Phoenix Maplewood scattered her ashes

There were many territories to the South that Five had yet to venture to, favoring these Northern territories despite the vast stretch of lands that made up this place he now knew to be Teekon Wilds though it was little more than a name to him. This place ad it's many territories was not his home, and no pack would ever be able to replace what Coatl's Rise meant to him. The Rise had been his lifeblood, fighting and training alongside his fellow Gladiators, to sharpen the skills of the Amazon women whom owned them, to fight for them, for their home, entertainment, and for their favor when their seasons would come. Five had been favored by many woman, but only one had ever held his interest, the only one whose advances — his prize for coming out of the arena the victor — he had not rejected. The Amazon women did not take their slaves as mates, only a reproductive partners but naturally he would want the one that he could absolutely never have nor love. Perhaps this tendency to strive for what would never be his was the stubborn Roman in him, the defiance that had made him keep his given name, Nero close to his chest despite giving his loyalty over to them. He hadn't forgotten what it had been like to be free but he'd been very, very young when Invictus had stolen him away, never to see his parents or birth pack again. He'd known freedom as a small child barely able to comprehend such a thing, but he'd been a Gladiator...a slave for much longer. Once he had known something else but now... he was not sure that he did.

What did one do with unwanted freedom? For this, Five had no answer.

Quetzalcoatl had not wanted to hear his protests as they parted ways after laying together the night previous. The first conscious moments had brought nothing but contentment and bliss to the Roman but his Queen had shattered the it, though Five understood perfectly well that had not been her intention. She thought she was doing him a kindness by setting him free and she had not meant to hear him when he argued differently, brazen to part his lips and speak against her command. Yet, in the end he had given her what he wanted, and though Five knew she would not return, not with children in her womb (for he was confident that his seed took) he was a foolish man blindly in love. Like a mortal loving a goddess. So different were their stations that this was surely what it must have looked like. Five knew that he was to keep an eye on Tezcacoatl, but this seemed useless to the Gladiator. The boy had never had any interactions with him, likely did not even recognize him as his father because that was the way of the women of Coatl Rise. Their daughters were kept away from their fathers, and their sons were either sold to neighboring packs or kept to train as Gladiators. Tezcacoatl was different but only because, Five knew, he was a spitting image of Quetzalcoatl herself, exactly what she'd always wanted in a daughter; but her daughters had been stillborn, Tezcacoatl the only one alive and strong among the litter.

Five did not think that either the boy, nor the Huntress Manauia would very much enjoy his presence, and thus his intentions sought another pack, though which one he did not know. He had not made it a point to seek any out thus far. Eventually, he would need to move further south he suspected, but for now he stayed near; for if he could have traded his freedom for captivity within the Rise, to be numbered among their Gladiators once more, he would do it in a heartbeat.

The morning brought with it light rain, dampening his coat but the Gladiator could not bring himself to care.