Will I fall and break

He retreated back into the unknown lands, away from his Nightwalker colleagues to enjoy some time alone. The truth was now that he wanted to fit in; he wanted to prove himself, but he didn't quite know how without becoming as vile and cruel as the seed that had spawned him. Perhaps his brother had been right; the curse within their blood would result in only badness and suffering, at least that's how he'd taken it. Perhaps he was destined to become his father, to enjoy what he now looked down upon. He was conflicted.

He supposed there was one way to find out; to do upon others as he wished they did not do upon him. See if the Rache in him took pleasure in their suffering caused by his hand. But how could he possibly cross that line, unprovoked and innocent? Perhaps he didn't want to find out at all. If he avoided cruelty, avoided violence undeserved, he'd remain this stagnant pool of neutrality.

But what if he witnessed violence? Would he speak out against it? Would he stand up to the aggressor to protect those who couldn't protect themselves? Was weakness truly the core of uselessness, a characteristic better eradicated? In a world where everyone was strong, he supposed there'd be less unfairness. There'd be no need for protection, or charity. There'd just be endless fighting to see who reigned supreme over a world of betrayal and death and despair.

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Eyes opening at blinding speed, Grumble found herself lying on the ground in a humorous manner. Her chin and upper torso flat on the ground while the rest of her body hung in the air behind her like she was some sort of demented seesaw. With a loud snort that shook her whole head, she scrambled onto all fours with a large stretch, her body aching from the abuse. It was not unusual for Grumble to be in a new area, being the loner/outcast that she was. But she swore the other day she had just entered upon some open plains, not a set of woods. So that was kinda weird, but ignorance was Grumble's best friend, so she thought nothing of her mysterious teleportation at all. The basics was all that she cared about. Her next meal, that was her current motivation.

Moving ahead now, she began to use her sniffer to find anything of interest. Due to her start as an outcast, Grumble never learned how or taught herself how to hunt. She wasn't the brightest wolf anyways so perhaps she wouldn't have been a good self-taught student. If she was lucky she was able to sneak up on prey. But normally she resorted to stealing or scavenging whatever she could find. A few times she had bullied other predators for their meals as well. So what was it going to be this time.

The unique smell of a stranger entered her nose, male and at least an adult of sorts though the smell hinted of youth. While she didn't see other wolves as food (thought never crossed her mind), perhaps they had something on them or knew where she could find her next meal. Each step she made was placed with consideration as she stealthily crept towards the wolf downwind. She didn't want him to detect her scent ahead of time and leave. She was a big wolf so if he was a sprinter than he could be gone far before she'd be able to catch or track him.

She soon spotted the wolf, a large one like herself with variant shades of grey upon his pelt. Now she was no specialist, but he seemed to be torn about something. Probably torn about how to get dinner like she was (and that was the extent of her empathy). Since he was a big guy and had no immediate food on him to steal, Grumble abandoned her stealth and walked out onto the open behind him with an enraged snarl that seemed more suited for a monster than a wolf. She made sure to show all her teeth as her blue eyes bore into him. "Give it to me. Give me food!" Where her first words, her voice gruff from the lack of use. She was ready to spar with the male if it meant she would get her next meal.
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He'd expected an afternoon undisturbed by others, a moment to sulk and mull things over for the hundredth time. Rarely where his expectations met, but today he really was beginning to get rather sick of it. No matter if it was a pretty lady, asking him the way to the nearest clean stream of water. No matter if it was a child lost, wanting to be returned to its mother. He'd help out in almost all possible cases, but today wasn't a good day to shit in his dinner.

He lifted his heavy body, his hulking figure matching hers as he turned to the disturber of the peace. He was in shape, hardened by years as a loner, providing for himself and all others that crossed his way. They'd always been polite. This one was not. Though perhaps a meeker creature would have been frozen by fear by the aggressive display, his reaction was annoyance. He'd stared death in the face, and he was much more vile and cruel than this woman could ever be.

“Go get it yourself.” He rumbled lowly. She appeared just fine for a hunt - broad and sturdy, without injury. She wasn't a lady in distress, she was an entitled bitch looking to ruin such a pleasant afternoon.

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As the stranger turned to face her, Grumble was a bit surprised, and it only showed for a second from the almost puppish tilt of her head. She was use to either seeing instant rage or fear. This was neither but she could still identify it as aggression. Her emotional encyclopedia was not sure what to describe this as. Confidence? Resolution? A challenge? That was it, this was a challenge.“Go get it yourself.” And his words that came out took her a second to process as well. Wasn't that what she was doing? She was getting food right now! She almost felt a little insulted, was he calling her stupid? If it was a fight he wanted, Grumble was ready to provide. Riling herself up by the second as she held her stare-off with him, she made the first move. "I am hungry!" Spatting out a blood-curdling snarl, she started a lop that soon turned into a run. Charging straight at him, she aimed to slam the pointy part of her shoulder-blade with the momentum she had gathered. The thought of killing the wolf never came across her mind because the weak always give in, so why kill then? All she had to do was make him give in and then lead her to food.

Her style of fighting was raw, relying on brute strength and weight, she was almost no different than a bear. Her energy and vigor ready to assist her in any potential frenzy, but the problem was she had no skills, no repetitive practice. She never honed any sort of expertise or methodology except for silent paws. She was practically a new adult thinking like a welp who thought they were indestructible. And she would soon regret this.
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He had time to deal with this, but he'd really take no pleasure in it. If it was a fight she wanted, she could come get it. Perhaps it would be him that would be left with a meal to bring back to his colleagues - if bringing the corpse of this brutish lady to their doorstep didn't impress them, he failed how he could otherwise.

The two had been apart such a length that the first move had to be carefully planned, perhaps circling closer so the opponent could not prepare for a lunge as he tried to match the position. He thought of Vengeance, how he'd gone in without a second thought - how Almight had him in his grip for just a moment because of that. But at that time he was fighting a demon, this was just a bit of fun really. As the other charged in as well, throwing strategy by the wayside, the titan waited to shift and dodge to the side and attempt to grab her by the scruff in one fell swoop. With her speed, he'd have to dig in deep to stop her advance, otherwise he'd risk her tearing herself free. No one cared about a little hair loss in a real fight.

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Grumble was startled to find the other large wolf dodging her attack as she met only with air. She knew enough of the basics of combat to assume if someone avoided their foe's attack then they had the advantage. Fear of a preemptive strike caused Grumble to began to buck wildly in place, and her decision had been correct to an extent as his fangs came upon her scruff, her bucking preventing him from biting deep enough to truly immobilize and yet...she was still unlucky and could not move enough to reach him or lose him. Her fangs were barely out of reach of him and it drew her mad. A snarl of pure frustration emitted from her jaws as she flailed there helplessly. However the male only further dug his paws into the ground.

The longer she was there struggling, the more headway she made as he grew tired. The problem was, however, that all her flailing had already tired her out and the more she tried to free herself, the worse her scruff was starting to feel. Pain and exhaustion won over her and the large female found herself going somewhat limp. She knew she had picked the wrong wolf to fight now. Pride did not exist in the wild. "I give, I give! I'm sorry, not the ears please!" She wailed pathetically as her ears went flat and her tail tucked between her limbs. A new emotion she did not understand overcame her senses. Shame. Shame that the fight she started ended so quick and unceremoniously.

She kept her eyes peeled on the dirt with a nervous pant. Trying to mentally dig herself into the ground, preparing for the sharp sting to gather at her ears, another hole to signal another loss. That was what she was use to, why would it be any different? Grumble was too ignorant to even worry about him taking her life. Or it would better be described that Grumble's instincts did not detect true blood-lust.
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He was like a lion holding his misbehaving cub by their scruff, waiting for them to tire themselves out. He kept his distance from her fangs as best he could, until, eventually, she did give in. It had not so much been a battle, and his anger was still pent up. He released the woman from his grasp, her now limp body wilting like flowers near the end of summer. For a moment his face scrunched in acrimony, reaching for the one place she begged not to be hurt.

His teeth ran over her tucked-in ear, pinching ever so slightly before he froze. She'd given in, she'd apologized - only now did the realization hit him. Continuing on with what he was doing... It wasn't battle anymore, it was torture. With a huff and sigh did he remove himself from her, regaining composure. He wasn't like the other Nightwalkers. He didn't want to be.

“Don't think this is over.” He rumbled. “You'll answer to my superior. He'll know what to do with you - who knows, he might even knock some hunting skills into you.” He'd noticed there weren't many Nightwalkers, and Vengeance desired an army. Who knows, perhaps even this woman could be useful to them. With enough training, she could put her size and strength to good use- or, well, their use.

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Her body met with the ground, and still her eyes did not leave it. As his teeth started to make contact with one of her ears, Grumble found herself overflowing with adrenaline. She could hear her heartbeat as her eyes began to slightly bulge out from the stress and tension caused by post-traumatic stress, her whole body trembling. She associated the feeling of death with her ears. Whenever she got caught stealing, she never knew when they would be fully fed-up and just kill her. It was a bit of an oxymoron, not fearing death from the stranger and yet associating ear pain with the ambiguity of death. And yet, he stopped, none of her pain receptors were going off, no blood or messed up cartilage. She found herself trying to process the action, everything was muffled. She knew he was speaking to her, but she couldn't understand what he was saying, he sounded faraway and close at the same time.

It felt like she was exploring the inside of her skull for hours when in reality it was but a few minutes. As her body began to regain the normal chemical composition it was use to, she found herself getting back to all fours with a shake of her fur. Head turning to look at the other wolf with an unreadable expression with another terrifying noise emanating from her throat. And then, she moved. It was sudden and fast with the look of aggression with its urgency. However, the large female merely half-heatedly collided into the male, sticking to him as if they were magnets before rubbing herself all over him with frightening noises that were apparently just whines of joy. Grumble obviously did not understand personal space. She did not know this wolf, but he did not hurt her ears, so he was obviously a good guy to her. A friend in fact. Friends don't eat other friends ears. "Thank you, thank you, you left my ears alone! I won't ever forget that! I will get you all the food you could ever want." She promised between licks and nips that were now starting to be inflicted under his chin, tail wagging 100 mph.
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She was... disturbed, wasn't she? Not in a way like his father, where he was moody and aggressive all the time; no, on a deeper level. It was like someone had taken a whisk in her mind somehow and had made scrambled eggs up there. Honestly, in the way she was, Almight was almost surprised she was still alive at all. Not everyone was as "understanding" and "good" like him. Had she met the wrong Nightwalker today, she could've easily been used as another decoration on their borders.

Then, the thought crossed him that it was an act. He peered at her as she regained her stability, muscles tensing as she made a move again. He'd already opened his maw in preparation for the continuation of their battle, something he was familiar with, but what he got instead was something he hadn't gotten in all the moons he'd been cast aside. She had a... strange way of showing gratitude. He moved his head away from wherever she touched him, flinching perhaps unnoticeably whenever "kissed".

“Come, it's time to go.” He said quickly, wanting to make haste to bring her to Vengeance. He'd know what to do.

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Grumble was not at all aware of any discomfort he shown. She paused in place though as he spoke, listening carefully with curious blue eyes as he spoke. “Come, it's time to go.” Oh were they going somewhere? Having been in too much of a panic previously to have heard his earlier words, she didn't have the faintest idea of what was happening. But she honestly didn't care as long as it brought good things her way. "Aye-aye Sir! I am Grumble by the way!" She introduced in a chirpy tone with one last big smooch on his cheek before following him. She didn't have the empathetic compacity to consider an introduction being a two-way street.

The trip was probably rough for her partner. Grumble was a childish wolf that had been free of responsibilities for the majority of her life and she saw no need to rush. She tried staying side-by-side with his flank the majority of the time, being much closer than needed. Now and then she would hold the two of them up from petty distractions. Such as suddenly chasing a leaf, or following a frog, and one time he had to practically drag her from a bed of flowers that she just wanted to stop and admire for the rest of the evening due to their pleasant smell. Sometimes she would just stop all together to try and get his attention. Oddly she was quiet for the most part, it was not because she was nervous or anything. She just didn't see the need for conversation, silence can be enjoyed too. Her previous attempt of beating up the stranger practically forgotten already.
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