Phantom Hollow It's not so bad to be mad.

Loki traipsed throught the Hollows, his gait limping though he was feeling just as peachy as all get out. He coughed, striking blood droplets across the span of wood and grasses as he made his way though the forest of illusion and strange happenings. Echoes rang through them, but they didn't deter him. He kept going, though blood loss made his view a little blurred. He was also woozy, sore, and all kinds of starving.

Stumbling to the nearest bramble, Loki slumped forward, body succumbing to exhaustion while his mind was alight with a firework of songs.
Grin stiched painfully on his lips, he outright howled with the melody only a composer could love.

"Got a secret, can ya keep it, swear this one you'll save,
Better lock it in ya pocket, takin' this one to the grave."

A cough wracked his body, a damaged throat proving him more worse for wear than anything else. But that damned smile kept on.

"If I show you, I better know you won't tell what I said,
'Cause two can keep a secret, if one of them is dead."

Verde eyes looked to a sound heard that was more 'not-so-scary' then most.
What was that thing?

That 'thing' was Slade, emerging from the mists of the Hollow like some dark reaper to snatch the soul of this fallen wolf. He actually was on his way to kindly kill the thing that kept making noise which in turn scared away his prey. He could hear not only the song, but the coughing that resounded around his home, and that only spelled more predators coming to end this guy, rather than prey.

Volcanic irises landed on the half golden-half ebony wolf, a look a unreadable bias hung on the behemoth. The Nightmare King murmurred to the bleeding out wolf, a yearling that looked no more age than the very same Makaro he harbored.

"You are awefully deafening for something that supposed to be dying. Who's this screaming for, boy?"

He stood patiently waiting for the strange colored lad to resort to non-singing communication.

"For you! All of it for you!  A gift! A gift from me, to you-"

Another hack sent a splatter of more red across the grass between them. His throat seriously hurt, but even through the pain he smiled up appeasingly at the giant darkie. If he could just win this giant bear-sized dog's affection, maybe he could strike a deal or somehting. Maybe, justmaybe, he could have a home. But would this man be willing to accept a lunatic?

"Look here, boss, I got a brother, annoying thing, he is. Irritates the hell outta me. And he won't shut up, not about anything. So goody goody, so 'Please don't do that, that's bad' kinda guy. I want him gone, but he keeps followin' me. If you see him, can you eat him?"

It was an honest question, emeralds peering up at the behemoth. He was sure his brother tasted nice; had to. It was obvious the wold had no savage bone in his body, so he wouldn't taste like normal wolves, or even a predator. He would taste like a prey, right?

Slade gazed down at the dying thing, musing well between the seconds it took for the sentence to pass. The Shadow Sire understood what was wrong with this wolf...
he was mad.

It was evident in just his speech pattern and Slade pieced together the puzzle rather quickly. After so many wolves that he found wandering Blackfeather, he knew the mad ones. He couldnt say they had a soft spot from him, but he could see it wasn't their fault what they were afflicted with. Thus his judgement on them was less severe for their psychotic natures.

"I will give you solace so long as you work for me, and me alone. You will be free of your brother so long as you abide by my rules."

Slade couldn't exactly pinpoint the aspect of his brother, but perhaps the 'following' brother was just an illusion. Slade had scoured the area, volcanic irises daring anything to step from the shadows of his home, yet he saw nor smelled anything. This wolf was completely alone.

[[[ "What-is-your-name?" he asked, slipping with ease back to the word of Nightmares.

"I swear! I swear on all of the everything!" The words flew out as the trickster signed the pledge with another cough.


Thus began his servitude to Slade.