance's initial assumption on his character otherwise.

To see Clay stand up straighter and put more strength into his stance caused a warm rush of pride, his lips slowly curling up into a smile until the moment was ruined just as quickly by Vengeance's growled rebuttal. Valour turned and faced his mentor, returning the glares with his own for a long moment before he dropped his gaze and instead glared daggers into the dirt beneath his paws. His heart raced in his chest, each word from the man he looked up to sinking deep into his mind and heart like painful burrs. It was his fault that Clay was looked down on? Just because he was his friend? He didn't understand how that worked, it wasn't like he protected the other boy or anything. He knew Hela had picked on him and that Clay followed him around like a lost pup but-


He blinked and his ears slowly went back. That was why Clay followed him around, Because nobody messed with him when he did. "I've been a shield for you" he murmured and looked up at Clay, feeling confused. It wasn't that he wanted his friend to get hurt and bullied but he couldn't protect him from the rest of the pack when he had his own issues and reputation to deal with. On top of that, how did he know that Clay hadn't been using him cuz he was the only one who could face off against Hela. "I can't protect you like that Clay. It doesn't work like that here" he sounded cold even to himself, his eyes flashing with regret and ears shifting back hinting at how he really felt though he squared his shoulders up and turned to Vengeance "He won't ever be the alpha pup so he's either below me or Hela. He listens to me as he should to an alpha. So what if I'm not nasty to him like everyone else is around here?" he knew he shouldn't have said it, he should have chosen himself over the morally right decision for once but he couldn't help it. He couldn't stand there and be horrible to Clay when the boy was the only nice person he had really ever known beside his mother, who's memory was so faded he could barely recall her face anymore. "Can't he have a different use? Medicine? Hunting? Serem could use someone to teach right?" he tried to appeal to his Warlord, determination on his gaze and stubbornness refusing to let him keep his mouth shut.