Redsand Canyon so hip hop hurray

For @Germanicus <3

Her wounds had gotten so much better, even looked like they'd scar into some pretty gnarly marks on her neck. It was only the missing chunk above her brow she missed, as it took away from her incredibly sensual wrinkles.

Whatever, she was no lapdog, not anymore. Who gave a fuck if she got a tad ugly(ier)? Not like she had her eyes on any of the rancid wolves need forced her to band with. Too big for her, with sticks up their asses, and she was starved for pussy anyways.

The bettering of her health had the result of making Diesel forget the lessons beat into her and go back to her old ways. She strutted around the canyon with her tail held high and swagger in her step, as if she wasn't licked clean by the Boss just a week prior. 

And it was Boss-o himself she was now searching for. Flat face low to the ground, she sniffed him out and followed the trail to where he was.

"Yo, Boss!" The bitch called out once he was within sight, smiling broadly, yet in an insincere way.

On her mind was troublemaking.

thanks for starting! <3

"I am your imperator." it was a correction, albeit a gentle one. 

germanicus had been scouting the leftmost portion of the canyon. there was much ground to cover and he felt dismal about this with the few soldiers mereo yet possessed.

it was time to visit arsenio again. germanicus thought of crowfeather. "i have a light task for you today, diesel." the man looked her over with a closed gaze and then moved on, expecting her to follow.

His correction had the properties of a rubber ball and her discourteous nature those of a wall. It bounced right off and away, leaving no imprint on the surface of her brain.

The mastiff held herself like she did in her days on the grey streets, head forward and tail high, muscles bulging and tight with want to be used, a gleam in her eye which spoke not of intelligence (which she majorly lacked) but of a desire for chaos and dominance. It all made her feel like a barrel of gunpowder, awaiting fire, wanting explosion and release.

... Which is why when the Imperator barely spared her a glance before walking away, the dog felt herself deflate.

Fwooooo...

Confusion followed this clash of moods and she was left standing in place, dumb and slack-jawed, for a long moment, before she ran after her Boss, saliva dripping from her jowls.

"Hey, hey." She caught up to the dark wolf, now walking by his side, having to move her legs at twice his speed to match his stride. "You, uh. I mean. Whatchu need me do?"

the dog had many poses that he often did not expect. unless it repeated itself, the stance of dominance went unaddressed for now. he led her to where he had found several large and fallen heavy sticks, blown down into the canyon by a heavy wind. they were varying sizes, none too heavy to be carried.

the eagle motioned with his silver muzzle toward these. "carry each of these there," to a patch of earth some thirty feet away. "stop before your wounds split open."

"the purpose of this lesson is to force you to move more slowly. each step matters more when you are weighed."

She was brought to where the canyon's lip was close to the treeline, where some fierce wind tore away the branches and deposited them within the red gorge.

A lesson. Her eyes narrowed, and they already occupied so little of her broad face. Was she being fucked with? The dog did not know of any combat skills besides smashing one's body into another's, accompanied by the snapping of jaws. She did not believe in the efficiency of anything besides that.

"Nah." She plopped down onto her haunches. "You show me how it's done."

Yeah, let him act the fool. She wouldn't be fucked with. She was unfuckable.

it felt like very long ago when germanicus had been a foolish young boy jostling and joking with his peers. their imperator had ordered silence. they had not taken him seriously. for a week thereafter he had been bruised.

mereo's leader watched the dog closely. he came to stand silent before her, tail lifted and eyes boring into the hardened look of her own face, ignoring the drool and the excess flesh for now. "that was not a suggestion."

She met his gaze with her own. Hard daffodil into watery hazel. She even had the gall to smirk, briefly.

To her, this - all of this - was a game. Packs and ranks and responsibilities - who gave a shit? Life was about thrills and hedonism (which was too big a word for she), about going wherever you please whenever you please. About taking and challenging and being the biggest bitch in the room.

It certainly wasn't about hauling fucking sticks around.

"Yeah?" She remained seated, but her muscles flexed. "What if I think you're just tryna fuck with me?"

each soldier required their own language in which orders should be given. it appeared that like glaukos, diesel would require a physical demonstration. he did not order her.

germanicus only set his paws and lunged for her. it was not teeth that unsheathed. the eagle swung himself broadside at her sitting figure, meaning to crack their forms together with bruising force.

and he was quiet all the while, eyes carefully trained upon her. he expected once the pain erupted, the dog would escalate.

She expected teeth - the blunt attack caught her off-guard, and there was no way for the dog to defend.

When his body slammed into hers, Diesel was sent tumbling backwards and onto her backside. Flashes of memory came, of jaws clamping about her throat, and she twisted and rushed onto all fours. Keeping low to the ground, fawn hackles raised, she backed away from the wolf, growling and snarling, saliva dripping.

But she did not move to strike.

germanicus watched her recover. there was approval beneath his watchful stare. the dog snarled. he saw her heavy jaws and how the pink scars would encircle her thick neck. "do you still believe i am fucking with you?" the imperator asked firmly.

he made to hold diesel's eyes again. it was not the way of his kind and so he found it difficult. but it was a necessary ability, and never so less than as now. 

germanicus waited.

She was no coward. She was not weak. Her power was predetermined by the blood which flowed trough her, the genetic code which gave her body strength and her jaws a crushing force. To admit another's authority would bring her only misery, would limit and chain her. It would be in her nature to lunge at the male - despite their difference in size, in power, in experience - and spend every iota of energy making him understand that "bitch" was her sex, not her status in life.

So why was she frozen rigid? Why did her body recoil at the sight of him standing above her? Her traitorous limbs moved her backwards and away from him, and her instincts turned to flight. Why, why, why?

The white beast was fresh in memory. Her scent, her size. The sensation of massive fangs ripping and tearing. The overwhelming power which wrestled and pinned her to the frigid ground. Jaws engulfing throat. Beating of jugular against teeth. 

Diesel's legs trembled. There was a wild, panicked look in her eyes as she looked into the Imperator's.

A reply passed her teeth.

"No."

the imperator did not move. "no one seeks to trap you here. if you do not want to stay, then go. but if you remain, you will observe my hierarchy."

germanicus examined her bristling lines and thought of how she would be formidable in battle. but if diesel could not bend herself to their ways, then she could not stay.

again he waited. but this time his body relaxed into a stayed position. he saw no reason for further conflict if he and the auxillary could come to an accord.

Then go.

Within the molossoid's skull, opposing thoughts swam trough the thick sludge of gray matter to meet each other. 

Leave.

Be your own dog, lacking master or senior.

Stay.

Sleep safe, eat well.


Her brows furrowed in thought. What logic she could muster told her winter would be the death of her. Mereo offered protection, consistency, security.

In exchange for subordination. 

She looked up at the Boss Imperator and wondered what would it take to someday overthrow him.

Remaining alive, chiefly.

Her tail dropped. At a safe distance away from him, she stood straighter. Her posture was neutral.

germanicus studied her. he watched diesel consider. her face was expressive in a way that was unfamiliar. not for the first time did he wonder again after humans. 

but it was not her time to teach. it was her time to be taught.

her tail descended and she took a more measured stance. the imperator looked to the large sticks and then back the soldier. 

was diesel ready now to heed?

It was with a heavy sigh that the dog finally moved forward. Hazel gaze remained fixed on the sticks that caused the squabble.

She picked the first one within reach of her jaws. The thing was not too heavy, but it threw her off-balance all the same. Fixing the way her head was canted and shifting which legs she applied weight to, the mastiff stumbled onwards.

The distance of thirty feet seemed infinite. Like a drunkard she swayed, the branch occasionally dragging across the ground. When she reached the patch of earth, she let it drop.

Diesel turned to face the Boss. She would not move until she heard his criticisms or praises.

germanicus nodded as the auxillary stood fast after her work. "alternate each one, so your neck is not dragged to the same side every time."

the imperator stood back. "continue." he did not intend to say more until she had finished her task.

his mind filtered the image of ruenna's face. germanicus wondered what she might have said about his disciplinary tactics.

It was not a physically demanding exercise, not for she of powerful jaws and bulkiness, but its recurrence wore her down. By the third trip her nape was a aching and the muscles of her jaws hurt, strained by the weight they were forced to hold and carry.

Still, it took another seven trips for her to finally reach the point of being incapable of continuing, her muscles in agony. 

Diesel let the branch she just tried to raise drop, having felt the sharp pain of a temporalis incapable of holding it aloft. She moved her lower jaw and felt it pop in and out of place. The mastiff snorted, frustrated by her own weakness.

She turned her head to the Boss.

i guess we could wrap this up soon?

ofc! <3

germanicus nodded at her. "go and rest."

he had willowbark for her to chew, and this would be left in the corridors for her to chew. the yellowpaint eyes watched the heavy soldier. "i will give you tomorrow morning." he meant that she would not be woken with the others but left to sleep for some hours. 

the imperator was not soft but he would not be cruel.

pausing to hear her words, he would stride away thereafter.

She was dismissed, and granted a smidge of mercy. The dog did not reply, but instead gave the Boss a curt nod and a grunted out half-word that could be either gratitude or a mumbled complaint. 

Once the Imperator departed, the click of his wolfish claws against stone fading down the canyon's throat, Diesel all but collapsed. She plonked down onto her ass, slowly slid her front legs forward until she laid down, then set her large head between them.

A long, drawn out exhale made her feel as if she were deflating, for the second time that morning. 

"Fuck. Shit. Fuck." The mastiff muttered into her jowls. 

Things... things had not gone how she expected them to. She felt filthy and weak and no different from a sniveling puppy. It took her quite a bit to remind herself that she didn't have a choice. It was either Mereo, or death. 

She was stupid, not brave; she knew what fate awaited her out in the snow. That, however, did not matter when it came to her ego. She was still made to feel emasculated and frail.

"Fuck."